low iron

lisamoe · July 2012

DS had his 1yr pedi appt today, where they did a fingerstick for iron.

His is on the low end. So the pedi wants him to take a OTC iron supplement. Anyone have experience with this? I know that iron may cause constipation(which we will be taking precautions to avoid) but was wondering if anyone else had this issue?

AmandaP678 · July 2012

Yup we had to use Enfamil Poly -vi- Sol Drops with Tim and it was the most disgusting tasting the ever.

Little&BigPea · July 2012

We had that issue at DD's 9-month appointment. However, she was finally diagnosed with a hereditary blood disorder that my H has so we were able to take her off the iron supplements. So, she was on iron supplments for almost 2 months.

When we started I intially added it to orange juice. The orange juice is supposed to help the iron not cause constipation. However, at 9-months DD did not like orange juice much and it was harder to get her to take it that way. I ended up just putting it in her morning formula bottle. I haven't had to give her any since we weaned to WCM, so sorry, no suggestions there, but maybe your LO will like orange juice better than mine.

Oh, and my DD did not get constipated, it gave her diarrhea. Both her Hematologist and Pedi argue with me that it was something else... But I can mark the days, when she was on the iron supplement, she had diarrhea, when I took her off... No more diarrhea! She was back to normal the very.next.day!

Mason&Mama · July 2012

Little&BigPea:
We had that issue at DD's 9-month appointment. However, she was finally diagnosed with a hereditary blood disorder that my H has so we were able to take her off the iron supplements. So, she was on iron supplments for almost 2 months.

When we started I intially added it to orange juice. The orange juice is supposed to help the iron not cause constipation. However, at 9-months DD did not like orange juice much and it was harder to get her to take it that way. I ended up just putting it in her morning formula bottle. I haven't had to give her any since we weaned to WCM, so sorry, no suggestions there, but maybe your LO will like orange juice better than mine.

Oh, and my DD did not get constipated, it gave her diarrhea. Both her Hematologist and Pedi argue with me that it was something else... But I can mark the days, when she was on the iron supplement, she had diarrhea, when I took her off... No more diarrhea! She was back to normal the very.next.day!

The orange juice is also recommended to help with absorption of iron. If you take a supplement, you should take it with OJ and avoid dairy products for a few hours.

katie4253 · July 2012

Gabe was on multivitamin + separate iron for about 4 months (he was too small for the combined meds), then he went on to poly-vi-sol with iron. He was on that until he was 10 months actual. We just shot it in his mouth because it is disgusting and the quicker it was over the better.

You could also start adding black-strap molasses to his food and obviously red meat and leafy greens too. Those are all high in iron.

weebos8 · July 2012

Auden takes an iron drop daily for low iron. I put it in a mixture of apple juice and water to help with absorption.

lisamoe · July 2012

Mason&Mama:
Little&BigPea:

We had that issue at DD's 9-month appointment. However, she was finally diagnosed with a hereditary blood disorder that my H has so we were able to take her off the iron supplements. So, she was on iron supplments for almost 2 months.

When we started I intially added it to orange juice. The orange juice is supposed to help the iron not cause constipation. However, at 9-months DD did not like orange juice much and it was harder to get her to take it that way. I ended up just putting it in her morning formula bottle. I haven't had to give her any since we weaned to WCM, so sorry, no suggestions there, but maybe your LO will like orange juice better than mine.

Oh, and my DD did not get constipated, it gave her diarrhea. Both her Hematologist and Pedi argue with me that it was something else... But I can mark the days, when she was on the iron supplement, she had diarrhea, when I took her off... No more diarrhea! She was back to normal the very.next.day!
The orange juice is also recommended to help with absorption of iron. If you take a supplement, you should take it with OJ and avoid dairy products for a few hours.

Its funny you say this, because obviously we know this because we are RNs, but the pedi said I could give it in his bottle! WTF?! Does it not apply to babies, or should I shop for a new pedi? ;-)

genekelly · July 2012

LO was low at 9 mo so we've been supplementing since then with Ferrous Sulfate. We give Tri-vi-sol in the morning and the iron at bfast and dinner. The iron makes his poo black but hasn't constipated our LO at all. He usu poops 2x a day, sometimes more! He is a good eater though and does eat a lot of fruit and whole grain food in addition to vegetables. I assume that helps. The iron supplement tastes awful to me, like sweetened rust, but LO likes it for the most part and we don't struggle to give it to him.

I think the worst part of the whole iron thing is that finger stick. LO cried more at that then any of his shots. I think I'm sending DH with him for the next finger stick (to see if we can cut the iron drops).

Ash&Vic · July 2012

LO was low at 9 months and the doctor put her on Poli-vi-sol and Irofol (both OTC). She's going to get checked again next week at her 1 year appointment and they'll determine if we should continue with the supplements. At the time LO was always constipated so I was worried about that, but the doctor told me that the Irofol had some special formula that didn't cause constipation. In fact it has helped her become regular ( a little too regular sometimes lol).

I 've always just used the dropper to squirt it into her mouth since she likes the taste of both of them.

Weezergrl · July 2012

My son was diagnosed with this at his last appointment. Doctor reccomended poly-bi-sol with orange juice. It smells absolutely horrible. Tried giving it to my son and he will not accept. Not sure if it was the oj or supplement that he does not like.

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