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iron

amy11401amy11401 member
in Breastfeeding
I BF and my LO is almost 6 months.  My pedi mentioned at my last appointment that I need to be sure LO gets enough iron.  She said he will be tested at 9 months for anemia.  He gets 1 serving of oatmeal a day (1/4 cup) and we are doing some veg/fruit purees.  I also still take my prenatal vitamins.  I really don't want to give him an iron supplement.  I was wondering for those who have BF in the past did your LO have any issues with being low on iron?  If not did you do anything so they got enough iron?  Thanks.
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Re: iron

  • ChichigoChichigo member
    Here's an article from the American Academy of Pediatrics.https://m.aapnews.aappublications.org/content/early/2010/10/05/aapnews.20101005-1.full?rss=1

    Its possible recommendations have changed
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  • jennifertewartjennifertewart member
    edited April 2014
    I am in the same boat.  I gave LO 1 ml of the supplement and it made him constipated so I stopped.  I am still not sure if I am going to start it up again.  It's been weeks and his system is still messed up.  As soon as I introduced the iron he went from at least one good poop a day to barely every 3 days :(  

    ETA:  I have done my research on this and I am torn.  I don't want my baby to anemic but I also don't want to give him unnecessary supplements.  Too much iron can be harmful as well.  I am probably no help.  But in your case, If you are giving LO iron fortified cereal I wouldn't worry about the supplement.
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  • amy11401amy11401 member
    @jennifertewart I know how you feel about not wanting to give the supplement.  I just wondering if he is getting enough iron from the cereal since he only has 1 serving a day.
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  • jennifertewartjennifertewart member

    amy11401 said:
    @jennifertewart I know how you feel about not wanting to give the supplement.  I just wondering if he is getting enough iron from the cereal since he only has 1 serving a day.
    Hard to say.  I would just bring it up to your pediatrician with your concerns.  The only real way to know if LO needs the supplement is with a blood test.
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  • jllmb79jllmb79 member
    Both my girls were Iron deficient at 1 yr.  Since DD#1 was deficient I really tried to up DD#2's iron when we started solids with meats and green veggies, but it didn't help. At DD#2 1yr she was still deficient.  At 1yr the had to take 1ML of iron sup. twice per day for 3 months, then they were fine.
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  • vvvvvfeevvvvvfee member
    My DS was anemic at 9 months. We don't eat a lot of red meat at home and we hadn't really made a concerted effort to give him iron rich foods, plus i'd read that bf babies don't tend to be anemic (kellymom has some good info on this https://kellymom.com/nutrition/vitamins/iron/). For that reason i'd only given him vitamin d drops, and no iron supplement Once we found out he was anemic, Our ped wanted us to give him an iron supplement (which btw is absolutely disgusting, it's like licking a rusty pipe) and give him more red meat, which is what we did. He hated the iron drops, but he was not anemic when they retested at 12 months. I wouldn't give the iron drops, but try to focus on iron-rich foods. You can google lists of them- but at the top are clams and other shellfish, and liver. Also Red meat is a good source, dark meat chicken, raisins, iron-fortified cereal, and blackstrap molasses. Calcium blocks iron absorption, so try not to give any dairy products with those foods. So you could give your LO ground beef or turkey, strips of dark meat chicken, iron-fortified cereal with raisins and blackstrap molasses, etc.
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  • love4blove4b member
    My daughter had her 1 year appointment a little over a week ago and surprisingly, wasn't anemic at all - and she's still getting almost all of her nourishment from breastmilk. (We offer her some of whatever we're eating, but she's just not that into it.) I chalk it up to my continuing with my prenatals and cooking in cast iron a lot. She does like lentils as well, which are great for iron - she picks them up and eats them one by one :) Personally, I wouldn't start supplementing until you know there's a deficiency.
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