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What did you use or do for your anemic LO?
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Anonymous
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I just found out that my 1yo DS is anemic. (It was a full blood draw to check.) The doctor recommended poly-vis-ol with iron. My hesitation with using it is that I have heard the taste is bad (so it can be hard to get baby to take it), I am already giving a vitamin D supplement that I would like to use up, and I don't know about all the other vitamins that are included in poly-vis-ol (are they necessary - fwiw, I am still nursing). I will of course talk to my pediatrician about this but I am curious what others have used or have done for their babies with low iron. Anybody try fer-in-sol?
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Anonymous
| Our DS was anemic at 1.5 yrs. Tried the drops and it turned into a 2 man job- someone to hold him down and the other parent to give him the drops. Tried "hiding" it in other things no go. So we started to look at foods high in iron - your child is a little younger than ours and ours was VERY picky so it was tough. We started really reading food labels to see what was high in iron. He wouldn't do cereal but like fig newtons, believe it or not passion fruit sorbet had iron - so we made him fruit smoothies based with that. Also look at pureed foods- some have iron if he still eats them. We were able to eliminate the anemia with just food and no drops - much better for all of us. |
Anonymous
| We used the same drops - not sure if there really is anything else out there for anemia. And, it was awful. Fortunately, we were able to eliminate the anemia in a few months with diet. |
Anonymous
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We did ferinsol as it had higher iron content. It was nasty but surprisingly my LO got used to it and stopped protesting. I've heard OJ can help "cut it" but never tried it as it seemed too big of a hassle. It'll also grey their teeth but it's tempory and went away very quickly when the supplement was stopped.
Another thing you can do is give them toddler formula instead of whole milk for a few sippies a day. It is fortified w/iron. We are using Good Start toddler formula for different reasons but are happy about the benefit of the iron. |
Anonymous
| Since I'd heard about the awful taste I never tried giving them in DS' mouth. I hid it in plain yogurt with fruit puree with success. A full cup (8 oz) of milk usually hid it ok. I gave a half dose most days and made sure to give iron rich or enriched foods. For breakfast he had some kind of cereal with iron like quinoa, amaranth, or millet with a vitamin c fruit (any time you feed an iron rich food, pair it with something with vitamin c as c helps with iron absorption). Earth's Best also makes enriched foods like french toast and ravioli that I buy from the freezer section in Whole Foods. Cheerio type cereals are iron fortified but DS really like frosted mini wheats. One serving of that has 90% of an adult's iron needs. I would soak a few pieces in milk and then give them to him. |
Anonymous
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We used My Kidz Iron after a recommendation on this board. It went over much better than Polyvisol.
http://www.amazon.com/Mykidz-Iron-Liquid-Supplement-Vitamins/dp/B00125X75W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=hpc&qid=1281375982&sr=8-1 |
Anonymous
| Just FYI that Vitamin C helps aid in iron absorption. So in addition to increasing iron-heavy foods, in crease citrus/strawberries/red peppers, that kind of thing |
Anonymous
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In addition to whatever iron drops/vitamins you're going to use, I'd focus on food sources of iron, too.
You can look on-line for a list of foods that are high in iron. Liver is the best -- DD absolutely loves it, either chopped up or in pate/blended form with cream cheese. There are lots of good plant forms, too -- beans especially. I ALWAYS pair these foods with Vitamin C foods in the same meal. Applesauce, grapes, oranges, fruit juice, etc. |
Anonymous
| OP here. I just want to say thank you for all of the great tips. Some things I had never thought of or realized - e.g., the super high iron content in frosted mini wheats (wow) or pate for liver (brilliant!). My Kidz Iron looks interesting, too. |
Anonymous
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You also want to give the iron containing foods quite separate from calcium rich foods.
Other great sources of iron: little crumbles of red meat/hamburger, dark colored beans like kidney or black beans and blackstrap molasses (add to cereal, baked beans, baked goods). |
Anonymous
| fer-in-sol, our doc wanted us to give it twice a day. |
aprilmayjune
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| I give my 23 month old DD Polyvisol every morning in her sippy cup with milk with her breakfast. I've never had a problem with that. |
Anonymous
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Most iron supplements taste bad, but DS1 is anemic and got used to Polyvisol just fine. I don't see anything in it that would be a problem, and it also has A,C, and D which is helpful.
I will say that red meat is the most bio-available iron, meaning you make better use of the iron you consume. But we do both supplementation and diet. For us, meatballs and meatloaf go down OK. Also, braunschweiger is a convenient and inexpensive form of liver pate that many kids will eat. You can find it at pretty much any grocery store. It usually comes in a block or sometimes sliced into sandwich-sized pieces. |