My 12 month old just had her shots and hemoglobin checked at her 1 yr visit. I am anemic, due in part to being a vegatarian, and have had to take a double dose of prescription iron since I was 4 months pregnant. I was so anemic that I had IV iron for 4 days in the hospital before they started me on pills (repliva). Now my hemoglobin runs near 11. the normal range is 12-??? and my daughters is 9. Her pediatrician put her on iron drops 2x a day. She was slow to eat baby food and her diet still consists of formula. I thought the formula provided everything they needed for the first year? She is a very picky eater but eats a lot of green peas, bananas, baby yogart, carrots, squash & prunes. I have not started her on the iron yet because she was so grumpy from the shots that I wanted to give her a couple of days to "recover" so I'd know if the iron upsets her tummy. Last night she ate fresh streamed & mashed cauliflower & spinach, a few peas & banana pieces, a tiny bit of lean beef..(which I dont plan on feeding her permanently...I want her to be a vegetarian too).. plus some whole grain bread for dinner. Those all are suppose to be good sources of iron except for the banana. She is on Nestles good start formula for olders babies now and drinks 20-24oz a day of that. Have any of you had this problem and if so what did you feed your children? Thanks so much!
Get her to eat spinach & cook everything in a cast iron skillet. Serve spinach with citrus (vit C helps Iron better absorb) and avoid dairy as calcium hinders absoption.
Here is a link to iron content in foods. It may help you adjust her diet.
http://www.fwhc.org/health/iron.htm
You might want to reconsider her diet for a while to get her where she needs to be. You would not want her health to suffer long term.
Good luck!
P
You may not want to hear this, but I say it out of concern for your child. Perhaps the veg diet is not going to work for her. What are your reasons for being vegetarian? If it is to have a healthier diet, you might look into grass-fed beef. Jo Robinson has a lot of info on her site www.eatwild.com about the health benefits of grass-fed beef. At my last dr. appt., my cholesterol had dropped 40 points in a year. My husband and I couldn't think of anything that had changed except the switch to grass-fed beef.
children need to eat meat even if you dont. it have essential vitamins and nutrients that you can only get if you pop them full of meds. let her decide when shes older like 12 if she wants to eat meat or not. do the best thing for her and get her numbers back up
Hi Tami,
I was anemic for years, even on double doses of iron, before I received a correct interpretation of my blood tests. Turns out, I was anemic because my folic acid was low. So anemia is more complex that just 'low iron'. I would encourage you, since anemia can lead to so many other issues, to have a blood panel done for you and your child and translated by somebody who knows what they're looking for to find the real cause of your anemia.
Clorophyl drops can bring your hematocrit up and are much much more gentle on the digestive system. I was diagnosed with pregnancy anemia for a short period due to my lack of red meat intake and wrong prenatal vitams at the time - my midwife told me to get clorophyll drops and in a month my hematocrit was excellent. It is very safe, and does the same as the dark green veggies... the molecular structure of clorophyl is almost identical to iron, but iron is very hard to digest. Look at a local health food store and you should be able to find it.
Remember also that
On a side note - formula doesn't necessarily contain all the needed properties for the first year, and has a lot of ingredients that are too much for a human baby (since most is made from cow's milk). Also, calcium inhibits the absorption of iron as well. However, the iron in breast milk is digested much more easily than formula, which is why there is so much iron in formula compared to breastmilk - and another reason why formula-fed infants would have a harder time getting the iron they need. Breastmilk will contain more nutrients that a baby would need for the first year. Though formula/breastmilk is supposed to be the main source of nutrition for the first year, it is not the only nutrition.
Though I would not recommend a vegitarian diet - if that is your wish, I think chlorophyl would be the perfect choice for you. I like to stay natural when I can, and was very pleased with the results I got from the chlorophyl drops. You would be able to mix it with some water/juice/formula too help the taste. You can get a peppermint flavored one, but, it really isn't that good - so if your little one is a picky eater, it may be best to mix it with something.
If you want more info - just let me know. Also, you can look here: http://www.drjaygordon.com/development/alternative/colds.asp
for more information on figuring out infant dosages on adult medications (which would also go for the chlorophyl or other herbal remedies).
being a vegetarian is fine, but get that baby off the formula and start giving her food. She has teeth, let her use them!! Gerger for Juniors is great, but she is ready to progress to real food. She could have a half a pb & j, or grilled cheese, or cottage cheese with fruit, celery with peanut butter for a snack. If your are anemic, you really need to look into more protein choices and start with it, too. Nuts, green vegies, you should know the list! Good luck!
I'm a vegetarian, too, but I don't have low iron. My kids have never had low iron, either, and none of them ate meat as babies or toddlers (one still doesn't). Are you taking iron in combination with anything? It's absorbed better with vitamin C, so a combination of a peanut butter sandwich and a glass of orange juice would be good. I don't know if you're doing tree nuts or peanuts yet, but you may want to start soon. Beans (especially lentils and soybeans) are a terrific source of iron, as are iron-enriched cereals (most dry cereals are). Good luck!
Being vegetarian is a choice and you made it for yourself and admit you are having anemia problems. Why knowing your child has the problem would you make the choice for her to be a vegetarian also. Maybe both you need some protien that comes in the meat. Maybe just retink this a little.
Hi Tami,
I am an independent consultant with Arbonne International and I know that this is way off the subject, but I wanted to share some information with you that may help to bring some income into the home
Arbonne has been an exceptional source of income for me. Health and wellness is recession proof. People are going to always want to look and feel good.
Check out my site Tami at www.abriggs.myarbonne.com.
This may be something that could revolutionize your family's current financial situation.
Direct Sales is the way to go. You cant get laid off or fired.
Hope things work out for you and your children!
Call me if you have questions
Angela
###-###-####
Tami, I gave my children Enfamil with Iron formula. We are not vegetarians so I can't recommend anything other than that. Ask your Pediatrician if you can see a nutritionist. They'll be able to help you find other foods to supplement her lack of iron from meats. The iron drops shouldn't bother her and you should give them between meals and with juice not milk. Hope this helps! Good luck and take care!
Not all formula has iron - read the label.
My son was anemic because of celiacs disease. While we are not vegetarians, my son does not like meat. At first, we started him in poly vi sol multi vits with iron and it did not upset his stomach. You may run into issues with constipation. It tastes real bad, so you may need to hide the flavor. They have straight liquid iron supplements also. If you give them to her with food you should not have such a problem with nausea from them. Once my son was in the normal zone, I quit the supplements because he hated the taste. I now cook everything in cast iron and his iron levels have stayed in the safe zone. Be careful about giving iron supplements because they can be harmful - unless your doctor tells you too!!!!!!
I would not worry too much about it. my daughter and my twin boys was that way when they were baby ,I think they will outgrow this.
