Iron Supplements.. Can't Get My Toddler to Take Them!

Just be careful about her getting constipated. That's what happened to both my toddlers and that was just from Flinstones plus iron.

My son was also low and had to take a liquid supplement. It was not a easy process to get him to take it....I mixed it in with orange juice.

Also a little something that I learned. The iron can cause discoloration on the teeth (gray). So it would be a plus if she would take the mixed liquid with a straw. I would then brush her teeth.

Good luck!

My mom used to give me gross tasting medicine. However, she would mix it with honey. It helped the medicine go down!!

Is there a reason why she can't get her iron through nutrition like most people?

If it's a chronic problem, she could get shots once a month like I used to -- I have a blood disorder unrelated to diet. I know kids don't like shots, but you can't live without iron and it's cruel for her to have to fight about it every day. (I'm not saying that you're being cruel, please, please don't say that I said that.)

I tried the supplement as well with the same result. Then I found my solution. There is a yogurt called Yo Baby. They have two different packs of 6 that are fruit with cereal. They have 45% of the daily iron needs in one 4oz container of yogurt. The best part....It actually tastes GREAT!!! Tortilla"s and most meats are also very high in iron. Good Luck!!

Have you ever thought about taking your baby to see a chiropractor? She could have a subluxation (fancy term for a vertebrae that is out of proper alignment) that is pinching on a nerve that controls the bodies natural ability to produce iron.

Most chiropractors will do a free consulatation and exam - it might be worth it to see what's going on with your daughter's spine.

Hi K.,
Here's a link to the World's Healthiest Foods. Many food contain iron and getting naturally through foods many be easier on the both of you.

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=nutrient&dbi...

Another option is a whole food supplement containing iron foods such as spinach, broccoli and parsley. Juice Plus has a gummie form for kids containing these foods and kids love them!

I hope that helps.

www.DenverJuicePlus.com

L.

L.

Hi K., I had the same problem with my daughter. She had to take a liquid supplement, I tried it in juice, milk, and even straight liquid like you. I raised my concerns to our pediatrician and she suggested that I put it in Hersheys syrup and spoon it into her mouth. I added her daily dose to 2-3 Tablespoons of the syrup. Make sure that there is enough chocolate to mask most of the flavor of the iron. I never let her see me adding the medicine into her "chocolate", and I emphasized how lucky she was to have "chocolate." None of her older siblings ever got any, it was her special treat. At first I thought there was no way it would work, but she loved it and actually looked forward to eating it everyday. Just be careful what you say about the smell and look of it, keep it all positive. And be very careful that she doesn't get it on her clothing because it stains pretty badly. My daughter's iron levels eventually returned to normal and she no longer needs to take the supplement. Also, look into diet options to increase iron in her food. There are a few things that you should avoid giving her at the time of her iron dose, because they interfere with the absorbtion of the iron. I can't remember exactly what they were, but I'm thinking that milk was one of them. Hopefully this will work for you! Good luck!

When I was pregnant I needed extra iron and ate a lot of dried apricots. Between struggles to take the supplement, I wonder if you can increase her iron intake in her diet. My kids will gobble up a creamy spinach dip with whole wheat crackers, and spinach has quite a bit of iron in it.
My only other ideas are humor and bribery. You could be a mother bird, swooping in to give your baby bird a worm, and when she eats her "worm," you've got a treat for her (a drink of juice, a small cookie, anything that has a strong enough flavor to erase the memory of the taste of the supplement). You can also offer immediate distraction and do a puzzle or read a new story right after she takes the iron. Maybe a big stack of interesting library books could be on the counter and she gets to choose which one you will read her and hold onto it while she takes the iron, and then she can have a drink and you'll read to her right after. Consider allowing her brothers to be supportive, too--you can say that everyone will do play dough after she takes her iron so her brothers will cheer her on a bit and they benefit from the special circumstances, too. Consider telling her how healthy she will be--in my experience, praising by saying "you're so brave" and the like backfires because it reinforces that there is something to fear.
Best wishes!

I noticed that this posting is old and I am having the same problem getting my 3 yrs old daughter to take iron. I noticed most people suggested multivitamins, which if your child is on an iron supplement has no where near enough. They would have to take 5 flintsones vitamins a day (which is dangerous) Also you shouldn't take iron with or at the same time as any diary products as they inhibit absorbtion. The yogurts may have 75% of the daily value but the child may only get 10% of it in their system. Also most children who are suffering from extremely low levels of iron and require this kind of intervention are picky eaters and that is why they have low iron in the first place. So they are probably not going to eat spinach, meat etc because they refuse. It would be easier to shove the vitamins down their throat than the food! Anyway I am having a terrible time with my little girl, she spits it all out and my dr has basically been no help. She fights me and I have to squirt it into her mouth with a syringe, and she seems traumatized by the entire process. I was looking for a good solution, I will prob try the chocolate suryp idea, but have to check the ing listing to see it there is any dairy in it. K., please let me know if you found something to eventually work! Thanks!

Try researching iron enriched foods. Give her a lot of iron foods like spinach (try raw with dipped in ranch dressing, my kids LOVE spinach this way)
liver
lean red meats, including beef, pork, lamb
seafood, such as oysters, clams, tuna, salmon, and shrimp, etc.
beans, including kidney, lima, navy, black, pinto, soy beans, and lentils
iron fortified whole grains, including cereals, breads, rice, and pasta
greens, including collard greens, kale, mustard greens, spinach, and turnip greens
tofu
vegetables, including broccoli, swiss chard, asparagus, parsley, watercress, brussel sprouts
chicken and turkey
blackstrap molasses
nuts
egg yolks
dried fruits, such as raisins, prunes, dates and apricots
Iron Rich Baby Foods or even toddler iron enriched formula.

There is too some stuff the pharmacy can add to it to make it taste better, check with your pharmacy.

Have you tried Flinstones chewables w/iron?

Hi K., my son is on an iron supplement also. He started his about two months ago and my need to stay on it a while longer, hopefully he will be off of it soon. He has something going on with his kidneys and possible restless leg syndrome, which the iron is supposed to be helping. Anyways we first had the iron flavored with grape just to get him used to it. The grape masked the flavor a little bit. The second time we fill it, I forgot to flavor it. We bribed him with M&M's and gave him milk to take with it. It seamed to help. He is actually very good at taking medicine and I think it's because his been on some other stuff for about a year now. He actually takes it very nicely, especially if I threaten to put something of his into time out which I really hate doing. I know this is not very helpful, but I hope it helps a bit. Good luck!!

K., I highly recommend fresh spinach or Broccoli anything that is dark green in color. It is so much better for her that relying on a vitamin pill that has aspartame in it like flintstones. Be very careful, do some research if necessary.

Hi K.!

We had this happen with our daughter at about the same age. She wouldn't take the iron supplement and it also said she had to drink a certain amount of water with it, which she couldn't do anyways.There was no way to hide it in foods...she was a smart little lady! Well...I just loaded up on every Gerber Graduate food that was made. Have you looked at how much iron is in those foods? Also...I used the baby Gerber Oatmeal and Rice Cereal...anything she would eat. I would add yogurt or fruit to it so it wasn't so "babyish". Most of those have 15%-20% of the daily iron needed. I just tried to meet or exceed 100% daily and at the end of the two months (they wanted to check her them) she was completely normal. At the 3 months she was better than normal and that's where she stayed! So I would just say to look for all of those things and just load her with iron by feeding her things with more iron. Hope she does better!!

I don't know specifics, but I believe raisins have a lot of iron in them. Seems like the dark ones have more, but I think that's just my assumption.

I found out that taking iron supplements harms vit E and was told that liver would work. Well, my iron with my 3rd child was so low it was SERIOUS. That was just a week before the delivery and the nurse had a FIT when I said I would try liver instead. Well, I did and a week later she had another FIT when my levels were normal with just a small piece each day for that week! My son said the other day---but liver is so full of toxins etc. Well, low iron is serious so if I have to get it from Walmart so be it. But if I can get organic at a Whole Foods etc then I am happy!

A cute story about getting your little ones to EAT it! I cook it low and just enough to brown on each side and cook through, then I would smother it in salsa (onions are ok to add too). My kiddies would scarf it down, I called it SWISS STEAK (hee hee). It didn't taste like my mom's version of leather/cardboard! Well, when we were at a resturant my daughter of 26 years said, "I havent ever eaten liver".....I said " Oh remember the SWISS STEAK you loved at home?" ...OH YEA! she said, I said, well that was really liver! SMILE She said "Oh I miss that yummy stuff!

I've had that problem, not with Iron tho. But I would put the medication in something, like dessert, but I had to make sure she didnt see me do it, sometimes what they dont know never hurts.

K.,
I HIGHLY recommend Body Balance. http://tinyurl.com/agzsbp

It's a great way to make sure she's getting all of the nutrients, vitamins, minerals, etc. she needs every day and it's great for kids because it's a liquid and it tastes good (it doesn't have any sugar in it, but it's sweetened w/ black cherry juice so kids love it. I have 2 little ones (1 and 4) and they both love it... not to mention they don't get sick!

The company also offers a 45-day money-back guarantee so you can test drive the product for a full 6 weeks and get all of your $ back if it doesn't work for you.

Please let me know if you have any questions... ###-###-####.

A.

I have trouble getting my 2 yo to take medicine. One thing that has worked for me is if his older brother takes medicine, or something that looks like medicine to a 2 yo, at the same time. Seems like little ones want to be just like their older siblings. My suggestion is to maybe try giving the older 2 a multivitamin at the same time you give the little on her iron supplement. Maybe she will want to take her vitamins like her big brothers.

Hi K.,
I am assuming this is a liquid preparation. Does she still drink from a bottle and if so, is she allowed any of the juice type drinks? My kids had many illnesses requiring meds and I often found grape flavored drinks disguised the medicine flavors best. You might try diluting it with juice in her bottle to see if that helps. When older and able to swallow a pill, you can get empty glycerin capsules to put medicine into so they can't taste it. Also, you might inquire with your MD to see if any chewable type pill is available. Good luck!

Flinstones First didn't have enough iron for our son, but Flintstones Complete do and they come in generics. We give our son a half of one. His doctor okayed it for the same reason. He desperately needed iron and refused the Poly-Vi-Sol. If you're giving the drops to her twice a day, you might be okay to give her a full Flintstones Complete, but you'd have to check with your doctor on that, or check the labels and see how they compare. The vitamins split really easily, too. I can do it in my fingers. It's the only solution we came up with. GL! I hope she gets better soon!

1. Flinstones, they taste good!
2. Beef, shrimp, broccoli, black beans (Chipotle!) iron enhanced breakfast cereal. Eating high iron foods is the easiest way to gain balance over the long term.
3. Vit C can enhance iron absorption by up to 30%. So iron fortified cereal with a glass of OJ. Tomato sauce over broccoli spears. Hamburgers with tomato slices.
4. High calcium foods can deplete iron, ie if she eats lots of cheese, milk and yogurt. High fiber can deplete iron too.
5. Iron drops.

Or talk to your Dr and ask what other supplements they suggest.
GL!!

My pediatrician gave us a prescription for chewable multi-vitamins. My son loves them. I let him pick the color and that gives him the control he wants and still gets the job done. You might ask your pediatrician if the iron can be given to her in some other form.

Try purple grape juice.....And / or dipping the syringe in chocolate syrup before giving it to her.....Also bribe her whatever it takes....Explain that she will get super sick if she doesn't take it. You do not want to mess around with anemia, it can effect her development in all ways.

Worse case scenario look into a good multivitamin and make her high iron foods with high vitamin C foods (to help absorption)....Also do not give her high Calcuim foods or drinks with her meals, Calcium reduces your absorption of iron. I would do the drops for at least a month before swithing to a mulitvitamin.....And get her blood checked in a month as well (finger prick may be fine for that).

Also make sure she doesn't get constipated on all the iron....She will needs lots of fiber, canned pears (work great for my kiddos), lots of fruit (not bannanas)....

Hang in there, and try different drops too....though they probably all taste bad. You might call your pharmacy and see if the pharmasist can add a flavoring for you (and then recalibrate your dosage).

R.

I dealt with this throughout my childhood and into adulthood and no longer have a problem since I started taking chlorophyl - it provides a highly digestible plant based iron. Most iron supplements aren't well absorbed so if you can get her to eat more iron rich foods that may do the job more effectively.

Depending on your family history, you may want to have her checked for thalsemia (common in Mediteranian ancestory) which is genetic and causes iron absorptions issues.