Low Iron Count

my 2 yr old was anemic and we had to give him medication for 6 months. i fed him a lot of foods with iron in it and not to mention the fact that he had just gotten off of formula. just feed him lots of green veggies and anything and everything that he will eat that is high in iron. here is a list of foods that are high in iron...good luck and i hope all goes well!!

Best Sources of Iron:

Beef or chicken liver
Lamb
Pork
Egg
Chicken

Other Sources:

Whole grain bread
White bread
Peanut butter
Baked beans
Branflakes
Cornflakes
Lentils/soy beans/red kidney beans
Spinach
Broccoli
Green peas
Baked potato with skin
Sesame seed paste (tahini)
Dried apricots
Blackstrap molasses
Prune juice
Cream of Wheat cereal

Try flavor-enhancing the iron enriched infant cereals you are offering. If he enjoys eating pears, begin adding a teaspoon of cereal into his pears. If he enjoys this, try gradually increasing the amount you mix in. Try any fruit or veggie that has already been introduced into his diet -- and of course, one he already enjoys!
If baby cereal just doesn't interest your little one, try an adult cereal (hot or dry) that is iron fortified. Though the iron is not as well utilized, it nevertheless can be an excellent dietary source. Choose a cereal that contains only foods that have been safely introduced into your toddler's diet. Stay away from cereals with nuts, seeds or hard pieces of dried fruit.
Many toddlers enjoy the taste of red meat. Since this iron is readily assimilated, you might want to try serving small soft meatballs made with finely ground beef and iron-fortified cereal.
Use iron skillets for cooking. Foods, especially those with a tomato base will pick up some iron from the skillet.
To improve iron absorption, choose a vitamin C-rich food, such as orange juice to eat along with iron-rich foods. (Make sure these foods have already been safely introduced into baby's diet.)
Serve an animal source of iron along with a non-animal source together in the same meal. (For example, serve chili, which contains both beef and beans -- and may contain vitamin C rich peppers and tomatoes.) This type of combination will significantly increase the absorption from the non-animal source.

Raisins can help, choclate covered raisins might be easy to get kids to eat, or if he likes peanut butter, "ants on a log" can work to. Celery with peanut butter and raisins on top. Good luck!

you are 27 and a-soon-to be grandmother? wow. days sure are a-changing

My son, who is now 4, had a low iron count when he was your son's age. He wasn't a fan of meat or other iron-enriched foods, and wasn't interested in baby cereal anymore. I had to get creative. First of all, you may already know this, but milk will actually block the absorbtion of iron. Stay away from giving your son milk with his meals if they include iron. Also, vitamin C will help the absorbtion of iron so it would be helpful when feeding him an iron-enriched food to also include a food high in vitamin C. An easy way to do this is to have him drink a cup of apple juice with his meals (make sure it is "real" apple juice and includes at least 100% of your daily requirement of vitamin C). Another idea is to cook a boiled egg, mash up the yolk and hide it in a food that he loves.. spaghetti, applesauce (high in vitamin C), oatmeal, even pb&j's!! Egg yolk is a good source of iron.
When my son was two years old, he wouldn't eat rice cereal anymore so I would give him a bowl of applesauce and put just a couple of tablespoons of rice cereal in it. He never knew the difference and devoured it in less than 60 seconds!
One last thing, if you do decide to give your son an iron supplement, here's a tip: Iron supplements usually taste pretty bad, so mix it into his juice (which will also help the absorbtion!). Also, iron supplements can discolor your child's teeth so it would be a good idea to have him drink it through a straw, so that it will have as little contact with his teeth as possible.

Well, that's all the ideas I've got!! God Bless!

If u have WIC in your area go to their office and see if they can give u a list of foods that have iron in them. Maybe I might have a list at my house I could copy and send to u. My son who is 2 had lead poisioning so they gave me a list of different foods to help build up his iron I believe it was.I'll check and see if I still have it.

Hello S.,

We are in the same boat with the realtionship area. Try looking at how much iron is in the food you buy and give him those. Graham Crackers have like 6% Iron and a very good. I am married to a wonderful man who is 53; I have 4 step sons ranging in age from 31-24 and 3 step grandkids. Myself I have two beautiful daughters; one of whom belongs to my husband now. So, it all works out. My oldest refers to him as Dad Rick, and he tries hard to live upto it. Kids will go through their phases where they will eat the Iron enriched foods without thinking and then they won't. If he like PB&J then try peanut butter with banana's. Feed him as much Iron without him know it as he will eat. A friend of mine had that problem with her youngest and she just fed her Iron enhanced foods and the little one's iron picked up just fine. Let me know what happens please: ____@____.com is my e-mail address.

OKAY MOM, YOU NEED TO CHANGE HIS DIET SINCE HE'S STUCK ON PB&J. NOIWADAYS PARENTS LET THE KIDS BE THE JUDGE OF WHAT THEY EAT, WHAT THEY DO, AND WE WOULD HAVE NEVER GOTTEN ALL THIS FROM OUR PARENTS. WE ATE WHAT WAS ON THE TABLE OR DIDN'T EAT. HE NEEDS VARIETY IN FOODS AND HE NEEDS A VITAMIN WITH IRON. TALK WITH YOUR DOCTOR