Son Found to Have Low Haemoglobin at Ninth Month Visit to the Pediatrician

Hi,
I would try mixing the formula with breast milk, increasing the amount of formula a little with each bottle. It worked with my son when I had to quit breastfeeding because working full time stole my milk supply! Good luck,
A.

I made my son's baby food and always mixed in the dry formula with it. I too was concerned about iron. It works very well with spinach, brocolli and sweet potoatoes or carrots. This may not cover all his formula needs but will certainly help.

Good luck!

Rice cereal (and the other baby cereals) has extra iron, you could mix that with formula. It's pretty common for breastfed babies to have low iron. Also, they make vitamin drops with iron in them. Read labels and focus on iron-rich foods.

Low iron is VERY common in breast fed babies. It almost always rectifies itself with increased intake of table food...Unless your child is symptomatic of anemia I would not be worried about it and I would not consider giving formula...why give him artificial baby milk when your body makes the real thing ;)

same thing happened to my son. we put him on a multivitamin (that we would put in his juice/breastmilk/etc). we did that until his 1 yr checkup and that bloodwork produced satisfactory results. we chose a basic target brand multivitamin.

Hello,
Its good to hear that you are still nursing your son. I nursed both my boys until they were around 14 months, and neither would drink formula. My youngest who I just stopped nursing isn't really interested in drinking anything besides water. If I were you I would consult a lactation consultant. Is your own iron level low, because maybe then there isn't enough iron in your milk? I've read that breastfeed babies do have lower iron levels than those who are formula fed. I would make sure he doesn't get constipated on the iron you're giving him. You could try mixing the powerdered formula into his food. It sounds as though you're already feeding him iron rich foods - there aren't many though. Good luck
T.

hi! I think that if breastfeeding is going well you should not introduce formula at this point. They have vitamin drops you can buy, and also Earth's Best makes an organic rice cereal that is a good source of iron. Do you take a vitamin? That may help the iron levels in your milk. Even though breastmilk is lower in iron that formulas, it is actually absorbed more efficiantly in your babie's intestine. Formula isn't absorbed as efficiantly, which is why they make it higher in iron. Also, maybe adding cooked leafy green veggies to his diet will help too. Good luck to you!

My pediatrician recommended we feed my breastfed son spinach which is high in iron. You can get some ways to prepare spinach at this great site. www.wholesomebabyfood.com This site has a lot of nutrition information as well for various foods.

Your doctor may have some recommendations for you.. but what I was told at one point was to mix some breast milk with the formula. It didn't work for my son when I tried it... but it may work for yours. That's a tough one for me, because my son is 6 months now and has not taken formula at all. Good luck to you!

My son had low iron as well. Here is a GREAT article from Dr. Sears website. A list of iron rich foods is at the bottom of it.
Good luck!
M.
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/4/t043100.asp

I haven't experienced this but I have read that babies starting at 6 months of age need two servings of iron fortified cereal a day to help them with this situation. I have a 7 month old and I feed him rice cereal with breakfast and dinner. I make sure he eats his cereal before he gets his veggies anf fruits. I guess I am catious of this since during my pregnancy my iron level was low. I hope this helps

i have not been in your situation before but as for getting him to take the formula mix it with your breast milk like say you pump 8oz all together give him 6oz breast milk and 2oz formula and gradually increase it until he is used to the formula.

A.,

Breastfeeding is the best you can do for your son. Here are two things that you can do to help. You eat foods rich in iron as wells as your son. Dark greens and turkey are a good source and fruits will help with the absorption. DO NOT put him on soy formula that will inhibit the iron absorption. It will cause further complications and can not come near to what you can do with breastfeeding. You can also get him on a good multi vitamin for infants. I have one you can get if you are interested. Watch his stool and if it turns black he has too much iron. At that point I would get him back in for testing and see where his level is at.

Hope this helps and all the best.

Email me if you have any further questions.

L. C
Nutritionist

You could try the baby cereals available in the stores. Most are iron fortified. be aware that the extra iron can cause cramping, so your son might wake up screaming at night. Don't give up on the breast feeding. it is still the best for your baby. good luck!
R.

In order to increase his iron absorption, you need to make sure that he is drinking juice with vitamin C in it within two hours of a meal, as vitamin C increases iron absorption. If he is drinking milk with his meals, the calcium in the milk decreases iron absorption and could be a problem. Some foods that are high in iron are cream of wheat, most cereals (check the labels, some have 100% of iron in them)and organ meats. I am not a doctor but I have the opposite problem, too much iron in my body, so i do the opposite of what I am telling you to do. LOL

Maybe you can try the spinich baby food. or try mixing the formula in oatmeal or other foods. just a thought. i seriously would not worry yourself over this. Breast feeding is the best thing for him. and if it were me. i would continue breast feeding and doing what your doing. you can also have him re checked in a month and or get a second opinion. good luck. and try not to worry. oh and there are iron rich baby cereals. and olives are very high in iron.

Try Similac or Isomil. Both of my girls didn't like Enfamil or Good Start and I tried them each time.

I just went through the same thing, but my son is a little older. His hemoglobin was very low at his 18 month visit. If your son can handle chunky foods, oatmeal is a great source of iron. I cook the natural whole oats in soy milk (which is also high in iron), sprinkle in some cinnamon, some honey to sweeten (the honey should be safe if others in your family have used the same honey and no one got sick) and add raisins (raisins are also high in iron and you can cook them for a bit with the oatmeal to soften them up for a young chewer). You end up with a delicious meal that my little ones love and it is very high in iron. If this is too chunky for your little one, Earth's Best makes an oatmeal baby food, too. If you're not opposed to Cheerios, they are also very high in iron. My son's hemoglobin was up to normal at his follow up visit.

Please ask the doctor, or a pediatric dentist, about the iron supplements. It can cause damage to the teeth (can stain them black. I'm not saying it will for sure, it's just better to know what to expect up front and how to care for his teeth while he's on the supplement). There might be something you can do now, to avoid that problem later on. The teeth are so sensitive to it that if the mother is taking iron while she is pregnant, the baby's teeth can be effected. Again, not trying to scare you, and if he needs the iron, you should give it to him or talk to your doctor/dentist about finding other ways to get it in his system. If I had the option of formula or iron supplements, I would go with the formula to avoid the potential teeth problems associated with iron supplements.

Try a finger covered in Blackstrap Molasses given to the baby to suck on or you drink milk with spoonful mixed in like choco milk. The "hippie" answer to low Iron. I raised from "level of concern" to "fabulous" in 1 month while pregnant by drinkin it and using in cereal and yoghurt. Must be Blackstrap - Sweet has less Iron content. The Iron is super easy to absorb this way.

Vitamin C helps with Iron absorption. Try introducing some Mixed fuit juice from gerber with his iron supplement. They have a synergistic effect. It will also help combat the constipation from Iron supplements.

You should also increase your consumption of Iron rich foods. Kale is very good ( but babies can't eat Kale)so are other dark greens like turnip and mustard greens. Try boiling them with some slices of lemon in a vegetable stock and salt . Yummy !

Also low hemoglobin is not common in a 9 month old as stated by another poster nor is it common in all breastfed babies. It is common in vegetarians with limited diets. Meat contains the most protein/ounce so as you breast feed you need to consume quadruple the ounces of dark green vegetables to meet the demands of your body and your babies.

Good luck ,
J.

I give my breasted baby rice cereal (or any other kind of baby cereal) mixed with a vitamin C rich juice such as apple juice. The vitamin C will help your baby's body absorb the iron from the cereal a lot better. It works for my baby! Good luck!

Dear A.,

There is a natural product you can find in any health store that might be useful. It's called "Floradix/Iron plus herbs" and comes in liquid form. You can dilute it with water or juice if you like. It is made from all plants and flowers and is highly bioavailable...does not cause the constipation or bloating that sometimes can occur with standard iron supplements. Check it out!

Best to you,

S. I., L.Ac.
Lotus Wellspring Healthcare
456 E. Mission Road, Suite 100
San Marcos, CA 92069
###-###-####
____@____.com
www.lotuswellspring.com

There are a lot of iron rich veggies that you could feed your son that would have better benefit than formula. Your breast milk is too good for him to give that up.

Here is what I found on the internet that might be helpful...I made all my babyfood, get a small chopper that blends and puree's and it is really easy.

Dried fruits, green leafy vegetables, baked beans, lentils etc.)are rich sources of iron.

Black molasses is great to add to cereals etc. and contains iron.

It's absorption is improved by the presence of Vitamin C, malic acid and citric acid. Good Vitamin C sources are green leafy vegetables (including cauliflower), citrus fruits, mangoes, tomatoes and potatoes. Citrus fruit is also a source of citric acid, whilst malic acid is found in apples, plums and pumpkins (amongst other foods).

Phytates (such as in nuts, grains and seeds) can reduce iron absorption, as can tannins (from tea).

Hope this helps

Hi A.,

Why would yo want to quit nursing? I would not give him formula just to provide iron. You can give him iron rich foods. Like beef. Just cook it in soup and then blend it up and give it to him. Make sure it's soft enough. Your milk should supply him with all the vitamins he needs. A lot of mothers get discouraged when they hear that they need to give their babies formula. It's almost like their telling you that your milk is no good enough. But it is, otherwise why would we make milk. Lentils, beans, kidney beans are good too. Tofu is excellent. My oldest son ate it up when he was about 9 months too. Prunes are good too. Even oatmeal. Good luck!

Hi....Maybe you can pump out milk and mix it with the formula. That way he is still getting you and the formula....

Have you tried taking an iron supplement, it might help since your son is breastfeeding he will get the excess iron that your body doesn't need.