Anyone deal with low hemoglobin in baby?

[deborah_r]

I have done research, but I am more interested in hearing some been there, done that advice. DS2, 10 months, was found to have hemoglobin in about the 9 range last month, where it should be in the 11 range, the doctor said. He had been a little sick and seemed to have lost some weight right before that, so she gave us a month to try to get him on track with more solids. He gained 8 ounces between 9 and 10 months, but the hemoglobin level did not budge. I took him to the lab for a blood draw today, we will have results in a few days.

Questions rattling in my head:
1) Are those tests they do in the doctor's office even accurate? I'm wondering what sending us to the lab solves exactly. (Like, are they sending us so they have more info, or because the initial tests may have been flawed?)

2) It said something about CBC - are they thinking low hemoglobin could indicate a bigger problem and are looking into that?

3) I know breastfed babies have the iron stores that last about 6 months, yada yada, is there anything I could have been doing (or could do now) to make my milk have more iron for him?

4) Could my having an IUD implanted when he was about 6 months old have effected anything? (I spotted *a lot* and DH wonders if that could have been a problem)

Thanks for any information you might want to share! I was hoping this baby would be bigger and I wouldn't have to worry so much, but now he's running even smaller than the first one, and now the low-iron is just adding more stress! I just want big fat healthy babies!!! Not skinny, scrawny, low-iron babies!!! (OK, I don't mean that - I want MY babies...but I just wish they would grow and be fine!)

[lilycat88]

Susanna was older (about 18 months perhaps) when her hemoglobin was low but I'll give you our experience. First, don't panic. Did they do an actual blood draw in the doctor's office or one of the finger prick tests? The lab one will be more accurate. DDs low hemoglobin was probably directly related to her illnesses. She had been fighting ear infections and sinus infections constantly and any illness will deplete iron stores. We were able to resolve it with diet eventually but it took more than a month. We put her back on "baby" oatmeal that was enriched with iron and started giving her some citrus juices. She hadn't had juices yet but since citrus helps with iron absorption, we went ahead and gave her some. With the CBC, they could be looking for signs of a symptomless infection that could be the root of the iron depletion. I wouldn't automatically jump to and dire conclusions, though. I can't help you with the breast milk thing since we primarily formula fed.

Jamelin

[o_mom]

1. The lab draw is much more accurate than a fingerstick, so that is why they are sending you there.

2. They are probably doing a CBC because that panel includes the hemeglobin level. It also means you don't have to go back for another draw if the level is low and they want more tests. (a "while we are getting blood we may as well test this stuff" kind of deal - ETA: we never did a fingerstick because we live in an older home and always tested for lead around that same time which needs a lab draw)

3. I don't think there is anything you can do as long as your iron levels are fine.

4. IUD spotting is very minor compared to say a period or post-partum blood loss, so I would doubt that is it.

Some babies just have lower levels. DS1's was in that range at 9-12 months and we just added an iron containing vitamin until he was eating more solids, nothing drastic. We would give it in the bath as the stuff stains everything. The iron level is not related to him being skinny. DS1 was a butterball and still had low iron. It's more genetic than anything if they are being fed on demand.

HTH!

[deborah_r]

Update: The lab results came back yesterday. His hemoglobin level was 10, which either means it has gone up or more likely the in-office test was not as accurate. So of course they recommended the vitamin with iron in it (PolyViSol?) and recommened giving it to him in some juice that is high in Vit C. I would really rather get his levels up with food, considering he is not dangerously low, but I guess I will try the vitamin drops. DH wants to, I am more hesitant.

[brittone2]

DS was not a solids eater until more like 12-15 months (he ate solids from 8 months on but only in teeny tiny quantities. He didn't enjoy any meat at all, so it was tricky getting iron into him). His levels at a year were right around 9. However, they did the finger prick test, and the blood didn't really bead up. They had to squeeze it out. I looked up info on the test and found some info stating that squeezing the blood out pushes more serum into the sample (the clear portion of the blood), making the hemoglobin number seem low because it is more dilute because of the serum.

I refused supplemental iron. DS was dealing w/ tremendous constipation (and we dealt with it for more than a year after that) and I just could not see pushing iron on him. I opted for a retest. I tried getting more natural iron into him with minimal success. They repeated the test a month later and his levels were back up to 11 or higher.

I truly think in our case the squeezing out of the blood from his fingertip affected the sample. We never had the regular venous draw (was the next step if his number didn't go up when we retested). With the venous draw, you wouldn't have excess serum pushed out, or at least, I wouldn't think so.

[deborah_r]

DS was not a solids eater until more like 12-15 months (he ate solids from 8 months on but only in teeny tiny quantities. He didn't enjoy any meat at all, so it was tricky getting iron into him). His levels at a year were right around 9. However, they did the finger prick test, and the blood didn't really bead up. They had to squeeze it out. I looked up info on the test and found some info stating that squeezing the blood out pushes more serum into the sample (the clear portion of the blood), making the hemoglobin number seem low because it is more dilute because of the serum.

I refused supplemental iron. DS was dealing w/ tremendous constipation (and we dealt with it for more than a year after that) and I just could not see pushing iron on him. I opted for a retest. I tried getting more natural iron into him with minimal success. They repeated the test a month later and his levels were back up to 11 or higher.

I truly think in our case the squeezing out of the blood from his fingertip affected the sample. We never had the regular venous draw (was the next step if his number didn't go up when we retested). With the venous draw, you wouldn't have excess serum pushed out, or at least, I wouldn't think so.


That's interesting. The nurse had a lot of trouble squeezing enough blood from his toe, and had to do it twice. But we did have the venous draw, and he is still low (10).

I wish we hadn't had to do the venous draw, because my poor baby screamed and screamed. :(

[dcmom2b3]

Update: The lab results came back yesterday. His hemoglobin level was 10, which either means it has gone up or more likely the in-office test was not as accurate. So of course they recommended the vitamin with iron in it (PolyViSol?) and recommened giving it to him in some juice that is high in Vit C. I would really rather get his levels up with food, considering he is not dangerously low, but I guess I will try the vitamin drops. DH wants to, I am more hesitant.

Deb:

FWIW, passing this along in case you do choose to go the vitamins route --

Our ped also recommended PolyViSol with Iron for DD's anemia. Cheapaskate that I am, in comparison shopping, I happened to notice that the version with iron does NOT contain vitamin B12, whereas PolyViSol w/o iron DOES contain B12. B12 is necessary for hemoglobin production, and only available from meat and dairy, which DD wasn't too hot on at the time. Sooo, I ended up giving DD the PVS w/o iron and a separate iron supplement (FerInSol, I think it's called). Separating the two also allows me to back off of the iron when DD is a little constipated.

Oddly, the "without iron" formulation does contain iron (ferrous sulfate) as a stabilizer for B12, but since it's not listed in the nutrition information I assume that it's in a form that can't be absorbed by the body. This pattern proved to be true for all of the generic brands I found, too.

My ped didn't know that the two PVS formulations had differences (other than iron or no) but didn't seem too concerned about the whole thing.

MH (who talks way too much about vitamins, sorry if this is a little rambling)