Iron

[crl]

Dd, 15 months old, is anemic. I am the one who raised the issue with her ped so I am not surprised. She won't eat meat for the most part or beans at all, though I will keep trying. Right now her best source of iron is probably spinach and cheese ravioli.

We are starting her on a supplement.

I am going to try the Plum baby pouches with spinach because she likes other flavors of those. I am also going to try a spinach cheese bar recipe since she likes cheese. She does eat hot dogs, but I consider those a treat. Maybe I should get some all beef, nitrate free ones and serve them more often? I will give kale chips another try.

Any other suggestions?

Thanks!
Catherine

[rin]

My DD loves the frozen edamame from Trader Joes; I just boil up a package and toss some salt on them. She also really likes molasses cookies, although that would probably also fall into the "treat" category! (Molasses is high in iron, though --I think 1 tablespoon has about as much iron as a serving of beef-- so maybe if she likes the taste you could try using it as her default sweetener?)

ETA: Dark leafy greens are actually kinda inefficient as an iron-delivery method; I think you have to eat about a cup of boiled frozen spinach to get the same amount of iron as a tablespoon of molasses. Not that it's bad to eat them, of course, but to get enough iron from them you do have to eat an awful lot!

[crl]

Thanks! I did not realize edamame is high in iron. She rejected it once, but I can definitely try again. And I had forgotten about molasses. Maybe I can work that into some oatmeal or cookies for her, at least sometimes. I have this vague memory that blackstrap molasses or some such thing is better for iron than other kinds? Is that right?

Catherine

[rin]

Yeah, I think you're right that blackstrap molasses is more nutrient-rich than regular. We do use the blackstrap kind, it has a stronger flavor than the regular kind but we're not eating it by the spoonful and mixed into cookies/etc it's lovely.

[mikala]

We've been working through this too. Heme (meat) iron is the most readily absorbed so we've been working to include at least small amounts of meat in more of our meals both for its own sake and to improve the absorption of other iron sources. Vitamin C can also help absorption so things like spaghetti and meatballs are great, lasagna, sloppy joes, etc. DS tends to eat shredded or ground meat more than larger pieces so we've done a lot of those.

We do veggie sources as well and DS loves black beans, baked beans, etc.

I've also had luck with blackstrap molasses muffins and kale chips are often a hit here.

Our dietician also suggested continuing to use rice cereal or other iron-fortified baby cereal and mix it into yogurt or other foods he eats readily.

Can you ask for a referral to a pediatric nutritionist/dietician? We met with one and she had a lot of ideas for other ways to sneak in iron based on his likes and dislikes. We also found that his appetite improved when we started to alleviate the anemia with a supplement. Over time it has become easier to get him to eat iron-rich foods.

Good luck!

[urquie]

1 1/4 cups rice krispies has 63% of the daily value

[crl]

Thank you all for the ideas.

I tried this spinach and cheese bar recipe today. http://allrecipes.com/recipe/spinach-brownies/detail.aspx. I like them. Dd ate one square but I am not sure they were much of a hit. I'll keep trying them though along with the other suggestions.

Thanks!
Catherine

[brittone2]

I think non-heme iron is tough to absorb.

if she likes hotdogs, will she eat sausage? DS1 was not a big eater and didn't like meat. He wasn't anemic but was kinda borderline around his 12 month visit. He did enjoy pieces of sausage...that was one of the only forms of meat he would eat.

I also think dairy can impede the absorption of iron IIRC, so combining with the cheese may not help that much?

Do you cook in cast iron? That would at least bump up the iron content a little bit in anything you cook in it.

If you are giving non-heme sources, supposedly it helps if you pair it with vitamin C rich foods.

[crl]

I do cook in cast iron. And she does eat sausage. Hot dogs and sausage are the meat I can get her to eat. I can try serving her sausage more often (the rest of us get sick of it and I try to feed her just what we are having, but obviously the iron issue takes precedent.). I am going to try to track down some meat filled pasta and see if she will go for that.

Thanks,
Catherine

[mikala]

Yeah, I can understand the hesitancy to just serve more sausage. It definitely feels like more of a sometimes food than an everyday food.

I looked back at my handouts from our nutrition clinic and have a few other ideas. Hummus is really popular at our house and it often contains both iron and vitamin c. Fortified instant oatmeal is also high in it. Raisins are ok and DS loves them but they're technically a choking hazard. Eggs are also good.

I've had a devil of a time figuring out which foods are best because all of the charts seem to be weird combos of various serving sizes and iron mg absorbed at different rates so I never feel like I'm comparing apples to apples.

This article is interesting and describes more of the effects of vitamin c to help absorption and the differences between heme and non-heme iron.
http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/iron/