Iron rich foods for 11 month old?

[SayMama]

Hi, DD2 is 11 months and we'll be switching to cows milk soon rather than formula. Is there any iron rich (or other generally healthy meals) I can give her to help her have a balanced diet?

I've heard that vitamin c helps absorption, should I offer her orange juice in the morning? Does it need to be diluted? She currently only gets water at meal times.

Sorry for the stupid questions! It feels like 100 years ago that I weaned DD1!

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

I think ready brek is fortified with iron and there are some iron rich foods such as green leafy veg, apricots, raisins, beans and red meat but if she's eating a balanced diet iron deficiency shouldn't be a worry.

If you think that vit c might help, what about something like ready brek with raisins for breakfast some days?

[Gintonic]

Orange juice is quite sugary so may not be ideal as a drink every day?

If your LO eats meat regularly it should be fine, but if you are vegetarian you will need to plan meals more carefully to make sure there is enough iron.

[anniroc]

As an aside, do you give her vitamins? That will help her have the nutrients she needs once she is on cows milk.

[Drladybird]

Hello, I did some research about iron intake and summarised it here: about iron in children's diets It includes an idea about how much iron children need at different stages of their growth and possible sources. Vitamin C does aid absorption of iron. To support my daughter's iron intake, I give her apricots and other dried fruit sometimes as snacks (although not too often due to potential to harm teeth) and in puddings such as wild apricot fool. We are vegetarian and enjoy a lot of lentils and pulse that are also a good source of iron. This lentil bolagnese tends to go down well with most children so you could give that a shot.

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

mama have you read this on iron too?