Can you help me get some iron into my fusspot?

[Sleeplessem]

DD is just over 2, had some bloods taken when she was 20 months and it showed she was mildly anaemia so the paediatrician prescribed sytron 3x 2.5ml a day. The full dose goes against what it says on the bottle as a max dose for a child of her age, so we gave her 2x 2.5ml a day, upset tummy for a while adjusting but her appetite increased, brilliant. Shes then had 2 tummy bugs and the GP advised to give her a break from it but putting her back on now her tummy just isn’t settling.

So I’m after a few ways we can boost her iron without supplements. She can be quite fussy with meat, she’ll eat everything else on her plate and then need some distraction to eat any of them meat. I don’t particularly like that approach as it’s not really following her lead or teaching her anything. Any sort of encouragement tends to have an adverse effect on her, she’s had a food aversion before too (saw paediatric dietitian who was quite firm in letting them eat what they want and the no pressure approach).

The protein sources she likes is chicken mince in little meat balls, tried beef and not a fan 🙄, eggs, v occasionally shredded beef and chicken (but she’s hit and miss), hummus (not whole chick peas or lentils), cheese, yoghurt, milk.

I wouldn’t say she’s fussy as she loves her fruit and veg (raw mushrooms, red cabbage, raw onions etc) she’s just v stubborn.

So I’m after anyways to increase iron consumption whilst continually presenting her with balanced meat options.

Anyone used an iron fish? They any good?
Any types of pasta? Pasta is her favourite food?
Was wondering about cooking things in bone broth? Can you buy bone broth or do you have to make it and boil bones etc?

Any and all suggestions are welcome! ❤️

Does she have a daily vitamin supplement? We give Wellbaby liquid because it has iron included. I think it's the only brand that does.

My toddler is also quite fussy sometimes and has quite a beige diet at times (no meat at all), but at least I know she's getting her daily iron intake.

Stressing about their diet just doesn't do anyone any good, as I learned from experience (I find that really hard sometimes!).

If you just want to get iron into her then I'd go for weird and wonderful - hand mince cooked lamb and beef so it has no texture and mix with yoghurt / mango chutney / tomato sauce for pasta / whatever she prefers. It should do the job and once she's used to it you can slowly increase the texture to be more like real food. Also do similar with chicken / duck liver pate - pretty sure you could add that to pasta sauce in increasing quantities to get her used to the flavour and texture. Eating with vit c helps iron absorption so give her some strawberries, kiwi or blueberries at the same time.

When I was anaemic, I got told to drink a glass of orange juice with my meal as vitamin C helps with iron absorption

luckyironfish.com/

Dried apricots are iron rich: maybe chip them up small and behave like they’re a treat.

How about dippy eggs? My kids love them and good source of iron.

Pumpkin and Sesame seeds ground up in her usual pasta sauce and yes to Vit C rich foods with her meal.

Weetabix
Shreddies, in fact any fortified cereal.

Red lentil or chickpea pasta. She won't know the difference.

Regular beans in sauce are a rich source of iron and easy enough for a child to eat
And, as said, kiwis are very good.

Didn’t know dried apricots being good for iron! Will try that, she likes raisins and dates so that’s a good shout!

I’ll definitely get some chickpea pasta that’s a great idea!

She’s been having abidec drops but I think we’ve got some wellbaby can give her instead.

The madam is a right fuss pot with texture of certain things, like she loves tzatziki but not the cucumber chunks so she spits them out… yet eats cucumber by itself fine 🙄 same with sauces, she likes them on the side to dunk. I’ve never met such a small opinionated person lol.

If she has beans it has to be a 50/50 split with hoops or she won’t eat them either 😩.

She’ll eat fish cakes (preferably salmon ones) and breaded fish too.

Ah this age!

My child will go for a raw mushroom over cake… I’m sure she must have been swapped at birth lol

Fortified cereal like weetabix. This is my go to as it takes the pressure off. I think bread might be Fortified too? Then any kind of pulse and also mushrooms. Pair it with tomatoes or oranges for vit c to increase absorption

Blending spinach into pasta sauces? Same with meat and lentils?

I quite often blend milled seeds with fruit, plain yoghurt and bananas and freeze 'ice cream lollies', sesame and pumpkin seeds might work.

She actually likes pumpkin seeds by themselves they just tend to end up in her nappy 😂😂

Sweet potato is apparently high in iron (I got very paranoid when weaning as he wouldn't eat meat for a while so googled iron content of most food haha). Sweet potato wedges always go down a treat in our house, and scrambled eggs or fortified porridge.

V similar here OP - 2yo aneamic. He is dairy soya egg and gluten free and couldnt tolerate the liquid iron. He will no longer take the wellkid multivitamin either

I'm trying with apricots but so far no luck. Will try chopping them up. I've bought frozen spinach to add to pasta sauce and dates are apparently rich in iron and he likes those so will keep going!

Yeah I don’t think DD can tolerate the iron supplements after these tummy bugs either.

@needtogetfit21 you thought about getting an iron fish? I’ve been wondering if it might be worth it?

@Sleeplessem sorry I missed your post. I had no idea these existed! Will definitely investigate. Thanks for sharing!

It might be worth going back to your GP. Unfortunately, once you have an iron deficiency it's incredibly difficult to resolve by diet alone. There may be a different supplement she can try which agrees with her better.

Well I’m hoping she’d been on the sytron for 6 weeks it’s enough to bring her back up to normal and we can maintain through diet?

Maybe Spatone in orange juice? I was anaemic for years and it was the only way I could handle it.

Sesame seeds are iron rich. I used to put a tea spoonful in every single thing DC ate.

Also agreed re dried apricots.

Spinach in a fruit smoothie?

Following as i have an older fussy child ( 17yo vegetarian, doesnt like nuts and pulses apart from baked beans, peanut butter and humous). I didnt know about sweet potatoes, thats an easy one to include.

Broccoli is full of iron to if she would eat that.

Op can you maybe give her something like this.