Getting iron into 6yo and 2.5yo

[SecondhandTable]

Just an fyi that we are vegetarian and not vegan, but I thought I'd get the most useful advice here.

6yo has had iron insufficiency last year and had supplementation prescribed for 3 months. I suspected that was the case due to her behaviour and appearance, hence why I took her to the GP to query it and was correct. She perked up after the supplementation period. However last couple of weeks starting to go go similar to when she didn't have enough iron so I suspect its dipping. She already has a multivit daily with iron but I've seen Holland and Barret do a children's iron supplement so I'm going to try that (and obviously will take her to the GP if she doesnt pick up on that). My 2.5yo has recently had blood tests too for different reasons and his iron was very borderline, so I'm feeling a bit rubbish that I'm clearly not getting enough into their diets at present! I try to give him a daily multivitamin which has iron in, but he usually doesn't take it, but again I'm going to buy him an iron supplement.

I'm going to try giving orange juice with the supplements to aid absorption.

Other than that, what do you give your kids to ensure enough iron? I had my own done fairly recently as I'm pregnant and mine were fine, and we mostly eat the same foods, so that has puzzled me slightly. My eldest isn't a great eater though unfortunately so not so surprised about her. Any examples of a usual day's meals/snacks etc would be useful.

Neither of them will eat veg like kale or spinach sadly.

Op, have you asked the GP to investigate why she is lacking in iron?
It may not be down to lack of iron but rather the inability to absorb?

For example, I was first told I was anaemic at 6. No one looked into why. 33 years later approaching 40 I've been diagnosed with Coeliacs so therefore have always struggled with absorption. No symptoms until I became really poorly October last year.

Not necessarily Coeliacs but worth thinking about for her?

Also on a side note, iron is difficult to absorb synthetically. I take 1000mg tablet of vitamin C to ensure I am absorbing the 60mg in my 250mg tablet of iron ☺️

Have a look at the actual iron content on the packaging.

Hmm, I see what you're saying but when it's the two of them it's highly likely it's the diet rather than anything else. They've also both had other bloods for various reasons and everything else has been fine (apart from vit D insufficiency in the little one recently so he's on an OTC supplement for that as they recommended). They don't have any other symptoms of concern and are growing fine, bowel health fine etc. Eldest has had coeliac screening before and was negative.

Do they drink much cows milk? That causes anemia.

We used sytron liquid with my DC, they're on 40mg a day.

Not loads - 6yo has a small cup with breakfast and usually again before bed, around 120ml each time - that's inclusive of any milk on breakfast cereal as she pours it from her cup. 2.5yo usually has just a few sips at both those times plus a tiny bit on breakfast cereal most days.

Would they eat kale/spinach/broccoli blended in a tomatoey pasta sauce?

Dried apricots are a good source of iron, maybe make some breakfast bars with them in? Throw in some cashews/almonds too.

Do they have breakfast cereal? Most are fortified with iron in UK. You could also consider switching from cow's milk to a plant based milk that's fortified with iron & calcium.

Google Iron rich foods and how to make iron rich smoothies (As maybe an easier way to get the nutrients into them)

Aim for 2 banana’s a day and iron rich cereal

Also Fish and eggs - Which i presume they eat alot of anyway!

Legumes and nuts, just look up the highest iron ones. Hummus though I suppose you would be best making your own because of the salt. Sweet potatoes are higher on iron than potatoes but potatoes aren't bad, so I suppose there are switches you could make in general along those lines. Pine nuts are good and most kids like pesto.

Cook with cast iron and/or use a lucky iron fish

My DS was anaemic as a baby and required a blood transfusion. He really enjoyed pate on toast and bovril sandwiches 😂

And I used to make those pastry pinwheels with lots of spinach in

Packaged bread and breakfast cereal are fortified with iron, do they have those?

Do they drink a lot of cows milk? That can affect iron absorption.

What do they eat in a typical day at the moment?

In our house 2 of us are vegan and we've never been iron deficient. We eat lots of beans, lentils, green veg and tofu in meals and dried fruit and nuts as snacks.

Will they eat marmite as that contains iron and lots of kids like it with cheese on toast. Include lots of eggs in their diet and things like egg and beans on toast is a high iron quick lunch. Jacket potatoes are good for iron and often go down well with kids.

My granddaughter is anaemic . She has been diagnosed with Coeliac Disease. I would ask for a test to rule it out !

Thanks for so many great suggestions. Will respond to the questions etc in a bit.

Can I just gently remind people that this is the vegan section and whilst I am not vegan, I do still want to respect the space so think it's best if we concentrate on plant-based food ideas please.

Have you tried hiding the green veg in other things? Eg chopped small in a lasagne or something? Green mashed potato was a favourite here - kids had no idea it was the spinach that made it green.

Lentils i.e. dal, green veg.

What do they eat now? We may be able to offer tweaks.

Seconding some cast iron cookware.

Beans, pulses, lentils etc are all good sources of iron.

That said if this were my kids I'd seriously consider introducing fish and meat 🤷‍♀️

I'm vegan and I've suggested eggs as well as a number of vegan options. I'm sure most vegans can cope with the mention of the word egg without getting upset in a post trying to help vegetarian children increase their iron levels. Whatever. I wish I hadn't bothered.🙄

I think the issue is that you probably haven't brought the iron stores up enough to rely purely on diet just yet. I'd keep with high supplementation, it can take months to get levels back to normal.

I'm vegan and have high iron levels. Every morning I make an oat milk milkshake and put banana and raw spinach in. I swear you can never taste the spinach. Could you try this with your kids? I just tell mine it's a yummy banana milkshake.

I give mine iron drops from Holland and Barrett - fairly strong squash will help hide the taste as it's a bit foul really. Hardly any vitamins have iron in too so we give it separately, along with some of the diet advice given here

Back to update...

We don't actually own a blender and I'm loathe to buy one tbh.

They do like dried apricots but we haven't had any for ages so good idea, I will add to the next shopping list.

Eldest doesn't like almonds and I haven't actually tried youngest yet, they do both like cashews though and eat them at least a few times a week as part of a trail mix snack I make up for them.

They have breakfast cereals most days and these are fortified as you say.

They do eat shop-bought hummus and vegan pesto fairly often like probably at least once a week for both, and both like pine nuts on pasta dishes etc but haven't used them for ages tbf so good shout to use them more often. They're just so expensive though.

They eat bread every day, and potatoes at least a few times a week. Sweet potato very rarely but they do both like it so that could be a good shout as a swap sometimes.

I've ordered the iron drops from H&B for the little one and gummies for the big one. Never thought about the taste tbh. The prescription liquid the big one had last year was cherry flavoured and she took it fine.

They eat banana at least a few times a week on average.

The green mash sounds like it could work, they both like mash and neither will eat spinach except for when it is in tortelloni.

Definitely not coeliacs as both have been tested for it before.

Only the little one will eat tofu sadly which is an annoyance.

Really 😂

So we cant mention eggs or fish!!!

Ok, well how about you just google instead!

You asked for help we are helping you, you are then telling us what we can and cant write

Get a grip! Its just a vegan section !!! ❄️❄️❄️