9 month old getting more iron.

[dearbagpuss]

Hi all, I am finding it difficult to encourage my nearly 9m dd to eat more meat. We have tried the burgers and meatballs but she's not that interested. She does like chicken but it's hit and miss. I'm getting anxious that all she will eat is dairy, fruit, bread and pasta of which she will eat a range. It all feels like slow progress & I'm feeling so tired with it. She is still feeding a lot at night but that is a whole separate thread!

What are some quick and easy ways to get some iron and meat into her
diet? Is pre-cooked ham ok? I think she might like a carbonara but i don't eat ham myself. Thank you in advance.

I should add I realise that iron & protein is available from other sources but feel like I want her to eat meat as part of her diet!

it's normal for them not to eat alot of meat at this age, it will come as she gets older. As for the iron, I wouldn't worry about it. The formula companies have done a great job of making lots of us paranoid about iron. The most easily digested form of iron for her will be in your bm, so as long as she is feeding from you then she should be fine. I can't do links at the moment as I'm at work, but if you google Kellymom and iron there should be loads of information on there.

As for the feeding, are you offering a bf an hour before offering solids? Have you read the information on Kellymom on reverse cycling as I suspect from your post that this is what she may be doing?

Dried apricots? Soft ones are best, they're a good source of iron. And lentils?

bagpuss did you manage to find the information on kellymom?

The advice on Kellymom about iron is what completely reassured me about my breastfeed DD and iron levels, for a while I was completely paranoid about it and I think that the formula/follow on adverts were the problem.

But, at 13 months, we have no problem with meat at all. I remember at this age she was just starting to work on her pincer and she enjoyed picking up little pieces of meat. Try stewing beef and lamb for her so that it just falls apart in her mouth.

Hi, thank you for the replies and advice! I read the info on kellymom thanks jiltedjohnsjulie. I think that reverse cycling does make sense.

Funnily enough, she was chewing away on a chunk of chicken earlier and stored it away in her cheek like a hamster so I think she was enjoying the
taste!

Fantail, the kellymom site has reassured me about the iron, I was getting very
paranoid too.

Thanks all for the helpful responses