Anyone else worried about *iron*???

[OxMum]

My DD is 7 mo. old and quite a difficult little eaterpear and baby rice, but not much else without loads of fussing! I wouldn't be worried except that there's almost no iron in her diet. She's still bf-ing (but apparently there's not much iron in breastmilk) and I sneak in small amounts via iron-fortified baby rice and formula to sip at meals. But all the weaning info stresses that from six mo., babies no longer have the iron stores they had a birth, and that a lack of iron is linked to slowed development, etc. So am worried by her refusal to eat anything protein-y, like meat and beans, even pureed and "hidden" in her beloved pear puree! Is anyone else feeling concerned about ironor a lack thereof??

There IS iron in breastmilk, a very small amount compared to what is in formula, but that is because it is so perfectly easy to absorb, Iron from formula however is not easily absorbed so they add loads and loads. Let me guess, a HV told you there was not enough iron in breastmilk, right?

Here you go: \link{http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/vitamins/iron.html\Kellymom}, the best source for breastfeeding info as always.

"The original iron stores of a full-term healthy baby, combined
with the better-absorbed iron in breastmilk, are usually enough
to keep baby's hemoglobin levels within the normal range
well into the second six months."

Hope this helps, it worried me too till I read up on it.

That link is INCREDIBLY helpful and the single best thing I've found anywhere on the iron question! So many thanks! But it wasn't my hv who suggested fortified iron anything--in fact, both the hv's I spoke to were hesitant to recommend any additional vitamin drops or anything else and have encouraged me to keep bf-ing. But they did say it was important also to feed DD iron-rich foods asap, since her iron stores would start to get depleted after 6 mo, which is what made me so anxious. But your weblink makes it clear that, with ongoing bf-ing, I really shouldn't panic for a few more weeks or even months if DD isn't interested in meat, etc.

FaZ is of course right, your DD is going to have enough iron in her diet from breastmilk.

There are plenty of non-meat iron sources, as well. Dried apricots are one of the more baby-friendly ones. If your DD likes purees, you can boil dried apricots in a bit of water, puree the whole thing, and end up with something reasonably tasty and iron-loaded.

what about formula fed babies? DS is 25 weeks and Ive been weaning him on veggie purees for two weeks

As far as I'm aware, formula milk - both infant and follow on contain enough iron.

you could boil up some apples and add a little mollasses this is very rich in iron ,also try millet flakes you could make up with formula then add pear after, it is like porridge you can buy it in holland and barret. Look on lucy burney website she is a specialst in child nutrition and has some great recipes, i use her book called immunity foods for kids/ sorry if this is a bit long winded xx

by the way mollasses is very srong tasting so only need a teaspoon per bag of apples.