BLW and breast feeding - the iron issue. advice please

[deaconblue]

Dd is nearly 7 months, we;ve been blw for about a month and so she still doesn't "eat" much, although she's offered lots of green veg and some meat. Asked HV today about it and she recommended vitamin tablets to help iron absorption but couldn't explain what happened to breast fed babies pre-vitamin supplements. Just said that they weaned earlier but I was thinking way back to pre-blender and puree times. Do you give your bfed blw babies vitamin supplements?
ds was on formula at 6 months and puree fed so didn't encounter this with him.

Sorry to crash but I'm in the same position (about to start blw with ds2 in the next couple of weeks) so I'll be following this thread with interest and hoping that there's a wise mn'er out there who can help us!

Is Iron-Supplementation Necessary?

Does My Baby Need Vitamins?

thanks for that Seona. Have flicked through it but will read properly tonight. I felt sure she didn't need extra stuff and that makes me feel more confident. HV gave me a leaflet about iron and that also doesn't mention the need for vitamin supplements. My only concern was that if I was giving puree I could know for sure she'd eaten x amount of broccoli whereas with blw who knows how much has been tucked behind her chair, squished into her hair etc?

There is new research out that showed that bf babies still had really good iron stocks at 6 months, and indeed had been replenishing their iron stores during exclusive breastfeeding.

Therefore, as long as they are eating a reasonable amount by 1, at which point you might have expected them to cut down the number of breastfeeds per day, there should be no need for supplements.

Dried apricots are high in iron and very acceptable if you are concerned