# Iron Rich food ideas/recipes for 12 mos old?



## attachedmama2one (Aug 8, 2002)

Hi. My 12 mos old son, who is very large, has been and continues to be moderately anemic. I don't generally give babies vitamins but after his first draw was so low tried several varieties - all of which he vomitted and continued to vomit for the rest of the day. The nurse disagreed, but the dr finally agreed that he must not tolerate them and agreed to have me try iron rich foods as well as a half of my children's chewable vitamin from Country Life (has 5 mg of iron for the whole and he gets only half to 1/4 so not much). I had him on the vitamin for just a few days when we retested his blood and it had gone down 1.0. The nurse was no help and I haven't spoken to the dr but if he can't take the liquids I'm thinking I need to really be extra careful w/ his diet, which appeals to me more any. We are vegetarians, eat whole wheat for most products so I'm trying to think of something I may be doing wrong or not doing - I'm going to be more concscious of vitamin c foods w/ the iron rich foods and add cream of wheat/total (if he'll eat that?!), try cooked oatmeal w/ dates/prunes, cooked potato, watermelon, more beans and lima, peas and green leafy veggies as well as add wheat germ to his oatmeal. Any recipes, tips or foods I'm leaving out?

Jennifer


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## mothragirl (Sep 10, 2005)

i'm trying to increase my 13 mo old's iron right now. i've added blackstrap molasses (in oatmeal), black beans, lentils, and chickpeas to her diet. i have not found a way to get her to eat anything green and leafy


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## EnviroBecca (Jun 5, 2002)

Sorghum syrup is high in iron and other nutrients, and it tastes better than molasses. Use to sweeten oatmeal, baked goods, milkshakes, toast, etc. If you can't find it in stores, you can order it online from Maasdam Sorghum Mills.

Heating up tomato sauce in a cast-iron skillet boosts the iron content. You also can puree spinach or kale and mix it into marinara sauce, where the flavors of the other ingredients make it "disappear".


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## dinah (Aug 12, 2004)

I use blackstrap molasses often - you can add it to many things without them knowing. Make sure it says blackstrap on the bottle. My mom recently checked in Laurel's Kitchen for me and I think this is the item containing the most iron that was listed.
Also, smoothies with fruit, yogurt, soy milk and add both greens (spinach, kale) and molasses.


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## boatbaby (Aug 30, 2004)

DO you eat eggs? Try scrambled eggs packed with spinach or spinach & tomato quiche. We did this when our DS tested anemic and after several months (with NO supplemental vitamins at all) he was a-ok


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## attachedmama2one (Aug 8, 2002)

Thanks for all the great ideas. I had forgotten about eggs and spinach - he loves quiche so I guess I'll be making lots of that and I had totally forgotten about the blackstrap molasses. thanks again for all the ideas and hopefully he'll show major improvement in the next few months!

Jennifer


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## JBaxter (May 1, 2005)

Have you tried the yobaby fruit& cereal? Its the one in the green packaging it has 45%rda of iron. We also make smooties w/ those.


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## Periwinkle (Feb 27, 2003)

I rescued my son (also a big boy) from iron deficiency anemia around 9-12 months by giving him organic liverwurst (sold at Whole Foods) every day. The heme factor in red meat helps it to absorb much more so than any other food except for breastmilk, but he was too young for hamburger and such (hard to chew). I just diced up the liverwurst and he gobbled it up off his highchair tray.

Eggs and spinach don't have enough iron to shake a stick at. Blackstrap molasses does (and is a good form for absorbing) so I would recommend cooking with this, but most people don't like the taste by itself.

If you want a TERRIFIC iron supplement, buy Floradix Iron + Herbs. It is pleasant tasting (ds took it directly) and does NOT upset the stomach or cause constipation.

My ds' iron levels have been great ever since. (He's 18 mos. now).


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## mommyabroad (Dec 2, 2004)

I second the Floradix. Great product. I use it and DS has as well.


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## attachedmama2one (Aug 8, 2002)

Thanks - I'll have to grab some Floradix tomorrow and ds still nurses quite a bit but eventually it is not doing quite enough (probably b/c he is the size of my 3 year old take away a few pounds!). We don't eat meat but I just bought some of the Yo Baby w/ cereal thinking that might be a good thing but then later checked and the iron level was really low, but it is pink not green. I'll have to look for the other next trip. Thanks again for all the tips and if anyone has a great recipe for muffins, cookies, etc I'd love that too!

Jennifer


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## Kat's Mommy (Jan 2, 2006)

My daughter has low iron. She is also a very picky eater. No leafy greens, no meat, zilch...nada...none.

The only thing that she eats (and eats a lot of) is Nutrios. They are like Cheerios, except these are iron fortified, and if she eats 1 cup per day (which is easy for her to do), she's received 100% of her daily iron needs.

Good Luck!


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## Kat's Mommy (Jan 2, 2006)

Sorry...posted this in the wrong post. Not sure how to delete it.


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## RomanGoddess (Mar 16, 2006)

Quote:

We are vegetarians, eat whole wheat for most products so I'm trying to think of something I may be doing wrong or not doing -
Hi Jennifer,

This might not even be an issue for you but you should avoid giving any dairy products together with iron-rich products, as the dairy impedes absorption of the iron into the body. This is why, in iron-fortified dairy foods, there has to be a LOT of iron added in order for it to make any difference in the iron you are getting.

Meat is the most easily absorbed iron but as you don't eat that, I would go with a LOT of potatoes (baked with skin on), beans, tofu and lentils (we are talking every day here). Your child needs about 7mg of iron per day. Spinach has lots of iron but is not so easily absorbed. Also, give him some orange or orange juice with his iron-rich meals as the vitamin C will assist with absorption. To find more iron-rich non-meat foods, you can do a search on www.nutritiondata.com.

Watch it with the iron supplements. Too much can damage the liver. Also, iron supplements can make you child's teeth brown and corrode the teeth.

Hope this helps and good luck.
Caroline


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## laohaire (Nov 2, 2005)

The Floradix is AMAZING. It goes down smooth, tastes good (after getting used to it 2 or 3 days), no stomach upsets, no constipation, and is REALLY effective. There was a time that I thought I might be anemic (postpartum), I had taken 2 doses (over 2 days) of this stuff before I got the blood draw, and they were absolutely AMAZED at my iron levels.


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## beckington (Mar 1, 2004)

We cook split red lentils and add it to tomato sauce for a pasta sauce - it changes the texture but not the taste much. We also add in kidney beans or another type with it. The pasta also has iron in it since everything seems to be made enriched these days. The vit C in the tomato sauce helps absorption. But then I've read that something in legumes and spinach actually makes it hard to absorb the iron in them, so I'm not sure - I think as long as you get some vit C with the legumes that it counteracts it and you get the iron?

I found some recipes for cookies and other stuff here:
http://www.simcoemuskokahealth.com/F...asp?NAV=EATING

but I haven't tried them yet so don't know if they are any good! Not all is veggie though.

Just curious what symptoms anemic toddlers have? I'm anemic and don't think my little guy is cuz he's got sooooooooo much energy, though that's assuming that anemia in toddlers show up the same way as in adults. Hmmm.


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## rzberrymom (Feb 10, 2005)

I'm not sure if this has been mentioned, but we cook in a cast iron skillet since iron absorbs into the food. And you can get more iron out by cooking acid based food in cast iron, so I try to at least cook any tomato based sauces in there.


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## attachedmama2one (Aug 8, 2002)

Thanks again...I can always count on such thorough answers here! The nutritiondata.com is a great resource. And, I like the point that I really need to give him these foods daily - I know I've been thinking more 'over the week' and trying not to get too stressed about it on a daily basis, but w/ his low levels I need to be more vigiliant. Thanks!

I have not noticed any symptoms w/ him at all. He is very active, developing fine, etc. I don't think it is the fact we don't eat meat, because one of my older children, who ate less solids and nursed more at this age, was not anemic. I also need to be more faithful about taking my prenatal since he'll get that in the bm. The other website states

Iron deficiency can cause many problems, including poor weight gain, loss of appetite, fatigue, irritability, and decreased attention span. This makes it hard for children to play, and to learn. Ds definately does not have any of these issues - he is 90% for weight, great energy, mellow and attentive. He plays and does all of the typical 1 year old activities. The same site had some recipes that I thought I'd post to anyone who is interested: I'm going to try the cookiea and raisins in the sun for breakfast.

IRON-RICH RECIPES

Infant Cereal Cookies
¼ cup (60 mL) blackstrap molasses
¼ cup (60 mL) margarine
1 egg
1 tsp. (5 mL) vanilla
¾ cup (180 mL) all-purpose flour
½ tsp. (2 mL) baking powder
2 cups (500 mL) infant cereal, dry
3 Tbsp. (45 mL) whole milk

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease cookie sheet.
2. Lightly cream margarine and molasses together. Mix in egg and vanilla.
3. In another bowl, mix flour, baking powder, and cereal together, and blend into margarine mixture. Mix in whole milk. Combine thoroughly.
4. Drop onto greased cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart. Bake 10-12 minutes, or until lightly brown. Cool on wire rack.

Makes approximately 2 dozen cookies.
Iron Content: 2½ mg. per cookie

Raisins in the Sun
½ cup (125 mL) peanut butter
1 Tbsp. (15 mL) blackstrap molasses
1 Tbsp. (15 mL) orange juice ½ cup (125 mL) cream cheese
¼ cup (60 mL) raisins

1. Using a fork, mash together the peanut butter and cream cheese in a mixing bowl.
2. Add the molasses, raisins, and orange juice. Mix well.
3. Spread on bread or toast.

Iron Content: 9 mg. (whole recipe)

Liver and Vegetables
2 oz. (60 grams ) liver, cut into small pieces (eg. pork, chicken, beef, veal)
2 Tbsp. (30 mL) milk (eg. breast, whole, or formula)
2 Tbsp. (30 mL) vegetables (eg. broccoli, peas or beans)

1. In a small, tightly-covered pot, poach the liver in milk until tender (about 6 minutes).
2. Remove and pureé with a little more milk.
3. Boil or steam the vegetables.
4. Pureé the vegetables with a little of the water used to boil or steam them.
5. Serve the vegetables with the liver paste, or mix the liver paste together with the vegetables.

Iron Content: 10 mg. (whole recipe)

Granola
2 cups (500 mL) rolled oats
½ cup (125 mL) wheat germ
½ cup (125 mL) blackstrap molasses
1 tsp.(5 mL) cinnamon
¼ tsp. (1 mL) nutmeg
1 tsp. (5 mL) vanilla ½ cup (125 mL) shredded coconut
½ cup (125 mL) chopped nuts
¼ cup (60 mL) vegetable oil
¼ cup (60 mL) sesame seeds
¼ cup (60 mL) sunflower seeds
½ cup (125 mL) dried fruit

1. Mix together all of the ingredients, except the dried fruit, in a mixing bowl.
2. Mix well until the oil and molasses coat the rest of the ingredients.
3. Pour mixture into a large skillet and place over medium heat.
4. Stir mixture constantly for about 5 minutes, or until oats turn golden brown.
5. Remove skillet from heat, and stir in dried fruit.
6. Cool the granola and store it in a can or jar with a tight fitting lid in the refrigerator.
7. Serve with or without milk, or serve it topped with yogurt.

Iron Content: 46 mg. (whole recipe)

Liver Meatloaf
1 lb. (500 grams) lean ground beef
1 egg
3 Tbsp. (45 mL) wheat germ
3 Tbsp. prepared mustard 3 oz. (100 grams) liver
1 small potato, raw
½ medium onion, chopped
1 tsp. (5 mL) salt Pinch pepper
1 tsp. (5 mL) worcestershire sauce

1. Combine all ingredients.
2. Bake at 350°F for 1 hour.
3. Mold into loaf pan.
4. Serve with tomato sauce if desired.

Iron Content: 24 mg. (whole recipe)


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## sparklefairy (May 21, 2005)

Is he truly deficient or lower than the middle of the normal range?

I ask because I know people who have been told that their children need to be supplimented when in fact they only lower than the average of the normal range.

The iron in cereal and formula is not well absorbed, nor is the iron in spinach, if I'm remembering correctly.


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