# Toddler friendly iron supplement?



## blessedmama59 (Mar 3, 2010)

My daughter (15 mo) just tested low, again, for iron. I don't want to give her the polyvisol bc it has so much other crap in it (artificial color etc). She def eats more protein than she did, but I can't force her to eat more. Are there any pure iron supps that are safe for toddlers?? TIA


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## crunchy_mommy (Mar 29, 2009)

Floradix -- it's just iron + juices/herbs/B-complex -- several different versions of it, we get Floravital Iron + Herbs & B-Complex (something like that). You can get it from Whole Foods or order it from iherb.com or wherever. It tastes good too (we only supplemented DS short-term but I'm still taking it myself & he gets mad that he can't have some).


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## Punchy Kaby (Mar 13, 2006)

WaterOz ionic iron, only need to take half teaspoon for a toddler. My DS had low iron and he took this (I also take it) and his iron was up in a couple of months. It is a great supplement, the amount you take is .001mg, but because it is easliy absorbed it gets used by the body. Other iron supps are 25 mg (for adults) and the body has to get rid of all that it doesn't asslimilate. I used to be cold all the time partially due to anemia and just by taking one teaspoon I would get a rush of warmth.

Also, take iron with vitamin c, it helps absorption. And take iron away from milk/dairy as it willblock absorbtion. Also high oxalate foods will block absorbtion ( dark leafy veggies like spinach, beets, kiwi fruit, chocolate)


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## allaiter (Apr 11, 2008)

Quinoa (Keen-wa) is a really yummy grain that is packed full of iron and protien...it cooks like rice and you can eat it like oatmeal, rice, in salads and it is a Gluten Free food to boot!


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## Catherine12 (May 15, 2006)

You could use blackstrap molasses.

For my dc, I just give them a multi-vitamin with iron in it - there are a number of good natural brands. They tend not to have a whole lot of iron in them, but enough to help.


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## blessedmama59 (Mar 3, 2010)

Thank you for the replies. I almost bought a bottle of Floradix yesterday, but was worried bc it said ages 4+. How much would I give her since she's so young? Also, we eat quinoa occassionally and we love it. Maybe I should fix it more often. I've tried molasses, but she will NOT take it lol Where would I find the WaterOz ionic iron? I looked at two diff health food stores. I would rather correct it with her diet, but she won't eat a lot of meat. I've thought about making her a 'smoothie' with breastmilk, kale, and a fruit to add vit C.


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## crunchy_mommy (Mar 29, 2009)

With Floradix you can do 10ml a day. With DS we chose to vary the daily amounts between 3-10ml a day (I can explain our reasoning but I doubt anyone is interested lol). I froze some in an ice cube tray so it wouldn't go bad before we finished the bottle.

Oh and we love quinoa here too


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## skfmama (Apr 12, 2010)

I know this is an old post, but I'd love to hear your reasoning on varying the dose. I think we're going to have to supplement DS (14mo) and I'm looking at doing it with Floradix.

Thanks!


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## crunchy_mommy (Mar 29, 2009)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *skfmama*
> 
> I know this is an old post, but I'd love to hear your reasoning on varying the dose. I think we're going to have to supplement DS (14mo) and I'm looking at doing it with Floradix.
> 
> Thanks!


OK this is not at all something 'scientific' but I'll explain it anyway!

I believe we should get all our vitamins & nutrients from food. I worry that introducing a supplement will cause the body to rely on something artificial instead of naturally compensating. For ex., my DS had very low iron stores but his red blood cell count was perfect. I think his body just kind of compensated for what he wasn't getting from food (he didn't eat solids really at that point). So I figured by varying the doses, it would better mimic the naturally variable amounts of iron that occur in our regular diet, and prevent his body from getting used to artificially introduced amounts of iron.

No clue if that makes any sense to anyone but me


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