# Low iron levels in my 9 month old?



## gr33nie (Mar 16, 2006)

I thought that I hear that it was a myth that breastmilk eventually doesn't have enough iron.

My 9 month old has very little interest in solids and we got his iron checked today. The doc. says that she likes to see levels of 11 and his was 9.5. She said that they can be off plus or minus 1 but that still puts him below normal. So she gave me a script for iron supplements.

The problem is that my DS gags on medicine and throws it up.

Are there other ways to get his iron levels up?

I am so dissapointed because I was sure that my milk would provide all of the iron/nutrients that he needs but I guess not









I'd love to hear your thoughts/comments.
Thanks


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## chlaal (Jun 28, 2006)

You will want to read the info on kellymom about iron in breastfed babies:
http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/vitamins/iron.html

I think that where your baby's level is 9.5 and the dr would like it to be 11 but with a margin of error of 1...that means that your baby is really only "under" by 0.5, which seems like a pretty small amount to me. Given that the iron supplement can actually make it harder for the baby to get iron from your breastmilk (as explained on the webpage above), I would personally choose not to use the supplement -- in fact that is what I decided when I went through this with my DS at 9 months. I chose instead to increase both his and my intake of iron-rich foods, and the problem resolved itself by the time we got him re-tested at 12 months.

(obligatory disclaimer, I am not a medical professional and the above is my opinion only)

-Joan


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