Re: Does my baby need iron? Am I doing the right thing?

[Cheryl S.]

> wrote in message
om...
> At his 6 month WBV (which was really at 7 months), the
> doctor said I should start giving him cereal once a day
> because it's a 'good source of iron'.

Well, cheerios *are* cereal <g>, and a good source of iron, so I can't
see what the doctor thinks the problem with that is. I think the doctor
just doesn't see many 6 month olds who can eat cheerios, and was giving
you generic advice. Most babies probably don't eat them until around 9
months, and would have more need to eat the mushy stuff until then. You
can always get his iron checked at his next WBV to be sure, but I
wouldn't struggle to try to make him eat baby cereal given the rest of
his diet.
--
Cheryl S.
Mom to Julie, 3, and Jaden, 7 months

[Nikki]

wrote:

I made the decision to not give cereal based on various
> information sources (LLL, references on kellymom.com, etc.) and was
> confident with my decision, but now I'm worrying that I'm denying him
> iron that he needs. Plus, right after that, one of the baby magazines
> had a little snippet about how babies on iron supplements are happier
> and smarter. I really feel that I'm on the right course, but I need
> some reassurance.

Neither of my babies ate baby cereal. I had Hunter's iron checked at 9 mos
(he wasn't eating *any* solids) and Luke's checked at 12 months. They were
both well within the range of normal. He has a very good diet with plenty
of variety and cheerios have a lot of iron. I wouldn't worry but an iron
check is fairly easy if it would put your mind at ease.

--
Nikki
Mama to Hunter (4) and Luke (2)

[Lucy]

> wrote in message
om...
> DS is 8 months old this weekend. We started solids about 10 days
> before he turned 6 months old. We never did cereal or jarred baby food
> and he almost instantly started self-feeding. He really won't eat
> hardly anything off of a spoon. He eats a huge amount of cheerios
> every day (at least 1/3 a cup a day, but probably more on most days).
> In addition, he has a fruit and veggie every day for lunch. He eats
> two snacks a day which may include graham crackers, saltines (reduced
> sodium), cheese, yogurt, applesauce, fruit, nutri-grain bars, goldfish
> crackers, and/or wagon wheels. His lunch and snacks are given at day
> care.

You are way ahead of where DD and I were at 8 months. At that age, she
refused virtually everything except breast milk, so I constantly worried
about iron. She never had any problems though.

Since your DS is eating such a wide variety of foods, I don't see any reason
to give him baby cereal. Cheerios are also enriched with iron, as are
Nutri-Grain bars (although Nutri-Grain bars are mostly enriched with sugar
:o) ) Legumes, including peas, I thought are naturally high in iron.

He probably won't take the cereal anyway, if, as you say, he doesn't like to
eat from a spoon. Funnily enough, my DD is completely the opposite and will
only eat from a spoon. Even things like pizza! She just can't stand getting
her hands dirty. She's 16 months now though, so she spoon feeds herself.

Lucy

[Beth]

> wrote in message
om...
> DS is 8 months old this weekend. We started solids about 10 days
> before he turned 6 months old.


I would not worry about it. Just have his hemoglobin tested if you are
worried.

My DS BFed exclusively until he was 11 months old and had excellent iron
stores. What I've learned from the same sources as you is that iron
supplements and fortified foods may damage the gut and impede iron
absorption from breast milk, so I skiped cereals and vitamins for baby.

Beth

[GlintingHedgehog]

On 8 Apr 2004 06:43:26 -0700, wrote:

> At his 6 month WBV (which was really at 7 months), the doctor said I
> should start giving him cereal once a day because it's a 'good source
> of iron'. I made the decision to not give cereal based on various
> information sources (LLL, references on kellymom.com, etc.) and was
> confident with my decision, but now I'm worrying that I'm denying him
> iron that he needs. Plus, right after that, one of the baby magazines
> had a little snippet about how babies on iron supplements are happier
> and smarter. I really feel that I'm on the right course, but I need
> some reassurance.

Your research tells you you're on the right track.

Your intuition tells you you're on the right track.

Your doctor gives you a one-size-fits-all comment (& doctors' advice re
bfing is often not very accurate).

A baby magazine (which is almost certainly funded in part by formula ads)
has a little snippet (ie, a brief, & probably misleading, summary of some
research which might not be reliable in the first place).

It sounds like you're doing *great*. Keep it up :-)

--
Hedgehog

[Phoebe & Allyson]

wrote:

> At his 6 month WBV (which was really at 7 months), the doctor said I
> should start giving him cereal once a day because it's a 'good source
> of iron'.

And you are - look at all the Cheerios (cereal by anyone's definition,
and iron fortified to boot) he eats. I wouldn't worry.

Phoebe :)

[Manda]

<top-posting to say this is the original poster, but i changed my ISP -
actual message below>

"Cheryl S." > wrote in message
...
> > wrote in message
> om...
> > At his 6 month WBV (which was really at 7 months), the
> > doctor said I should start giving him cereal once a day
> > because it's a 'good source of iron'.
>
> Well, cheerios *are* cereal <g>, and a good source of iron, so I can't
> see what the doctor thinks the problem with that is.

That's what I thought! It's just crunchy instead of smushy. <g>

> I think the doctor
> just doesn't see many 6 month olds who can eat cheerios, and was giving
> you generic advice. Most babies probably don't eat them until around 9
> months, and would have more need to eat the mushy stuff until then.

He never really ate much mushy stuff. He pretty much went straight to finger
foods. He'll let me feed him a little bit of stuff on a spoon, but not much.

> You
> can always get his iron checked at his next WBV to be sure, but I
> wouldn't struggle to try to make him eat baby cereal given the rest of
> his diet.

How do they check iron? Is it a full blood draw or just a prick?

Thanks,
Manda

[Nikki]

Manda wrote:

> How do they check iron? Is it a full blood draw or just a prick?

My boys had finger pricks.
--
Nikki
Mama to Hunter (4) and Luke (2)