[adahc]

I took my son to have his usual 9 months check and it turns out that he has iron deficiency. The doctor prescribed the iron supplement but some of my friends said that it will make his teeth grey. They prefer using iron wok instead!!!! Anyone heard of this?

[rebekah]

First, was it just a finger stick in the office, or did they send blood out to be tested at a laboratory? if just a finger stick, I would ask for a regular blood test first, as the hemocue machines (the in office ones) are notoriously inaccurate. They just provide a range, and sometimes it is operator error ( if not put in the machine within 5 minutes, not a big enough drop of blood, etc) they can get a false reading that was as well.

Second, make sure you are aware that iron supplementation can lead to constipation, so change his diet accordingly once you start the supplement (if you do)

Third Have you preiously been giving your baby iron rich foods?

winter squash
sweet potatoes
prune juice
meat & poultry (beef, beef & chicken liver, turkey, chicken)
mushrooms
sea vegetables (arame, dulse), algaes (spirulina), kelp
greens (spinach, chard, dandelion, beet, nettle, parsley, watercress)
yellow dock root
grains (millet, brown rice, amaranth, quinoa, breads with these grains)
blackstrap molasses (try adding a little to cereal or rice)
brewer's yeast

if not, maybe ask the doctor to allow you to try dietary changes with a retest at the next visit? cooking on an iron skillet/iron wok is still recommended from what I remember, as well.

It all depends on how low the level was, etc. Have a talk with the ped about it and discuss your options if you are not comfortable with the supplement.

Good luck!

[adahc]

It was just a finger sticks but they took out a small tube of blood whic should be enough. I don't want to overdo it, or should I? Is it that inaccurate if only do the finger stick?

He is constipated now (since I started it yesterday). I must say I am surprisd that his iron is low since I have been feeding him iron rich food since 7 months. I dont know what else I can do. well, fed him 1 meal od beef cassarole and dinner of iron rich cereal. Or should I incree the meal base meal up to 2 meals?

Should I stop the supplement for now? He is about 16.5 over 13.5 level (I dont know what that means but aparently anything over 13.5 is considered anemia).

[rebekah]

You have to decide what to do, but I think maybe you should discuss it more with your doctor. If he's constipated you'll need to give him more fiber rich foods as well. if they took a "tube" of blood, it's probably pretty accurate, and the way they "score" them here is a bit different than the US, so I can't tell you what that means. I just think if you are uncomfortable with it, you should talk to the doctor a bit more.

[capital]

I used an iron supplement with my baby as he was anemic, It does stain the teeth grey, but it is only superficial, the tooth itself underneath will still be white. The dentist said it would very easily come of with a dental cleaning once he was old enough to have that. He had iron drops for about a year and didn't have his teeth cleaned until age three, but honestly after he stopped the iron with time the grey wore off before he had his teeth cleaned.

[adahc]

I must say I feel very uncomfortable giving himthe drops. It smells horrible and I feel that every baby has low iron anyway (or I could be wrong). My son is only slightly low. I think I will use the iron wok method and give him iron rich food every meal. I feellike I would rather do it in a natural way than give him drops which could be overdose.
I'm confused. Does anyone feel the same to me and not giving your baby the drop?

[Frenchy]

You can also find iron in the following food :
- ginger (14 mg/100g)
- Beef liver - parsley (10mg/100g)
- chickpea (7.2mg/100g)
- egg yolks - dry apricots (6mg/100mg)

It will get easier to introduce some food to your son as he is getting older... I would also try to give him some iron through the natural way, but in case you see he is getting unusually tired, or easily sick, maybe you should confirm the diagnostic with a blood test.

[lolly]

You can try cooking on Le Creuset. They are cast iron cookware.