Iron Supplement for 1 year old?

By lindseykaye Nov 13, 2013

We had LO's 12-month well check today and her hemoglobin levels are a bit low. I want to increase the iron-rich foods in her diet but she can be a picky eater (doesn't love meat, beans, greens or eggs but will eat a little of these).
The standard Enfamil Poly-Vi-Sol + Iron drops were recommended but I HATED the vitamin D drops they made and eventually bought the Carlson brand that are great. I am definitely going to start her on a supplement because I don't trust that dietary changes will be reliable enough. My thoughts are that I would rather supplement now and then back off of them once her levels are better.

Does anyone know of an alternative to the Enfamil iron supplement for babies/toddlers?

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14 comments

CupQuakeWalk
coconut / 8475 posts

Nov 13, 2013

I'm sorry, I don't. My ped said to stay on them until LO could chew the toddler gummies. That won't be for AWHILE because lo only has 6 teeth, all teenie tiny.

Why don't you like Enfamil's? Or why don't you stay with Carlson? I just gave LO the drops in his bottle and now in his sippy cup of water. I admit, we aren't by any means consistent
lindseykaye
pear / 1992 posts

Nov 13, 2013

@TurtleDoves: I guess the enfamil vitamin D drops were just thick, had a bad taste, and I had to give her a big dose, whereas the Carlson was just a single drop. But that brand doesn't make an iron supplement!
I haven't found a single other brand of liquid vitamin supplement with iron yet so I will probably go with Enfamil, I just wanted to be sure there wasn't another option.

Now that she's older it might not be an issue. Getting a little baby to tolerate a dropper full of medicine was rough. Getting a 1 year old to drink it mixed with water or juice will probably not be an issue.
mrsjazz
coconut / 8234 posts

Nov 13, 2013

No suggestions. I use the Enfamil and it sucks. I hide it in my daughter's yogurt.

We use the Enfamil Fer-In-Sol and I give her half the pediatrician's recommendation and that worked to help her levels go up (along with dietary changes).
mrsjazz
coconut / 8234 posts

Nov 13, 2013

@lindseykaye: "Getting a 1 year old to drink it mixed with water or juice will probably not be an issue." HAHAHA Um, this was the major issue with my daughter. I would try to give her juice or water with the iron drops and she'd throw it back at me or just drop the sippy cup on the floor and say NO. Her yogurt is the only thing that works for me.
lindseykaye
pear / 1992 posts

Nov 13, 2013

@mrsjazz: Uggghh good to know. Well at least LO likes yogurt?! Man, why can't cheese have iron in it? I'd be all set if that were the case
regberadaisy
GOLD / wonderful pomegranate / 28905 posts

Nov 13, 2013

What were her levels? Did your Ped put LO on supplements?

My LO was on iron supplements for 9 months due to her severely low levels. Then she was slowly weaned off. And now we're finally off it!

Anyway, I ask because iron overload can cause liver damage. So you don't want to be giving her more than she needs.
CupQuakeWalk
coconut / 8475 posts

Nov 13, 2013

@lindseykaye: @mrsjazz: yeeeeah, I forgot to mention: I did not give him a whole bottle of "tainted" milk. I would just put like an oz and then the drop of the vitamin. Because of course, if it were a whole bottle, LO would never down the whole thing.
I've tried the drops; they are gross.
lindseykaye
pear / 1992 posts

Nov 13, 2013

@locavore_mama: Her levels were low, but close to the cutoff. The supplements were advised (this one in particular) by her ped. She'll be back in 3 months for her next well-check and they'll re-test the levels then. I'm hoping that they'll be within normal range at that point and we can gradually come off of them and check again at a future appointment.

I don't want to give her too much, either! She said give 1mL, 1x a day of the Enfamil.
regberadaisy
GOLD / wonderful pomegranate / 28905 posts

Nov 13, 2013

@lindseykaye: Ok, just doubling checking bc I didnt know about the potential of liver damage till my Ped warned me.

No advice on giving her the drops because my LO didn't mind them after a while. It just sort of became routine for her.
lindseykaye
pear / 1992 posts

Nov 13, 2013

@TurtleDoves: Yeah I tried that with the vitamin D drops back when we had the enfamil brand of those. Lots of wasted breastmilk
@locavore_mama: I didn't know about the liver damage potential until you just mentioned it so thank you!

LO kind of likes the taste of ibuprofen or tylenol liquid medicine now so hopefully I will get lucky and she will be this weird baby who likes it. Maybe?!
SLR
clementine / 824 posts

Nov 13, 2013

We recently tried to start the Enfamil drops too. Until one day DD flung her arm to push them away and ended up knocking the bottle over. It covered her half her face, got in her eye, and went all over the floor and wall. Thankfully I got her cleaned up right away, but her room smelled awful for a good week after. No matter how many times I scrubbed, I couldn't get that smell out. The pedi said we could switch to any other iron drops after that. I keep meaning to check out Whole Foods to see if they have anything better.
lindseykaye
pear / 1992 posts

Nov 13, 2013

@SLR: If you find anything please let me know and I can try to order it online. We don't have a whole foods here but I didn't have luck on Amazon searching.

Do I need "infant" drops? I did find a kids vitamin liquid that has iron:
http://www.amazon.com/Natures-Plus-Animal-Parade-Tropical/dp/B0007WLV04/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1384374728&sr=8-4&keywords=animal+parade+vitamin+supplement
Would this be a good alternative option?

ETA: I just compared labels and the enfamil has 10 mg iron per dose (1 mL) with the alternative I found only having 2.5 mg iron per dose (15 mL). Guess the enfamil is looking better.
SLR
clementine / 824 posts

Nov 13, 2013

@lindseykaye: Will do. Have you seen this one? Not sure if it would taste any better. http://www.swansonvitamins.com/b-protected-pedia-iron-drops-1-2-3-fl-oz-liquid
lindseykaye
pear / 1992 posts

Nov 13, 2013

@SLR: I had not but it seems good. Thanks! Probably more iron than she needs but I could cut the dose.

I'll probably start with the enfamil since I can buy that tonight on my way home from work and if she won't have it, I'll move on to something like the iron-only drops.

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Iron Supplement for 1 year old?

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