Rapid Iron Depletion

My Health Visitor said that if I was thinking of waiting until 6 months to
begin weaning then I should remember that iron intake rapidly depletes after
6 months with a b/fed baby. How can this be? Surely the iron content is
constant? I know that formula has more but is less readily absorbed. Does
a baby suddenly have an increased need for iron at 6 months? DS was 6 wks
pre-term so I was going to wait until 6 months from EDD (or until he showed
signs of being interested - not a glimmer right now) but now I'm worried
that I'll make him iron deficient.

Also, he's 5 months now and the last 2 fortnightly weigh-ins he's just put
on 4oz per week when he'd been doing at least 7oz in previous weeks. I know
it starts slowing down at some point but I had it in my mind that it was
later than this (about 8 months). He feeds at least 6 times a day, poos a
lot, wees a lot and seems quite happy. He only sleeps for about 1 hr total
now in the day (12 hrs at night) so is his extra activity eating up all his
calories?

--Alison

wrote:

My Health Visitor said that if I was thinking of waiting until 6 months to
begin weaning then I should remember that iron intake rapidly depletes after
6 months with a b/fed baby. How can this be? Surely the iron content is
constant?

The baby has iron stores laid down in late pregnancy. This is why premature
babies are much more at risk for anemia. These iron stores start to become
depleted sometime in the second half of the year. It varies a lot by baby,
though. Only *some* babies will become anemic, and they don't have any way of
knowing which ones.

I wouldn't take chances with a premature baby, but to me that would mean
getting iron levels *checked* and going by that information. I'd probably try
to get actual iron supplements into the baby before trying solids, considering
it a medical question, not a dietary question. None of my kids would have taken
early solids in enough quantity to have gotten much iron anyway, is my feeling,
particularly not my son, who just picked at his food until nine months or so. I
had his hematocrit taken at nine months and it was perfectly fine.

--Helen

I started solids at 6 months and I haven't really been feeding high-iron
foods. My DS had his 9-month well baby visit last week and they checked his
iron level. (The nurse pricked his toe instead of his heal to get the sample,
which I thought was weird!) It was at the high end of the normal range. I
don't think there is any real big reason to worry about iron levels in a normal
infant. It is probably a good idea to get it checked periodically, though,
since the test is so easy.

Anna


Alison wrote:

My Health Visitor said that if I was thinking of waiting until 6 months to
begin weaning then I should remember that iron intake rapidly depletes after
6 months with a b/fed baby. How can this be? Surely the iron content is
constant? I know that formula has more but is less readily absorbed. Does
a baby suddenly have an increased need for iron at 6 months? DS was 6 wks
pre-term so I was going to wait until 6 months from EDD (or until he showed
signs of being interested - not a glimmer right now) but now I'm worried
that I'll make him iron deficient.

Also, he's 5 months now and the last 2 fortnightly weigh-ins he's just put
on 4oz per week when he'd been doing at least 7oz in previous weeks. I know
it starts slowing down at some point but I had it in my mind that it was
later than this (about 8 months). He feeds at least 6 times a day, poos a
lot, wees a lot and seems quite happy. He only sleeps for about 1 hr total
now in the day (12 hrs at night) so is his extra activity eating up all his
calories?

--Alison

"Alison" wrote

My Health Visitor said that if I was thinking of waiting until 6 months to
begin weaning then I should remember that iron intake rapidly depletes
after
6 months with a b/fed baby. How can this be? Surely the iron content is
constant? I know that formula has more but is less readily absorbed.
Does
a baby suddenly have an increased need for iron at 6 months? DS was 6 wks
pre-term so I was going to wait until 6 months from EDD (or until he
showed
signs of being interested - not a glimmer right now) but now I'm worried
that I'll make him iron deficient.

snip

Ian was (very slightly) anemic at his 9 month check, despite being 90% bf.
I started solids at 6 months. BUT -- they cut the cord very quickly with
him, not waiting until all the iron pumped into him. That basically would
have been when it quit pulsing. Iron drops for about a month took care of
it, and he was non the worse for wear. My pediatrician made it clear that
it's very common, and as long as you catch the anemia when it starts, it
shouldn't be a problem.

Supposedly, when you introduce any amount of non-breastmilk food (including
iron drops), the baby becomes less able to absorb that special type of iron
in breastmilk. It's not that there is an increased need for iron at 6
months, so much as that is when bf babies typically get their first solids,
which makes that iron absorb less easily. So, when you do introduce solids,
if your baby's cord was cut early, or was preemie, then you might want to
consider concentrating on iron fortified cereals or trying iron drops.


HTH~

Teresa

Thank you all. I will see if we can get his iron levels monitored rather
than just assume that he *needs* solids to get the iron.

--Alison

"Alison" o.uk wrote in message ...
My Health Visitor said that if I was thinking of waiting until 6 months to
begin weaning then I should remember that iron intake rapidly depletes after
6 months with a b/fed baby. How can this be? Surely the iron content is
constant? I know that formula has more but is less readily absorbed. Does
a baby suddenly have an increased need for iron at 6 months? DS was 6 wks
pre-term so I was going to wait until 6 months from EDD (or until he showed
signs of being interested - not a glimmer right now) but now I'm worried
that I'll make him iron deficient.

It's not iron intake that's depleted, it's iron stores. The
lactoferrin concentration of breastmilk doesn't change. It might be a
concern for your DS, because premature infants don't generally have
the iron stores of full-term infants since most of the iron is taken
up during the last six weeks of pregnancy. Did the hospital take a
hematocrit when your DS was born? If they did, that might give you a
baseline.

My pediatrician checks for anemia at 9 months, at which point my DS
(also 6 weeks premature and breastfed) *was* actually anemic. He got
supplemental iron drops for three months, and at his 1 year check had
a hematocrit of 12.7, which is well within the normal range.

You might be able to have them check for anemia early, like at the 6
month checkup. If the hematocrit is low, you can supplement iron
drops, rather than pushing solids or switching to formula.

--
C, mama to one year old nursling

In article ,
(Joshua Levy) wrote:

the top of my head). Purely breast fed, full term babies have about a
11%
chance of anemia or low iron already at six months:
[5] "Iron and the exclusively breast-fed infant from birth to six
months." Duncan B; Schifman RB; Corrigan JJ Jr; Schaefer C. J Pediatr
Gastroenterol Nutr, 1985 Jun, 4:3, 421-5. [found about 12%]
[9] DOES FULL BREASTFEEDING FOR SIX MONTHS PLACE U.S. INFANTS AT RISK
FOR
ANEMIA? Caroline J Chantry, Cynthia R Howard and Peggy Auinger [about
10%]

sigh

Make that four times.

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
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