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Anemia No More
How one mother successfully battled
anemia in her baby...
without using iron supplements
Sierra was diagnosed with anemia when she was seven months, one
week old - her level was 9.1. I was told to give her iron supplements
three times a day, but after doing a lot of research I decided not
to. The side effects of the iron seemed too severe since her iron
levels were not very low, and she has a very delicate tummy!
Instead I decided to give her a combination of iron-rich and vitamin
C-rich foods. She does not eat a lot, but she does like to feed
herself little bits here and there whenever I eat, so I just made
sure all of the little bits had iron or vitamin C. She insists on
feeding herself - even things you need a spoon for!
Sierra had just started eating solid foods the week she turned
6 months, just over a month before this happened. She was barely
eating at the time we were going through all of this. She was eating
about 1 tablespoon of food per day total when we started, and by
the time we finished she was up to almost 2 tablespoons per day.
Her diet consists of cheerios, avocado, all kinds of fresh veggie
chunks & fresh fruit chunks, fried potatoes, fried tofu chunks,
iron-fortified oatmeal (now with molasses), homemade rice cereal
cookies, and soy yogurt. But it is still mostly breastmilk since
she still nurses every two hours.
Well, we got her re-tested after 5 weeks (aged 8 months, 2 weeks).
She is no longer anemic - I just found out. I am so happy!! Ironically,
I almost caved and went and bought iron drops Saturday because she
took a one hour nap two days in a row (she normally takes no more
than a 10 or 15 minute nap) and I was convinced it was the anemia!
Anyway, her levels are now normal. Her new level is 10.4 (10.2 is
normal). I am amazed that we could get it up that much in such a
short time with diet alone, considering how little she eats. I am
going to continue giving her foods high in iron and vitamin C since
I would like her numbers to be higher and she likes what she eats.
Besides, I think a healthy diet in the first few years is exceptionally
important and she has one healthy diet - I wish I ate so well!
I am so happy that it worked out without the iron drops! And I
know Sierra would be too, if she had known about them!
Story
used with the permission of Lori & Sierra (12/24/97)
Added to web
site: 11/10/1998
