Happy Tums share their tips on Iron for little ones

Iron is a really important nutrient in terms of your baby’s health and development and thanks to us Mums they are normally born with a good store in the body. Have you ever been anaemic before? If so, you have you might remember the excessive tiredness as one of the symptoms. But more than that, iron plays a vital role in your baby’s brain and immune system development and from around 6 months these stores can start to run low and breastmilk or formula is unable to provide enough iron on its own, so we must start to introduce a food source.

Ready for the science lesson! There are two types of iron; haem (found in meat & fish) and non-haem (found in cereal, pulses and vegetables). Haem iron is 2-6 times more available for absorption than non-haem iron (SACN 2010) and is an easy way to keep your baby topped up. Combining non-haem iron source with foods rich in vitamin C can help improve absorption so families following a more plant-based diet don’t need to worry!

KEY FACTS:

DAILY REQUIREMENTS: 7.8mg for babies aged 7-12 months. 6.9mg for toddlers ages 1-3 years.

HAEM SOURCES: Meat and fish.

NON-HAEM SOURCES: Beans, lentils, chickpeas, tofu, cashew nuts, chia seeds, linseeds, hempseeds, pumpkin seeds, quinoa, kale, dried fruit.

AVOID: You should avoid cured and/or processed meats for children as they are too salty. This includes meats like ham and bacon.

BEWARE: It’s not recommended to supplement children with a specific iron supplement unless recommended by your GP or doctor. Too much iron can be dangerous especially for children.

Tea, coffee contain tannins which reduces absorption and many plants contains phytates which also make it harder to absorb iron. However, by eating foods rich in vitamin C you can help increase the absorption of iron. Foods rich in vitamin C include pepper, broccoli, cabbage, Brussels Sprouts, kiwi, orange, pineapple, strawberries and mango.

Too much calcium can also make it hard for the body to get enough iron and so after 12 months a toddler should ideally be drinking no more than 350ml of cow’s milk.

Now, does this mean you have to give purees to make sure your baby is getting enough iron? No, you don’t! The first clinical trial investigating the effect of baby-led weaning on iron levels at 12 months found this approach did not appear to increase the risk of deficiency when compared to a traditional spoon-feeding approach, so long as parents were given the advice to include high-iron foods with each meal (Daniels et al 2018). And remember a baby doesn’t suddenly become nutrient deficient overnight – there is time for them to learn this new skill!

So, whilst we should be mindful of providing iron rich foods to our babies, with a balanced diet most will get what they need!

For more information about our weaning and fussy eater workshops, along with lots of chat about all things children and food, please follow Happy Tums on via our social media channels.

Nicola, Happy Tums

LLB (Hons) BSc (Hons) CNHC

Registered Nutritionist MBANT

References

Available on request

Happy Tums share their tips on Iron for little ones

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