During the 6-month physical examination of the baby, a blood routine examination should be performed, and the doctor will also instruct the mothers to start to pay attention to the iron supplement for the baby.
Too white? It could be anemia
If the blood routine report in the red blood cell count, hemoglobin or hematocrit results are lower than normal, the doctor may diagnose the baby has anemia. It is possible because this is also related to the baby’s age, altitude and other factors. It also needs to be judged according to the specific situation.
Can’t give the baby test at home, can only rely on the parents’ eyes. In general, if the baby anemia, the most likely performance is the pale skin, mucous membrane, parents can pay attention to observe the baby’s face, hands and lower eyelid inner surface, oral cavity and other places. Older children may say dizziness, black eyes and so on.
Severe anemia may lead to school-age learning disabilities.
What can I give my baby to eat to supplement iron? Medicinal Supplement VS Food Supplement
The main purpose of supplementing iron for babies is to prevent anemia caused by iron deficiency.
Under normal circumstances, as long as a reasonable diet can meet the daily iron demand, most babies will not suffer from iron deficiency. Iron in food can be naturally converted into iron that can be absorbed and utilized by the human body through the transformation of the digestive system.
Some mothers worry about not eating enough and hope to supplement it by taking iron drugs. In fact, otherwise, taking iron often causes symptoms of digestive tract discomfort, which is why it is generally necessary to take it after meals. Excessive iron supplement also has some side effects, which may increase the risk of cardiovascular, tumor and other problems in adulthood, so don’t blindly eat iron indiscriminately.
Of course, when iron deficiency is serious, mothers should also follow the doctor’s advice and accelerate iron supplement through iron or compound nutritional supplements containing iron.
Is what food suitable for iron supplement?
Breast milk for 6 months
Breast milk is the best food for infants. Although the iron content in breast milk is relatively low, the iron is all [blue chip stocks] and can be well absorbed and utilized by infants. Qualified formula milk powder also adds sufficient iron elements, plus iron stored in fetal period. Therefore, both breast milk and formula milk feeding can meet the iron demand of infants within 6 months.
Eat supplementary food after 6 months
Six months later, With the rapid growth of the baby and the consumption of stored iron, You need supplementary foods to cheer on. These supplementary foods should not only be rich in iron, but more importantly, the iron is easily absorbed by the human body. The first supplementary food I recommend for mothers to add to their babies is rice noodles with high-speed rail. Mothers should keep their eyes open when purchasing rice noodles. The words “high-speed rail” and “IRON” are usually marked in conspicuous places.
Ordinary foods rich in iron
When the baby gets older, Meat and vegetables rich in iron can be added to supplement iron. Meat, especially red meat (beef, pork, etc.) is rich in iron. Alternative iron supplements, Meat contains more fat and cholesterol, Some overweight babies should pay attention to control the amount of food they eat, Try to choose lean meat to eat. Animal liver and animal blood products have high iron content, But what mom should notice is that, If you want to buy products from regular channels, it is difficult to remove these foods by cleaning and cooking once they are contaminated. Green leafy vegetables (such as broccoli, cabbage, kale, cress, Chinese cabbage, shepherd’s purse, etc.) contain iron that is easily absorbed, and they also contain calcium and other nutrients, making them healthy foods suitable for all babies to eat every day.
Egg yolk has high iron content, but it is lower than red meat, liver and blood products, and the absorption rate is controversial. Therefore, egg yolk is not the preferred food for iron supplement.
In addition, taking freshly squeezed fruit juice or fruit rich in vitamin C also helps iron absorption.
The picture shows foods rich in iron, including animal liver, red meat, various beans, eggs, etc. But egg yolk is not the first choice.
The baby is so healthy, why is anemia?
In the later stages of the fetus, The baby’s hematopoietic system is very busy, As the environment in the uterus can promote hematopoiesis, In addition, the continuous supply of iron and other hematopoietic raw materials from the mother makes the number of red blood cells and hemoglobin in the fetus at a relatively high level (the hemoglobin of the newborn baby is generally higher than 140 g/L, reaching a historical high value). This is to prepare for a series of changes that will take place in the body after birth.
After birth, the baby begins to breathe with his lungs, The various systems in the TA will also undergo some changes. The blood system is no exception. In the process of changing its appearance, The original red blood cells will be destroyed, Hematopoietic organs will also be different from those before birth, Newborn red blood cells live longer … These changes occur naturally to adapt to a new world. One of the consequences is that from 2 weeks after birth, the number of red blood cells and hemoglobin in the body will go up and down, and the number will drop obviously. Among them, hemoglobin will once drop below 110 g/L and reach a historical low of 100 g/L about 2-3 months after birth, which is medically called [physiological anemia].
However, mothers need not worry. At this time, the baby still has the iron obtained from the mother during the fetal period stored in the baby’s body, which coincides with the lifting of the ban and enters the circulation to supplement the supply. In addition, the hematopoietic system in the body is working hard. All parties work together to take advantage of the situation and hemoglobin moves forward in shock and gradually returns to a high level. This process lasts until about 6 months after birth. At this time, the baby is getting bigger and bigger and needs more nutrition, but the stored iron element is almost exhausted, the iron content in breast milk or milk is low, and it may also face the dilemma of shortage. The raw materials are in short supply, and the momentum of hemoglobin rising all the way will stop here?
Not only mothers but also doctors are concerned about this problem. Therefore, we need to check the current trend of hemoglobin during the 6-month physical examination. Is there a trend of weak follow-up? In addition, the supply of raw material iron is on the verge of being cut off. Of course, it is necessary to instruct it to be supplemented in time to continue the good trend of hemoglobin.
In addition, iron also plays an important role in the development of the brain, and the growth of the potential stock [learning ability] in the future cannot be separated from the help of iron.
Other issues needing attention
1. Premature babies should pay attention to iron supplement
Premature babies are born early and have less iron storage in their bodies. Physiological anemia occurs faster after birth, and the degree of anemia may be severe. Special monitoring is required, and iron supplement is carried out according to the doctor’s advice. Breast milk fortifier should be added when feeding breast milk to premature babies to strengthen nutrients including iron and promote the growth and development of premature babies.
2. Reasonable iron supplement according to doctor’s advice
Mothers should not blindly think that [inattention], [poor memory], [yellow hair] and so on are iron deficiency. According to the doctor’s examination and evaluation suggestions, the correct choice of food or medicine to supplement iron should be made.
3. Supplementing iron is not eating iron directly.
What can be used by the human body is divalent iron, while the iron we are generally talking about is trivalent iron, so cooking in an iron pan in order to eat more iron filings and supplementing iron are basically the opposite. In principle, cooking and adding vinegar to reduce iron to bivalent iron is also an armchair strategist.
4. Some foods are not conducive to iron supplement.
Iron agent is easy to precipitate and not easy to absorb in contact with oxalic acid and phosphoric acid, so many vegetables rich in oxalic acid, such as spinach and amaranth, must be cooked as supplementary food after blanching. Tea and coffee will also hinder the absorption of iron. Of course, mothers will not give their babies these two things to drink.
5. Timely physical examination can discover baby anemia in time,
In general, blood routine examination will be carried out regularly in children’s routine physical examination. One of the purposes is to find signs of iron deficiency anemia as soon as possible. Therefore, mothers should give their babies physical examination on time.
6. Conventional iron supplement is different from iron supplement in disease state.
This article only mentions the problem of iron supplement in routine health care, and does not involve the diagnosis and treatment of iron deficiency in disease states (such as chronic kidney disease) and anemia (such as hemolytic anemia and thalassemia) caused by other reasons. In case of this kind of situation, one should go to the hospital in time for treatment by a specialist, and one must not blindly supplement iron on one’s own.
Editor: Fei Fei
Author: Hou Fanghua