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The best iron-rich foods for babies

Did you know that iron is an essential nutrient for babies?


At the 6-12 month age, a baby's daily iron requirement is more than what an adult male requires! (Baby req - 11mg; adult male req - 8mg)

Interestingly, around the 6 month mark, breastmilk no longer meets the baby's iron requirements. This is not a flaw in breastmilk or the mother's health who is producing the milk. Rather, this is a time that iron-rich first foods should be encouraged.

What is a low-allergenic risk, iron-rich food to introduce?


MEAT!


There are multiple ways this can be done with purees or finger foods. Here's just a few to get you started:


MUSCLE MEATS

  • Slow cooked/stewed meat or poached chicken that is pulled into finger sized strips. This shape and size means they can pick up and grab the meat in their hand with enough sticking out to be sucked on. The meat should be soft enough that it can be squished between their tongue and roof of mouth.

  • Slow cooked meat can also be blended into a puree.

  • With finger foods, once your baby is comfortable with soft strips, then medium-rare steak strips, again in finger size and shape, can be offered. Even without teeth, your baby will enjoy sucking and gnawing all the nutrients out of the steak.

  • You can even try meat on the bone like lamb cutlets and chicken drumsticks (remove skin and loose fat) when you feel comfortable.



LIVER

  • Cut into finger-sized and shaped strips and panfried.

  • Keep a raw block in freezer, grate off into purees.

  • Pâté can be smeared on vegetable sticks (vegetables cooked to a soft texture that can be squashed between tongue and roof of mouth, and in stick/finger size and shape).

BONE MARROW - COOKED

  • Offered straight

  • Blended into purees

  • Whipped with some coconut oil, coconut cream, homemade mayo (once egg yolk introduced) or butter (once dairy introduced) and smeared on vegetable sticks (vegetables cooked as mentioned above)


Have you tried any of these methods?

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