I think it's more a developmental thing (chewing etc) rather than a need for food thing. And by 7mths they really need more iron than we can give them via breastmilk.
I'm not sure that last quote is true. I know that breastmilk generally has a low amount of iron in it, but they can absorb 49% of the iron present, as opposed to the 4% they can absorb from other sources. My son has low iron (although it wasn't picked up til later) and i am sure i remember the nurse saying something about him not needing iron fortified stuff til over a year - because that's when people typically go on cows milk. - we had weaned onto formula earlier though.
Plunket's literature say that babies need a lot of iron particularly from 7-8mths. Not sure why though! But they did tell me that my breastmilk wouldn't be enough. I generally have low iron anyway so I knew he would definitely need another source of iron.
around 7-8 mths the stores of iron are getting depleted... and yeah iron from breast milk is definitely absorbed better than from food sources. Because a lot of mothers have stopped breastfeeding before 7 months though i think that is why iron rich food is encouraged by plunket and the like.
Breastmilk provides the most absorbable (sp) source of iron, but as soon as it is mixed in the babies belly with any other food source (formula included) the ability to absorb the iron is severely reduced. This means that if your are offering food well after BFding and baby is still getting plenty of BM they should never end up iron deficient.
My DD is almost 15months and is exclusively BF (due to health problems) her iron levels are fine.
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lizzle wrote:
