[angelkisses0102]

...and they need to be highly creative. He continues to have oral/food issues and aversions. He does not eat any meat other than chicken tenders and the occasional piece of bacon. He does not eat green foods and is highly sensitive to tastes and suspect of new foods...introducing new foods is a near impossible task...and takes forever. He recently took a bite of pizza and we have been working on that for at least a year...maybe longer. (Hated it btw.)

He is on one 8oz bottle of pedisure a day right now...I am trying to get him up to two, started today. But he has a hard time knowing when he is hungry (sensory issue with internal regulation) so filling him with liquids may not be the best option.

Why? He had blood work done yesterday and his iron is low. He goes back in two weeks to be retested and if it is still low...he will have to go on *something* (DH took him to this appointment) to get his iron up. I have tried iron fortified vitamins and he can't stand the smell (don't blame him.)

Help!!!

Thanks!!!!

[DSmall]

Hi Kim - I will share what I do with my kids.... It really works though it sounds awful - tastes yummy too - DH and I drink one every morning along with all three kids!

In a "GOOD" blender (has to be one that really purees anything you put into it) I put:
* a yogurt or 1/2 cup sugar free ice cream
* a banana
* milk (lactose free) though you could use regular
* carrot juice (or whatever juice your kids drink)
* 1 HUGE handful of spinach (this is going to kick up the iron)
* 1/2 cup frozen berries - this is what turns my "green" smoothie to pink they'll never know!

FYI - don't let him see you make the smoothie - it will give away all the good sneaky tricks!

Good luck - it works for even the pickiest of eaters! Not only is this good for kicking up the iron (my girls from Siberia were iron deficient too until these smoothies came into their diet) It is a fantastic fiber supplement. Sometimes they even ask for a second smoothie around 3pm!

[maddensmom]

Make sure to increase his vit C intake too. A glass of OJ or some other food high in Vit C at breakfast with an iron fortified cereal should help.

[another2]

We had this problem with DD. At 2 1/2 she had extreme sensory issues (still has some) and oral motor issues. She could not eat anything that required chewing, or with mixed colors or textures! We worked together with her OT, ST, eating specialist and pediatrician and they suggested that we basically regress her diet -- give her only a few things that she could learn to deal with well and then slowly add others -- we came up with the following:

Basic foods:

Pediasure, American cheese and Cheerios (no milk). Breakfast cereals are "fortified" with iron and a bunch of other stuff so that helped and the cheese gave her protein. The cheese and Cheerios would dissolve if she did not chew them. Although you would not think so, DD was happy to eat this for every meal. It meant that she would not choke or stress, and she stopped crying and throwing her plate at meal times and actually started to enjoy eating. The pediasure was a struggle because of the flavors. Once she relaxed during meals, I was able to carefully add one item at a time to her extremely basic diet. Dried baby fruit was the first addition because it also dissolves and was good for her. (By the way, DD would not eat green either. So we taught her to eat green Fruit Loops until she associated green with "a good thing." Yes, it has sugar, but we bought the low sugar version and all the therapists and doctors approved.)

It took about 2 years to get her diet to something resembling normal. Now, at 7, she still gets uptight if there are too many colors, but she is an average eater otherwise.

Good luck!

[cathvash]

I found this list online...No quantites are listed (how much you have to eat to get this much), but it is still interesting...Go thyme!


Liver 9mg 50%
Fish Paste 9mg 50%
Kidney 8mg 44%
Venison 7.8mg 43%
Sardines canned 4.5mg 27%
Anchovies canned 4mg 22%
Beef lean 2.5mg 16%
Thyme ground 124mg 688% *
Curry Powder 58mg 321% *
Oat & Wheat Bran 45mg 250% *
Cinnamon ground 38mg 210% *
Garam Masala 33mg 183% *
Rosemary 30mg 167% *
Oxo cube 24.5mg 136% *
Paprika 24mg 133% *

I've also heard that raisons have a lot of iron...

[votemom]

yes i was going to suggest raisins too... some kids don't like the chewiness tho. you can buy the SunMaid baking raisins which are super soft and juicy. they come in a pouch (at least here in our grocery stores they do) and are in the raisin section.

[momraine]

What about baby cereals that have iron? They have the smooth texture that he might accept and you could add other flavors gradually or even mix them with the pediasure.

[gafan]

You could also check into the book that Jerry Seinfeld's wife wrote. She purees vegetables and "hides" them in everything from spaghetti sauce to brownies.

[angelkisses0102]

Thanks everyone...I am getting great ideas from here and the other site I asked on. Boy I never realized where iron is hidden.

Last night I took him to McD's (yes as a bribe) for a burger...ha...he wanted a cheeseburger with no ketchup, no cheese, no meat...ummm that is just bread. Nice try and I applaud his efforts to scam me!!! But he then had to take a vitamin with iron in it. Let's just say he is willing to try new things to avoid the vitamin. LOL!

another2~
THANK YOU!!!! With all of his other *stuff*, this one really hasn't been addressed because until now it was one of our lesser issues. He does eat green M & M's so maybe we can start with them...I have no worries about him eating that.

[MamaChinch]

I got the Seinfeld book and have made the brownies and they were really good! Although Delaney eats veggies, well, everything really, but she liked them. She needed iron when we first came home and I loved taking it right from the dropper, no problem. She would go to the cupboard where it was and say "iron!"
Well, digression... the book has lots of ideas for preparing food and disguising the veggies. Although I perfer to have the kids just eat them and get used it to it, it could be a way to get him the nutrition he needs if you can find something in there he might like. It's called Deceptively Delicious. (hope it's okay to say.) Votemom, Dealney didn't like raisin at first, but now she does, and I suspected it was a texture thing, plus she didn't have that many teeth!

[GCS]

My suggestions are pretty much the same as above.

Fortified cereal

make smoothies with supplements - freeze them into popsicles if that works better for him.

I've heard great things about that Seinfeld book from one of my SID groups.

Good luck!
Christina

[angelkisses0102]

Thanks all...well he gagged on rice cereal today (60% of the iron requirement is just 1/4 of a cup)...made with his vanilla flavored rice milk and some sugar after the first attempt was too yucky. I am going to try adding the powder to his pedisure or rice milk very gradually. I found white wheat iron enriched bread today (50% in two slices) but it is white... ...he is used to brown bread. But at least he is willing to try at this stage even though he gags to near vomiting.

I guess his eating issues really need to be addressed because there is really nothing he eats that I could possibly hide much in. Smoothies he gags on; popsicles are too cold. I am just crossing my fingers that he had a bad day for iron and that next weeks draw will be normal. Then we will just stick to what he eats and slowly introduce new foods.

GCS~
Please PM me your SID groups links...I really need to find some time to get involved in something (and hopefully they are somewhere I can access from work... )
Thanks,
Karen

[GCS]

I PMed you with those groups.

I am just starting the Dianne Craft program and heard something interesting. She talks about Mineral Rich as supplement you can buy online to replace minerals. Its more Magnesium than calcium and then goes on to say that magnesium is natures tranquilizer. She claims that this helps tremedously for children with Si symptoms, Sensory Processing problems (loud noises, transitions, picky eaters, tags bother them, chewing on clothes, socks have to be just right, etc). Interesting don't you think?

[Threekidstwodogs]

You may want to check with a dietician who works with children. Apparently there are foods that help iron intake and foods that hurt iron intake when eaten with iron rich foods.

Here is a list I found on a website called healthcastle

Iron Absorption Enhancers
Meat/fish/poultry
Fruits: Orange, Orange Juice, cantaloupe, strawberries, grapefruit etc
Vegetables: Broccoli, brussels sprouts, tomato, tomato juice, potato, green & red peppers
White wine

Iron Absorption Inhibitors
Red Wine, Coffee & Tea
Vegetables: Spinach, chard, beet greens, rhubarb and sweet potato
Whole grains and bran
Soy products

Obviously you are not going to give him wine, but maybe this will help with any combinations you are giving him.

It is funny, my son is 3 and he eats a lot of things that are really healthy that I would never think of like beets for example. You might try something for him even if it is something that you would not prefer. I am sure you have done this too. I do know that canned beans are high in iron and so is canned asparagus.

Hope this helps in some way.

[julie23]

you might try cooking what he will eat in a cast iron skillet... i went to the doctor, like 20 years ago... and he commented on my high iron levels... he asked if i ate lots of veggies.. and i said, "nope"... then he asked... "do you cook with cast iron?"... well, yes.. my mom cooked everything in cast iron...

j