Let’s Make Sure the Baby has Enough Iron, It’s Important!

You need to make sure your baby has enough iron on their body, you know. Iron is essential to support the development of the child's brain and body. When the body is deficient in iron, its negative impact can have an effect on a child's intelligence, behavior, and motor abilities.

Iron deficiency in children under the age of 2 years can make children slow to respond and difficult to control themselves. Even in some studies, this negative impact can continue until he grows up.\

Read: Iron For Children: Benefits, Dosages and Side Effects

Making Sure the Baby Has Enough Iron

Parents must really ensure that iron intake in children is sufficient.

The child will get enough spare iron in the final trimester of pregnancy. Then, the child will get iron again from breast milk, although there is very little iron contained in breast milk, it is more easily absorbed by the baby's gastrointestinal tract.

Both sources of iron for the baby will guarantee iron needs until the age of 4-6 months.

After 6 months of age, breast milk can no longer be a supplier of iron, and iron reserves have been reduced. Therefore, you must provide complementary breast milk (complementary food) to ensure that the baby has enough iron.

Tips for Meeting Iron Needs

According to data from the IDAI (Indonesian Pediatric Association) website written by dr. Cut Nurul Hafifah Sp.A, babies aged 6-12 months need about 11 mg of iron per day, while toddlers (children 1-3 years old) need iron as much as 7 mg daily.

Here are tips from IDAI that you can apply in meeting the baby's iron needs because breast milk can only be sufficient for iron as much as 0.3 mg per day.

1. Eat Foods High in Iron

The first things you need to do so the baby has enough iron is to eat foods high in the iron of course. You can provide babies with food intake that is rich in iron content, such as red meat and green vegetables.

Red-colored meat can be minced beef, mutton, chicken, and beef. Meanwhile, iron derived from green vegetables can be obtained from spinach and broccoli.

2. Eat Foods High in Vitamin C

In addition, for the baby to have enough iron, you can also be obtained the intake of iron from food sources of vitamin C, such as citrus fruits, strawberries, peppers, and broccoli.

3. Avoid Milk and Tea During Main Meals

When you are trying to make sure the baby has enough iron, it's a good idea to avoid drinks that are high in calcium. IDAI explains that calcium content can inhibit the absorption of iron.

Stay calm, you can still give milk and tea to the Little One, but outside of the main meal hours.

4. Complementary Fortification Becomes an Alternative

Finally, in an effort to meet the baby's iron intake, so the baby has enough iron. You can give it fortified complementary food. Fortified complementary food is an instant food product such as baby porridge, baby biscuits, and so on.

You can choose fortified complementary food products that are enriched with high iron content.