How to Get Toddler to Eat More Meat--he Is Anemic

Egg yolks are high in iron, will he eat eggs? Also, prunes. I like Jen's idea with the spinach in the bread! Will he eat salad? Throw some baby spinach in there. My kids loved salads at that age. If he is only slightly anemic I wouldn't get too worried.

Would he drink a smoothie? You could put spinach in. If you also put blueberries in, it will cover the green of the spinach.
I believe there are better supplements. Let me know if you are interested.

My daughter is also anemic. She's 2. Egg is good. I was told to give her pancakes and french toast.
When you make spaghetti if he will eat it, grind up the meat tiny.
Cantelope has some iron.
Peanut butter.

I love to have spinach when my anemia is a bother ... I make spinach quesadillas ... my son LOVES them and does not know it's spinach either. I do them for breakfast, 1tortilla, browned on a griddle add cheese (shredded mexican blend) add 1-2 scrambled eggs (your taste I like 2 whites) and FRESH, CLEAN, ORGANIC baby spinach. You can finely chop it if you like and cook it with the eggs or you can just let it wilt while you melt the cheese on the tortilla on the griddle. Make sure it cooks. You can also add spinach to smoothies to get the iron in there ... changes the color but not the taste.

And do not overfeed the iron either as another poster mentioned... I have learned when my body needs more your kiddo will eventually learn the same with age.

To boost the amount of iron in your diet, try these foods:

* Red meat (try meatloaf or even little quiches or spaghetti sauce with meatballs.)
* Egg yolks
* Dark, leafy greens (spinach, collards)
* Dried fruit (prunes, raisins)
* Iron-enriched cereals and grains (check the labels)
* Mollusks (oysters, clams, scallops)
* Turkey or chicken giblets (turn it into a gravy)
* Beans, lentils, chick peas and soybeans
* Liver
* Artichokes

And here's a tip: If you eat iron-rich foods along with foods that provide plenty of vitamin C, your body can better absorb the iron. Also, if you feed him milk, it will cancel out the iron. So do not give milk at the same time as feeding iron or taking iron supplements. I had to give my son iron Poly vi Sol with Iron and a cup of orange juice for maximum absorption.

vitamin c helps the body absorb iron. Raisins and orange juice together will help a lot.

Does he like chicken nuggets? I make my son's chicken nuggets. I cut chicken breasts into pieces, season breadcrumbs, dip the chicken into yogurt, then into the breadcrumbs, and bake them. He LOVES them, and he's not a big meat eater. There are more sources of iron, then meat. Beans and lentils are a decent source of iron. Oatmeal is often fortified with iron. Spinach has iron. Will your son eat pizza? I make hamburger and Mexican pizza for my son. On the hamburger pizza...I put cheddar cheese, ground beef, tomatoes, and other hamburger fixings. Same with the Mexican. Ground beef, olives, tomatoes, avocado. Pizza is a GREAT way to get protein in. My son will eat anything, if it's on a pizza!

My son needed some more iron too and had to take those drops. He loves to eat ground beef in spaghetti sauce. Some iron and a serving of vegetables :) He also takes a gummy multi-vitamin high in iron and all the other good stuff he needs. The more you offer him meat, the more curious about it he will get and eventually try it. It's not fun at first, but it's worth it. Good Luck!

My son was the same way. I make my own bread (a honey wheat) and i add spinach to it (good iron source), he does not even notice it. But really I had to just had to keep him on supplements until he got older and started eating more.

google iron rich foods to get a list. Legumes, ie. dried beans and similar things such as lentils have iron. BTW raisins and nuts have iron.

Have you tried cutting meat up into bite sized pieces so that he can eat it with his fingers? Let him dip it in ketchup or any other sauce that he likes. He might like steak sauce, even. My grandchildren have always like somewhat spicy foods.

You can also make a spaghetti sauce with hamburger so that the meat isn't so obvious.

My mom told me I didn't like meat when I was a toddler and I think the reason is that it has to be chewed more than fruits and veggies. You could try blending meat with a little bouillon or water from cooking veggies. Try different herbs for flavor. Or make a mixture with meat and veggies. If he doesn't like it smooth, leave it chunky but not so large that he has to chew very much.

You can get actual recipes for making toddler food by googling making toddler food.

Meat is not technically a better source of iron, meat has "heme" iron which is not as easily accepted by the body as "non heme iron" (i believe the usda has too many people fooled in the nutrition industry, but dont get me started). Non heme iron has less of a lag time in the body and causes much less constipation and of course doesnt come with the saturated fat and cholesterol/hormones/antibiotics that meat does. Other great sources are.

soybean, blackstrap molasses,lentils, spinach quinoa, Tofu, tempeh............. lima,Kidney black, pinto and garbanzo beans have equal amounts,.

Alot of these things can be sneaked into a smoothie (especially spinach)

but when all else fails take a vitamin

Try to hide the meat in foods that he already likes. For example, if he likes pasta you can give him mini-meat filled ravioli or meat filled tortellini. I also used to make roll up sandwiches for my son (who didn't like to eat meat either). Take a whole wheat tortilla, add cut up veggies that he likes, and also a little cut up meat. Then add a little shredded cheese. Roll it up and stick in the microwave for about 25 seconds to melt the cheese. This will hold the sandwich together so everything doesn't fall out of it while your son eats it. Let the sandwich cool a little before serving. Start with very little meat and everything else that your son loves. Then you can slowly add more meat. You also can add some spreads first like hummus or guacamole. To make it easy to prepare, while you are making dinner, just cut up some of the veggies the you are using already and then save a little of the leftover cooked meat.

Do not overconsume iron rich foods or supplements because it can lead to Iron Toxicity. A serious condition that can lead to death. Iron supplements can also cause constipation so make sure he's getting enough water.

My granddaughter is 3 and has been a vegan for her entire life. Meat has never touched her intestinal tract. She is the picture of health. I'd look for vegan alternatives for protein and skip meat if you kid isnt desiring it.

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You've gotten a lot of good ideas food-wise already. I found out that if you cook in the cast iron skillets that also helps to increase the amount of iron that is in the food. Your best bet is to find some second hand that are already "cured" and are a bit more affordable.

Best recipe for that would be an omelet with chopped up broccoli or spinach and cheese. Course he can't eat it all the time, but would be good as part of a rotation.

Can you get him to eat green vegetables? That can help too.

I second the cast iron skillet idea, my doctor told me that years ago. My daughter and I are vegetarian and we have no issues with iron deficiency.
Lentils and dark leafy greens are good veg sources as well as fortified products.

how about a children's multivitamin? did your dr. not have any other suggestions for foods? maybe google it. vegetarians do it, so there must be a way (although i admit i'm not the one to be answering this). hope you get some good help! good luck!

Oatmeal, molasses and natural peanut butter - if you can get him to eat those, they are good (and healthy) sources of iron - veggies too! I use to deal with anemia, but now that I've increased my veggie intake (especially dark, leafy greens) and other raw or lightly steamed veggies, I've had no issues with low iron. The nutrients in food are much more readily absorbed by our bodies than through the use of supplements. Also, many people believe that the non-heme iron found in vegetables and other grain sources is superior to that of heme iron found in meat. Iron is also better absorbed when in the presence of vitamin C. They use to tell me to take my iron supplements with orange juice. BTW - in the end, the supplements were not effective at raising my iron levels, it was my diet that affected it the most.

My 7mo is having iron problems and I found out it runs in the family and found out if u do like spinach or the iron vitamins do a high vitamin c to help it absorb mine is on poly vi sol with iron since he is still little but I got told to put it in orange juice to help it absorb so u could do the vitamins like that I know meat is probably the best way but I have noticed on the baby meats there is not but 2% to 4% iron but the paper I got from the local health dept has a list of high iron and high vitamin c foods to pair up email me if u want to know what I have but I'm sure u can find em on line to best of luck to u

Oh, so many possible responses come to mind.

Is it that you want meat specifically, or do you want protein ideas? I had a hard time with my 1st. Egg noodles are a good protein source. She liked them plain but also with a little chicken/turkey gravy. I would also make "cheesy egg balls" (microwaved scrambled egg and cheese, hand rolled into little balls). I had good luck with dime-size meatballs too (I called them cannon balls; basically ground meat, bread crumbs, seasoning; pan fried). My 1st like her cannon balls with ketch-up. After a couple times, I started to cuisinart shredded carrot and add that in to the meatball mixture too. She never knew the carrot was there. I also gave her a simple chicken salad (canned chicken, mayo, mashed up into small bits) and served on top of low salt tortilla chips. She also liked baked chicken, pork chops and ham (as in baked ham; you can buy the little dinner size or Ham steak cutlet instead of the big holiday spiral ham). Again, she had to have her ketch-up with it.

And I gave her after dinner treats. Eat your meat--actually it became "make a happy plate"--you'll get 1 jelly belly (just one! 1 jelly belly will not ruin teeth or bring on a huge sugar rush). Don't eat your meat, no treats. She ate her meat more often than not.

My 1st wasn't a milk drinker, so I started making yogurt smoothies (which was basically diluted yogurt & milk, put through a strainer to get the chucks of fruit out). I'd mix 5 cartons together at once, add the milk, and it would equate to approx. four 8 oz cups. She add 2 each day--one in the am with tv and one as soon as she got home from school. Each yogurt carton has about 5 grams of protein. By using 5 cartons and splitting it into 4 cups, that comes up to 6+ grams of protein (not counting the protein from the milk or the benefits of the probiotics).

Now, I do want to mention: If your son drinks too much milk, it can cause anemia. Ideally, toddlers should have between 16-24oz of milk per day (no more than 24 oz). If they drink more than that, it can lead to anemia. So, one question back to you is how much milk is he drinking each day? You'll need to reduce his milk intake if he's drinking too much (especially if he is already showing signs of anemia). If he is drinking 24oz per day more often than 16 oz, I would reduce it (since he is already slightly anemic). Here are some links in case you need to read up on excess milk consumption causing anemia:
http://www.aafp.org/afp/2002/1001/p1217.html
http://www.drpaul.com/library/MILK.html
http://www.cdc.gov/nutrition/everyone/basics/vitamins/iro...

Good luck!

Hello, I have four grown kids and six grandkids. When my two youngest went off of the breast, they became slightly anemic, too. They were also put onto ferinsol. It is very important to have their bloot checked when suggested as you can have too much iron in your system. Anyway, I also was told that if you give the child foods rich in vitamin C it helps to strengthen the value of the iron in their foods. You can find other foods besides meats which are rich in iron. Although, chicken is one good meat.
Good luck with your precious little boy.
K. K.

I know a lot of little kids (and adults) who are slightly anemic. It can be completely normal. Often it's just missing in their diet. Any green veggies will help. Does he like spinach salad? Maybe my kids are weird, but they love to eat salad.

My young kids don't like meat either. They develop a taste for it as they get older. Beef is the best source of iron out of the meats. Will he eat any type of homemade hamburger helper (you can search for "homemade hamburger helper" and find recipes)? That would start offering iron. My little ones are similar aged to yours and LOVE that type of food...and I don't buy prepacked meals, so it's fun to have the option to make it from scratch.

If he's only slightly anemic, I really think he's probably just missing it from his diet. You can make him smoothies of some sort and include liquid iron there. Floridax is really good too.

Good luck!

cream of wheat with raisens has tons of iron