Iron Overdose

E.,

Personally, I believe in the use of vitamin/mineral supplements. They can truly enhance lives, but I would choose one carefully that isn't loaded w/sugar like a piece of candy. I have never allowed my kids to consume the ones filled w/sugar. There are better choices out there than Flinstones! Many of the cheaper vits sold at the store like 1 a day and centrum have proven to be 0% effective!!! So, do a little research before you decide which is the best for him. It sounds like his health is really important to you.

Blessings,
M.
Mom to 5 Wonderful Kids
www.4MyChildrenSake.com

I think that as long as you are giving half it should be fine. My kids have iron anemia and have to take relatively large amounts of iron daily, and the pedi just checks their iron levels annually at their check ups and they have always been close to where they need to be. They take a dose of all iron supplement twice a day (and have since they were probably 3 or 4 I think) and have never overdosed. I would be careful that she not have access to the Flintstone tabs since they look and taste like candy, but if you give as prescribed she should be fine. If you are worried feel free to call her and ask questions, that is what they are there for, it is OK to worry, I know I do about all kinds of things. It is dangerous to take too much iron, but since the doctor prescribed that amount it would be within the normal limits. Just don't give any more than that.

Take care!!

Your pediatrician should be your first source of information, but not your last!

There are plenty of alternative sources of iron available. It is up to you to ensure that your daughter is offered a well-rounded diet. At a minimum, I would want a blood test done to ensure that she actually NEEDS iron. Each person has different needs and processes food and nutrients at varying efficiencies.

Should your daughter actually need something, I'm with some of the other moms...there are a lot more natural choices than a FLINTSTONES!

Hi, E.. I suppose too much of any one particular thing could be bad under certain circumstances. I do know, however, that iron is very, very constipating and you should be careful. A very good source of iron that is good to take is what I call "black strap molasses." The darker the molasses, the better. I think you can buy it at a health food store or one of your finer grocery stores. I don't see it everywhere. Make sure it's pure, and doesn't have other things mixed in with it. I wouldn't worry too much about your child not eating meat unless they become anemic. A good way to check for anemia is to pull down their lower eyelid. If the lower eyelid is nice and pink, they are not anemic. If it's white or light in color on the lower eyelid, I'd have your child checked then to see if they're anemic. The molasses is something my Grandmother told me about, and she swears by it. I think you could probably mix it in something to drink, or else just give the little one a tablespoon of it, just like medicine. Personally, I don't think molasses is that tasty, but it's better than having a constipated child. Good luck. A. N.

Forget the vitamins, just go w/ Cheerios. 3/4 cup = 50% of a child under 4's DRV.

Or, depending on what else she'll eat, cook or heat it in an iron skillet. A small bit of the iron will leech into the food, particularly if the food contains a lot of vitamin C (think spaghetti sauce). This is why so few of our grandmothers were iron-deficient: they cooked on iron, we cook on teflon.

Also, consider that Chex mix, dried peaches, Cream of Wheat, clams (good luck w/ that), pistachios and tofu all have considerably more iron in them per serving than ground beef. Check out Toddler 411 by Denise Fields and Ari Brown, pp 148-149 for a great food chart.

This is a kind of question you should ask your pediatrician, not unlicensed caregivers like us moms. When it comes to the health of your baby, don't leave it up to suggestions and advice from folks who are only guessing.

I had a similiar concern right after I left the hospital from having my second son. The sent me home with iron pills because they said I was anemic. I was breastfeeding and read the side of the bottle stating the same thing about children and overdose and started freaking out because I was prescribed 3 x a day.
I was thinking oh my gosh, I am going to give my 8 lb baby all this extra iron and what if it kills him. Of course, I was in the middle of a breakdown, called the pharmacy and they said it was fine.
So, I am 99.9% sure that your peditrician didn't tell you the wrong thing, but for sure watch the BMs because it does harden them up.

I think the biggest problem with too much iron is that it will harden the child's stool(in large doses). My son had to stop taking vitamins because his was having trouble going to the bathroom due to large amounts of iron. So if you notice that she can't poop, or starts to have trouble pooping, go back to the doctor and talk to him/her again.

you pay your ped. to treat your child. I would suggest you listen to the dr., that's what he/she went to school so many years for.

I have worked a pharmacy in Guatemala on a few mission trips. We give all kids that come through the clinic a bag of 14 vitamins. We tell them all they are vitamins and not candy, but we are handing them to some kids as young as 3 and 4. They are the size of American 2-yr-olds. The docs decided that 14 would be a safe amount that if they went home and ate them all anyway, there wouldn't be a problem.

If your pediatrician told you to do it, I'm sure it's safe. Just follow the recommended 1/2 and keep them out of reach.

They have a My First Flintstone's made especially for toddlers (2-3 years)...the dosing is on the bottle for this age group. You give one tablet of the toddler version.

The regular version, I have given 1/2. Your pediatrician or the pharmacist should be able to confirm the dose if you are not comfortable.

Just keep this and all medications out of the reach of children--they are more "crafty" than you think (there...the pedi nurse in me came out).

Please acccept my Kudo's to you for asking this question.
Some of these responses are really starting to defiet the purpose of this site. Not to get on the soapbox, but don't let anyone belittle you for asking questions like this, There is a variety of responses, noone knows the ones that you follow, research, or ignore. Your question has value and could help another mom who didn't know how to approach the issue.
When you look under her eye (just slightly move the skin as though you were looking, to see if she had something in her eye.) The area right under the eye, it should be a healthy pink, but with someone whose iron is low, it will be white or light pink. My daughter was low iron and her NP told me to add the Flintstone W/Iron, maybe every other day. Also: give her high iron foods like IronKids Bread, Grapes, Raisins, If you can get her to eat them 1-2 prunes a day(but watch her bm's). It doesn't take much too correct this problem unless there is something wrong, and her body is not absorbing the iron the way it is supposed too. Give it a couple of weeks and if her undereye is still light, call her DR.
Iron overdose is a leading cause of many children illness's and a top 10 killer of children . I myself can't really understand why Dr's don't simply inform patients of how to recognize this.
Didn't anyone ever wonder why the Dr. pulled their eyelids down during the exam. Now some of us know.

I don't know the reccommened dose for a two yr old (for a woman it is 18 mils) but if the pedi told you to give 1/2 a flinstone then that is safe. I would watch for signs of constipation. When I was pregnant, the dr. gave me about 40 mils! can you say "constipation??" any way, many vitamins are flushed through the system if there is an excess, and most others we can exceed the daily reccommened dose by 5 or more times before we might begin to see a real problem, but heavy metals, like iron and zinc, you don't want to go too far over the reccomended dose unless a dr. is prescribing it, and even then you want to watch out for signs of toxicity. Most dr's only know the basics about supplements, but talking rx they can be geniouses! I was diagnosed (alternatively) with an adrenal disorder, and when I went to a new dr and told her, she knew very little about it or how to diagnose. We need to remember that the medical field is vast, and expecting a dr of one particular medicine to know all about every ailment and cure is asking for a bit much. You can go on line and get more detailed info on iron at toxic levels and you will know more about it than your pedi. Dr's are human, and can only remmber so much from med school! the rest they look up in books just like us common folks! best of luck

Iron is the most common cause of poisining in children, so you must be careful to not give too much, or leave the bottle within reach. There are many foods rich in iron other than meat and many cereals and other foods are supplemented with iron. You may want to consult a nutritionist or look on a vegetarian web site for ideas. Many people go without meat their whole lives and have plenty of iron in thier diets.

OH boy does this sound familiar. I have been anemic all my life and my daughter inherited the gene. There is actually very little Iron in the flintstones. I had to use, and give my daughter iron drops...very gross tasting. funny thing...they taste like iron...LOL
anyways, keep an eye on her BM's they will tell you all you need to know. if they turn dark green the iron is there, if they turn dark green and get very hard...that's to much iron, cut back, you can cut back to one every other day if needed. BUT, the one thing no one ever tells you...you must have vitamin C with your iron, for it to absorb into your system. So if she is taking V-C with the iron and her BM is green and hard...then cut back a bit, but iron is sooooo important to brain development don't cut it out completely.
Best of luck.
PS. there are a lot of foods that contain high amounts of iron ...you can google foods with iron and it will give you plenty of sources for you little one to try. good luck