My DD is Anemic, I am glad I listened to my mummy intincts.

[Salad]

Just got back from the doctors and it turns out my DD has anemia normal iron levels are supposed to be 9 and she is 3.3.

We had been having so much trouble with her very moody and sleep problems etc, been battling with what could be the problem for about 3-4 months now. We had cut out or eliminated additives etc from her diet which helped heaps but there was something else not quite right.

She is 16 months old and only weighs just under 9kg, I just thought she was petite but then it occured to me that she really has not put on any weight since 12 months, at her 12 month check up she weighed 8.56kg.

She is pale and her bruises take ages to heal, I mean 3-4 weeks to heal and she also bruises very very easily.

I thought she could have been diabetic but that came back all clear.

We have been referred to a Paed to discuss further what we need to do, which will probably be iron supplement etc and also to check her out further.

Does anyone else have a DS/DD with anemia?

[~Trish~]

I'm glad you have found the problem, good on you for taking things further .

I don't have a child with anaemia, but I suffered with it myself for years. It wasn't diagnosed until I was 14. Until then my mum just thought I was a lethargic child, others thought I was just lazy . Once I started on supplements it made a big difference to my energy levels .

Best of luck with your paediatric appointment

[Mad Scientist]

Hi Salad,

I'm sorry to hear that your bubba is anaemic but I'm very glad that she doesn't have diabetes. Hopefully the therapy will help. Good on you for going with your gut feelings. xx

[skybie]

oh hun, im so glad u have answers and its not diabetes!
fingers crossed the supplement is all she needs to get back to her normal self

[meow]

A good friend of mine from playgroup found out her son had about the same iron levels about 6 months ago. She suspects he has coeliac disease. It's not confirmed as she said the test requires more food eliminations and blood tests- both of which he's had lots of lately so she's holding off for now. But she has put him on a gluten free diet and he's improved amazingly. She didn't want to use supplements (I'm not really sure why) so mostly she boosted his iron with organic livers and it worked really well.
Must be such a relief to have an answer and know you can help your daughter feel better now

[Rivlas]

DD1 levels got to 4 while she was a teenager and she still has problems. We found the best iron to take was in liquid form and it worked quickly and didn't muck up her bowels like some of the tablets can.
Her body doesn't take in iron from the foods she eats, weird child

[Visitor7]

DD1 levels got to 4 while she was a teenager and she still has problems. We found the best iron to take was in liquid form and it worked quickly and didn't muck up her bowels like some of the tablets can.
Her body doesn't take in iron from the foods she eats, weird child

I'm weird as well, my body doesn't store iron either.

salad - it's great that you now know what's happening and you can get it sorted.

[Salad]

Thanks for the replies everyone.
She eats so well and has a wide variety of food probably not alot of red meat, and come to think of it not a lot of other iron rich foods either. Hopefully the supplements work really well and she doesnt have to have B12 injections or anything. Can only wait now for the paed appointment to get some more information and answers.

[leckert]

My DS was diagnosed with low iron in January (about 7mths old) after we had blood tests because of a persistent cough and cold thing. His levels were down around 4. All we had to do was give him some liquid iron supplement. DH (who took DS for the results of the tests) was told by the chemist that sometimes the children don't like the taste of the iron stuff and that it could be washed down with a bit of juice if needed. DS takes his straight from the syringe that we use. We were told to get another BT after 2 months to see what his levels were like then. His levels have improved to be in the low end of normal (at 9 months) so we were told by the GP to keep up giving it to him for another month and then we could stop with the supplement.
Hopefully that's all it will take for your DD to improve her levels. We also made sure we tried to give DS meat a few times a week at home for dinner (wasn't always awake) - he tends to get some during the week at CC already.