# did your baby have iron supplements?



## grumpymoo

Rose was given some by the hospital and started having it at 6 weeks. she has nearly run out now and i dont know if i need to take her to the doctors to get some more.

does anyone know?

thanks x


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## AP

Yes Alex is on them too - I read the notes and you are meant to go to the doctors to get more.

Did the neonatal tell you how long she was to take it for?


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## bumpsmum

Inform your GP practice hun and they will put Rose on the repeat prescription, I just get into habit now of when get to half/quarter bottle phone in a prescription or ask when im at baby clinic for weights etc.

Matthew gets 0.3ml dalivit drops and 1.25mlX2 daily sodium ferodate (iron - sytron) which he's to take until he is a year old (not sure if thats actual or corrcted 1 year old tho) x


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## premmiemum123

Yes you must continue with it until your GP advises otherwise. Our wonderful prem babies need this little boost to help them grow. Emily is on Dalavit as well as Sytron and they are on repeat prescription. As mentioned above go and see your GP. 
Does anyone else find Dalavit sticky and nasty, the taste is vile.


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## bumpsmum

premmiemum123 said:


> Does anyone else find Dalavit sticky and nasty, the taste is vile.

VERY sticky and stinky never tasted it tho preemiemum you must be on your own there hehe x


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## grumpymoo

thanks everyone! good job i asked hey. i will call the docs. 

she was on dalavit but i was told it was only for 6 weeks so stopped that and started the iron. hope this was the right info given to me now. x


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## AP

Is Dalavit like Abidec?


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## premmiemum123

I think so, Abidec is Multivitamins? Dalavit is a multi vitamin syrup and i have been told that as Emily was an extreme premmie she will be on it for six months maybe a year.


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## addie

My little niece was born 2 and 1/2 months premature. She was so tiny that you could liturally hold her in your hand. In the hospital they gave her iron, and other medications, and then when she finally got released from the hospital they gave her iron to take at home. When she had her check-up they refilled her perscripton. She's six months yesterday! :D


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## bumpsmum

grumpymoo - id double check at your next appointment about the dalivit, we were told to give him both but every baby is different x

addie - congrats on your neice, glad to hear she's doing so well. Happy half birthday little one x


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## AP

yup sound the same as what alex is having yet abidec should be used for a year - apparantly! maybe its just the extreme preemies then?


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## embojet

Molly isnt on iron supplements at all :shrug:


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## MandaAnda

Normally, below 35 weeks, the babies are started on Dalivit (some hospitals still use Abidec, but a lot have moved away, as peanut oil is the base and there seem to be more allergies out there these days) and Folic Acid once on full feeds (and off high energy feeds, like Nutriprem) and Sytron (sodium ferridate) at 4-6 weeks. Most stay on them until around six months old or until your doctor at your baby follow-up clinic decides it's no longer necessary. Most units send a discharge summary to your GP with the medicines the baby is sent home on, so you should just be able to ring up your GP for a refill prescription.

And, yes, Dalivit tastes horrid. Sytron is alright. And Folic Acid is quite tasty.


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## lou1979

How are you giving your medicine, i have the vitamins, folic acid and iron, just wasnt sure if u had to put it in the milk or just syringe it in there mouths?


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## premmiemum123

I give Emily's medicine through her teat. I was advised not to put it into her milk as she may not finish the bottle therefore would not receive the full dosages. You can also give the medicines to your little one with a syringe. I don't do it that way as Emily tends to spit it out.


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## MandaAnda

You can give it by syringe at the side of their mouth. Some babies will suck it from the syringe.

You can put it in the teat, which I do find messy.

Or, you _can_ put it in the milk, but put it in a small amount that you know they'll take. For instance, if the baby normally takes 50ml, you know they'll take 10ml. So, put the medicine in 10ml of milk - once the baby's drank all that, just top up the bottle with the rest of the feed.


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## grumpymoo

Well I dropped a letter in for the docs (you think we can get appointments, ha!) and have been given the biggest bottle of sytron and 2 bottles of dalivit. i am a bit cross as i stopped giving her the dalivit at 6 weeks so she has missed out on 6 weeks of vitamins:growlmad: its difficult to know who to listen to.

Still, all sorted now and Rose seems healthy enough, she is certainly fat enough!:happydance:


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## premmiemum123

Have always been sceptical of vitamin and iron supplements myself, am convinced they are a waste of money for adults, I have never taken them but if the medical profession deem them necessary then we should give them to our babies. 
As you say she had not had them for 6 weeks and is still growing big and strong...best to start her on it again anyway. 
I reordered Dalavit this morning. still have loads of Sytron left...


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## Foogirl

I'm with Premmiemum on this. I was told that all babies went home on Dalivit and Sytron (not just premies) This is because they can't be sure that mothers are feeding their babies correctly (especially BF mothers) I stopped Abby's Dalivit and sytron when she was about 3 months, mainly because we stopped giving her bottles as it made her colic worse. She was never good at taking meds etc from a syringe or a spoon so we just never did it. I eat a good healthy balanced diets and before I lost gallons of blood my haemoglobin was almost off the charts. Within 4 weeks of recovery, it was almost back up to where it had been so I'm not short of iron!! I'm not a fan of supplements at all. She isn't showing any signs of aneamia.

On the size of the bottles though, I got a repeat prescription and was shocked at the size of the bottle. At the dosage she was given, it would have taken months and months to get through it, but once opened it has to be discarded after 3 months. What a waste of NHS resources!



bumpsmum said:


> VERY sticky and stinky never tasted it tho preemiemum you must be on your own there hehe x

Nope, they made us taste it in the hospital, just to see how vile it was!!


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## MandaAnda

It may be certain hospital's policy for all babies to go home on Dalivit and Sytron; certainly at the two I've worked in, it's those born 35 weeks or under and/or those under a certain birthweight.

As for Dalivit, all you have to do is smell it to know it's foul (although I've tasted it). Blech!


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## hopedance

Sam is on dalavit and iron too (he was a 30 weeker). they told me to only start him on dalavit if i stopped giving him nutriprem2. i switched over to 100% breastfeeding 2 days ago, so i started him on the dalavit yesterday, in 10mls of expressed milk. i also put the iron supplement in - i think they said he didn't need the iron either until his nutriprem was stopped - but it was a bit confusing because he didn't need to start it straight away anyway, not until day 56 or something random like that.


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## MandaAnda

That's right. No need for Dalivit or Folic Acid while the baby is on Nutriprem 1 or 2 (or breast milk fortifier, although few babies are sent home on that), as it's effectively in there. But early/low birthweight babies should be on Sytron _from_ 4-6 weeks of age (my old NICU did 28 days, whereas my new one does 6 weeks of age), _regardless_ of the type of milk they're on, as it's not in the milk like the other vitamins.


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## keldac

Mikayla was born at 33 weeks and she is on sytron(iron), dalivit (YUK!) and folica acid. She will need to take these for a year.
I put it into a syringe and add to her teat at the beginning of her bedtime feed - she never complains!


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## CazH

I give Freddy Dalivit 0.3ml once a day and sytron 1ml twice a day just add them to the milk as he gagged with them via syringe and stopped breathing once! I was told i have to give them till at least a year until fully weaned I have them on repeat prescription with his Nutriprem Milk


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