Prem baby now 6 months old and maybe anaemic? Any advice would be appreciated!

[Banana2012]

Hello I had my twin girls at 32 weeks and one of them needed a blood transfusion as she was anaemic when she was about 38 weeks, just after we'd been discharged. The girls are now 6 months old, and are formula fed and have also been given Sytron since coming home. Eva has always looked full of colour in her face since being given the transfusion, but this last week or two she's been looking much paler. She's also sleeping a lot and her feeding has been very lazy whereas she was feeding really well before. Do you think it's possible she could be anaemic again? I'm planning on taking her to the docs, but don't know if it's a silly suggestion to make to them since she's been taking iron supplements etc. Has anyone had any experience of anaemia recurring in prem babies?

 

[jandksmommy]

Oh yes, Reese gets daily iron supplements and sometimes still gets anemic. She gets pale and lethargic, her rate increases... I did some research on good sources of iron (other than meat as she is still not able to keep meat down) and came across Blackstrap Molasses. As soon as I can get to a health food store to buy it (can't find it in a regular grocery store), I am going to start sweetening her baby cereal with it. I am hoping it will help as she HATES her iron supplement and often spits it out.

 

[Banana2012]

Brilliant, thanks My two can't cope with meat at the moment, seems to make them really sicky, so any other way of getting iron into them sounds good!