Does Your Infant Need Iron?

Does your infant need iron? Oxygen is essential for the life of every cell in the body. When we breath, the oxygen in the air goes into our lungs. From our lungs, the oxygen is transported by our blood throughout the body. Actually hemoglobin; the red pigment found inside the red blood cells do this job. So what does iron do? Iron is a main component of hemoglobin. One hemoglobin molecule has four iron molecules.The oxygen temporarily binds with the iron molecule and is transported to our organs and tissues. Without iron, our body cannot produce hemoglobin. Low levels of this red substance in the blood is called anemia. Your baby probably doesn't need to take supplemental iron drops (at least not for the first four months). It depends on whether she's formula fed or breastfed and whether she's eating solid food. It's important for babies to get enough iron, because iron deficiency can cause serious delays in growth and development and have long-term effects. In general though, healthy, full-term infants get enough iron from their mother in the last trimester of pregnancy to last them for the first four months of life. Premature babies have less of an iron reserve and need … [Read more...]