Anaemia
The problem
When anaemia develops in young children, the usual cause is a lack of dietary iron. This mineral nourishes the body’s red blood cells so they can create haemoglobin, which helps carry oxygen throughout the body. Babies are born with a store of iron that’s good for six months. Feeding your baby breast milk or iron-fortified formula helps replenish stores. Anaemia can develop when solids are introduced at around 6 months of age and babies start to drink less formula or breast milk.
What you can do?
Signs of anaemia are often subtle. Your child may look pale, his fingernails may lack colour, and he may lack energy — or he may show no symptoms at all. Your paediatrician will check for anaemia during regular checkups, and between 9 and 11 months may test haemoglobin levels by taking a blood sample. If anaemia is confirmed, you can build up iron stores by giving your child iron-rich foods such as red meats, fortified cereals, and beans. It’s also important to serve foods rich in vitamin C, such as orange juice, because they help to enhance iron absorption. Iron supplements are usually recommended only as a last resort because regular use of them can cause stomach upset.
Can fruit juice give my baby diarrhoea?
Yes, too much fruit juice can cause diarrhoea. That’s because many juices contain sorbitol, a nondigestible form of sugar. Excess sorbitol levels cause the body to try to dilute the sugar by pulling water from the bloodstream into the intestine, which causes loose stools. That’s how prune juice, which is high in sorbitol, helps prevent constipation. Other juices fairly high in sorbitol are apple, pear, peach, and cherry.
Limit your child to 3/4 cup (6 ounces) of juice per day. (Kids age 7 and older can have up to 8 to 12 ounces a day.) Besides causing stomach upset, too much juice can ruin his appetite for healthier foods and cause tooth decay.
Your child needs two servings of fruit per day. If one of those servings is a glass of juice, make sure the other serving is a piece of fresh fruit, which will provide fiber and additional nutrients. Diluting the juice is a good way to make sure your child doesn’t drink as much, but between meals (when most “juice abuse” occurs), offer water instead.
