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Dr. Andrew Rynne
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Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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What Causes Iron Deficiency In An Infant?

My daughter is 1.5 years old.Her Pediatrician had advised that she has iron deficiency.What causes iron deficiency?I was not able to give breast feed to my baby for 06 months as prescribed and was giving her cow milk as she was able to digest that milk easily,can that be the reason for iron deficiency in her?How this deficiency can be curtailed?
Tue, 2 Feb 2016
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  Anonymous's Response
's  Response
Hello thank you for your query. Cow's milk is not advised to be given to the babies younger than 1 year because the cow's milk contains more casein than whey. Casein is the solid protein that is harder to digest by the stomach of a baby. While breast milk or formula has a ratio of 60% whey and 40% casein. The proteins of the cow's milk are not as easily digested as human milk. This leads to iron deficiency in babies. But this is not the only reason. The other reason is that babies are born with iron deposits, and at 6 month the baby development is so big that the iron deposits are used. You can give your baby some iron supplement and a multi-vitamin also. Don't worry. It is treatable. You can ask your pd for the dose of the supplementation.
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What Causes Iron Deficiency In An Infant?

Hello thank you for your query. Cow s milk is not advised to be given to the babies younger than 1 year because the cow s milk contains more casein than whey. Casein is the solid protein that is harder to digest by the stomach of a baby. While breast milk or formula has a ratio of 60% whey and 40% casein. The proteins of the cow s milk are not as easily digested as human milk. This leads to iron deficiency in babies. But this is not the only reason. The other reason is that babies are born with iron deposits, and at 6 month the baby development is so big that the iron deposits are used. You can give your baby some iron supplement and a multi-vitamin also. Don t worry. It is treatable. You can ask your pd for the dose of the supplementation.