I think you need to eat the skin of the potato to get the vitamines from it? I steam them with the skins on and mash them. DD loves it and you cant find the skin once mashed.

 Vit C is a surprisingly easy vitamin to get hold of, there is more in broccoli than an orange, but it does perish in heat I think?

 Im pretty sure bananas have iron in. Be carefull you dont constipate your kid with all this iron now. lol.

ooh didnt know potatoes were a source of iron, dd LOVES them and eats loads! they also contain vitamin c dont they? x

Back again, was having a think as I mashed up my chickpeas! Like pp said you could give a glass of OJ with a meal or give a mandarin/ clementine as pudding. Also parsley contains vitamin c so add some freshly chopped to a stew before it's served, add to breadcrumb coatings, or mix in with chickpeas for the burgers/ homemade houmous. Potatoes are also a source of iron and the majority of lo's love them

hi, i try to always give my nearly 3 yr old dd a drink of fresh orange or apple juice with her breakfast cereal to help the absorption of iron. she loves eggs so she often has poached egg on toast or eggy bread.she loves beans have they have iron in, she doesnt like broccoli but she loves pasta with pesto so i puree a load of broccoli and mix it into it and she doesnt have a clue because the pesto is green lol! i also make a lovely vegetarian shepards pie (annabel karmel recipie!) with green lentils in and they are a great source of iron but if youre really worried about his intake there is a vitamin supplement called wellkid baby and infant and that contains iron x

I'll give you some examples of the sorts of foods ds likes, I think iron is present in more foods than we realise-

Brocolli cheese, steamed salmon, porridge with chopped apricots/ apricot puree, eggs, chicken in breadcrumbs (marinate the fillets in lemon and garlic to make them tastier and more tender), turkey or beef casserole, and chickpea burgers which is what we're having today! Puree your cooked chickpeas and add fried onion, garlic, and bacon (or anything you like I guess!), some coriander, shape into mini burgers and coat in egg then flour/ breadcrumbs and fry. Good way of getting little ones to eat pulses.

Vitamin C helps with iron absorption.

he could probs do with some more protine, red meat, ie mince -spag bols, or cottage pie. Both winners with my dd. Any meat for energy, even some chicken nuggets, their better than no meat.

 Pulses have lots of iron, Baked beans are packed with it. Or add a tin of mixed pulses to some soup. Fortified cerials, like porridge. Add honey to make it lovely and sweet or fruit pure.

 Green veg has iron, brocolli, spinach, cabbage, peas.

My dd is 2 1/2 and has samesize breakfast and lunch as me, but tea is about 1/4 the size.

 Maybe offer a little less of the yogurts/pudding/smothy to see if he will try something new? Carbs in the morning are really important, or say if you try this you can have your smoothy?

 Also rasins for a snack are packed full of energy and calories.

 Offer new foods, eat them with him but dont upset him with it. Get him to play with it or get involved with the food prep. They need to taste something over several months sometimes to realise they like something, so even a little nibble of something new each week is progress

I have a fussy 3yr old.

I tend to buy breakfast cereal that is fortified with iron  I cheat lol x

I think he certainly eats enough but maybe at lunch ther should be more carbs? More me breakfast and lunch are two most important meals that kee pthem going and both need to be hot, so no sandwiches for lunch. Plus yorguts are also very heavy and rich on tummy.

What about sweet potato mash with fish or chicken with carrots (lots of orange colour!!).

Or just swapping what you give him for tea with lunch?

As for the iron rich foods: dark-green leafy vegetables, such as watercress and curly kale , iron-fortified bread, beans, nuts, meat, apricots, prunes and raisins. So apricots could work for you and raisins?

goodness if my 3yr old ate all of that at 2 I'd be over the moon!!!  have you spoken to a health visitor or doctor?  and checked that its not due to something else?

would he spag boll as mince is good for iron? What about formula on his breakfast instead of cows milk? lentils are also good and i find can be thrown into lots of things like soup, pasta sauces.....

I would also say don't get into the habit of always serving what you know he eats, alternate evening meals with something new one night and something he will eat the next, with a bit of luck he may get less fussy.  I've always served my 3yr old different foods always aware that he may not eat it and he has just started getting good at trying new things.  If he's hungry he'll eat! you just need to hold off offering anything else if they choose to not eat what you serve.

I expect you'll find he is already getting a balanced diet but if you are worried why don't you try this website out;

http://www.littlepeoplesplates.co.uk/tot-it-up.html

it will tell you what food groups you're missing if any

good luck

hi all, need some advice on getting iron based foods into my 2yo boy, he is a bit of fuss pot when it comes to food, typical daily diet is

brekkie: 2 beakers smoothie(any one except strawberry based) and mixture of multigrain hoops, mini weetabix and cranberry wheats

lunch: anything cheese and ham based, grapes, few savouries, 2 small fromage fraises

teatime:anything orange coloured, usually pasta shapes, fish fingers/cakes, waffles, rostis,spaghetti, mac cheese(but not homemade, don't know why), youghurt, mouse or ice cream for dessert

snacks: yoghurt fruit flakes, belvita biscuits, toast(50/50 bread) and multigrain hoops

the thing is he's ALWAYS tired, sleeps alright, maybe wakes once in the night very briefly, but on average gets 8-10 hrs but although active through the day as soon as he stops he shows all signs of being tired and ready for bed. he still sleeps 11/2hrs in the day. wondered if anyone had any inspirational ideas on iron enriched foods that would be simple and hassle free to offer him, he does get a vitamin supplement daily but it doesn't seem to enough. any help greatly appreciated