>I have a first time Mom
>who is concerned after being told that her chubby 4 month old is a "bit"
>anemic and should be given Poly-Vi-Sol with Iron.  His Hgb was tested at 4
>months of age along with a few other blood tests because he had a fever and
>had been exposed to RSV in daycare.  The result of the hgb was 9.3.  My
>research found the BAB citing a normal hgb of 9.5 and above for a
>breastfed baby at 3 months of age

I'm with you:  look at the baby!  One of the most active women I know can't
give blood because her hematocrit is "too low".  Too low for the blood
bank's chart, maybe, but it's been just fine for her for years.  There are
known hazards involved in introducing unnecessary iron to an exclusively
breastfed baby, while the hazards of being "a bit" low (isn't anemia a
symptomatic condition?) are undocumented.  In my dictionary, "anemia" is "a
condition in which there is a reduction of the number, or volume, of red
blood corpuscles or of the total amount of hemoglobin in the bloodstream,
*resulting in paleness, generalized weakness, etc.*"  (emphasis mine)

Diane Wiessinger, MS, IBCLC  NYS

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