According to the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Canadian
Pediatric Society, artificially fed babies need iron supplements from
birth.  Now, I disagree with that, but that's beside the point.  The
point of my saying this is that we (present company excepted) always
make breastfeeding and breastmilk sound inadequate.  Thus, breastfed
babies need an iron supplement after six months, but formula fed babies
do not.  Not quite.  In fact, formula fed babies need an iron supplement
(according to the AAP and CPS) from birth, breastfed babies only after 6
months.

Actually, breastfed babies do not need an iron supplement.  They do
start needing extra iron around 6 months of age (but not before
usually), which they can get from their food.  The best source of iron
in food is meat, not cereal (another marketing success story if ever
there was one).

Jack Newman, MD, FRCPC