If you have a picky toddler, you may have worried about if they are getting enough nutrients from their food. My son loves veggies and fruits, milk and cheese, but he barely touches meat. Then our doctor recommended the standard screening for anemia. And I cringed. I knew my son wasn’t getting the recommended daily value of iron. We found ways to sneak meat into foods, but that doesn’t always work. But like most children, he does like juice. If you have a child who doesn’t get enough iron, then check out this iron-rich juice recipe!

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How much iron does my child need?

Per the Mayo Clinic, the recommended daily value of iron for toddlers from ages 1-3 is 7 mg. Children ages 4-8 need 10 mg of iron. Iron is found in many different kinds of foods, including nuts, meats, leafy greens, and beans. Some other foods are fortified with iron. In the US, foods like bread, pasta, oatmeal, and cereal might be fortified with iron.

How to improve iron absorption?

There are 2 types of iron in foods. Heme iron is in meats, and it is more easily absorbed. Non-heme iron is found in foods that are plants, like beans or nuts. Non-heme iron isn’t as easy for our body to absorb, but there are a few things we can do to help iron absorption.

Vitamin C

Vitamin C improved iron absorption. For us parents, I think this is good news. Some of the best sources of vitamin C are fruits, vegetables, and juices. There are plenty of foods with vitamin C that my toddler loves. Here is a list of 17 foods that are high in vitamin C per the Cleveland Clinic:

Citrus fruits: oranges, grapefruit, lemons, and limes
Broccoli and Cauliflower
Kale
Red Cabbage
Brussel Sprouts
White potatoes (That’s right! A white potato has Vitamin C!)
Red Peppers
Strawberries
Cantaloupe
Tomatoes
Kiwi

Milk Reduces Iron Absorption

The calcium in milk reduces iron absorption. Toddlers should be drinking milk. Milk is good for them! The USDA recommends that toddlers drink about 2 cups of milk per day. But as parents of children who aren’t consuming enough iron, we may want to be intentional about WHEN they drink their milk.

If your child is going to have a meal or snack that is high in iron, give them water or juice. Give your child dairy products like milk, yogurt, or cheese at a different time. Also keep in mind, that if your child is having an iron-fortified cereal with milk, the iron is likely not absorbing well.

Iron-rich Juice for Toddlers

While there are supplemental drinks available for purchase for toddlers, many of them don’t contain much iron. Even most protein shakes for kids don’t contain much iron. You could definitely make smoothies that contain iron, but my toddler won’t touch them. What my son does love is juice! I have a recipe down below that you can follow to mix up a juice that has 3.5 mg of iron – that’s half of the recommended daily value of iron for toddlers in 1 cup of juice!

The Ingredients

Which brand of juice you use is important, as different brands of juice contain varying amounts of iron. Here are the ingredients I use:

Prune Juice – RW Knudsen Family Prune Juice contains 1.8 mg of iron per serving

Apple Juice – Mott’s 100% Apple Juice contains 1.3 mg of iron per serving

Grape Juice – Great Value 100% Grape Juice contains 1 mg of iron per serving

Blackstrap Molasses – Golden Barrel Blackstrap Molasses contains 1.9 mg of iron per serving

Does it taste good?

My first concern when giving my son prune juice was the flavor. I didn’t like prunes, but I taste tested prune juice. Turns out, it’s not that bad. When combined with other juices, it’s actually delicious. The blackstrap molasses also provides a lot of iron, but I was concerned about it’s strong flavor. When combined with all the juices, you get a taste of molasses flavor but it is not overwhelming. My son loves it! He would drink as much of it as I would give him!

In the image on the right, you’ll see the silicone lids and straws that I like to use for my son. It can make any cup “safe” for my living room, and it washes so much easier than toddler sippy cups or straw cups. I know they are clean and I don’t have to take out any seals, straws or other pieces to get them washed good. They fit securely on anything from a child’s cup to our regular drinking glasses and even a wide mouth Mason Jar. If you want to try them out, here are the lids and here are the straws.

Why juice is good for iron levels?

There are 2 ways that juice can help your toddler with iron. First, some juices are a great source of iron! Prune juice is the best source of iron, but mulberry juice, tomato juice, pineapple juice, beet juice, and even apple juice and grape juice can contain iron! Secondly, these same juices also contain Vitamin C, which improves the iron absorption!

How much juice should a toddler have?

The recommendation for toddlers is no more than 1/2 cup of juice per day. While it is important to limit sugary drinks, if you’ve been a parent of a toddler you already know that it is impossible to meet every recommendation perfectly. I like to try to achieve some form of balance of my son’s needs. Some days, that may involve 1 cup or more of juice, when he hasn’t been eating meat or needs prune juice for constipation. Other days, he’s perfectly content with his water and milk and will eat great meals. Parenting is a moving target.

If you are here, reading up and learning about iron-rich juice, then I know that you are concerned about your child’s nutrition and you are doing a great job! We can’t force them to eat, so get creative, do your best, if you’re still worried, consult your doctor.

When you are considering giving your toddler juices like prune juice, beet juice, or apple juice, be aware that they are sometimes given to young children for constipation. If your child has constipation, then these juices may help! They help my son. If your child does not have constipation, you may want to introduce these juices slowly. Just give a little bit at a time to see how their gut responds.

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Iron-rich juice for Toddlers

Sometimes it's hard to get a balanced diet for a picky toddler. Toddlers need iron, and this juice recipe has 3.5 mg of iron – that’s half of the recommended daily value of iron for toddlers in 1 cup of juice! These juices also contain Vitamin C which helps with iron absorption.

Servings 1 cup

Ingredients

1/2 cup prune juice
1/4 cup apple juice
1/4 cup grape juice
1 Tbsp Blackstrap molasses

Instructions

Combine all ingredients and mix well

If you are looking for more ideas, check out my other Money-Saving Recipes!

What are other ways to add iron to my toddler’s diet besides juice?

Blackstrap molasses

Blackstrap molasses contains 1.9 mg of iron in just 1 tablespoon. The only problem is that it is so strong, that your child will certainly not eat it plain. There are lots of ways to mix blackstrap molasses into foods or drinks your child loves.

Try out a barbeque sauce recipe that contains ketchup and molasses, using blackstrap molasses for the extra iron content.

Mix blackstrap molasses into hot cocoa (made with water, not milk)

Make baked beans with blackstrap molasses, for the double benefit of iron in the molasses and the beans

Black beans or Chickpeas

Black beans and chickpeas are good sources of iron. If your little one doesn’t like black beans or chickpeas, see if they will enjoy hummus. Depending on the brand, hummus can have 0.7 mg of iron in a 2 tablespoon serving.

Consider baking something tasty with chickpeas or black beans in it. Thanks to the growing number of gluten free recipes online, it’s pretty easy to find a sweet or savory option that your little would enjoy. I actually made this protein-packed black bean chocolate muffin pretty often. The texture is different than your average baked good, but it will give your little one lots of protein and nutrition in one tasty chocolate treat.

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