Low hemoglobin in children - what to do? How to quickly increase hemoglobin in the blood

As a rule, a woman learns about the phrase “lowered hemoglobin” during pregnancy. It is thanks to the mother in the baby's body that normal indicators of his level are laid. During pregnancy, the baby receives the necessary reserves of iron and they are enough until the baby turns six months old. In some cases, it happens that the hemoglobin in children is low. What to do?

What are iron-containing blood cells and what is their function

Hemoglobin is a protein found in the blood of those animals that have a circulatory system. Its main function is to transport oxygen to the organs and tissues of the body.

This substance carries in itself the functions of a kind of postman who receives “goods” in the lungs and carries oxygen to human cells. However, it does not come back empty, but along with carbon dioxide.

How is hemoglobin determined?

A clinical blood test with the help of a special analysis helps to identify reduced hemoglobin in a child at a certain point. It is carried out in the laboratory and in the process the number of blood bodies is determined, as well as what is their content per liter of blood in grams.

How do the analysis?

• A health worker who seeks to find out why a child has low hemoglobin takes blood from a finger for analysis. In this case, the indicators vary and depend on the time of the procedure, as well as on the food consumed before. To get reliable results, it is advisable to take such an analysis in the morning, on an empty stomach.
• Sometimes, to identify the causes of low hemoglobin in children, it is necessary to compare the data of several blood tests. It is important to do everything necessary so that the conditions for blood sampling are the most identical.

Based on the data received, the doctor prescribes treatment.

The table of norms of hemoglobin in children of different ages

Before you figure out what to do with low hemoglobin in children, you need to understand that its level fluctuates and, first of all, depends on the age of the crumbs. Thus, tests will reveal a greater amount of hemoglobin and red blood cells in the blood of a newborn baby than in older children. In the first 12 months of a child’s life, a natural decrease in the level of iron-containing protein in the blood is observed, and this is acceptable for infants.

Hemoglobin level in the blood of children under one year of age:

What level is acceptable for premature babies?

Mothers are worried about the causes of low hemoglobin in children, who were born prematurely. Such crumbs have lower indicators than those babies who were born on time.

So, the lower limit is 160 g / l. At the same time, by the thirtieth day of the life of premature baby, the hemoglobin level drops, and the lower norm is 100 g / l. If the indicator reaches 85 g / l or less, then this condition is very dangerous, it requires immediate blood transfusion.

The average level of hemoglobin in children from 1 to 7 years

Upon reaching the year, the baby actively eats meat and vegetable products, thereby replenishing the reserves of various trace elements, including iron. If the child receives the necessary amount of iron, after 14-18 months of his life, an independent synthesis of blood cells in the body begins.

Several factors that affect hemoglobin levels

Trying to figure out what to do with low hemoglobin in children, you should understand that its content in the blood depends on some points:

• Age features. In infants who have just been born, the highest concentration of hemoglobin level is observed . Then it decreases. So, an indicator of 120 g / l indicates a low hemoglobin in a child at 3 months, and for a one-year-old baby this is the norm.
• Pregnancy mother. If a woman had hemopoiesis diseases during gestation or suffered global blood loss during childbirth, this will affect the baby’s hemoglobin level. As well as the presence in the history of childbirth before term and multiple pregnancy.
• Nutrition. If the baby is breastfeeding, then he will have reduced hemoglobin occasionally. Artificial children are more likely to suffer from deficiency. Also, a violation in the diet of a baby who is older than six months can affect the level of hemoglobin indicators. For example, if the mother does not feed for a long time, does not give the baby meat, etc.
• Health. Reduced hemoglobin in a child can be observed in the presence of hidden diseases in the crumbs.
• Heredity. If the parents of the child have prolonged anemia, there is nothing surprising in the fact that such a condition will be transmitted to the baby.
• Seasons. The greatest drop in hemoglobin in the blood in children is observed in the autumn and winter.

What can the reduced hemoglobin in a child indicate?

A reduced level indicates that the baby has iron deficiency anemia. However, a low level can also talk about:

• Anemia of the hemolytic type, which leads to the destruction of red blood cells.
• A condition provoked by a deficiency of vitamins B12 and B9 and others belonging to this group.
• Acute bleeding after trauma or surgery.
• Crohn's disease and hemophilia, as well as other diseases of the intestines and blood.
• Helminthic infestation.
• Chronic bleeding.
• Infectious Diseases.
• The presence of allergic reactions and tumors.

Also, anemia can occur after taking certain medications.

Condition signs

Before you understand what to do with low hemoglobin in children, you need to understand what are the signs of the disease. So, the manifestations are as follows:

• The skin is pale.
• The child is lethargic, quickly tired.
• The baby has weakness, dizziness and circles under the eyes.
• Baby wants to sleep.
• The child's temperature rises and the structure of the nail plates changes.
• The baby eats and sleeps poorly, and is mostly in a bad mood.
• The baby often picks up viral infections, it peels off the skin and its dryness is observed.

When the described symptoms appear, you need to see a doctor, otherwise the baby will have tachycardia, shortness of breath and it will lag behind in development.

How to increase hemoglobin?

How to quickly increase hemoglobin in a child’s blood? First of all, you need to understand that you can not do self-medication and you can not do without consulting a pediatrician. Only a specialist is able to establish the cause of the disease and prescribe the correct therapy.

In a baby, hemoglobin rises in the following ways, depending on the indicators:

• With a value from 100 to 110 g / l, you can adjust the diet and try to do without drugs. Meat is introduced into the baby’s diet, which should be eaten along with vegetables for better absorption of iron. Milk, coffee and tea are excluded from the diet of the child. It is necessary to observe the gums of a child. If they bleed, consult a dentist. After a month, the blood is donated again to reveal a positive trend.
• At a level of 90-100 g / l, you don’t need to think whether hemoglobin increases the hematogen or not, because you can not do without additional iron preparations. You need to select them carefully. It is better to give preference to trivalent iron in tablets, which is well absorbed. Take the drug for a month, and then again you need to repeat the blood test.
• The indicator is 60-90 g / l. With this value, iron solutions are prescribed orally or in the form of injections. In this case, only a doctor knows how to quickly increase hemoglobin in the blood. The situation is controlled by blood sampling, which is carried out every 10 days.
• Level below 60 g / l - in this case, an urgent blood transfusion is required, otherwise the child’s life will be in jeopardy. Treatment is carried out in a hospital.

Product List

Hematogen increases hemoglobin or not? Definitely yes!

However, the following foods should be included in the child’s diet:

• chicken, pork and beef liver;
• heart;
• poultry meat (turkey, chicken), as well as pork, beef and lamb;
• sardines;
• yolk of quail and chicken eggs;
• boar and cow tongue.

What is eaten to increase hemoglobin from plant foods?

• pistachios, lentils and spinach;
• oatmeal;
• peas;
• buckwheat and barley groats;
• wheat
• peanuts and cashews;
• corn and dogwood;
• Pine nuts.

Products of plant and animal origin must be combined. Doctors answer the question "Does the hematogen increase hemoglobin or not?" positively, however, it is an auxiliary substance. The diet will have to be reviewed.

Complications and consequences

What is the danger of low hemoglobin in a child? The consequences of the disease are different, especially with a long course. They negatively affect the quality of life of the baby and can affect his fate. The most dangerous consequences are as follows:

• Decreased immunity and stunted growth.
• Heart failure caused by anemia, namely an increased load on the heart.
• Delay in mental and physical development.
• Leukemia
• Bone marrow dysplasia.
• Fatal outcome with genetic defects and large blood loss.
• Transition to the stage of chronic disease.

If we are talking about the iron deficiency form of the disease, unpleasant consequences can be avoided by contacting the pediatrician in time for help and clearly following the prescribed therapy. But in some cases, with serious violations of the functions of blood formation, medicine may be powerless.

Prevention of anemia in children

Preventive measures reduce the risk of the disease and contribute to the fact that with its appearance it will be possible to avoid negative consequences.

You need to think about prevention from the first week of life of the crumbs. Here come to the rescue:

• Periodic studies of the blood composition.
• Timely prescription of appropriate medications for babies born prematurely, from three months to two years.
• A varied menu and adequate, nutritious food.
• Walking on the street.
• Doing sports and movement.
• Hardening.
• The right lifestyle and trips to the mountains.

Iron deficiency is quite dangerous for the health of crumbs. Because of it, many diseases occur with complications that are the result of such a violation. Parents will have to be patient while specialists will restore the work of the baby’s blood formation organs.

Go through a routine checkup with a doctor to identify the problem in time.