Hi Emily,

My dd was anemic too. Her GI doc prescribed a supplement I knew she
wouldn't tolerate, so I worked with her ped on dietary sources and
we were able to bring her iron levels up to normal after a few
months.

Amaranth is an incredibly high source of iron. Nu-World makes a
puffed amaranth (that's the only ingredient) that I would cook for a
few minutes in water and serve as a cereal. Sometimes I'd mix it
with rice cereal to make it easier on her digestive system. I'm a
HUGE amaranth fan--I really think this made a big difference for
us. It's expensive but worth it to us since it was a natural food
she tolerated.

I also tried to make sure every high iron food (meat or grain) had a
vit C food served with it, since C helps iron absorption. My dd
wasn't as sensitive to sals as yours sounds like, though, so some of
these ideas may not work for you.

Potato is a good source of C--I'd pressure cook slices of potato and
freeze in small portions to serve w/meat. Small amounts of
cantaloupe or watermelon might work, but you'd have to test that due
to sals. I hear rutabaga is a good source of C--maybe cook and
puree with potato to make the taste milder? A very little parsley
pureed into foods?

Also you might try looking into vit C supplements with no additives
and serve it with meals.

One of the things I realized after we found out dd was anemic was
that food issues had been so stressful and hard to figure out that
her diet probably was deficient in vit C. Once we tinkered with it,
though, and cooked veggies in bulk to freeze in meal size portions,
I felt like we got her overall nutrition to a better place.

I don't have any experience with lead except friends who had a
similar experience with anemia paired with high lead levels. They
did end up finding a supplement used for kids with GI issues, as his
lead was extremely high and iron extremely low.

Amy