Sytron (sodium feredetate) is an iron medication that was prescribed only to George, my twin who was low birth weight.
Low birth weight is described as being <2.5kg (<5lb8oz) .
We were sent home with the medicine to give 1ml a day until George reached 2.5kg, and then 2.5ml every day thereafter until he reached 1 year of age.
We never knew about this until we were doing the paper work for discharge, and never given a leaflet about it. So I had to do my own reading when I went home. Turns out the hospital have a leaflet- click here
We wondered why George only had to have it from day 6 when we got home, and this is because babies have enough maternal iron stores until a few days old, hence why we never needed it during our hospital stay.
It will help to prevent anemia in George, and hence help maintain normal growth.
I didn't realise until George was 14 weeks old that it is best not to add it to a milk feed, but to administer it separately as milk and dairy can inhibit its absorption. He is brilliant at taking it from the syringe bless him as i doubt it tastes very nice!
It does have side affects too I found out- their poop may be a bit darker, it can give them windy and uncomfortable tummies too. But the side affects are few and not as serious as the complications of childhood anemia.
