old baby no more than three teaspoons a week) Steam a couple of small chunks of pumpkin, kumara or carrot with some grated, frozen liver and pure or mash. Thin with cooled boiled water or vegetable juice from the steamer Take a piece of meat and some vegetables from a cooked stew before it is seasoned, and blend. Avoid the sauce if it is made from stock -- it is too salty for a baby Cook red lentils in water. Mix with mashed kumara, pumpkin and spinach  (Note: vegetarian infants need more iron-rich foods as they absorb only about 10% of iron in vegetarian food) How much iron does my baby need? A baby needs more iron than an adult man. This is because in the first year a baby's weight and blood volume triples; a growth rate faster than at any other time of life. In the first two years a baby's brain reaches 80% of its adult size. Babies need lots of iron at this age to carry oxygen around in the blood and to help developing brain cells. A lack of iron at this critical time can impair intellectual development -- and it's often irreversible. Children who are seriously iron deficient in their first two years of life do not learn so well once they get to school. Iron also keeps the immune system strong, resulting in less coughs, colds and tummy bugs. How to get enough iron Babies build up their iron stores in the last