Review Question - QID 213177

A 12-month-old boy is brought in by his mother who is worried about pallor. She says that the patient has always been fair-skinned, but over the past month relatives have commented that he appears more pale. The mother says that the patient seems to tire easy, but plays well with his older brother and has even started to walk. She denies bloody or black stools, easy bruising, or excess bleeding. She states that he is a picky eater, but he loves crackers and whole milk. On physical examination, pallor of the conjunctiva is noted. There is a grade II systolic ejection murmur best heard over the lower left sternal border that increases when the patient is supine. Labs are drawn as shown below:

Leukocyte count: 6,500/mm^3 with normal differential
Hemoglobin: 6.4 g/dL
Platelet count: 300,000/mm^3
Mean corpuscular volume (MCV): 71 µm^3
Reticulocyte count: 2.0%

Serum iron: 34 mcg/dL
Serum ferritin: 6 ng/mL (normal range 7 to 140 ng/mL)
Total iron binding capacity (TIBC): 565 mcg/dL (normal range 240 to 450 mcg/dL)

On peripheral blood smear, there is microcytosis, hypochromia, and mild anisocytosis without basophilic stippling. Which of the following is the next best step in management for the patient’s diagnosis?