Severe vitamin D deficiency in EBF baby

[guestmama9920]

6 months old and her level is 14, they said over 118 is ideal

WWYD?

[~Charlie's~Angel~]

Is she otherwise healthy? Happy? Why was she being tested?

I would try supplimenting myself before giving her anything extra. hopefully that works.

[jjawm]

At that point, I'd begin to use liquid vitamins.

[guestmama9920]

Originally Posted by Barbie64g

Is she otherwise healthy? Happy? Why was she being tested?

I would try supplimenting myself before giving her anything extra. hopefully that works.

14 is pretty low for me to just supplement her don't ya think?

She has a soft skull and signs of low calcium which I know now can lead to heart problems. Until now they have ignored my concerns

[Materfamilias]

I don't like the idea of supplementing but in your place, I would. :

[claddaghmom]

Ummm... go on a trip to Cancun Mexico and sit on the beach every day for 1/2 hour?

[guestmama9920]

She spent 3 months sleeping 23 hours a day, the ped's ignored me. It took weeks after her birth to open her eyes even for a min.

I honestly was never told about giving her Vit D, but now I google it and it's EVEYRWHERE

I think this is something more people need to know about.

FWIW she has never had vax's or med's or solids just breastmilk, but clearly it just wasn't enough

[dogmom327]

I'd recommend seeing a naturopath ASAP. Mine just gave us some vitamin D drops which are fabulous. I take two a day and DS gets one drop once or twice a week in addition to his cod liver oil/butter oil combo.

Do you live somewhere with sun? She needs to be out in the sun for 10-30 minutes during the brightest part of the day (12 pm - 1 pm generally).

Definitely keep breastfeeding regardless. Don't let them talk you into fortified formula as synthetic vitamin D isn't going to bring her levels up properly.

[thixle]

Originally Posted by Britishmama

14 is pretty low for me to just supplement her don't ya think?

She has a soft skull and signs of low calcium which I know now can lead to heart problems. Until now they have ignored my concerns

Oh hon
Suppliment yourself, you are probably dangerously low yourself. I heard these were good, and I'm about to order some: http://www.valleynaturals.com/ct_det...d-c36567cd0f56

...and everything dogmom said.

FWIW, breastfeeding is not the cause. Vit D deficiency is linked more to less time outside, pollution blocking the sun, and depletion of many vitamins in the soil (used to grow our food). It's my understanding that viit D deficiency is becoming a more global problem.

[~Charlie's~Angel~]

super big {{{{{HUGSSSSSZ}}}}}. That is just awful mama, and I am so sorry you have had to go through all of this before anyone would listen to you. Might i suggest definetly seeing an expert in this area immediatly. Its pretty clear your poor baby has a deficiency that needs looking into YESTERDAY, and your peds arent going to give you or her the support you need. Not sure what part of Britain you live in, but I am assuming there isnt much sun this time of year (I live in upstate NY, so we dont get much sun this time a year either) Definetly continue with the BM though. its the best thing for her.

[karika]

i know if i was in your shoes, i would be feeling a little panicky too. since it sounds like you are all natural with your approach to baby and health, i would try to research that route. find what you can about how to handle a perceived deficiency of vitamin d naturally, based on others experiences.

here is some info on kellymom

http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/vi...vitamin-d.html

sunlight for sure
and maybe the liquid drops
not sure if people are talking about supplementing with formula, but if so, i say, no way. take vitamin d drops yourself and for her too if that is what your research leads you to feel is right for your baby.

[rivkah]

I'd definitely see another health professional--whether a pediatrician, naturopath or whomever is your preference. It doesn't sound like your current care providers are responsive.

Personally, I would supplement and try to get baby in sunlight ASAP. I have a good friend whose baby daughter developed rickets due to low vitamin D. In her case, as a pp said, probably due to lack of sunlight exposure, and she was had very dark skin.

I hate to scare you, but it is really any issue that think you are right to be concerned about.

[MountainMamaGC]

There are alternatives to that sticky Vit D syrup. I would supplement her as well as myself if she is that low, so are you. The Vit D wouldnt enter you breast milk until your deficiency was taken care of.

Baby D drops are colorless, tasteless vit D that you can put 1 drop on your nipple. Its vitamin D dissolved in a vegatable oil.

This is a great product they even have adult stregnth drops too.
http://well.ca/products/baby-ddrops-liquid_7336.html

enefits:

* The daily dose is merely one drop, it is in a pure oil with none of the flavouring that often upsets babies.
* Baby Ddrops is a product that supports breastfeeding, one drop on the nipple provides your baby with the vitamin D recommended by pediatricians.
* Ddrops delivers 365 doses for just a little more than the price of 50 doses of the usual infant vitamins.

[guestmama9920]

the peds here are hospital based we're going to a different hospital than before tomorrow

my level is 50 still not great

I have heard she may need IV or shots since 400iu isn't enough now

We dont get a load of sun, very pale skin and for months all she did was sleep, didnt think of laying her in the sun, kwim?

[EBeth0000]

I'm all for supplementing yourself and not the baby, but in your care I would look into some Vit. D supplementation for the baby. She sounds like she is sick and needs it, as opposed to just a healthy infant being given something "just in case". I have become a Vit. D convert recently, I know people here are resistant to it because they feel it somehow threatens the perfectness of breastmilk. My feeling is, if I am deficient to begin with, then I need to supplement myself. A lot of mamas are not deficient and don't need to worry about it. No big deal, my milk's still a million times better than formula, just something I need to do. It doesn't make me feel less perfect to take a folic acid supplement when TTC--I understand lots of people don't feel the need to, I eat spinach and greens every day and I choose to, it doesn't make me feel like my body's inadequate, kwim?

[guestmama9920]

Originally Posted by Lydiah

There are alternatives to that sticky Vit D syrup. I would supplement her as well as myself if she is that low, so are you. The Vit D wouldnt enter you breast milk until your deficiency was taken care of.

Baby D drops are colorless, tasteless vit D that you can put 1 drop on your nipple. Its vitamin D dissolved in a vegatable oil.

This is a great product they even have adult stregnth drops too.
http://well.ca/products/baby-ddrops-liquid_7336.html

wonder how quickly I could get that, here its a whole syringe and made in peanut oil (dh is allergic)

[Ruthla]

My first thought was "have her level retested to make sure the baby truly has low vitamin D and it wasn't a lab error." But then you listed various symptoms, so it seems likely that she truly does have a problem. I'm not sure there would be any benefit to redoing the test, so why put her through that?

6mo babies don't just spontaneously have problems with vitamin D; "normal healthy" babies get plenty of vitamin D prenatally, plus they get small amounts via breastmilk. They don't get all they NEED from milk alone, but a good prenatal store of D lasts them until they're ready for solids. There's some reason her vitamin D stores didn't last her- the most likely is that she didn't put enough stores down prenatally because you're deficient (it's also possible that you have plenty of D and there's some kind of metabolic problem with the baby, but that's far less likely.) So, take lots of vitamin D yourself, for yourself, even though that's unlikely to be enough to solve the baby's problem.

It's also a good idea for both of you to spend some time in the sunlight, as that's how our bodies are designed to get vitamin D (and the reason the levels of D in breastmilk are so low to begin with.)

The baby also needs to be supplemented directly with vitamin D. I wouldn't use the kind made by formula companies and marketed to babies; those have synthetic additives (flavors, sweeteners, and possibly colors too) that can cause their own problems. I'd go with an oil-based supplement: either cod liver oil, those liquid D drops somebody mentioned above, or even vitamin D capsules intended for adults that you prick open and squeeze the oil into her mouth or onto your nipple before nursing (or mix into solids or put into a bottle, if she consumes anything other than milk directly from your breast right now).

I would have her levels retested regularly; besides making sure she gets ENOUGH vitamin D, it's important to make sure she doesn't get an overdose when you're supplementing. If that happened, you'd simply stop the supplement for a while and test her levels again.

ETA: if vitamin D shots are a way to get her levels up quickly, that's something to seriously consider. It's not something I've heard of before, so I didn't mention it until I read your post about your doctors recomending it. But I hope that would be a short-term solution; something to quickly get her up to baseline, then you'd use oral supplements and sunshine to maintain the level.

[guestmama9920]

the GP said she needs calcium + vit d most likely shot or IV, so need to see what they say tomorrow

We don't get much sun, it's cloudy and cold.

I had hyperemesis while preg, loads of bone pain which was ignored.

I take a vit but it's just not enough to seems

Also she won't take anything but breastmilk

recently she has showed an interest in food (she has a pincer grip but not sitting up)

[MountainMamaGC]

There is really not enough vit D in a multi or a prenatal for a nursing mom. I take 2000 IU/day and still supplement my DD once a week just incase she isnt getting enough from me.

[~Charlie's~Angel~]

Lydiah, I love your siggy, it makes me smirk.