Vitamin D supplements

[toriaj]

My pediatrician is recommending Vitamin D supplements for my exclusively breastfed two-month-old. I don't really want to give her supplements, but we do have low sun exposure. In the summer we might spend an hour outside now and then, but now that it's winter, it will only be a covered-up walk from the car to the store.

Should I give the supplements? If so, is there a brand you'd recommend?

[kiara7]

Supplement yourself and your baby will get everything she needs. Carlson D Drops is a great brand.

[mamadelbosque]

I've recently taken up supplementing me (carlson vit d gel caps) with vit d & c plus my prenatal in the hopes of keeping my/our immune systems at top notch during flu season... and I started giving my 2.5 yr old vit d for the first time too. I take 6000mg of vit d and DS1 takes 1000 (I read somewhere on here that if you take 6000mg then enough passes through bm for your baby to not need supplemented...)

[bean-e]

My midwife told me to give my baby supplement as well because of the little sunshine that we get in the pacific north west in the winter time. She said D Drops is great because one drop on the nipple is all it takes. As soon as the baby latched on, he/she has taken it in.

[toriaj]

Thanks for the comments! I had heard of supplementing myself, and I am more comfortable with that. And if I do decide to use the infant supplement, I hadn't thought of putting the drop on my nipple, thanks for the tip! Anyone who doesn't use the supplement, please explain, why not?

[Blessed_Mom]

I do wonder though.....can we be sure LO is getting the sufficient supplement from the D drop? I recently bought the Carlson Baby D...and everytime I give her the one drop (I put it on my nipple)...I wonder if I am truly giving her the 100% Vit D.

Reason I am wary of vitamins is...pre pregnancy I was taking my prenatals which had 100% iron and also supplementing with extra Vit D. But during pregnancy I tested deficient for both..... I can maybe understand the D but was surprised I ended up with iron deficiency...

[curious&eager]

The iron in the mulit pills sometimes is just not enough. I got anemic too and did not have the energy to even sit before the doctor said I was too low and needed more iron. I guess the baby just uses tons of it and he gets first dibs.

As for vitamin D. I give my DS the drop. I've heard not enough transfers in breastmilk. I also get him outside every couple days, but the drops keep the doctor happy and are like an insurance policy for me. The ingredients seem simple and harmless, so why not.

[toriaj]

Originally Posted by toriaj

Anyone who doesn't use the supplement, please explain, why not?

Anybody else who can chime in?

How about a source for the Baby D Drops? It's almost $20 on Amazon. edit: I just found under $10 on VitaCost, + shipping.

I still haven't decided ... I've heard that D deficiency may be related to MS, which we have a tendency to in my family. On the other hand, I've heard (a tiny bit) about the EBF "virgin gut," and I don't know if the D supp would affect that?

[PatioGardener]

[QUOTE=toriaj;14669761]Anybody else who can chime in?

How about a source for the Baby D Drops? It's almost $20 on Amazon. edit: I just found under $10 on VitaCost, + shipping.

I still haven't decided ... I've heard that D deficiency may be related to MS, which we have a tendency to in my family. On the other hand, I've heard (a tiny bit) about the EBF "virgin gut," and I don't know if the D supp would affect that?[/QUOTE]

This is my thought. I hope to exclusively BF baby until at least 6 months. I don't want to give a daily supplement of anything unless medically necessary. I'm taking vit D myself to get my levels up during pregnancy and I'll be retested again during pregnancy and then after birth. I've told my midwife that I'd rather supplement myself than baby, as there is good evidence (Randomized controlled trial) to show that if mom is well supplemented and has high enough vit D levels herself, then baby can get enough through breast milk only.

After 6 months I will give baby vit D drops (not made by a formula company). I'm in Canada, so vit D from the sun is not enough during more than 1/2 of the year.)

[boobs4milk]

i use the drops, but we have to use more because millie is at risk for osteopenia. she gets ~1000 iu/day and i take ~5000 iu/day. her alk-phos levels showed a small improvement with my supplementation but a significant improvement when we started supplementing her. i really had no choice in the matter.

[claddaghmom]

Re: more info on NOT supplementing...my only thought is to avoid supplementing with a poor product. Research the company, the process and the ingredients.



I take 2000mg daily....can anyone point me to the 6000mg reference for nursing?

[ashleedio]

The Vitamin Shoppe has their own brand, which are identical to the Carlson Baby D drops. I got them for $8.99.

[MangoMommy]

I wonder about this too. I have a EBF 5.5 mo old. The nurse prac mentioned starting on Vit d drops after 6 mo old.

How much sun is enough? I live in HI, and DD gets bouts of about 10-20 mins a few times a day (walking kids to school, picking them up.) She does usually wear a hat but otherwise she's in a onesie.

[tanyalynn]

Originally Posted by claddaghmom

I take 2000mg daily....can anyone point me to the 6000mg reference for nursing?

Take a look at this article, I think it points to data showing 4,000-6,000 IU is the range to get an appropriate amount of vitamin D to baby. If mom has health concerns, though, she should at least test herself and take enough to get into a good part of the reference range, and if she started out low, then baby does too. So additional supplementation to baby may still be appropriate, to make up for a pre-existing deficiency.

http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/pdf...84?cookieSet=1

eta: I'm having trouble with my browser, let me know if this link isn't right. The title of the article is something like Vitamin D Makes the World go round.

[Eligracey]

I get the whole EBF for the first 6 months thing (my babe never had formula or solids) but saying that Vitamin D drops count as not exclusive breastfeeding means that you also can't give your baby any kind of medicine at all. You're not even giving Tylenol or Motrin when baby's sick or teething? If that ruins the "virgin gut" already then you might as well make sure your baby's not Vitamin D deficient, too.

[PatioGardener]

Originally Posted by Eligracey

I get the whole EBF for the first 6 months thing (my babe never had formula or solids) but saying that Vitamin D drops count as not exclusive breastfeeding means that you also can't give your baby any kind of medicine at all.

For me the difference is daily vs occasional, and medically necessary vs able to provide in my breastmilk. Of course if baby is unable to get enough vit D from breastmilk alone then I would not hesitate to supplement.

[nia82]

I'm fine with the Carlsons D-drops, available online or at Wholefoods. They don't have preservatives or anything like that.
When DS was 4 months the ped recommended Polivisol and of course I didn't get that stuff. I got the Carlsons stuff and supplemented myself, but only gave it to DS occasionally.
He now gets it every other day when I think about it and a couple extra drop when I'm sick or he is sick.
I don't give DS Tylenol and Motrin only a couple of times (less than 5 times). I don't think though that vit D will ruin the virgin gut, as Carlsons D is really nice and blends in with the breastmilk on the nipple, it's just like an extra dose of D in the milk in my eyes.

[MissE]

We live in Texas and up until this fall I have never even supplemented myself with VitD nor my DS or DD because there's always sun, almost every day and we're outside a lot. Now, with flu season rolling in and talking to other mommas I have decided to start supplementing myself and the kids but we're rather on the lower end I think. both kids get about 800 units of Carlson's VitD and I'm taking 2000 units. We're still playing outside a lot, it's still warm enough to wear only a t-shirt or even only a diaper so there's enough exposure to the sunrays.

[sparklefairy]

Originally Posted by Blessed_Mom

I do wonder though.....can we be sure LO is getting the sufficient supplement from the D drop? I recently bought the Carlson Baby D...and everytime I give her the one drop (I put it on my nipple)...I wonder if I am truly giving her the 100% Vit D.

Reason I am wary of vitamins is...pre pregnancy I was taking my prenatals which had 100% iron and also supplementing with extra Vit D. But during pregnancy I tested deficient for both..... I can maybe understand the D but was surprised I ended up with iron deficiency...

Iron is frequently not well-absorbed as a supplement. Some people have better luck with floradix or some other food-based form.

[onelittleone]

Vitamin D is actually a hormone. I personally would NOT supplement. Our babies bodies are perfect and know what to do. It's not supposed to be summer all year round, therefore we don't need sun exposure all the time. In fact we can get plenty of vitamin d from the foods we eat as well. If anything we get too much vitamin d, leading to chronic illness. It's one thing to supplement yourself, but the idea that our babies need supplementation baffles me - especially when breastfed.

A d deficiency could be realted to autoimmune diseases. I for example have Hashimoto's and it can block the absorbtion of vitamin d, but taking more would be worse.
Read this article ... I found it interesting as I am still researching how to heal myself.

http://autoimmunedisease.suite101.co...n_d_connection