Vitamin D Overload- TMI out there!

[pagodafish]

I am totally overwhelmed by all of the conflicting information out there about Vitamin D- Love to hear what you ladies think....

Ped suggested Vit D drops (I'm not in to supporting the formula company so I never opened them) I read it would be best to supplement myself and baby would get what he needed through the BM. Sooooo here is the question: HOW MUCH????? The health food store guy told me to get the 1000 iu so I did.... now, upon further research, I keep seeing all kinds of warnings about Vit D overdose. Yowsa! What's a girl to do? Anyone know what the right amount is for supplementing?

We EBF, DS is 6 mo and we do live in a cold/low sun climate so I think it's worth the effort/consideration. Also, I get some Vit D in the prenatal I am still taking but Ped said it wasn't enough to pass through the milk...

Any suggestions on how to find out the right dosage?

[SFam]

I hear ya! I've been doing a lot of research on this lately too. Dr Mercola has an entire section of his website devoted to Vitamin D and Dr Tenpenny has this page with guidelines http://drtenpenny.com/VitaminD_info.aspx. Both docs are supportive of natural approaches to health. Both say to have your vitamin D level checked as well as your baby's. Then you can better know how much to take. Absent of knowing your numbers you can use the guidelines on the above link. I found her numbers to feel reasonble to me and I trust her amount of research on the topic.

Tenpenny says a BFing mom needs at least 4000 IU per day of D3 (make sure it's D3, not D2). Some resources say a BF baby doesn't need extra Vit D and others make it sound like your child is going to die without it! Very confusing and contradictory! Tenpenny says from birth to 6 months, give 400IU per day, then from 6 months to 5 years give 1000 IU per 20 pounds of body weight. I've been taking a total of 5500 IU per day (5000 in D3 capsules and 500 in my calcium supplement). I started supplementing lately because as it's getting colder, we're outside less and my babies are both half filipino, so they have a darker skin tone, so they need more sun than a fair person would (ie me!).

I just started supplementing my three month old with 400 IU per day (only one drop of NSI Baby-D's) and my two year old 24 pounder with 1200 IU per day (3 drops NSI Baby-D's).

I agree about not supporting the formula company. Good for you for sticking to your principles. I got my drops online at vitacost.com; they are not made by a formula company, they are more concentrated than the ones found in drug stores so you only give one drop instead of 1mL, which can be a lot for a little baby to try to swallow.

Vitacost carries NSI Baby-D's or Carlson Vitamin D Baby Drops, both are 400 IU per drop. I bought NSI because it was cheaper.

[EmilyG]

I wish I knew!!

With DD#1 I didn't supplement at all. With DD#2 I'm participating in a study through the hospital where I delivered. Exclusivly breastfed babies are being supplemented Vit. D drops in various amounts or none at all (DD is getting drops) and then they have a Vit. D blood level drawn every other month. Weight, length, and head circ. are measured monthly, and a DEXA scan to look at the bones is done twice during the first year. I'm hoping by participating in this study there will be some good research based evidence as to what is best/needed with reguards to vit. D supplementation and breastfeeding. Hopefully by the time I'm ready for a third baby!

[SFam]

Originally Posted by EmilyG

I wish I knew!!

they have a Vit. D blood level drawn every other month.

how much blood is required? i want to have my girls checked but am fearful of the blood draw. how do they do it? finger prick?

[boobs4milk]

amelia is at risk for osteopenia. she gets 800 iu/day and i take about 5000 iu/day.

[lalemma]

I'm hoping by participating in this study there will be some good research based evidence as to what is best/needed with reguards to vit. D supplementation and breastfeeding.

Bless you and your family for being in this study!

I'm confused on this topic myself right now. We're spending the winter in a pretty low-light/far-North climate, and while we're fair-skinned and outside quite a bit, it's freezing. So yes, he's outside... but he's also inside a Moby, inside my coat. And I find it questionable that he's making much in the way of Vitamin D himself.

For myself, I feel like I need to see more and, frankly, better research on heavily supplementing the mom so it comes through the milk. So for right now I guess I'll supplement him directly, even though I'm not crazy about it.

Anyway - I'd be very interested in the results of the study you're in! It'd be good to have evidence-based confirmation either way.

[EmilyG]

Originally Posted by SFam

how much blood is required? i want to have my girls checked but am fearful of the blood draw. how do they do it? finger prick?

It's a heal stick, though at a certain age they switch to finger pricks, maybe 1 year, but I'm not fir sure. They take 0.2cc of blood, it's just a couple drops and only takes a couple seconds to collect. My little DD gets way more annoyed about being stretched out to have her length checked than she does the heal prick!

[SFam]

Originally Posted by EmilyG

They take 0.2cc of blood, it's just a couple drops and only takes a couple seconds to collect.

that's a relief. i just may ask for it, but am still hesitant to do the heal prick! poor baby. ouch

[Down2Earth]

I was pretty sure that an adult shouldn't take more than 50,000 IU a week.

Thanks for the info regarding infant doses.

[MaterPrimaePuellae]

As far as I can tell, the best recommendation for pregnant/lactating women is 4000 IUs a day, and the studies they have done have showed improved outcomes across the bar at this level.

I give my DD 1000 IU a day.

I do NOT think of Vit D supplementation as "pro-formula" propoganda. I would imagine that the amount found in formula is as inadequate for babies as the amount found in most prenatals (about 10% of what people probably actually need).

I found this broadcast VERY helpful:

http://www.peoplespharmacy.com/2009/...amin-d-update/

[SFam]

Originally Posted by MaterPrimaePuellae

I do NOT think of Vit D supplementation as "pro-formula" propoganda.

I think what she was saying is that the vitamin D drops she found in the drug store were made by a formula company and that she didn't want to support a formula company by buying their vitamin D product. However, other companies make vitamin D drops, so a person could purchase vitamin D drops for their families without supporting a formula company.

i myself saw the formula company's drops and consciously avoided them and bought some online instead.

[pagodafish]

Clarification and request

To clarify: Pediatrician gave me Vit D drops from the formula company.... "free" to "try out"....that is why I didn't use them.

I appreciate the actual dosage info- I'm hoping you can point me to any official publication or resource that discusses lactation and Vitamin D specifically. Dr's Mercola and Tenpenny have already been mentioned.

Down2Earth- can you tell me where you heard that dosage info (50K iu per day for adults?)

Thanks again!
Pagodafish

[MaterPrimaePuellae]

Originally Posted by SFam

I think what she was saying is that the vitamin D drops she found in the drug store were made by a formula company and that she didn't want to support a formula company by buying their vitamin D product. However, other companies make vitamin D drops, so a person could purchase vitamin D drops for their families without supporting a formula company.

i myself saw the formula company's drops and consciously avoided them and bought some online instead.

Ah, I see! When my DD was little, there were a few threads floating around here that seemed to suggest that Vit D supplementation was encouraged by formula manufacturers to make breastfeeding seem inadequate. I totally bought into that idea at the time and wish I had started supplementing DD earlier.

I don't think you will find any hard and fast dosing recommendations-- the podcast that I linked above includes an interview with one of the leading Vit D researchers who has been working with the FDA to change the RDA-- the studies are still is progress (though, in his opinion, the results are clear), so the "official" RDA is still 400 IUs for basically everyone (as far as I can understand it).

The hosts asked him about Vit D toxicity, and he basically said that though it is theoretically possible, he has never seen it.... and 4000 IUs a day produced zero adverse effects in the pregnant/lactating women he studied.

ETA-- I use the Biotics brand, which (according to online sources) is the brand used in the Harvard Children's Vit D study. I've been pleased with it so far.

[Down2Earth]

Originally Posted by pagodafish

To clarify: Pediatrician gave me Vit D drops from the formula company.... "free" to "try out"....that is why I didn't use them.

I appreciate the actual dosage info- I'm hoping you can point me to any official publication or resource that discusses lactation and Vitamin D specifically. Dr's Mercola and Tenpenny have already been mentioned.

Down2Earth- can you tell me where you heard that dosage info (50K iu per day for adults?)

Thanks again!
Pagodafish

Yikes! Didn't mean to say 50,000 IUs per day! I'll have to go find it but on a different board about traditional foods there was a link regarding vit d. And what I took away from it was you could take UP TO 50,000 IUs PER WEEK, and you could do that as a once a week dose or in smaller doses to add up to that. But that was the limit. No more than that. And I filed that info away in my brain to mean don't take more than 7,000 IUs per day. Sorry for the confusion.