How much sodium ascorbate/acerola powder for sick 9-month-old?

[annawest]

My 9-month-old son's been sick for almost a week--moderate fever, runny nose, terrible wet hacking cough, low energy, and restless sleep. The fever finally broke yesterday and his energy level and mood went up, but he still has this terrible cough and congestion. We did call our doctor, but he said his symptoms were not severe enough to merit a visit and just to monitor him for certain signs that the illness was getting worse, none of which (thankfully) manifested.

I would like to supplement him with some Vitamin C to help him recover and to prevent him from getting any secondary infections. He is breast fed and also receives pumped milk by bottle during the day. He also eats solids, but his appetite for solids has gone down since he's been sick and for the last few days we haven't even tried giving him any. What I am thinking about is adding Vitamin C to his bottles, but I'm not sure on the right dosage for a child his age (weighing probably 20-21 lbs.). I have acerola powder (1 teaspoon = 180 milligrams) and sodium ascorbate powder (1/2 teaspoon = 1 gram). I also have liquid liposomal Vitamin C, which is very potent but has alcohol in it, so I'm wary about giving it to him.

If anyone has experience with this, what would you recommend? Acerola, sodium ascorbate, or alternating them both? What dosage? And how often? Besides putting it in bottles, can I mix it with food (like mashed banana)? Thanks in advance!

[bygones75]

I can only speak to the SA. Hilary Butler told me this years ago and I still follow it:

For a normal healthy baby with no immune system problems, 50 mgs per kg of body weight should be okay. (4 kgs of baby weight = 200 mg vitamin C spread over the day in 2 or three doses).

Hope that helps.

[annawest]

Thank you!

[tanyalynn]

I haven't used acerola, only SA, but I got higher dosing guidelines, I thought sick people usually needed closer to 250 mg/kg body weight, it translates to 1.1 grams per 10 lbs body weight (not being able to think in kilograms myself). Divided throughout the day, at least 4 doses.

That said, my kids actually needed more than that to get to bowel tolerance, I used that as a starting point and then had to go up, it took a few illnesses to get a feel for where their bowel tolerance was, but it was quite helpful with illnesses, I think it prevented quite a few of my son's colds from transitioning into something more serious.

I just mixed with water or a little juice and used a medicine syringe to squirt into his mouth.

[annawest]

Thanks, Tanya. Do you know whether it's okay to mix sodium ascorbate in with food or milk (as in, does it decrease potency or anything)?

[tanyalynn]

My understanding is that cold/room temp stuff is fine, but hot is not. SA does taste salty, though, so depending on how much you use, it can flavor it quite strongly.

[ombrooklyn]

this is exactly what i was looking for! thanks to the posters!

[Marnica]

Originally Posted by bygones75

I can only speak to the SA. Hilary Butler told me this years ago and I still follow it:

For a normal healthy baby with no immune system problems, 50 mgs per kg of body weight should be okay. (4 kgs of baby weight = 200 mg vitamin C spread over the day in 2 or three doses).

Hope that helps.

This would be a management dose, not for sickness...200mg would not be nearly enough IMO (I have also dosed per HB, her recs for my sick DS were far higher.