I know that a whole lot of parents supplement with Vit. D., but... I'm really uncomfortable with it myself.
When my ped told me at our 1-week appointment that we "needed to get the baby on Vitamin D supplements right away," that raised a red flag for me since I have always been under the impression that exposure to a moderate amount of sunlight produces perfectly adequate Vitamin D for light-skinned people like myself and my DD. When I pressed the doc, she admitted that moderate sun exposure would "also be an acceptable way" to get Vitamin D.
I was like, "hold up the truck!" In my mind, the primary "acceptable way" to get Vitamin D should be the way our bodies are
designed to get it, right? Supplements are designed to be just that - to help add extra vitamins in case we aren't getting it the way we're designed to get it. And sure, if a test shows that my baby isn't getting enough Vitamin D, then by all means, let's add some supplements. But a universal recommendation that
every baby get supplements because a few might not be getting enough naturally? Doesn't that seem a little "off"?
I looked into it a bit more, and I found this excellent editorial by Peggy O'Mara from Issue 108 of
Mothering: "
Resist Much, Obey Little. It points out how dangerous a thing a universal recommendation like the Vitamin D recs really can be:
Quote:
Apparently, the AAP refuses to recommend sun exposure because of the risk of skin cancer. Rather than identifying populations at risk for rickets, excluding breastfed babies from the recommendation or encouraging governmental attention to the environment, the organization has chosen instead to recommend that all babies in the US receive a synthetic version of vitamin D made by a formula manufacturer.
... I'm especially distrustful when any official recommendation puts money into the pockets of the few by requiring the many to pay. |
Until there is convincing medical research that demonstrates the value of purchasing synthetic Vitamin D to feed to my LO, I will settle for taking the babe out for a walk for an hour or so whenever it's warm enough to get some sun on her little face, and keep on consuming plenty of Vitamin D myself so she can get it in my breastmilk.
My $.02...
