Vitamin D necessary for kids who don't drink milk?

[sbgquilt]

At DD check up today when dr learned that dd doesn't drink much milk (defined by dr as 2 cups/day) -- dd rarely drinks milk of any kind -- dr said should supplement with Vitamin D.  I take vitamin D myself b/c I know my levels are way low.  My dd burns really easily so we usually have her coated in sun screen when she's out meaning she doesn't get much from the sun, and we live in MN where there is a limited sun season anyway.  Wondering if kids really need extra vitamin  d.  wondering if I should ask her to have her D level tested before we start with supplements?  wondering if we supplement do we go the vitamin roue or the cod liver oil route? 

[TheGirls]

I think most kids need vitamin D these days. Something like 90% of the population is low in vitamin D.  I don't think milk helps much (wrong kind of D, and not nearly enough of it).   I would consider supplementing for awhile then having her tested to see if she's getting enough (or too much).   I take 5000iu/day myself and give my DD(age 3) 1000iu/day.  I will start soon with my 6mo sons, our ped tests routinely every few years for kids, starting at age 1.   We also live in the north where our natural exposure is limited by the seasons and weak winter sun.  We use sunscreen only when truly necessary, but not for day-to-day exposure. 

We chose to use vitamins because DD tested VERY low and I didn't feel that the cod liver oil would give her enough. We also take CLO, when I remember it, but are more religious about the D.  

[Smokering]

Honestly, it's probably safe to assume she's deficient. Most people are; I just read a book about it (The Vitamin D Solution, if you're curious). DH and I just started taking it, and I'm trying to find some way of getting it into our three-year-old - our last batch was tiny powdery capsules I could have ground up and put in her juice or something, but DH just bought a new lot which is oil-filled gel capsules, and oil might be harder to disguise. I should really get onto it, though...

[treemom2]

My children don't drink milk either.  In the winter, we give them CLO and in the summer we're outside a lot (but not long enough to burn) and don't use sunscreen. 

[~Amy~]

I give DS VitD.  He drinks tons of milk, but it's raw, so no added vitamins.

[Lisoula]

I started all of my kids on Carlson's D-Drops. They are 1000IU per drop, and it's totally tasteless. 

[1love4ever]

The supplements of vitamin D are not as bioavailable(the amount your body absorbs) as a naturally occurring form.  What I would do is take DD outside for 25 minutes a day without sunscreen, then put sunscreen on her for the rest of the time.  That is all the sun exposure you need and yes vitamin D is VERY important.  Check out Mercola.com and what he has to say about vitamin D as well as the sunscreens he sells on there.

The body was meant to be exposed to the sun, and D is a very easy nutrient to obtain as long we do what we would naturally do if we were not so civilized, which is spend time outdoors.

[mamayogibear]

We don't drink milk here but we drink almond milk or hemp or soy with added vit D. We also spend at leat a half hour in the sun each chance we get, which means spending an hour or two on the few sunny day's we've had this year. If you are not veggie I think the CLO idea is a great one. If you are you can still get vitamin D supplements, I think super supplements has a couple of liquid ones that can be added to a drink. Also vanilla almond milk is so yummy that you could probably get your little one to drink it.

[JudiAU]

We do. DS rarely drinks any quantity of milk and we are very sun-protective due to fair skin, family history of skin cancer, and dessert dwelling. I never gave it as an infant but after he self-weaned and showed no interest in alternative milks and all of the pro-VD research came out we started add a supplement to his diet. He is four.

DD is still nursing and drinks some cow's milk as well and I won't give her a supp unless I see a reason. 

[Wolfcat]

Don't forget there are food sources of Vitamin D. Though there aren't very many, most of them provide a lot of the daily requirements.

Here is a decent list.

[kjbrown92]

That's true about it being more bioavailable when it's from sunshine, however, depending what latitude you're at, going outside may not help at all (I live in CT, and from October - April you can't make enough Vitamin D from the sun). I had my kids tested. I'm on 10,000iu/day and they're each on 4000iu/day (drops). One is 11yo, and the other is 6yo. I should probably get the 13yo tested as well.

[1love4ever]

Here is a link to some great info about Vit D.  It mentions the difference between supplements, food sources and sun exposure, etc.

http://products.mercola.com/summer-survival-kit/