Vitamins

[BelCanto]

OK...I was just reading that bm may not contain enough iron for children after 6 mo of age and if you are not feeding them "iron fortified" formula or cereal, that they may need supplemention. Also, for vitamin D.

Are any of you taking vitamins while breast feeding? Do I need to ? Does my DD need to? She is 7 mos.

Hmmm...

--Jennifer

[mom3]

I have been taking my prenatal vitamins while breastfeeding just to make sure I'm getting enough of the things I need. As for iron in bmilk, yes there is less than in formula but the iron found in bmilk is better absorbed by babies and thus it doesn't need to have as much as fomula. Generally, babies who are bfed don;'t need any supplements. If you are worried about iron levels, your dr can do a blood test to check it out. I certainly wouldn't just start giving iron supplements since it is toxic at high doses.

[DaryLLL]

Iron lvls in breastmilk doens not go down after 6 mos. It's the baby, whose placental iron stores do usually run out after 6 mos. Keep bfing. Have his hemoglobin lvls checked, if you wish, but it is rare for a fully bfed baby to be anemic. Those that may be are babies whose placental environment were not ideal--whose mom was sick during pregnancy, who were premies, or multiples.

Recent studies have shown, the babies whose iron lvls were best at 8 mos, were those who were fully bfed until then--no artificial baby milk (ABM), no solids either.