Vitamin D Supplements in Darker Skinned babies

[Bunnybee]

I was wondering if mamas of darker skinned babies gave their DCs Vitamin D supplements, especially if you live in a cooler climate? Our ped recommended it for DS since he is breast fed. I bought the stuff but only gave it to him 2 or 3 times b/c he hated it and it seemed unnecessary. But now I feel worried b/c we do not get out a lot in the winter but I take a multi-vitamin myself that has Vitamin D. Anyone else not do it and babe is fine/not deficient?

[Kajira]

I've never given a vit d supplement, just light and cod liver oil.
Do you have a window that gets 15 mins of sunlight? Sit and play with baby there each day and he'll be fine :thumb

[Bunnybee]

Thanks Kajira. I've been trying to do that (window thing) lately. I can't wait for spring!

[grumpybear]

We supplement with Vitamin D because even in the summer, the sunlight isn't enough (we live high up in latitude). The cod liver oil that DS takes doesn't have vitamin D in it so we do the drops.

[LaffNowCryLater]

I tried but she would throw it up so I gave up. She is fine now at almost 4 years old.

[cappuccinosmom]

I have been ignoring our pediatrician on that one for years. :p

We live in Pennsylvania, and except for the absolute worst cold/snow, I try to get the kids out in the sunlight every day. In the spring, summer, and fall they spend *hours* outside. In the winter, much less, but still enough. They are not deficient.

[duckmom]

we live in a mild climate, but I still think it's important. DH, myself and DS (who is now 2) all take CLO for the A, D and EFAs.

here's a good article (http://www.westonaprice.org/children/infant-vitamin-d-safety.html) from WAPF on vit D.

[BunniMummi]

We aren't darkskinned but up here in Scandinavia Vit D is strongly recommended from birth. Honestly I don't worry about it at all during the summer months but during the winter I use drops on occasion just to be on the safe side. They have no flavor at all and I have never had much of an issue getting a few drops into my kids. For my older son he is more than willing to take strawberry flavored fish oil capsules. :)

[Cyann]

our whole family takes Vitamin D supplements, even me, who is pretty pale. I think it's beneficial, even in people who aren't deficient by medical standards. People in modern society just don't get the kind of all-day sunlight that people used to, and if you live above 30 degrees, forget it. We live in New York.

My son's not actually that dark-skinned, though, more sort of olive.

[karin95]

I wouldn't worry about it for my kid (jamaican and dominican), but he has bad eczema that flares up with too much sun exposure, so we try and keep him out of the sun too much. Therefore we can't assume he's getting all his vit D needs from that. And he has a ton of allergies, so CLO isn't really an option at this point (don't want to risk a fish allergy!)
So we're getting the supplement soon (we need it specially compounded, so it's a little difficult to get it...) and will give it to him at least during the summers.

I just recently read an article about a study that showed that vit D supplementation reduces the risk of developing type 1 diabetes. At least something to look into, I guess.

[sweetsensation]

my ds is 11 and I have never supplemented with Vit. D or really any thing else since he was bf for 3 years. If you are breastfeeding, I wouldn't worry about it too much. I have never had problems with any of mine and we don't do anything in particular or even make a point to really get out in the sun that much. Besides, it is difficult for our bodies to absorb the vit. D taken in supplements. Unless there are particular problems, I wouldn't worry about it until they are old enough to take a multivitamin with vit d in it, but that's just my opinion....

[Ammaarah]

We do supplement. I am deficient myself and we live in MN so all the time in the world outside is not going to give us enough, at least not in winter months. I give my daughter daily CLO and gave her the drops when she was younger. Her skin is medium tone but I figure between a deficient mom BF her and living in MN it's worth supplementing. Since deficiency is linked to everything from PCOS to diabetes to cancer, I think we are making the best choice for us.

[Absinthia]

I would if we had winter here.

[slmtoya]

I don't supplement at all. DS's ped told us to when he was born since he was (And still is) breastfed. I tried once and he spit it up and it stained his clothes and I decided that I wasn't going to bother. I made sure that he got some sun everyday and he's been fine.

We do live in FL so there's no shortage of sunlight. If we lived in Alaska where the sun went away for a long time I probably would consider it.