[kdf]

Is anyone else not giving the vitamin K shot to your baby? What are you doing instead? I heard taking alfalfa can help. Does anyone know?

 

[texanatheart]

:

I'm not doing the shot this time around. My sister didn't with her ds, and I'm going to ask her what she did instead...I think she took it orally herself?? I'm curious to hear what others here are doing, too.

I did the shot with ds (hospital birth), but not really because I wanted to per se. I knew better, and I'm not sure why I did it.

(I did know better and skipped HepB, though.

)

 

[hunterofkyle]

I won't and honestly don't think anything needs to be done instead. I would change my mind if there was some serious trauma to the baby around day 4-6 after birth, but otherwise I honestly believe it is unnecessary.

The baby is born with stores of Vit. K from mom that slowly deplete over the first week of life and by day 8 they should be making their own (gotta love the Jewish tradition of bris on day 8 for falling so perfectly in line with nature on this one.) The idea of giving every baby Vit. K seems to be tied in with things like routine circumcision (in which case I would deem it necessary as this could potentially be done in the low-K window). A baby tucked safely into his/her mother's arms should be at little to no risk of bumps, bruises and cuts that could cause a problem in that small window when they may be low on K.

The funny thing is that I got all of my information convincing me of this from my husband's medical textbooks, which makes me wonder why so many doctors do it routinely in the first place???

I'm a pretty big believer that God created us to function without a lot of medical intervention and it seems a little off to me that babies need an artificial boost of vitamin K 100% of the time.

Edited because I just talked to my husband and he says the "low" window is day 3-7, not day 4-6. But that doesn't really change my thinking.

 

[Multimomma]

None of my seven have had a vitK shot, and they've all done pretty well

Really, the shot is for the 1 in 10,000 children born who have a blood clotting disorder, and the children who MIGHT need help clotting in those early days is even more rare.

Some studies have negative associations with the shot, although the medical establishment just gives it to anyway because they haven't noticed an immediate dangerous side effect and it's easier than waiting to see if a baby has a clotting disorder.

 

[G&B'sMama]

My DS didn't have a vitamin K shot, and this baby won't either. We didn't do anything special in its place. Same with that yucky eye gel. We also refuse the first PKU test, which is done around the time of birth. It is required to be repeated because the results from the first test aren't accurate enough because the baby still has so much of it's mothers blood in it's system.

After trying to hard to create a warm and loving environment for my baby I don't want anyone poking or prodding him/her just to fill some routine requirements. I want my baby welcomed to comfort.

 

[DeannaK]

I have really mixed feelings on this. My gut reaction is, NO WAY. But then I read more and change my mind. It's the one shot I'm very undecided on.

I even tried to see what Dr. Sears thought. ( I can't seem to find his opinion on the subject).

I'm having boys and they will NOT be circ'ed, which does help a bit in the decision making process.

 

[kohlby]

There's at least a 50% chance that my baby will have an inherited clotting gene - one that will make him clot more than average. So, I feel there's even less reason for a baby of mine to get the shot as long as I can stay off coumadin and aspirin myself since I'll be breastfeeding. My peri normally does coumadin post-partum but she's allowing me to stay on heparin so that's not an issue. I haven't talked to her about me going off the baby aspirin temporarily. (I'm supposed to go off of it two weeks before the birth but start back up 24 hours after - which I'm hesitant to do).

If this baby is a premie or if it's a traumatic birth, then I'll reconsider. However, it's a scheduled c-section at 39 weeks hopefully and my other kids were 41 and 42 weeks so it should be okay. (But I'm high risk so holding out until 39 weeks is optomistic!)

I dont' want to do the oral vitamin K because of trying to maintain the pristine gut.

 

[texanatheart]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kohlby I dont' want to do the oral vitamin K because of trying to maintain the pristine gut.

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but what does that mean?

 

[GoddessJ]

We aren't doing the Vit. K shot either.

I am planning on eating a lot of Kale after the birth so that I can build up my own Vit. K stores, which can go to the baby during breastfeeding. I read that dark green leafy vegetables have the highest sources of Vit. K.

 

[veghead04]

We aren't. I don't see the need. I eat a very healthy, vitamin-rich diet.

 

[ilovebabies]

No, we don't do the Vit. K shot. I would only consider it if the birth was traumatic for some reason (and we don't circ. either so we don't need to do it for that reason). From everything I've read, I see no need for it. We also refuse the eye ointment, but we do the PKU. That's an important test that I wouldn't feel comfortable skipping. Nothing is being injected into the body, it's a heal stick where they take blood. I hate it, but it's over with in no time.

Off topic, but regarding the PKU, If you wait 24 hours (or is it 48? Can't remember right now), there is no need to have the test done twice. If they want to do it right away, refuse it and wait a day. It's so stupid that they do the PKU on some babies immediately because they'll only have to do it later. With my last baby, I actually waited 2 weeks to get it done and may do that again this time. The nurse that did it made the comment that since the baby was older, the blood flow would be better and it would come out much easier, and it did.

 

[Nomadmama]

I take alfalfa and chlorophyll at the end of my pg and baby received oral Vit K last time as well. Not sure but we'll probably go that route again.

I will say that the alfalfa (and a great diet) were very helpful in getting my lochia to a bare minimum quickly after birth. I only bled for like 2 weeks and I could have worn a pantyliner for most of it. Compared to my first that I had heavyish bleeding for 6 weeks, that is!

 

[kohlby]

Texas - Pristine gut is when breastmilk coats the baby's intestinal tract to keep out foreign bodies, allergens, etc. As long as baby drinks only breastmilk, this barrier stays in place. I tried this with both my kids but had to give my first infant tylenol at 2 months old. I was able make it until solids started with the second. I'm not sure if it's just coincidence, but my second got/gets sick a lot less than my first. (And my first didn't get sick all that often).

 

[hippiemommaof4]

we are doing it because I am on blood thinners and have been the entire time we also do pku. We arent doing hep b or circ though.

 

[corrie_cat]

I'm planning to do the oral drops. It seems like a good compromise between the shot and nothing at all... The drops have been used internationally for years. I tend to trust whatever the Dutch are doing, and in the Netherlands they do 1 mg oral vitamin K at birth, followed by daily doses of 25 mcg from 1 week to 3 months of age in breastfed infants. They've had zero cases of babies dying from hemorrhaging disorders there since they implemented this program.

You can even order the drops online yourself here: http://www.birthwithlove.com/categor...Inc-Oral+Vit+K

Or if you're using a midwife, she can order it for you. I doubt many doctors would be willing to do this

So why are we doing drops vs. nothing? There is a small chance of a hemorrhaging disorder leading to a fatality, but it does happen. I don't want to take that chance.

 

[texanatheart]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kohlby Texas - Pristine gut is when breastmilk coats the baby's intestinal tract to keep out foreign bodies, allergens, etc. As long as baby drinks only breastmilk, this barrier stays in place. I tried this with both my kids but had to give my first infant tylenol at 2 months old. I was able make it until solids started with the second. I'm not sure if it's just coincidence, but my second got/gets sick a lot less than my first. (And my first didn't get sick all that often).

I see...that totally makes sense. However, I'm 99% sure that oral Vit K is for MOM to take, not baby. The link that corrie_cat posted explains that nursing mamas take the drops, and the Vit K is passed on to the baby through breastmilk.

 

[Devaskyla]

Nope, oral K is for the baby.

We didn't with either boy & don't plan to this time either.

 

[texanatheart]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Devaskyla Nope, oral K is for the baby. We didn't with either boy & don't plan to this time either.

Hmmm...maybe depending on your approach/what you decide, you can either administer to baby orally, have mom increase VitK intake prior to and after birth, or do a combo? I'll have to ask my new mw what she recommends/suggests when I meet with her next.

 

[nuwavemomma]

Didn't do it last time, won't do it this time. They wouldn't discharge me last time until I accepted an Rx for oral vitamin K for my son to take, which is honestly "just silly" in the words of our ped. Obviously that Rx went in the trash...

If I were going to circ a boy (we didn't and wouldn't, but hypothetically) or if there were forceps, vacuum or bad bruising at birth, then I might *think* about it.

I just generally eat well, and by well I mean traditionally, so I guess most people would call the way I eat "weird." Anyway, I don't feel inclined to supplement much or worry about my levels of various things. However, were I to want vit K supplementation I'd be looking at alfalfa and nettles in tea.

 

[nuwavemomma]

Quote:

Originally Posted by texanatheart I see...that totally makes sense. However, I'm 99% sure that oral Vit K is for MOM to take, not baby. The link that corrie_cat posted explains that nursing mamas take the drops, and the Vit K is passed on to the baby through breastmilk.

That is an option, but hospitals are probably only going to offer the oral for baby and I think they'd look pretty confused if asked for it for mom. The other issue with doing postpartum maternal supplementation and assuming its passage through breastmilk is that there's so little volume of colostrum produced and mom would be without the "protection" they say is "needed" until her milk came in. I'd say if a person is inclined to tinker with their levels it's got to be prenatally through mom, or postpartum straight to baby.