vitamin D supplements?

vanilla15

did you give any vitamin supplements to LO?  I have heard you should give vitamin D to babies.  We have seen two pediatricians - one said it wasn't necessary and one said I should. hmmm...

What did you do?

lelekay

My understanding is if you are exclusively breastfeeding, then yes, you should give vitamin D drops.  If you give formula at all you don't need to because it's already in there.

Our pedi did say that any other vitamins were not necessary, though (unless some sort of deficiency is discovered). 

inamra

I am/was, but I only did it about once a week or so, even though our pedi had recommended it as a daily drop. But then when I got sick, I gave it to him every other day cuz I figured it might help prevent him from catching my flu, but then he didn't poop for a week (our vitamin D supplement also contained iron), so I stopped it altogether. It's now been about 2 weeks since I've given him any and I was thinking about starting it up again this week.

Married2MrWright

Our doc recommended the Vit D drop and I got a natural one (no added colors, flavors, extra junk, etc.) from Amazon. You just give one drop, either on your nipple before you BF or directly into their mouth. I had been giving them to her consistently until summer, then we decided to get her some Vitamin D the old fashioned way (in the sun) on our daily walks and playtime outside.  Now that the days are shorter and the nights are longer, we'll go back to the drops. 

I have read, however, that even for EBF babies that the supplements probably are not really needed and that pedis recommend them to everyone just as a CYA measure for those who may actually need it. FWIW, the Vit D you eat is transferred through your BM, so if you're getting adequate amounts so is your baby.  Your BM has small amounts of the vitamin, but it is readily available to your baby in a form that is easy for his/her body to process and use.

 https://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/vitamins/vitamin-d.html

vanilla15

Married2MrWright:

 You just give one drop, either on your nipple before you BF

Now this is thinking...I put the drops in an ounce of pumped milk b/c I knew there was no way I could get her to sit still while I put a drops in her mouth!  Just putting it on my nipple never even crossed my mind.

Another question...yall said you give one drop.  My dr had said 4 drops to equal 400 IU. Did you have a dropper than gave 400 IU in one drop or did you just supplement with less?

Thanks again!

 

mrspresley

i just take Vit D supplements and she gets it in my milk she hated the taste of the drops!

inamra

mrspresley:

i just take Vit D supplements and she gets it in my milk she hated the taste of the drops!

yea, LO hates it too! He always spits it out and it stains everything!

MauiWedding08

nope - although many people would argue it's important in the gray area I live in I don't do it.  I wasn't happy with the ingredients in the mainstream brands (or giving enfamil any of my money) and then never followed through with ordering something else since it was summer.  I take high quality natural capsules anyways so even now that we are heading into the dreary time of year I'm pretty confident he's getting what he needs.