XP: Vitamin K question

PinkPearlGirl · May 2011

We are opting out of Vitamin K injection, but would like to consider administering it orally. That being said, someone mentioned something about oral vitamin K could interfere with breastfeeding because of the taste. Has anyone done this or chosen an alternative to the Vitamin K injection?

haleymay18 · May 2011

We just did the vit. k injection.

nosoup4u · May 2011

I think the only viable alternative are the oral drops. Aren't they given twice only? I wouldn't worry about such a small amount interfering with breastfeeding.

bestmaid6 · May 2011

We were going to opt for the oral administration but it turn out our hospital only does the injection. Turns out not all hospitals offer it as an option. Our childbirth educator had a half dose on the injection given to her son, might be an option if you are concerned about the amount of Vitamin K in the injection.

We've decided to just decline the injection unless necessary.

BostonGayGal · May 2011

bestmaid6:
We've decided to just decline the injection unless necessary.

I think the trouble is that it isn't always obvious when there is internal bleeding. What is your reasoning behind declining it?

PinkPearlGirl · May 2011

nosoup4u:
I think the only viable alternative are the oral drops. Aren't they given twice only? I wouldn't worry about such a small amount interfering with breastfeeding.

This is the option we are leaning towards, I just wanted to see if anyone had issues with the flavor of the oral dosage interfering with breastfeeding. I read that you only give them 2 mg of it right after birth, again 3-7 days later and then a final time 6 weeks later. I am assuming that since the dosage is so low that there is a slim chance the flavor will interfere with breastfeeding.

Our hospital does offer the injection as an oral option, but it is synthetic and that's what we're trying to avoid.

Thank you everyone for your help!

EDIT: I should clarify, we are going to purchase the authentic Vitamin K ourselves instead of using the synthetic the hospital offers.

bestmaid6 · May 2011

BostonGayGal:
bestmaid6:
We've decided to just decline the injection unless necessary.
I think the trouble is that it isn't always obvious when there is internal bleeding. What is your reasoning behind declining it?

Having low Vitamin K at birth is normal for all babies, every baby has low Vitamin K, that to me says that it isn't something we need to "fix." Once colostrum is ingested, the baby will start producing Vitamin K and will have normal levels within a week. Unless the baby has severe bruising from a traumatic birth (prolonged time in birth canal, forceps/vacuum use, etc.) or will require an immediate surgical procedure, we will decline the Vitamin K injection.

BostonGayGal · May 2011

Low vitamin k is normal for babies. But the chance of those babies whose livers don't produce the vitamin K ending up dead or severely brain damaged is such a severe consequence that I would not risk it.

monkeyqueen · May 2011

BostonGayGal:
Low vitamin k is normal for babies. But the chance of those babies whose livers don't produce the vitamin K ending up dead or severely brain damaged is such a severe consequence that I would not risk it.

Plus, there isn't always signs of trauma (vacuum, forceps, bruising, etc). My daughter had a brain bleed at birth, which resulted in many seizures. She had no signs of trauma.

Micahsgurl4ever · May 2011

Ok I never new there was an issue with vitamin K injections. What is the purpose in giving vitamin K orally? Any articles anyone could point me too? And where do you buy oral vitamin K?

nosoup4u · May 2011

PinkPearlGirl:
nosoup4u:
I think the only viable alternative are the oral drops. Aren't they given twice only? I wouldn't worry about such a small amount interfering with breastfeeding.
This is the option we are leaning towards, I just wanted to see if anyone had issues with the flavor of the oral dosage interfering with breastfeeding. I read that you only give them 2 mg of it right after birth, again 3-7 days later and then a final time 6 weeks later. I am assuming that since the dosage is so low that there is a slim chance the flavor will interfere with breastfeeding.

Yeah, 2 mg is such a small dose that I really wouldn't worry about it interfering with breastfeeding. DS1 was fed pumped breastmilk with a supplemental nursing system attached to our fingers and a dropper for his first few days, bc we had trouble getting a good latch going. It didn't affect our nursing relationship at all in the long run - he nursed for 2+ years.

PinkPearlGirl · May 2011

Micahsgurl4ever:
Ok I never new there was an issue with vitamin K injections. What is the purpose in giving vitamin K orally? Any articles anyone could point me too? And where do you buy oral vitamin K?

It's definitely a personal decision. The reason that we decided against the injection is for a couple of reasons:

1. Injecting Vitamin K IM is not natural. Vitamin K is absorbed naturally through the mouth, not IM. This was something that bothered us, but may not bother everyone.

2. The Vitamin K shots they give at the hospitals are synthetic, meaning they are chemically altered to resemble Vitamin K and will work the same way, but is not naturally Vitamin K (this was the biggest issue we had).

Below is a link about Vitamin K and then I also included a website that sells oral Vitamin K and another website that has the suggested dosage amounts.

I'm not sure that Vitamin K is as controversial as other things, but it was something that was important to us.

Vitamin K link: https://www.thebabybond.com/VitaminKinjectORnot.html

Where to order oral, if interested: https://www.birthwithlove.com/categories/itempage.asp?prodid=Vitamin+K+1+%28Vit+K+1+%29Oral+Vit+K

Suggested Dosage amount (there are also other suggested dosage amounts too): https://www.adhb.govt.nz/newborn/Guidelines/Blood/VitaminK.htm#Dosage

star173 · May 2011

We did the drops; I started taking supplements a few weeks before DS was born, and I gave him the drops as instructed. I don't think it interfered with BFing at all, but maybe give them after a feeding.

star173 · May 2011

monkeyqueen:

BostonGayGal:
Low vitamin k is normal for babies. But the chance of those babies whose livers don't produce the vitamin K ending up dead or severely brain damaged is such a severe consequence that I would not risk it.

Plus, there isn't always signs of trauma (vacuum, forceps, bruising, etc). My daughter had a brain bleed at birth, which resulted in many seizures. She had no signs of trauma.

This is true, and I am very sorry for your daughter. Is she okay now?

However, the OP is doing oral vitamin K, not nothing. There are studies that show there is a minimal difference in oral vs. injection supplements as far as how well they work. Not all countries offer the vit. K injection, and their rates of HDN are not higher. Further, there are risks to receving the shot- anaphylaxis being one of them. (I had links for my above statements, but it's been a while since I did any research on the subject and they aren't handy right now)

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