Vitamin D
RBXChas
Posts: 2,708 Member
Do any of you EBFing/EPing mamas take extra vitamin D and/or give your baby vitamin D drops? My pediatrician has never mentioned it, nor have my father or BIL (both peds), but I was reading something about it over the weekend.
I take a prenatal vitamin still (which has 100% RDV of vitamin D) and a DHA supplement (which doesn't appear to have any). I will ask my dad later (or my local ped at my son's six-month appt next Monday), but I was curious what you all do. I keep my son out of sunlight as much as possible to protect his skin.
I didn't have to think about this with my older son because he was mostly FF.
Thanks!
I take a prenatal vitamin still (which has 100% RDV of vitamin D) and a DHA supplement (which doesn't appear to have any). I will ask my dad later (or my local ped at my son's six-month appt next Monday), but I was curious what you all do. I keep my son out of sunlight as much as possible to protect his skin.
I didn't have to think about this with my older son because he was mostly FF.
Thanks!
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I spoke to my HV about this last week and if you're taking it as a supplement and breastfeeding then baby doesn't need any extras.0
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I gave him vitamin D drops during the winter last year but haven't in a long time.0
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Yes, because our ped recommended it. G has hypothyroidism, and needs vit D for thyroid support anyway.0
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Yes it is recommended if you're EBF because only small amounts of vit d are transferred in breast milk. Your own intake is irrelevant to the baby because it doesn't get transferred efficiently.0
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Yes it is recommended if you're EBF because only small amounts of vit d are transferred in breast milk. Your own intake is irrelevant to the baby because it doesn't get transferred efficiently.
this.0 -
Perhaps different advice is given depending on where in the world you are?0
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As with all things, different peds will have different opinions. We've had 2 peds at the same practice, and the first insisted on the vit D drops for my son, even though I take 5,000 units myself every day. Our current ped said it's not necessary to give them, so we don't anymore.0
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I gave the baby D drops, but I live in a cold climate (Canada) and we have significant less sun during winter month plus outside time is reduced due to the temperature. I know in Canada 400 IUI is the general recommendation ( 1 drop a day) , but I live a bit even further and my pedi said to give 800IU here at the winter and 400 IUi spring/fall and I may stop it for the couple of summer month if we are outside daily. We did that last year when I was EBF. This year I still give some supplementation 1 drop every second day during the winter , because my baby eat variety food already.
I edited to say that you may or may not needed this depending where you live. If you live in florida and have nice weather during the entire year and take your baby outside for significant amount every day (couple of hrs), you may not need it.0 -
I live in Charleston, SC where winters are mild, but our summers are long and brutal. As such we spend more time indoors during the summer than during the winter, but I generally try to keep him out of the sun. Our house backs up to woods, too, so it's well-shaded in the back, which is where we spend most of our time in the house.
I'll ask my dad and our local ped when we see him next week.
Thanks!0 -
To update, my baby had his six-month-visit yesterday. I asked about Vitamin D, and the pediatrician said that since he doesn't get formula (which would presumably be mixed with tap water), he should go on a vitamin that has both Vitamin D and fluoride. Because it has fluoride, it is a prescription vitamin.
So they called in the prescription, and I went to pick it up only to find that they don't carry it but will order it. Fine, whatever, it'll be in tomorrow (meaning today).
I went home and had a message on my home voicemail from the pharmacy asking me to call them back. When I called back, they told me they ran my insurance and got the cost of the vitamin but wanted to check if I still wanted to order it.
It would be $208. That's a one month supply.
It's called Tri-Vi-Flor and is a brand name. Apparently there are generics, but I don't know if the doctor wrote the prescription as DAW (dispense as written ), which would mean the pharmacist can't offer a generic.
I called my dad last night and told him all this (he said he probably wrote it as DAW), and I asked him if it was worth my time to call the pediatrician to ask for something else or to ask him to allow the pharmacist to fill it with a generic. My dad told me not to bother, to go buy Tri-Vi-Sol, which is the same thing minus the fluoride, and costs about $8 at Target. He said the fluoride wasn't necessary, and that one of his solid feedings each day should be baby cereal for iron.
I told my dad I was shocked that I've been EBFing for six months, and neither our local pediatrician nor my dad or BIL mentioned my giving my baby a vitamin for Vitamin D. My dad said that based on where we live it's probably not a huge deal, but the vitamin is a good idea just to be sure that he gets enough.
So that's the end of that, I guess.
I'll be sure to update our local pediatrician about the ridiculous cost of those vitamins, though. I'm sure if he knew how much they cost he'd think twice about prescribing them.0 -
Wow that's a lot! Our ped never mentioned fluoride, just told us to get the vit D drops. If you give your baby the rice cereal mixed with water that should get him his fluoride too.0
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same here. fluoride? Even baby starter toothpastes don't contain fluoride because it is a know neurotoxic and babies brain are not developed enough to deal with it. I know that fluorization of water supply has been widespread in the past few decades , but actually more and more cities ban it from the water supply recently , at least in Canada. Fluoride has been proven to be great for your teeth. That is why almost all adult and kid tootpaste has it. However babies/toddlers suppose to use fluoride free tootpaste until then can spit it out. Fluoride good on the teeth do not purposefully make your baby ingest it.Wow that's a lot! Our ped never mentioned fluoride, just told us to get the vit D drops. If you give your baby the rice cereal mixed with water that should get him his fluoride too.
Just use vitamin D , and make sure you take care of your baby teeth, eventually around age 3 when he can spit it out , you can start to use fluoride in toothpase.0 -
same here re:vit D. we got the OTC kind, flouride was never mentioned. DD hates it, so while I am at work, she gets a bottle a day with a drop of vitamins, and for the 3 days/wk I am home with her...she won't take it. Better than nothing, I am assuming! I take all my vitamins as well, but I understand from our ped that D doesnt transfer in the breastmilk.
although, with my older DS, I just never got around to giving it to him and he's a perfectly healthy normal almost-3 yr old.0 -
same here re:vit D. we got the OTC kind, flouride was never mentioned. DD hates it, so while I am at work, she gets a bottle a day with a drop of vitamins, and for the 3 days/wk I am home with her...she won't take it. Better than nothing, I am assuming! I take all my vitamins as well, but I understand from our ped that D doesnt transfer in the breastmilk.
although, with my older DS, I just never got around to giving it to him and he's a perfectly healthy normal almost-3 yr old.
What kind of Vit D are you using that your DD hates? When DD was a newborn all I could find was this cherry flavoured stuff, and you had to give a whole dropper full. I gave it to her once or twice, but it always came back up because it was such a huge amount for her little tummy (I gave it to her after eating, because I didn't think giving a vitamin on an empty stomach was a good idea. I know it upsets my stomach to do that). Anyway, after looking again I found a few brands that you only have to give one little drop to meet baby's daily requirement of Vit D (Jamieson is one brand, there's another that I can't remember the name but I've seen it on tv). She was EBF until 6 months, so I'd put the drop of Vit D on my finger after she finished nursing and she would suck it off. That worked until she got teeth, and we switched to adding it to her rice cereal/solid foods. It doesn't have flavour, so DD doesn't notice when we give it to her.0 -
same here. fluoride? Even baby starter toothpastes don't contain fluoride because it is a know neurotoxic and babies brain are not developed enough to deal with it. I know that fluorization of water supply has been widespread in the past few decades , but actually more and more cities ban it from the water supply recently , at least in Canada. Fluoride has been proven to be great for your teeth. That is why almost all adult and kid tootpaste has it. However babies/toddlers suppose to use fluoride free tootpaste until then can spit it out. Fluoride good on the teeth do not purposefully make your baby ingest it.Wow that's a lot! Our ped never mentioned fluoride, just told us to get the vit D drops. If you give your baby the rice cereal mixed with water that should get him his fluoride too.
Just use vitamin D , and make sure you take care of your baby teeth, eventually around age 3 when he can spit it out , you can start to use fluoride in toothpase.
I think the amount of fluoride in most tap water and in the vitamin is much lower than what's in toothpaste. I tend to trust the fact that my dad didn't freak out over the possibility of giving my baby a vitamin with fluoride. He is not one to keep his mouth shut when he is uncomfortable with something. He once ripped my sister's kids' pediatrician a new one over something once, and it ended up being totally justified (long story).
My BIL (the pediatrician) said that the fluoride wouldn't hurt but agreed with my dad that it wasn't necessary. He concurred with my dad's choice of Tri-Vi-Sol. His opinion on Vitamin D is that unless you live very far north (we do not), it is not a big deal unless you're a shut-in, in which case you need it. Apparently opinions differ greatly among doctors, with some recommending it regardless and some not saying anything unless you ask.
Considering three pediatricians, two of whom have a very personal stake in my kids' health, felt fine about the amount of fluoride in the supplement, I doubt it's a very high amount. But even still, I'm not paying $200+ a month for something that's not necessary.
Also, I mix rice cereal with pumped milk that I've thawed.0 -
My son has taken a vitamin supp (generic) with fluoride in it for the last year and half and has had no problems and smart as a whip. I trust our ped completely she delivered my sister and has been my dr since I was a small child and I feel has a very good handle on trying to be as natural as possible but she felt the vitamins would do better help and our dentist who specializes in kids also said the vitamin was good and wouldnt cause harm. I'll also mention my DS is almost 3 with great bright shiny white teeth with no cavities lol0
