Do newborns actually need vitamin D supplements??
My baby girl is 6 days old (first time mom) and my pediatrician recommended vitamin D drops, bc "all breastfed babies are deficient". I think it's a ridiculous statement to make that breastmilk isn't evolutionarily up to par for what babies need. I also think it's a bunch of malarcy that the CDC states that newborns are at increases risk of rickets. I thought my ped took a justice approach to healthcare. And while she did recommend all natural no preservative brand of vitaminD, should it have even been recommended?
What are everyone's thoughts.
Rachel Arroyo
R
Yes. I skimped on the drops cuz I always forgot and my son was very low, also breathed. Your ped is correct
Plus it helped their immune system
Dr oz said something about vitD deficiency can cause autism... Is that true?
I wouldn't believe anything Dr oz says.
There have been substantial studies showing fetuses in utero deficient in Vitamin D can cause neurological issues!
Most people in general at vitamin d deficient and if mom is deficient baby will be too. I gave it to my kids but like everyone else eventually forgot
Not if you're breastfeeding. You should be taking vitamin D3 AND K2 in the wintertime of loving someone cold without adequate sunlight exposure. It'll pass through your milk. Try and get baby outside for 10-20 mins everyday for natural sun exposure in winter.
Winter time that gets dark lol. I lived in Cali in the winter and now in Texas and it's hot af both places lol
If you are supplementing to have it pass through your milk you need to make sure you're taking the proper dose. I continued my prenatal, our ped said that was enough, well it wasnt, my daughter ended up with a deficiency, thankfully we caught it early
Jessica Mcdowell lol yes exactly. I forget it isn't always cold in winter like here in Indiana
marissa exactly! I also think anyone taking D all the time should have blood tests done regularly to make sure their levels are correct. I follow this from what I learned in my holistic classes: Recommendations by Dr. Eisenstein/Homefirst/Illinois - Dr. Eisenstein's Daily Minimum Recommendation for Vitamin D 1. Pregnant and nursing mothers- -10,000IU 2. Children and Adolescents- 2,000-3000IU 3. Adults 5,000-10,000IU 4. Adults with Chronic Illness-10,000IU 5. Adults with Colds and flu -50,000IU 3-5 days or 1,000IU per lb. Per day
D3 is pointless unless you take K2 to keep calcium in the bones where it belongs.
D3 helps your body absorb and use vitamin D found in your diet or ingested instead of excreting it.
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/03/26/the-delicate-dance-between-vitamins-d-and-k.aspx
You have to take a high enough dose yourself to have enough pass through your milk. You can take 10000 yourself and baby should get enough or you can do drops.
No. They don't need vitamin d supplement. They can get that naturally from the sun. I always put my newborns in their bouncer near a window for a certain amount of time each day. The supplements are just a money maker... Go on walks more and let the baby get vitamin d naturally
That's great unless you live somewhere like chicago like us lol
Haha yeah I guess I'm in az
Brittany Wise lucky!!
I grew up in northern climes & never knew of anyone having rickets or taking Vit d in the 50s & 60s. My doc says suppliments are not needed with a varied healthy diet & outdoor activity. I stay very healthy without them.
It doesn't matter I used to live in Chicago and my daughter was born in January, the light of the sun is enough even if is not hot. You can put the baby next to window for a few minutes daily.
http://kellymom.com/ages/tandem/mom-vitamins/
Never gave them to my kids and they were just fine. I upped my vitamin d and would put the kids in the window for direct sunlight
Yes we all need more VitD. I wish I had them for my kids
We live in Florida and get Vit D from the sun.
I live in Jersey and it's either winter weather or cloudy rain!! Can I come move in w you for a couple months??!?! Lol.
Come on down. ☉
No. Hormone D has bad long term health affects. Learn the root cause, get it naturally.
It's the "hot item" right now with no focus on long term side affects and the CAUSE for deficiency ignored.
I don't buy knee jerk recommendations without testing for me and my kids.
Source?
One of MANY. İt's a huge topic. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4160567/
If you live somewhere cold and dark in winter, yes.
Obviously the best way to get it is from the sun and vitamin d rich foods.
But vitamin d deficiency can do a lot of damage if it goes on for a long time. It can cause rickets.
Do you know people with rickets? I have lived in 4 states & 3 provinces & never known anyone to have this.
Personally, no but I have read a few stories of mom's in mom groups I'm in. Also our old ped told us my daughter would get enough through my milk and sunlight and she still ended up with a deficiency this time last year. So it's not something I take lightly. Luckily we caught it early and all she had to do was be on vit d for 2 months and now just take a regular multi vitamin. We are fair skinned, and red headed and live in Kansas
My ped recommended 15 minutes of sunshine a day OR vit d drops
I didn't give my son any supplements. He's 5.5 months old and perfectly healthy.
There is evidence vit d deficiency could impact or cause autism. I am a huge believer in natural health. If u have the opportunity to use it u would. It will help your child rather than hurt them.
I breastfeed all of my kids and never gave them that, they are all healthy. Some sun exposure should be enough.
It really depends on where you live, and how much sun light you are getting each day.
If you're concerned get yours and babies levels checked. That's the only way to tell for sure.
My daughter is 2.5. She was in the nicu for 2 weeks when she was born. She has had no vaccines, we try to do mostly all organic, grass-fed foods. Even before she could do food she was exclusively breastfeeding and is still nursing. Most people are vitamin d deficient. Unless you spend your days out in the sun until sundown you are probably deficient. She has had a multi vitamin, multi mineral and vitamin d since the day she left the hospital. I still take prenatals. Once she was old enough she had local honey, elderberry and vitaminc. I would recommend it because I actually did give vitamin d.
Yes! We did everything right, my daughter will be 2 this month and still breastfed. This time last year she ended up with a vit d deficiency. We would go outside, and go for walks, even on cold days for like 10-15 min, I would also sit her swing and play area by our big front window and I took vit d myself. All of a sudden she wasn't gaining and had actually lost 2 lbs. Got her levels checked and what do you know, deficiency. We ended up doing 2 months of just vit d and calcium until her levels were back up. THANK GOD it never got too serious, but they said a prolonged deficiency could cause rickets and other issues. Now she takes a multivitamin, elderberry and probiotic daily and I still take a prenatal and breastfeed her. It makes me upset to see people just dismiss the whole vit d thing. Like, yes, you could be fine, but you could not be. You never know without getting levels tested. I still feel so terrible and am triggered about the subject. I felt like the worst parent ever. Needless to say we switched Dr's, after the deficiency and them pushing me to stop breastfeeding, I had had enough! Thank you for sharing your story and info.
I have worked outside all my life here in Texas, and never thought about vitamin D deficient, but after blood work I was told that I was and a lot of people are, just because you get sun doesn't mean you are safe, as much sun as I get I should be able to make it and bottle it to sale. So you will not know until you check you blood ?
http://kellymom.com/nutrition/vitamins/vitamin-d-and-breastfeeding/
Yes. Vitamin d aids in calcium absorption.
Take them in the sunshine
Oh wow my son is 6 months and I completely forgot about the vitamind. My pediatricians also forgot to tell me.
I take 10000 daily and 50000 twice a week. I live in the midwest and everyone is deficient here. Optimal levels of vitamin d are between 80-100 not the measly 30 that most labs say is "normal". I breastfees and my baby also gets 1000 daily too of carlsons brand.
Never gave my son a supplement. Plenty of vit D you can get from the sun, even through a window.
I take 5k IU's my self and breastfeed. We live in FL the sun is our BFF.
I would take some if you're worried. I breast fed both my girls and no issues. Just went outside when we could and soaked in the sun.
I had two different pediatricians for my last two and neither recommended it, although a different one I did not like as well did for my first son.
I don't give my babies anything by mouth until 6 months due to their gut. I breastfed and increased the amount I was taking for the both of us and try to get outside everyday as well.
Definitely don't give the baby the crap you get a prescription for! If you decide to give the baby some do some research and get some good quality one
No mention of CLO? We all do Rosita. It's not a ton of D but my levels stay good through winter if getting enough magnesium too. Wouldn't give till 6 months though.
What's CLO?
Rachel Arroyo Cod Liver Oil. Not all is prepared the same and that makes a big difference in the level of D3 available.
Ah. Good to know. I'll have to do some homework. On it.
Thank you everyone!!
You can supplement instead of giving to baby if you bf. 6400 IUs/day
I never gave my baby any. He's 5 months old and Vax free
I take 5000 iu d3 daily also, because I normally run low.
I take vitamin D3 and eat foods with vitaminD. I breastfeed my little one.
Like 3 yrs ago i saw panorama investigation in uk, were parents took babies to emergency because of unstoppable crying - the babies were taken away and soon after adopted or fostered - all because of broken bones and without thorough investigation parents were accuse of abusing their babies. Later it came to light that rickets have come back but sadly for those parents - as there was no blood tests done on those babies - there is no proof for those parents that that was the case and they can never have more kids in as social services will take them away... Deficiency in vit D could be i guess due to ppl using sunscreen???
I didn't do the drops but we are in fl. My sister in law did the drops with her little one
The real problem is most adults (including nursing moms) are deficient. There's things in our environment that are preventing proper absorption of vitaminD, including use of sunscreen, not enough time outside, even chemicals like BPA I've read. If mom is deficient, baby will be too.
We gave our little the drops and I took them too while breast feeding
It's probably safe to say that most people are deficient in vitamind. Make sure she gets plenty of sunlight.
I didn't with either of my children. We spent/spend a lot of time outside. I know that doesn't mean they still don't need it, I waited until they were a year.
My son was fine without
2 breastfed babies and our pediatrician has never once mentioned it all.
My granddaughter was prescribed them by the pediatrician at the hospital 6 weeks ago but we never filled it. It was the first time I had ever heard of a newborn needing any kind of supplements just because they are breastfed. Her regular ped has not said anything about her needing them.
17 mins of a baby's head exposed to direct sunlight per day does the same. Just not all 17 mins at once or baby can burn.
As long as your child gets exposure to sunlight you should be ok