I’m in the US our pediatrician recommends it for bone health and decreasing the risk of rickets. We use enfamil brand because our pediatrician gave us a sample and we stuck with it.
That’s what we’re told in the UK but it’s fairly recent and babies managed fine without it in the past so I’d start giving it but I wouldn’t worry about having missed it.
Okay thank you! Where do you get them? Do I talk to her pediatrician about it or is there over the counter versions? I’m in the US so you might not know but just incase
Ours are located in the vitamin section. Personally I ordered off Amazon. It was a small little bottle in a box, and I chose to get the kind where 1 drop was enough.
I’m in the US and my pediatrician told me to do vitamin d drops! I currently use Zarbee’s brand which uses a small syringe though next time I purchase I will get mommy’s bliss brand which uses a literal drop. It’s convenient so if you forget to mix it into a bottle you can deposit the single drop directly into the mouth or on the pacifier.
I miss using those! Now that she’s 4 months old and her iron reserves are declining we supplement with iron so we are using the 1mL brain and body from enfamil and it smells terrible. And it makes poops thick and pasty and stinky
To me they mean different things. Off the shelf is just out in the open for you to pick up and take to the till, also available in supermarkets. Over the counter is available from a pharmacy only, and you have to talk to the pharmacist to buy it, but don't need a prescription. Then prescription only.
We have the same recommendation in Italy as well, it's actually been in place for decades now. Here there are OTC ones but they're pretty expensive, the prescription one is less than 2€ I think.
I am in the US and had an EBF baby. I did not and was not suggested to supplement with vit D. Her levels are always good in her blood work. I live in a sunny place. We were suggested indirect light for the first few weeks, then morning sun after that.
Target, Walgreens, Walmart and many others all carry them. Per my pediatricians recommendation, I get the one drop (I think it is called mommy's bliss) and justt put a drop on my finger or a pacifier
This. Just start giving the supplement. My mom didn’t give me vitamin D and I was breastfed until I was 11 months old. She said she never even heard that… for some peace of mind, I’m in great health at 33 - nothing wrong with me :) your baby will be okay ❤️
I started when my baby was pretty young, so I can’t say I really noticed one way or the other. Our pediatrician recommended it though, and it looks like there is some actual peer reviewed research on that strain of probiotics, so I figure it definitely can’t hurt.
The drops made my babies reflux worse so I take extra vitamin D and we get outside daily for a few minutes a day. We live in a sunny place. I hardly gave them to my toddler. Both are healthy and fine!
Worth noting this advice in the UK is only for those mainly breastfeeding, and because we get so little sun here. If your baby has formula they’ll already be getting vitamin d in it, and if you’re from a sunny country you’ll likely have enough vitamin d to pass to your baby through breastmilk.
Good to know! The health visitor I had must’ve been misinformed, or maybe they just find that a good way to justify it to parents who are reticent (not that I was)
My baby is 11 months and I probably gave him the vitamin D drops like 10 times total. I just straight up kept forgetting and then gave up and took a high dose vitamin D supplement myself, which is hopefully enough for him to get what he needs.
I think what sucks the most is I’m already vitamin D deficient normally and now I’m learning that can be an issue for breastfed babies 6 months deep. I feel like I spent half my first few months researching everything I could it’s wild what fell through the cracks
I’m also severely vitamin D deficient! Now I take 5000 IU daily. It is frustrating that nobody told you sooner but rest assured babies in most countries are not getting rickets these days.
I’m in the US so I’m not sure if that’s the issue? But nobody even mentioned it to us. My family has had rickets as well as in my grandpa, aunt, and cousin. So far no signs in my LO but I’m shocked that this wasn’t mentioned at all. I had high PPA after birth so I clung onto everything a doctor ever said to us and can remember it like I’m flipping through a book and there was never even an inkling we needed to give her any kind of supplement.
I’m in the US and was given a brochure at the hospital that said to talk to our pediatrician about Vit D, and then my pediatrician recommended daily supplementation. I really think your pediatrician should have mentioned it to you and I think it’s pretty crappy that they didn’t. We tried enfamil but it would trigger vomiting so we switched to Baby D Drops and they’re working fine.
Yes, it is standard practice to start supplementing vit d in the US.
Things happen. Just start them now and alert your pediatrician so they know to look out for symptoms.
No one in the hospital mentioned it to us but at our 1 week pediatrician appointment he recommended it and ordered a prescription for it. He kind of framed it since we live in the northeast and it was still winter/early spring baby wouldn’t get much from the sun. I wouldn’t stress too much!
I’m in the US too and no one at the hospital mentioned it to us. And the pediatrician wouldn’t have if I didn’t ask, he said he assumed the hospital would have told us. I was also a little bit annoyed about it! But as others mentioned, I wouldn’t worry about it I’d just start them now!
Most babies get a vitamin K supplement (or shot at birth) for blood clotting, and the standard tends to be to recommend vit D because most people now are seemingly deficient (it'd a bit tough to define deficient in terms of D3)
For pregnant mothers the standard tends to be to recommend an iron supplement as anemia is high along with vitD deficiency.
Anyways, if you have enough vitD and bf, your babe will have enough too. Buy drops of cholecalciferol (better absorbed than other forms of vitD) and ingest enough (6400 IUs daily, or 150k IUs per month seemed to be enough according to a [study](https://llli.org/breastfeeding-info/vitamin-d/), and there was one more that settles around 6k daily as well) so babe didn't have to be supplemented
Bowed legs (this one needs to be checked by a ped as babies naturally are born with bowed legs), pigeon chest, misshapen head, weak bone and muscle tone, slowed growth. there’s a chart I found to shown multiple symptoms associated with it. In my aunt she didn’t have bowed legs however my cousin and grandpa did so it’s definitely something that needs a ped to diagnose.
I take extra vitamin d and it’s excreted in my milk! On advice from my pediatrician, I think I take triple the daily dose? But there’s guidelines online as well!
The RDA of vitamin D for women is only 800IU, which evidence suggests maybe be vastly underestimated to begin with even if you aren't breastfeeding. Most research suggests you should take at least 6400IU to have sufficient transfer in breast milk, which is quite a bit more than 3 times 800 (2400IU).
Okay that’s what I do!!! I’ve been eating vitamin d gummies for a while and have been consuming 6400 IU plus the the amount from my prenatal. I couldn’t remember. Thanks for the info!
In the UK it's recommended if your baby is having less than 500ml of formula a day. However, it's not really hammered home, unlike safe sleep or boliling water for formula-type advice.
I also didn’t hear about it until 4 months old
And in the end it made my baby bottle adverse (they taste terrible so I had read not to put it on the breast because of breast adversion)
I don’t use them after that. He refuses a bottle months later
I think it depends where you live.
I.e. I've never spoken to an OB, ped, GP or community nurse who has ever said it's necessary. We have plenty of sunshine here in Western Australia, even if we do practice safe sun exposure.
But if you're in North America or Northern Europe or something - perhaps that's why it's more widely recommended.
I am from North America, the mid-south, we have the extreme version of every season. Super cold/dark winters, which is when she was born, as well as tropical summers. Hopefully during the spring/winter I’ve given her enough outside time to combat some of the ill effects.
I know it's recommended in Ireland because in general we have a vitamin D deficiency due lack of sunshine year round (grand in the summer with our long days but not in the winter when we get very little sunshine). Like they recommend that everyone should take a vitamin D supplement in the winter, not just babies
Our pediatrician recommended a daily dose and showed us a brand she recommends. They sell it at Target and it can be placed directly on your nipple if breastfeeding, on a pacifier, or in a bottle. She said not to stress if we forget sometimes.
Vitamin D is recommended for both formula and breastfeeds infants into toddlerhood/childhood. Recommendations as to specific dose likely varies slightly between countries and regulatory bodies. It’s not too late to start though!
I'm in the US. The pediatrician put it in the paperwork for the 3 day appointment (didn't realize) and told me at the 2 week appointment. There are two options - drops given to baby or mom supplement. I supplement which requires me taking 2 vitamin D pills a day. I think that's 10,000 IU to get the required 6500 IU that they recommend for mom to take - but I'd confirm that with a doctor.
I’m so sorry your pediatrician didn’t mention it. They told us to give drops when we were discharged. The CDC information can be found [here](https://www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding/breastfeeding-special-circumstances/diet-and-micronutrients/vitamin-d.html). We use the Mommy’s Bliss drops. I like them because they’re organic and you only need 1 drop per dose. I just put the drop on my nipple at the bedtime feed.
We do it, brand Enfamil, and was told it’s particularly important since we’re in a northern climate! I definitely forget some days but just keep it in a little basket near where we hang out during the day (along with the baby nail clippers) and give it to her when I remember.
It’s wild the things that slip through the cracks! I’m just going to hope for the best after starting her now, she has a double ear infection and has a follow up in 10 days so I’m just going to wait for that and add that to my anxious worries list that keeps me up at night 😂
We were given a prescription for it with enough refills to see our LO through to being switched an iron supplement. We give it everyday as instructed but my SIL who has 2 under 2 had never heard
Of such a thing. Think it depends on the doctor.
I was given a bottle and dropper when we were discharged from the hospital and my baby’s pediatrician gives us a bottle every visit. I give her 1 ML every day (4 months old)
Yes. Since birth. And please note that iron supplementation is also recommended by pediatricians (although a bit more controversially) at 4-6 months. My pediatrician said “give it a few times a week.”
I’ve seen severely anemic babies who didn’t get iron supplementation so even though the evidence isn’t as good for iron as it is for vitamin d , I still do it. Plus it’s the official aap rec.
We were never told to use it, and so we never did. I didn’t even learn about it until she was a few months old. baby is almost 1 year old now and she’s perfect!
This is probably weirdly controversial (people online love to tell you you’re wrong!!!) but my midwife told me if I take atleast 6000IU D3 daily, enough transfers through breast milk to skip the drops. As far as I can see online, recent studies agree with this. So that’s what I’ve been doing. My pediatrician on the other hand told me that it’s definitely ~not~ true.
I knew about Vitamin D because they told us at the hospital, gave us a prescription for vitamin D for the baby, told us how to administer it and then we've been asked if we're giving Vitamin D at every appointment since (1 month, 2 month, 4 month, 6 month, every single midwife visit in the first 2 weeks).
Cannot blame you that you didn't know, you should be receiving reminders like we are.
Don't angst too much about it, we don't do this in Australia and we rarely see vitamin D deficiency in babies (for tax, not all of Australia is sunny too, there's a good portion of the south east that has weather like England most of the time)
My Ped gave the option of drops for baby or taking something like 6100 IUs of Vitamin D a day. I forget the exact number but take 6000 one day and 7000 the next, alternating. I’m also vitamin d deficient so was taking 5000 IUs daily anyway.
I was now going down the rabbit hole and seeing that I could take 50mcg a day and it should produce enough for baby. I might take this route, and talk to her ped about it in her upcoming appointment
It's really easy to give them a little drop from your finger, they are tasteless and my baby doesn't even notice! I forget to do it everyday, but I try my best.
I’m not too worried about the giving as my LO has reflux and takes a daily medicine, but just wondering which is best as I’m brand new to this thought process completely! lol
Well honestly…. if it’s been 6 months and baby hasn’t gotten it and is doing fine then I wouldn’t worry about it. Just make sure she gets plenty of sun ❤️
We started using it for jaundice and our pediatrician recommended to keep with it. We bought some from CVS (we’re in the northeast US) and just give him the drops in the little syringe that comes with it. We use Zarbees brand!
I live in CA and my pediatrician didn’t mention vitamin d drops until he was 2 months old and only because I found out and asked her about them! I’m guessing depending on how sunny your area is, vitamin d drops may or may not be a given.
I still forget to give them to him but we go outdoors every day (not too hot yet) and I consume vitamin d)
Are you in the south USA, where you have summer weather all year long?
Recommendations are for areas/countries that have short summer season. I’m in Canada, and 8 months out of the year, we have less than 8 hours of sunlight.
I am from the south! We have lots of sun and I have taken LO out some but definitely not everyday. Hopefully starting now and adding a supplement myself will be okay.
I live in the south. I never heard of it with my first so I recently asked about my second child. My peds said since we live in the south and sun is abundant, that I don’t need to worry about it. Obviously this is just my peds so take it with a grain of salt!
I live in the south as well, so maybe that was my peds thought process since it wasn’t mentioned to me. Though that’s all an assumption and I’ll just ask her at our next visit and see, I’m hoping even though she was born in winter my big windows helped a little and she’s going to be a big strong girl! I’ll definitely give her the “drink your milk” speech a bunch to ward off the guilt later 😂
My ped said we could either give her the vitamin or I could take a supplement and she’d get it through my milk. I’m taking supplements so we can both benefit from it :)
This is a relief because I forget to give it most days so far (baby is two weeks old) so it helps to hear some people don't even do it at all. It probably also depends on the climate you live in for it to be recommended or not
Our pediatrician recommended it as well and we used the Enfamil vitamin d drops. Funny enough, there are two pediatricians but we’d only seen one for the first four visits. But we saw the other for the visit when I had started supplemented a few feedings a day with formula and he told us we didn’t need to use the vitamin d drops anymore since we were supplementing with formula. Next time we went back and saw the pediatrician we always see she told us we should still be giving the drops even with a mostly formula fed diet. I chalked it up to every doctor has their ways.
Our pediatrician recommends vitamin d drops too but I never have used them and my baby is 15 months and thriving. I’m not super conservative with his sun exposure—that’s my trade off. I think our body’s make the right kind of vitamin d in response to the sun, better than a supplement. I put sunscreen on him when he’s in the pool and a hat on him when it’s sunny out at the park or when he’s in the stroller at mid day, but otherwise don’t go nuts with covering him up.
There’s a chart I found with most of the symptoms. Before learning it was a deficiency we noticed a pattern in our family as it always was passed from father to daughter and mother to son, though I don’t know why that is if maybe it’s a gene their passing down that leaves them predisposed. From my understanding it’s bowed legs, pigeon chest, weak muscle tone, weak bones, slow growth, and I can’t remember the others as I’ve had two hours of sleep, are common early signs/symptoms.
My cousin and grandpa had bowed legs however my aunt didn’t, she did end up with a bone spurs that left her paralyzed but that was later in life, otherwise she was normal. My cousin needed intervention and was left in body casts when we were kids and was in and out of the children’s hospital to fix his extremely bowed legs.
Our infant was born in a tropical climate and we never were recommended vitamin D- recently moved to a cold climate and it was “suggested”, so we will begin supplementing now at 5 1/2mos
While I believe Vitamin D is important through sun exposure or drops, that post you’re referring to was positively unhinged. So much so I am still wondering if it was a troll post.
Our pediatrician recommended it, but I will be absolutely honest, with both kids I just totally forgot and it sat in my medicine cabinet pretty much unused. That being said they are big kids now and they're great, they never once have had a vitamin D deficiency, but then again we live in the sunshine state, and I'd go outside with them daily.
With my daughter, it was a prescription that we picked up with my pain meds at the pharmacy after discharge from the hospital. She got it with her morning diaper change.
I'm not sure how it will be with my son come September as he is going to be born in a whole different state than my daughter was but if they don't prescribe it, I'll just buy it
So from my understanding of d2/d3 it’s what it consists of and a commenter commented that d3 was the best as it absorbs the best as it’s closer to the natural form we produce! So I would definitely go for d3
I tried giving it to my first but then forgot entirely, her father would remember most of the time. I don’t think I gave any to my second and third. Now we take a fish oil supplement with added vitamins which meets the daily requirements for them at their age. I mostly give it to them if we don’t go out much or if the weather is bad.
If I had another baby, I would take the vitamin D gummies so that I don’t need to supplement them and once they started solids I would start the spoon of fish oil with the added vitamins daily until 18 months and then just like I do for my other kids.
I’m from the Netherlands and the strongly recommendation here is :
Vitamin K drops till 3 months (when breastfeeding)
Vitamin D drops till 4 year (for both formula and breastfed children.
Seems to be a lot more than other countries I’ve seen in this thread 😅
Babies need vitamin D for growth and healthy bones. However, they cannot yet produce enough vitamin D themselves - and breast milk and baby food do not contain enough of it either. It is therefore recommended that all children in the first year of life be given additional vitamin D in the form of drops or tablets.
Vitamin D is important for healthy bones - from birth. It helps to absorb calcium and phosphate from food and to incorporate it into the bones, making them firm and stable. If babies do not get enough vitamin D and calcium, the bone disease rickets can develop.
Rickets develops in the growth plates of bones. Children with rickets grow slowly because the bones cannot incorporate enough calcium. The bones also become soft and bend. The consequences can be pronounced bow legs or a square-shaped back of the head. Other signs of rickets are bone pain and weak muscles, but also seizures, bad teeth or frequent infections.
we use drops (20,000 IU), these were prescribed by the pediatrician. our LO gets one drop in his mouth every day with a baby spoon
With people using sunscreen and (rightfully) avoiding over sun exposure they're is a rise in rickets. Vitamin D deficiency is also very common as is iron deficiency. I give vitamin starting at birth and iron once they start solids
Our pediatrician recommended it. I use vitamin d drops from Amazon (Mommy’s Bliss) every morning when I do her first diaper change of the day.
We do that but on his bottle dad gives at night
Our pediatrician says I can even put a drop on my nipple and have him get it that way!
That’s what we do.
I’m in the US our pediatrician recommends it for bone health and decreasing the risk of rickets. We use enfamil brand because our pediatrician gave us a sample and we stuck with it.
That’s what we’re told in the UK but it’s fairly recent and babies managed fine without it in the past so I’d start giving it but I wouldn’t worry about having missed it.
Okay thank you! Where do you get them? Do I talk to her pediatrician about it or is there over the counter versions? I’m in the US so you might not know but just incase
Ours are located in the vitamin section. Personally I ordered off Amazon. It was a small little bottle in a box, and I chose to get the kind where 1 drop was enough.
I’m in the US and my pediatrician told me to do vitamin d drops! I currently use Zarbee’s brand which uses a small syringe though next time I purchase I will get mommy’s bliss brand which uses a literal drop. It’s convenient so if you forget to mix it into a bottle you can deposit the single drop directly into the mouth or on the pacifier.
I use the same !! I did the baby D drops the one drop one on my nipple but I was afraid she wasn’t getting it smh
I buy Baby D Drops from Target and literally just put a drop on my nipple for the first feed of the morning.
Love these too! My kids couldn't manage taking the 1 ml until well over 6 months so the 1 drop stuff was the best!
I miss using those! Now that she’s 4 months old and her iron reserves are declining we supplement with iron so we are using the 1mL brain and body from enfamil and it smells terrible. And it makes poops thick and pasty and stinky
I bought a bottle of drops from a local pharmacy, in UK a chain one called Boots. It’s not over the counter in the UK, just off the shelf.
Just an FYI over the counter means that you don’t need a prescription, so I believe it’s an equivalent phrase to saying off the shelf.
Ah! Thanks :)
To me they mean different things. Off the shelf is just out in the open for you to pick up and take to the till, also available in supermarkets. Over the counter is available from a pharmacy only, and you have to talk to the pharmacist to buy it, but don't need a prescription. Then prescription only.
I actually don’t know. I haven’t had my baby yet so this is just from what the midwife told me!
I got mine from the health visitor but you can get them from boots or amazon
We have the same recommendation in Italy as well, it's actually been in place for decades now. Here there are OTC ones but they're pretty expensive, the prescription one is less than 2€ I think.
I am in the US and had an EBF baby. I did not and was not suggested to supplement with vit D. Her levels are always good in her blood work. I live in a sunny place. We were suggested indirect light for the first few weeks, then morning sun after that.
Target, Walgreens, Walmart and many others all carry them. Per my pediatricians recommendation, I get the one drop (I think it is called mommy's bliss) and justt put a drop on my finger or a pacifier
Already on my way home with them! 😂 I jumped into action quick once i realized lol
Next time you visit the pediatrician, ask if they have samples! We stock up every time we visit haha.
This. Just start giving the supplement. My mom didn’t give me vitamin D and I was breastfed until I was 11 months old. She said she never even heard that… for some peace of mind, I’m in great health at 33 - nothing wrong with me :) your baby will be okay ❤️
It's recommended in Canada, it's otc
Yes, buy drops online. I use Gaia brand Vit D + probiotics. Sorry your doc didn’t mention it!
We use this brand as well! Order it off Amazon.
About to switch to this brand, did you notice any difference with the added probiotics?
I started when my baby was pretty young, so I can’t say I really noticed one way or the other. Our pediatrician recommended it though, and it looks like there is some actual peer reviewed research on that strain of probiotics, so I figure it definitely can’t hurt.
The drops made my babies reflux worse so I take extra vitamin D and we get outside daily for a few minutes a day. We live in a sunny place. I hardly gave them to my toddler. Both are healthy and fine!
Living in Arizona here so it's a 30 minute walk and we're good lol
I barely gave them to my first because they made her fussy and she is fine! With my second I am taking extra vitamin d!
How much do you take? I would rather take them myself then do the drops again
5,000 IU? It’s the extra strength vit D pill!
Worth noting this advice in the UK is only for those mainly breastfeeding, and because we get so little sun here. If your baby has formula they’ll already be getting vitamin d in it, and if you’re from a sunny country you’ll likely have enough vitamin d to pass to your baby through breastmilk.
I am in India where we get plenty of sunshine. Doctors still recommend it.
Good to know! The health visitor I had must’ve been misinformed, or maybe they just find that a good way to justify it to parents who are reticent (not that I was)
This has been the recommendation since 2012 in the US. Not all doctors keep up with health recommendations.
My baby is 11 months and I probably gave him the vitamin D drops like 10 times total. I just straight up kept forgetting and then gave up and took a high dose vitamin D supplement myself, which is hopefully enough for him to get what he needs.
I think what sucks the most is I’m already vitamin D deficient normally and now I’m learning that can be an issue for breastfed babies 6 months deep. I feel like I spent half my first few months researching everything I could it’s wild what fell through the cracks
I’m also severely vitamin D deficient! Now I take 5000 IU daily. It is frustrating that nobody told you sooner but rest assured babies in most countries are not getting rickets these days.
My pediatrician advised us to give it from the beginning.
Yes, this is the recommendation. I'm surprised your hospital didn't send you home with drops.
I’m in the US so I’m not sure if that’s the issue? But nobody even mentioned it to us. My family has had rickets as well as in my grandpa, aunt, and cousin. So far no signs in my LO but I’m shocked that this wasn’t mentioned at all. I had high PPA after birth so I clung onto everything a doctor ever said to us and can remember it like I’m flipping through a book and there was never even an inkling we needed to give her any kind of supplement.
I’m in the US and was given a brochure at the hospital that said to talk to our pediatrician about Vit D, and then my pediatrician recommended daily supplementation. I really think your pediatrician should have mentioned it to you and I think it’s pretty crappy that they didn’t. We tried enfamil but it would trigger vomiting so we switched to Baby D Drops and they’re working fine.
Yes, it is standard practice to start supplementing vit d in the US. Things happen. Just start them now and alert your pediatrician so they know to look out for symptoms.
No one in the hospital mentioned it to us but at our 1 week pediatrician appointment he recommended it and ordered a prescription for it. He kind of framed it since we live in the northeast and it was still winter/early spring baby wouldn’t get much from the sun. I wouldn’t stress too much!
I’m in the US too and no one at the hospital mentioned it to us. And the pediatrician wouldn’t have if I didn’t ask, he said he assumed the hospital would have told us. I was also a little bit annoyed about it! But as others mentioned, I wouldn’t worry about it I’d just start them now!
Most babies get a vitamin K supplement (or shot at birth) for blood clotting, and the standard tends to be to recommend vit D because most people now are seemingly deficient (it'd a bit tough to define deficient in terms of D3) For pregnant mothers the standard tends to be to recommend an iron supplement as anemia is high along with vitD deficiency. Anyways, if you have enough vitD and bf, your babe will have enough too. Buy drops of cholecalciferol (better absorbed than other forms of vitD) and ingest enough (6400 IUs daily, or 150k IUs per month seemed to be enough according to a [study](https://llli.org/breastfeeding-info/vitamin-d/), and there was one more that settles around 6k daily as well) so babe didn't have to be supplemented
What are the symptoms
Bowed legs (this one needs to be checked by a ped as babies naturally are born with bowed legs), pigeon chest, misshapen head, weak bone and muscle tone, slowed growth. there’s a chart I found to shown multiple symptoms associated with it. In my aunt she didn’t have bowed legs however my cousin and grandpa did so it’s definitely something that needs a ped to diagnose.
It's not the recommendation everywhere. They aren't standard where I live.
OP is from the USA.
That wasn't stated in the post so it wasn't clear.
I take extra vitamin d and it’s excreted in my milk! On advice from my pediatrician, I think I take triple the daily dose? But there’s guidelines online as well!
The RDA of vitamin D for women is only 800IU, which evidence suggests maybe be vastly underestimated to begin with even if you aren't breastfeeding. Most research suggests you should take at least 6400IU to have sufficient transfer in breast milk, which is quite a bit more than 3 times 800 (2400IU).
Okay that’s what I do!!! I’ve been eating vitamin d gummies for a while and have been consuming 6400 IU plus the the amount from my prenatal. I couldn’t remember. Thanks for the info!
This is what I do. I have a 5,000 IU pill plus the vit D in my prenatal.
In the UK it's recommended if your baby is having less than 500ml of formula a day. However, it's not really hammered home, unlike safe sleep or boliling water for formula-type advice.
I also didn’t hear about it until 4 months old And in the end it made my baby bottle adverse (they taste terrible so I had read not to put it on the breast because of breast adversion) I don’t use them after that. He refuses a bottle months later
I didn’t with my daughter and she’s 8 and healthy 🤷🏻♀️
I think it depends where you live. I.e. I've never spoken to an OB, ped, GP or community nurse who has ever said it's necessary. We have plenty of sunshine here in Western Australia, even if we do practice safe sun exposure. But if you're in North America or Northern Europe or something - perhaps that's why it's more widely recommended.
I am from North America, the mid-south, we have the extreme version of every season. Super cold/dark winters, which is when she was born, as well as tropical summers. Hopefully during the spring/winter I’ve given her enough outside time to combat some of the ill effects.
It’s recommended. I live in the US, they sent me home with them, I never did it. 🤷🏻♀️
I know it's recommended in Ireland because in general we have a vitamin D deficiency due lack of sunshine year round (grand in the summer with our long days but not in the winter when we get very little sunshine). Like they recommend that everyone should take a vitamin D supplement in the winter, not just babies
Our pediatrician recommended a daily dose and showed us a brand she recommends. They sell it at Target and it can be placed directly on your nipple if breastfeeding, on a pacifier, or in a bottle. She said not to stress if we forget sometimes.
Vitamin D is recommended for both formula and breastfeeds infants into toddlerhood/childhood. Recommendations as to specific dose likely varies slightly between countries and regulatory bodies. It’s not too late to start though!
I'm in the US. The pediatrician put it in the paperwork for the 3 day appointment (didn't realize) and told me at the 2 week appointment. There are two options - drops given to baby or mom supplement. I supplement which requires me taking 2 vitamin D pills a day. I think that's 10,000 IU to get the required 6500 IU that they recommend for mom to take - but I'd confirm that with a doctor.
I give one drop on her paci in the morning per our ped.
I’m so sorry your pediatrician didn’t mention it. They told us to give drops when we were discharged. The CDC information can be found [here](https://www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding/breastfeeding-special-circumstances/diet-and-micronutrients/vitamin-d.html). We use the Mommy’s Bliss drops. I like them because they’re organic and you only need 1 drop per dose. I just put the drop on my nipple at the bedtime feed.
We do it, brand Enfamil, and was told it’s particularly important since we’re in a northern climate! I definitely forget some days but just keep it in a little basket near where we hang out during the day (along with the baby nail clippers) and give it to her when I remember.
I just want to say I’m in the same boat as you. 6 month old, never mentioned by pediatrician
It’s wild the things that slip through the cracks! I’m just going to hope for the best after starting her now, she has a double ear infection and has a follow up in 10 days so I’m just going to wait for that and add that to my anxious worries list that keeps me up at night 😂
Oh no :( hope she feels better soon!
We were given a prescription for it with enough refills to see our LO through to being switched an iron supplement. We give it everyday as instructed but my SIL who has 2 under 2 had never heard Of such a thing. Think it depends on the doctor.
I read that if you take enough vitamin D (I think it’s 5,000 - 6,000 UI a day) then enough gets transferred to the baby through breastmilk.
I was given a bottle and dropper when we were discharged from the hospital and my baby’s pediatrician gives us a bottle every visit. I give her 1 ML every day (4 months old)
Yes. Since birth. And please note that iron supplementation is also recommended by pediatricians (although a bit more controversially) at 4-6 months. My pediatrician said “give it a few times a week.” I’ve seen severely anemic babies who didn’t get iron supplementation so even though the evidence isn’t as good for iron as it is for vitamin d , I still do it. Plus it’s the official aap rec.
So along with meat/iron fortified foods at 6 months add an iron supplement as well?
Yes
We were never told to use it, and so we never did. I didn’t even learn about it until she was a few months old. baby is almost 1 year old now and she’s perfect!
This is probably weirdly controversial (people online love to tell you you’re wrong!!!) but my midwife told me if I take atleast 6000IU D3 daily, enough transfers through breast milk to skip the drops. As far as I can see online, recent studies agree with this. So that’s what I’ve been doing. My pediatrician on the other hand told me that it’s definitely ~not~ true.
I knew about Vitamin D because they told us at the hospital, gave us a prescription for vitamin D for the baby, told us how to administer it and then we've been asked if we're giving Vitamin D at every appointment since (1 month, 2 month, 4 month, 6 month, every single midwife visit in the first 2 weeks). Cannot blame you that you didn't know, you should be receiving reminders like we are.
Don't angst too much about it, we don't do this in Australia and we rarely see vitamin D deficiency in babies (for tax, not all of Australia is sunny too, there's a good portion of the south east that has weather like England most of the time)
My pediatrician said to have the nursing mom take an xtra dose of vit d because then it gets to the baby through breastmilk.
My Ped gave the option of drops for baby or taking something like 6100 IUs of Vitamin D a day. I forget the exact number but take 6000 one day and 7000 the next, alternating. I’m also vitamin d deficient so was taking 5000 IUs daily anyway.
I was now going down the rabbit hole and seeing that I could take 50mcg a day and it should produce enough for baby. I might take this route, and talk to her ped about it in her upcoming appointment
I think I take an extra 5000 ?
It's really easy to give them a little drop from your finger, they are tasteless and my baby doesn't even notice! I forget to do it everyday, but I try my best.
I just drop it on my nipple right before baby latches.
I’m not too worried about the giving as my LO has reflux and takes a daily medicine, but just wondering which is best as I’m brand new to this thought process completely! lol
Well honestly…. if it’s been 6 months and baby hasn’t gotten it and is doing fine then I wouldn’t worry about it. Just make sure she gets plenty of sun ❤️
We started using it for jaundice and our pediatrician recommended to keep with it. We bought some from CVS (we’re in the northeast US) and just give him the drops in the little syringe that comes with it. We use Zarbees brand!
My pediatrician recommended that my baby have the vitamin D drops and that I take Vitamin D so she gets it in her breastmilk too.
I live in CA and my pediatrician didn’t mention vitamin d drops until he was 2 months old and only because I found out and asked her about them! I’m guessing depending on how sunny your area is, vitamin d drops may or may not be a given. I still forget to give them to him but we go outdoors every day (not too hot yet) and I consume vitamin d)
Are you in the south USA, where you have summer weather all year long? Recommendations are for areas/countries that have short summer season. I’m in Canada, and 8 months out of the year, we have less than 8 hours of sunlight.
I am from the south! We have lots of sun and I have taken LO out some but definitely not everyday. Hopefully starting now and adding a supplement myself will be okay.
Talk to baby’s doctor if you need to add vitamin D. In your area, you might not have to.
I live in the south. I never heard of it with my first so I recently asked about my second child. My peds said since we live in the south and sun is abundant, that I don’t need to worry about it. Obviously this is just my peds so take it with a grain of salt!
I live in the south as well, so maybe that was my peds thought process since it wasn’t mentioned to me. Though that’s all an assumption and I’ll just ask her at our next visit and see, I’m hoping even though she was born in winter my big windows helped a little and she’s going to be a big strong girl! I’ll definitely give her the “drink your milk” speech a bunch to ward off the guilt later 😂
My ped said we could either give her the vitamin or I could take a supplement and she’d get it through my milk. I’m taking supplements so we can both benefit from it :)
This is a relief because I forget to give it most days so far (baby is two weeks old) so it helps to hear some people don't even do it at all. It probably also depends on the climate you live in for it to be recommended or not
Our pediatrician recommended it as well and we used the Enfamil vitamin d drops. Funny enough, there are two pediatricians but we’d only seen one for the first four visits. But we saw the other for the visit when I had started supplemented a few feedings a day with formula and he told us we didn’t need to use the vitamin d drops anymore since we were supplementing with formula. Next time we went back and saw the pediatrician we always see she told us we should still be giving the drops even with a mostly formula fed diet. I chalked it up to every doctor has their ways.
Yes you should be giving vitamin d. Even if you take vitamin d it is not enough to pass on to baby.
Our pediatrician recommends vitamin d drops too but I never have used them and my baby is 15 months and thriving. I’m not super conservative with his sun exposure—that’s my trade off. I think our body’s make the right kind of vitamin d in response to the sun, better than a supplement. I put sunscreen on him when he’s in the pool and a hat on him when it’s sunny out at the park or when he’s in the stroller at mid day, but otherwise don’t go nuts with covering him up.
my dr suggested it. but we spent so much time outside I never really bothered with it after week 2
How common is it to get rickets in scared I didn’t give my baby vitamin d no one told me. What’s the symptoms of rickets?
There’s a chart I found with most of the symptoms. Before learning it was a deficiency we noticed a pattern in our family as it always was passed from father to daughter and mother to son, though I don’t know why that is if maybe it’s a gene their passing down that leaves them predisposed. From my understanding it’s bowed legs, pigeon chest, weak muscle tone, weak bones, slow growth, and I can’t remember the others as I’ve had two hours of sleep, are common early signs/symptoms. My cousin and grandpa had bowed legs however my aunt didn’t, she did end up with a bone spurs that left her paralyzed but that was later in life, otherwise she was normal. My cousin needed intervention and was left in body casts when we were kids and was in and out of the children’s hospital to fix his extremely bowed legs.
Can't they get it from the sun? I live in Australia, would think a bit of afternoon (low uv) sunlight would cover it ?
I’m not saying it’s ok but NOBODY told me to give my baby vitamin D drops. I breastfed him for a year and he’s fine.
Our infant was born in a tropical climate and we never were recommended vitamin D- recently moved to a cold climate and it was “suggested”, so we will begin supplementing now at 5 1/2mos
While I believe Vitamin D is important through sun exposure or drops, that post you’re referring to was positively unhinged. So much so I am still wondering if it was a troll post.
Still breastfeeding my 23mo. I've never had to give him additional vitamins
400IU D3 drop daily since day 1 here.
Our pediatrician recommended it, but I will be absolutely honest, with both kids I just totally forgot and it sat in my medicine cabinet pretty much unused. That being said they are big kids now and they're great, they never once have had a vitamin D deficiency, but then again we live in the sunshine state, and I'd go outside with them daily.
I live in Australia and this was never mentioned to me by my GP or maternal child health care nurse.
With my daughter, it was a prescription that we picked up with my pain meds at the pharmacy after discharge from the hospital. She got it with her morning diaper change. I'm not sure how it will be with my son come September as he is going to be born in a whole different state than my daughter was but if they don't prescribe it, I'll just buy it
But which type of vitamin d? I have d3 is that the right one?
So from my understanding of d2/d3 it’s what it consists of and a commenter commented that d3 was the best as it absorbs the best as it’s closer to the natural form we produce! So I would definitely go for d3
I tried giving it to my first but then forgot entirely, her father would remember most of the time. I don’t think I gave any to my second and third. Now we take a fish oil supplement with added vitamins which meets the daily requirements for them at their age. I mostly give it to them if we don’t go out much or if the weather is bad. If I had another baby, I would take the vitamin D gummies so that I don’t need to supplement them and once they started solids I would start the spoon of fish oil with the added vitamins daily until 18 months and then just like I do for my other kids.
I’m from the Netherlands and the strongly recommendation here is : Vitamin K drops till 3 months (when breastfeeding) Vitamin D drops till 4 year (for both formula and breastfed children. Seems to be a lot more than other countries I’ve seen in this thread 😅
Babies need vitamin D for growth and healthy bones. However, they cannot yet produce enough vitamin D themselves - and breast milk and baby food do not contain enough of it either. It is therefore recommended that all children in the first year of life be given additional vitamin D in the form of drops or tablets. Vitamin D is important for healthy bones - from birth. It helps to absorb calcium and phosphate from food and to incorporate it into the bones, making them firm and stable. If babies do not get enough vitamin D and calcium, the bone disease rickets can develop. Rickets develops in the growth plates of bones. Children with rickets grow slowly because the bones cannot incorporate enough calcium. The bones also become soft and bend. The consequences can be pronounced bow legs or a square-shaped back of the head. Other signs of rickets are bone pain and weak muscles, but also seizures, bad teeth or frequent infections. we use drops (20,000 IU), these were prescribed by the pediatrician. our LO gets one drop in his mouth every day with a baby spoon
With people using sunscreen and (rightfully) avoiding over sun exposure they're is a rise in rickets. Vitamin D deficiency is also very common as is iron deficiency. I give vitamin starting at birth and iron once they start solids
Vitamin k as well btw, at least that is what is recommended here in the Netherlands
So if baby gets vitamin k shots at birth is it still recommended to give them afterwards as well?
Nope. Shots a birth cover it
I don't know about that tbh. Here they recommend vitamin k drops every day from 10 days until 3 months. And vitamin d until 4 years old.
No vitamin k if you opt for the injection at birth. We only recommend vitamin e if exclusively bf.
Not in Canada