My 11mo twins look a bit sickly...

[Linguaphile]

...and I'm not sure why. It's been like this for months--sallowish, pale, see-through skin and slight dark circles under their eyes. I feed them a balanced diet of fruit, veg, dairy, protein and carbs, and they still drink between 500 and 750 ml of formula/day. They sleep 7-7 and get regular 2.5 hours of daytime naps. We go outside a lot, so it's not like I keep them indoors.

Is it just the way they look, or am I missing something health-wise???

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

If they have "shiners" under their eyes it could be an intolerance. How are they apart from that? Have you been to the GP and had them eliminate things like anaemia?

[Linguaphile]

Well they don't exactly have shiners, more just light shadows. It's mostly their complexions that just look a bit... off. Presumably they're getting their daily intake of nutrients like vitamin A, D, and iron from their formula as it's above 500 ml/day still, right? Could they still be anemic after that? The doctor seems to think they look fine, so no luck there. Attaching a pic to show you what I mean.

[flipwit]

No answers but they are gorgeous! :-)

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

They don't really look sallow in that pic, they look nice and pink, and beautiful of course

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

On reflection I think we may need sone more photos, just to be sure of course

[divingoffthebalcony]

Gorgeous babies! They look fine. What makes you think their complexions are "off"?

[PurpleWithaMysteryBun]

They are just very pale, my dd at this age had practically translucent skin, however she had fair hair to temper it whereas your are dark so makes it look worse. Honestly I think it is just their colouring :)

[notmuchofaclue]

I often think the same about my 2 yo dd, when she's tired it's even worse. Unfortunately for her both me and her dad are really pasty, and I think that's all it is!

[CeliaBowen]

My DD1 has always been quick to get bags under her eyes when she's tired.

Your babies are gorgeous, they look fine from here! :)

[CeliaBowen]

Totally off topic, how on earth did you get them to keep those bows in their hair! Mine would have made short work of those!

Such cuties!

[FreeLikeABird]

They look fine to me

[fanjoforthemammaries7850]

My daughter gets this.

She is allergic to dust mites and the congestion gives her puffy dark circles under eyes.

[feesh]

Formula doesn't necessarily guarantee their vitamin D levels - I got my twins tested (just on gut feeling) and their levels were very low, despite being total formula monsters. Since they've been on therapeutic doses they've been loads brighter and healthier.

I think twins are often born with low levels because they are twice the drain on mum, so sometimes they need a boost.

[Linguaphile]

Ah that's helpful feesh! Must try some vitamin drops then.

Thanks for the compliments, allI do think they're pretty cute myself. :) It's hard to see what it looks like in the photo and is more obvious in real life, iyswim. They seem to just look unhealthily, translucently pale all the timeeven my non-observant husband pointed out the change... though maybe they're just coming into a their genetic inheritance and I'm worrying over nothing! Maybe Fanjo is right and I just need to dust more, ha ha!

I did find some hidden black mould in the bathtub the other day (eek!!!), but upon discovery promptly sprayed it to death with a load of Cillit, which seems to have done the trick. Could it be mould-related?

Will get some vitamin drops and dust.

Here's another pic, as maybe this time you can see the pallor...

[Linguaphile]

Hmm... not really translating there either. Oh well. Maybe it's all in my head and that's why it doesn't show up in photos, ha ha!

[Shroomboom]

They are gorgeous

I would second the advice about trying Vitamin D drops - I'm in Belgium, and we are told to give dc's drops each day until they are 12 months old.

[neversleepagain]

Twins often miss out on the last month of pregnancy where they get a lot of iron from their mother. Mine were 6 weeks early and we were given iron and vitamin drops when we left hospital. We were told to give them iron until 12 months and vitamins (Dalivit) until 5.

We get ours on prescription.

[feesh]

You will need to get their levels tested as normal vitamin drops don't contain enough vitamin D to restore low levels.

Once your vitamin D is low you have to go on massively high doses (short term) to get it back to normal levels (like 20,000iu per day). Only after a few months when the levels are normal can you put them on a maintenance dose of 400iu (which is still twice as high as in normal vitamin drops).

That's why twins have problems, as if they're born with low levels, no amount of formula is going to get them back up again.

Do some googling, as there's lots of interesting theories about vitamin D levels needing to be way higher than previously thought as it plays such a massive role in so many bodily systems - it's actually a hormone.

[SourSweets]

They are gorgeous!

My son has this sort of look sometimes. (Btw I can't see it in the pictures but just going on your descriptions) he is very very pale, you can see his veins under his skin. When he's tired he gets red/bluish eye bags and looks quite unwell but it's just his paleness that makes it more obvious.

That makes him sound like a little alien but he really is beautiful - he's porcelain, people say!

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

Vitamin guidelines for babies and children

[riskit4abiskit]

Squeeee! What beautiful girls!

[juneybean]

Ohh my ovaries!! They're beautiful!

[KiaOraOAotearoa]

Beautiful girls!
I took mine to the gp when she became translucent, pasty white...like you, something didn't 'look right'. Always trust your instinct, OP, you are their mother!
I insisted on a blood test to rule out anaemia and vit D deficiency. Which he very reluctantly agreed to. It's not the 'done thing' here, it's very much basic on the continent, so I was unfazed at his horrified reluctance but relented.
Yes, she was anaemic and yes she did have vit D deficiency. She also got tested for blood disorders, that came back clear.
This is my experience. :)

[MrsWinnibago]

Be still my beating womb! They're stunning!