Vitamins at 6 months?

[passionberry]

Quick question, apparently NICE guidelines state that vitamin drops are necessary for exclusively breastfed babies from 6 months (when solids are introduced)

I hadn't heard this before and am wondering why?

I thought breastmilk had everything in it that the baby needs? It's a bit discouraging to heard that formula fed babies don't need vitamin drops (as vitamins in formula milk) but breastfed babies do??

I believe it's mainly because of vitamin D. In recent years there's been an increase in vitamin D deficiency in some babies and children, and formula milk is already fortified. However if a breastfeeding mother isn't making sufficient vitamin D herself, there may not be enough in her milk.

This applies particularly if you are dark skinned, if you live in the North of the country, or if you cover your skin for any reason.

Personally I didn't bother - we live in the South, I'm fair skinned and get a lot of sun during the week. However the recommendation is a national one.

They are incredibly strict about this in Scandinavia - my friend got told off by her midwife because she hadn't started her 2 week old baby on the drops yet!

Check archives on this - it's a common query!

The vitamin D issue is more complex than many think and SACN (Govt advisory committee) keep a close eye on new research. The radio 4 link on this thread is interesting if it still works.