vitamins when bf

[pinkyp]

i asked my pharmacy for advice on bf vitamins i could take. My diet is not perfect but not too bad (except the packet of buns/biscuits i have to eat every night sometimes).

He suggested vitamin b complex and vitamin d with calcuim. I'm wanting to take this to improve my well being as i seem to come down with every bug going at the min. Anybody else take these? do you notice a difference?

Also he said the vitamin d & calcuim should only be taken for a month then miss a month etc as vit d stores in the body.

If I were you I would just take a daily multi vitamin that contains vit d and iron. That way you can't go wrong. Any excess you'll just excrete.

i wondered about a mulit vitamin but was unsure so asked the pharmacy and thats what he recommended.

There are multi-supplements designed for breastfeeding Mums. I take the Sanatogen one as it's easy and it covers everything.

Vitamin D deficiency is very common in this country, especially during the winter, so I really wouldn't worry about getting too much. The toxic dose is way above the recommended daily intake.

FWIW NHS advice now (not that any healthcare professionals seem to read the Birth to Five book!) is that if you didn't supplement vit D throughout pregnancy, all babies should have vit D supplemented from 1 month old. I think it's added to formula so this mainly applies to ebf babies whose Mums didn't take a multisupplement through pregnancy.

Current advice says to avoid too much Vit A so look for a multi vit that doesn't contain that but does contain Vit D and iron. Most pregnancy ones will be like this.

NHS recommends a vitamin D supplement for ALL breastfeeding mothers here.

Other than that, if your diet is generally not too bad then you shouldn't need anything else. HTH.