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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

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Original poster

Vitamin drops for over 6 months- how to get to take?

23 replies

kms123 · 14/10/2008 11:37

Hi
I've just been given vitamin drops for my DS as he is 6 months now. How on earth do you get them to take?

It is a dropper syringe thing but he refuses to open mouth for it and it does taste yuck. Should I hide them in some food? Only started weaning and he doesn't like spoon fed either, prefers all finger food so might be hard to hide!

I did try breastfeeding and stopping for him to relatch on and try and drop them down but didn't work either! Ideas please?

thanks

OP posts:

popsycal · 14/10/2008 11:39

hold his nose and squeeze his cheeks

but this is my third child so maybe I am a bit rough

Tangle · 14/10/2008 14:23

Not trying to be controversial, but is there a specific reason (other than his age) why you need to give your DS extra vitamins? There have been a number of threads recently where the issue has been discussed and there always seems to be an argument that they aren't necessary.

DD is 18 months, still BF, has never had vitamins and its never been suggested by a HV or Dr that I should give them to her. Just a thought...

bythepowerofgreyskull · 14/10/2008 14:24

what are these vitamin drops? should I have been giving them to my DC's???

popsycal · 14/10/2008 15:28

mine are vitamin k drops....

TheProvincialLady · 14/10/2008 15:43

kms123 if your HV has recommended these simply because you are breast feeding and have waiting until 6m to wean then you don't need to give them UNLESS there are other factors you haven't mentioned. HV are notoriously under informed about breast feeding, thinking that because breast milk has less iron in it than formula that formula is "better" and you must give extra iron to BF babies. Whereas the iron and vitamins in breast milk might be lower in quantity but they are more bio-available so babies use them efficiently rather than pooing them out as with artificial iron and vitmains. Also, iron stores do not suddenly run out at 6m but they do start to deplete, which is why you should start offering food with iron in (meat, green veg, dried apricots etc). Unless your DS will not eat at all for some months yet, you have nothing to worry about.

Unless of course there is another reason you want or need to give vitamin drops, in which case ignore everything I have just said

tiktok · 14/10/2008 15:53

TPL - vitamin drops won't contain iron, and there is no suggestion in the UK that bf babies with no clinical symptoms need iron supps.

It's the vit D thing that befuddles and confuses HVs when it comes to supplements...

mabel1973 · 14/10/2008 16:01

It says in my red book that BF babies should have vitamin drops from 6 months, I always meant to ask my HV about it, but never got round it , but being from a food background, i preferred the idea of him getting his vitamins from what he was eating tbh.

TheProvincialLady · 14/10/2008 17:17

Oh - my HV prescribed vitmain drops with iron for my DS at 6m so I assumed that was the same for everyone Thanks for clarifying.

tiktok · 14/10/2008 17:25

Interesting, TPL - 'standard' infant vit drops have no iron in. Did she think your baby was anaemic?

TheProvincialLady · 14/10/2008 17:41

Oh I expect she probably worried because I am vegetarian and bringing up DS as vegetarian until he is old enough to say otherwise! She went on at length about iron but luckily I go to LLL meetings so I knew not to worry and never gave them. The same thing happened to a friend of mine but she insisted on a blood test, which showed her DS was fine (despite barely eating any solids until past 12m). I worry about all these children being given extra vitamins when they might not need them.

Gangle · 14/10/2008 20:43

Reading this with interest as just started giving DS, 6.5 months, vitamin drops. HV mentioned it as does Annabel Karmel in her New Complete Baby and Toddler Meal Planner. DS is EBF at the moment (about to start mixed feeding) and it seems to be for babies who take less than a certain amount of formula per day. I also questioned whether they are necessary. Agree that the drops smell disgusting. DS sicked his back up today - can't blame him!

Tangle · 14/10/2008 20:44

The iron thing does seem to do the rounds though, Tiktok - when I took DD for the 8/12 month check at 11 months, the HV I saw (who is an NCT BF counsellor) was very pleased I was still BF, but said I needed to make sure DD got plenty of iron in her diet as "BM is low in iron and UK toddlers have a high incidence of anaemia" (or words to that effect). My IM, who gave fantastic BF support in the early days, made the same comment when DD was about 9 months old. Worrying when even those that are basically well informed and/or well trained STILL think there's a problem

tiktok · 14/10/2008 23:21

Tangle - your HV is right that in the UK there is some concern about toddlers going short of iron, if they continue on milk alone or predominantly milk into toddlerhood...it's not thought to be an issue with babies below a year though. I think she could do with explaining things a bit better - breastmilk has the iron in it that it's designed to have and that babies are designed to need! It's daft to say it's low in iron - it has the exact right amount Babies beyond 6 mths will usually start taking a range of solid foods and over time, this will include sufficient iron for health. They do not normally need drops.

But what she said to you was not wrong.

StrangeTown · 14/10/2008 23:26

My HV told me to give 10month DS vits 'as I live north of Birmingham and don't get enough sunlight'...

Original poster

kms123 · 15/10/2008 08:06

Hi all, thanks for responding. I was prescribed them by my GP via my HV simply because my son is now 6 months and I am continuing breastfeeding. She said it was for vit D. The drops have no iron in them.

My feeling is he will get enough vits from food and D from sun (although do live in Scotland!).

I was going to give them a go thinking do no harm and thought it was the current advice having read it a few places, but now not sure will bother persevering?

OP posts:

tiktok · 15/10/2008 10:06

kms: are you black or Asian? Does your son spend a lot of time indoors and/or in the car? If so, then he might benefit. Northern climates don't give up a lot of sunlight, and in Norway just about everyone has vit d supps (in the form of cod liver oil) every day, inc the babies. Up to you...

tiktok · 15/10/2008 10:07

PS - the reason they are for bf babies is that formula milk already has the supps added in.

Tangle · 15/10/2008 22:37

Tiktok - I think she linked two statements that weren't necessarily related, the implication being that toddler's in the UK were anaemic because they were BF rather than FF. If I'm understanding you right, the problem is more likely when toddlers are still on very limited solids and still predominantly fed on milk, rather than when toddlers are BF. Or am I still confused (easily done atm )

tiktok · 15/10/2008 22:41

Tangle, you're right - it's the absence of solids in toddlers that leads to the concern. Very few toddlers in the UK are breastfed, whether they have solids as well or not. I agree, she sounds a bit confused if she thought this was a bf rather than ff issue.

Tangle · 15/10/2008 22:48

Thanks for clarifying

MoonlightMcKenzie · 15/10/2008 23:05

IIRC most of the baby vits on the market contain peanut oil

SalLikesCoffee · 15/10/2008 23:36

Kms, no personal experience on how to take, but the advice given by hv was to mix with purees.

Our hv arranged a weaning session a couple of months ago, and told the whole group that, as soon as you started weaning, you had to add vitamin drops. (They even sold it there!) We were a mixed group (bf and ff). As it was "official" advice I assumed it was necessary, so I'm slightly annoyed to see that's not the case for everyone. Will hold off giving it for the moment then.

Clairemac2004 · 24/10/2008 18:27

I have to give my baby multivitamins and iron supplements as she was premature. I find that lying her on her back and giving her a tiny bit, then a bit of cool boiled water and then another bit followed by water again. That way I think the taste is diluted a bit, if I give her all the vitamins she just ends up spitting it out but this way she seems to take it.

You could also try expressing a bit of breast milk and putting that in with the vitamins and that will take away the taste a bit.

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