vitamin drops

[RubyBuckleberry]

hv saying i need to give them from 6 months - i'm very . something about the vitamin d... i said can't we just go outside? which we do, alot!

she also advised weaning - ds ebf 17lb 4.5months - i said we're doing blw @ 6 months - she said well, you might want to start earlier as by 6 months they will need to be eating quite alot

you don't vitamin drops as far as i am aware

you could check on kellymom ...

that a reason to start to wean at 6 months as iron stores start to deplete and they need to get it from other sources (hence the importance of a varied diet)

i take it the HV knows nothing about BLW?!

i think she knows a little - i think she is a bit at it - was very quick to start fretting!

will check kellymom for vit drops...

Your hv is stupid. Please report her for ignoring guidelines not to wean until 6 months.

Neither of mine have had vitamin drops and it doesn't seem to have been a problem.

love kellymom i'm going to quote jack newman at her next time

There is a bit of concern atm about vit d levels in the UK population, particularly if you stay indoors a lot and/or have dark skin (as dark skin isn't as good at making vit d from the rubbish amounts of sunlight we get in this country).

It is in some foods, oily fish and eggs I think, but I think I would consider giving drops if I had a baby again. I didn't with ds but then he was 6 months in summer so there was more sunlight/more likelihood of us being out in it/more liklihood of him having enough skin exposed to benefit from it.

AFAIK it's not actually possible to get the vit d we need from daylight in the winter. We use up our stores from the lighter months instead. That might just be in more northern places like Scotland though. Vit d supplementation is quite big here at the moment as there's been a rise in cases of rickets.

LONG POST SORRY. I do witter on....

Vit drops are advised for all bf babies from birth in our area as part of the healthy start campaign.

Research has (apparently) shown bf babies are more likely to be vitamin deficient than ff infants. This is due to the unwitting deficiency of the mother. Not such a problem with ff as formula is fortified. Vit D is esp. a problem with babies born during winter months. Research has shown those given supplements were less likely to suffer broken bones in the early years of life (vit D affects bone density and extreme deficiency causes rickets).

Not sure of any direct evidence re: vit A and C supplementing.

I'm guessing iron depletion/supplementation is for same reasons as vit A (mother potentially deficient).

We also live in a community with a high % of non-white races who are at greater risk of vit D deficiency as their skin protects so well from sunlight, hence policy.

Not sure why HV would suggest supplementing after 6 months specifically, perhaps to bridge the gap between 100% milk feed and adequate vits gained from solids?

hmmm we go outside everyday, he was born october, eat varied and healthy diet - me, white... ??????

thanks for replies