Can anyone in the UK pls give me some advice re newborn and rickets

[Kekke]

I gave birth to my DD last week in Romania where we are currently living. When we discharged the Dr. went through things with me and has advised me to give her 2 drops per day of prophylaxis for the prevention of rickets. The brand name is Vigantol.

I wasn't even aware rickets is still a problem for children and I've never heard / read anything about giving drops to a newborn in order to prevent it.

I suspect it might just be something the do in Romania so I'd rather not start supplementing her diet at this stage. I just wondered if someone could please let me know if this is recommended/done in the UK?

Thanks

No its not done in the UK but I dont have any other info

I think it is pretty common for Europeans to supplement with vitamin d drops. Our Swiss paed was shocked that it wasn't the norm in UK and since then there have been reports fo increased incidence of vitamin d deficiency related problems. Mainly this is blamed on reduced exposure to direct sunlight which is a natural source of vitamin d absorbed by the body, due to use of sunblocks, advice to keep out of strong sun, a more sedentary indoor lifestyle and fewer babies being left to nap outdoors (as is still common practice in some countries). 20 mins a day exposure to sunlight is sufficient but in some countries this is hard to achieve especially in winter, hence supplements.

One such report although there is a tone of scepticism about the research. Skin pigmentation seems to be a factor too as darker skins absorb it from sunlight less readily.

We were given these in Portugal and I was very lax about giving them, because Portugal = Sunny! However, when we moved to Switzerland the doctor gave me a telling off for not giving them to her and told me it was very important as she had actually seen children with rickets.

My Ds (2) is 11 weeks old and this is not done in the UK. He is excl breastfed and the recommendation is that I take a vit D supplement. I assume that formula has vit D in it already.
Congrats on your new baby

Thanks so much. The weather here is lovely and for the past 2 days she has actually had her afternoon naps outside, so will be getting plenty of vit D from the sun. Will not start with the drops.