Vitamins

[CinderellaSweepsUp]

Hi,

I'm a bit confused about this - when I started weaning two months ago I asked my HV about whether it was necessary to give vitamin drops after 6 months and she said no, so I haven't been.

However, read somewhere recently that you should if breastfeeding because of iron and vitamin d stores depleting after that age, so wonder if she gave me the wrong advice.

Does anyone know which it is? I am fully breastfeeding on demand, and think ds is still taking a lot of milk, he has not dropped any feeds. He is on 3 meals a day, but had a slow start due to illness, which is why I'm a bit concerned about the vitamins, although he is very bright and energetic so have no immediate worries.

Also, if you do give vitamins what kind? Just iron etc or would a multivitamin syrup be ok?

Thanks

www.nhs.uk/planners/birthtofive/pages/vitamins.aspx - this says that vitamin supplements are advised for bf babies and formula fed babies taking less than 500mls per day. Vitamin D seems to be the most important rather than iron

I also got conflicting messages about this when I moved house. At the old area nobody mentioned vitamins, but then later on I was told that I should be giving vitimins and I had to go to the children's centre to pick them up, but seeing as DS had been doing fine without them and no one I spoke to who lived in the old area (all very good mums!) was doing it or had been spoken to about it, and I couldn't get to the children's centre as I was working full-time by then, I didn't ever end up giving them.

I read that if EBF babies over 6 months should have vitamins. My HV was quite vague about it. I give DS (now 9 months) Abidec drops each day mixed in with his breakfast.

i was confused about this too, in my healthy start voucher pack it says about vits but my HV never mentioned it either - strange because vits are so important.

the abidec vitamins are so disgusting! i gave them to my daughter and she threw up everywhere! i had worries about whether to give them to her as am still bf but after contacting nct for advice i found that HV have to advise everyone to take vitamins just because some mothers may not have a healthy diet. the reason why formula has more iron in is because it is such poor quality that they need to put more in for it to be absorbed into babies body, whereas breastmilk is perfectly adapted to baby.as for vitamin d..apparently babies need just 2 hours of sunlight a week (more is better of course!) IMO there is so much rubbish spoken against breastfeeding. it doesn't make sense does it...
we have survived the last million years or so without vitamin drops...

Madam1mim what you say makes no sense at all. Abidec baby drops contain no iron if you actually bother to read its ingredient list. The recommends vitamin, the page explains vitamin A and C might be lacking if you have a poor diet, and it's difficult to get D from diet. (an article in the guardian last week is about supplementing the whole of Scotland with vitamin d because you won't get enough for 6 months of the year).

Iron is what the formula manufacturer wants you to believe we lack. But if you read the NHS birth to 5 it will tell you it clearly isn't a problem.

Actually people did use to get rickets because of lack of calcium ie poor diet. But that has been eradicated with our modern diet. However we live a much more indoor lifestyle than our ancestors. We don't work the fields outside and we cover our children up a lot more than even a generation ago. Did your grandparents use sun creams? There has been an increase in the number of children with rickets. You can indeed get it naturally by taking your LO out to the sun at least 10-15 every day. The guardian article mentioned should have face, hands and forearms exposed too!

madam1min 2 hours of daylight might get you vitamin D if you live in a place where you can actually get the dose, right now, no amount of sun light in any part of the UK will get you any at all, the sun isn't strong enough. In a few weeks a cloudless day with the skin exposed people in the south of the country will be able to get the dose in a couple of hours. But it has to be in the middle of the day and it has to be with bare skin - not actually that likely for a 1 year old to be out with loads of exposed skin in winter.

Obviously come summer there's no problem, and in the south of england even beyond the few weeks of midwinter (ie now) there's no problem as long as you spend time outdoors with skin exposed.

This site will tell you how much time you need with arms/face exposed to bright sunshine to get the adult dose - 4 hours on Jan 10th for London. I'm not actually sure how the baby dose will compare - they'll need less obviously, but they'll also have a lot less skin and that matters of course.

That website is very useful FredFredGeorge!

Here is a useful site for iron:

www.kellymom.com/nutrition/vitamins/iron.html

And for vitamin D:

www.kellymom.com/nutrition/vitamins/vitamin-d.html

Sorry, I didn't link those links!

Anyway, its the vitamin D that I would worry about at this time of year. I give my 9 month old abidec drops. Interestingly, in Finland they fortify normal milk and marg with vitamin D, as they are discussing for use in Scotland (so when they say it hasn't been tried out on a large population scale they're talking rubbish!) They also insist on vitamin D drops for bf AND ff babies.

Thanks for replies everyone, and especially for the reminder about vitamin D, it is important to supplement this I think as it can't be provided through general diet, I've started giving a spoonful of multivit syrup daily to cover this. He seems to like it which helps! It does seem like the information given out is a bit erratic, and I must have completely overlooked that in the birth to five book Seona, so thanks for highlighting it.

I probably shouldn't have been so presumptuous but most people do not live in the north of scotland...so I'm sorry for generalising.
However, a lot of cereals and kids yoghurts (ready brek, petit filous etc) contain added vitamin D, so you can get it that way too.
FredFredGeorge, as you say you can get lots of vitamin D in the summer. From what I have heard, if you make sure that you get enough sun exposure in the summer then it should last through the winter months too.
I made the comment about formula because HV are saying that if you are BF you need to give vitamins to your babies...they don't say the same if you are FF. I am aware that vitamin drops do not contain iron but HV are saying that breast milk does not contain enough iron and Formula does.
have a look here if interested: kellymom.com/nutrition/vitamins/iron.html

sorry GoitreGirl didnt see you had already posted that link. also didn't know that they are recommending vitamin d for ff babies..my hv said otherwise.

madam1mim Yes if you spend lots of time outdoors, with skin exposed then you should be able store enough vit D to last through the winter no problems, it's only if you cover up a lot (religious reasons or whatever) or stay indoors exclusively in the middle of the day (shift worker/mumsnetting all day) that you're likely to have a problem.

I work in an office 8-6 so won't be out in the sun during the middle of the day even though I'm not a shift worker. I'm sure I'm not uncommon.

OneLittleBabyGirl In the summer the evening and morning sun is fine too, and you only need a few hours at the weekend midday sun to get a full weekly dose (especially if you bare more than just head and arms), it's only in the depths of winter when you need to be out in the midday sun.