Vitamins

[Elizdia]

Does anyone else put vitamin drops into LO's milk? The HV advised me to do this when i moved from Formula to cows milk and i've been doing tis ever since but i can't help but wonder if he is getting too many vitamins as he is a good eater. Do you give your LO vitamins only if they aren't particularly a good eater or do you give them vitamins every day because its good for them?

 

[MindUtopia]

In the UK, it's recommended that all kids up to age 5, I think it is, have a vitamin supplement that contains vitamin D. It's because we don't get enough sunshine here for our bodies to make it naturally and it's so important for healthy bone development. There has actually been a resurgence of cases of rickets in recent years because kids aren't getting enough naturally (in large part because kids spend less time outside and we use more sunscreen that in previous generations). So yes, they do recommend you keep them on a vitamin that contains vitamin D through early childhood. Not everyone does, but I personally like the added reassurance. My daughter is 3 now and has always been a good healthy eater, but since you can't get vitamin D really through food, it has to be added into our diets. We started her on a vitamin at 11 months and she still takes it now. You don't have to put it in their milk. I just give her hers on a spoon (or in a syringe when she was smaller) and she loves it because it takes nice. We use the Wellbaby ones.

 

[Elizdia]

Thanks for your reply MindUtopia. Thats the ones we use too, Well baby, but it isn't vitamin D only, its a mixture of all different vitamins including vitamin D. I just worry that i'm actually over doing it but i just give him the standard 5 ml a day.

 

[thexfadingpat]

My baby is only a newborn, but I give him vitamin D drops, and I myself still take prenatals, dha and vitamin D that get passed to him from feeding.

 

[BlingyGal]

Processing synthetic vitamins can be hard on the kidneys; if the recommendation is to give only vitamin D drops, then I would give only that.
In Canada, we are recommended to give vitamin D too.

 

[_Meep_]

We give a Bassets liquid supplement with water-soluble vitamins in a syringe so that whatever isn't needed is just peed out.

We also give Arla Big Milk with cereal in the mornings, which is just fortified cow's milk with iron, vitamin D and vitamin K, made by the same lot who do Cravendale.

Again, whatever she doesn't need just comes out in her wee. If your son is drinking milk, I believe two 200ml servings of Big Milk a day will fill his requirement for iron, D and K.