My 6-month-old daughter's pediatrician gave her a prescription for vitamins.  It contains A, E, and D, along with iron and fluoride.  She is breastfed, eats mostly organic baby food (fruits, veggies, and almost everything with a little oatmeal that contains iron), and doesn't yet have any teeth.

Is this supplement, especially the fluoride, necessary?  Are your babies on vitamins, too? 

My 7 month old is on vitamins also.  He started on the TriViSol for vitamin D, and now that he's over 6 months, he's on the vitamins with flouride.  It is important for them to have flouride, especially if it's not in your water supply (or your not using any tap water to make formula or cereal).  You can check with your local water company to see how much flouride is in your water.  Hope this helps!

Our family doctor recommended vitamin D as well, but not the prescription kind, just the regular stuff from the pharmacy. This had never come up in the first six weeks when the midwives were still looking after her, so I'm not sure whether this is actually necessary or not. We ended up giving them to her while exclusively breastfeeding - but stopped once she started eating real food alongside the nursing.

I hate having to give the baby vitamins. TriViSol has artificial flavors and is very sweet--tastes like coca cola to me. God! do they honestly think babies need to develop that kind of taste so soon? My baby hates the taste of it (so far) and spits most of it out. So I'm not sure what good it's doing. I'd love it if someone could explain WHY the baby needs this.

I would say that breastfed babies do need to be on vitamins to supplement flouride and iron, as these elements are not normally plentiful in breastmilk.  As far as formula fed babies go though, I don't think they need the vitamins b/c formula is jampacked full of iron, and flouride comes from the water that the formula is mixed with.  If you're questionable as to why your baby is/needs vitamins, you should definetly talk to your baby's doc. :)

I have to strongly disagree with PP. Vitamin supplements shouldn't be necessary in a full-term, healthy, breastfed baby.

You can read up on the latest research over at Kellymom, a great resource for BF moms: http://www.kellymom.net/nutrition/vitamins/vitamins.html

It is true that iron levels in breastmilk are lower than those found in iron-fortified formula. However, baby's body can absorb the iron in breastmilk far more efficiently than the iron in formula (50-70% of it vs. 1-12% in formula, according to Kellymom).

Definitely something to hash out with your doc!

 

I also strongly disagree that your breastfed baby needs those extra vitamins and fluoride.  Pediatricians are trained using a model of care for exclusively formula fed babies; formula fed babies need those vitamins, breastfed babies do NOT need extra vitamins.  Do your research!

 

Should My Breastfed Baby Be Receiving Vitamin or Fluoride Supplements?

Advertisements, family members and even health professionals often urge mothers to add "something" to baby's perfect diet of mother's milk. According to the our comprehensive guidebook, THE WOMANLY ART OF BREASTFEEDING, if a breastfeeding mother is getting an adequate supply of vitamins in her diet, her milk will contain adequate nutrients in the perfect balance for her baby. If your baby is healthy and doing well, there is no need for vitamins, iron, or other supplements in the early months. Furthermore, many mothers have found that vitamin or fluoride supplements may cause fussiness or colic in their infants. By treating each mother and baby as a unique pair, unnecessary supplementation can often be avoided.

Concerns are sometimes raised about the breastfed baby's need for these specific nutrients:

Vitamin D Exclusively breastfed healthy, full-term infants from birth to six months who have adequate exposure to sunlight are not at risk for developing vitamin D deficiency or rickets. Rickets occurs because of a deficiency in sunlight exposure, not because of a deficiency in human milk.

La Leche League International's THE BREASTFEEDING ANSWER BOOK, 3rd Edition, lists the following risk factors for vitamin D deficiency:

• Dark skin
• Consistent coverage of skin with clothing or sunscreen when outdoors
• Live in areas where there is little sunlight for parts of the year or do not go outdoors
• Live in areas of heavy air pollution, which blocks sunlight
• Mother is vitamin D deficient

Other risk factors include:

• increased birth order
• exposure to lead
• the replacement of human milk with foods low in calcium or foods that reduce calcium absorption

For more information, please refer to the following articles:

• Sunlight Deficiency: Helping Breastfeeding Mothers Find the Facts, LEAVEN August-September 2003
• Sunlight Deficiency, "Vitamin D," and Breastfeeding, LEAVEN June-July 2003
• SUNLIGHT DEFICIENCY AND BREASTFEEDING, BREASTFEEDING ABSTRACTS November 2002

Iron According to THE BREASTFEEDING ANSWER BOOK, published by LLLI, the iron in human milk is better absorbed by your baby than is the iron in cow's milk or iron-fortified formula. This means that the quantity of iron in human milk is appropriate for baby instead of the larger quantity in cow's milk. The full-term healthy baby usually has no need of additional iron until about the middle of his first year, around the time he starts taking solids. The high lactose ad vitamin C levels in human milk aid the absorption of iron, and breastfed babies do not lose iron through their bowels.

If there is concern about the baby's iron levels, a simple hemoglobin test can be done in the doctor's office. If necessary, it is easy to offer the baby foods which are naturally rich in iron. However, iron drops and iron-fortified foods sometimes cause digestive upsets when given to babies and can actually reduce the efficiency of iron absorption.

Women are often advised to continue to take prenatal vitamins as long as they are breastfeeding and these vitamins often include a large dose of iron. The iron levels in a mother's milk are not affected by the amount of iron in her diet or by iron supplements she may take.

Fluoride The American Academy of Pediatrics recommended in its 1997 policy statement that babies younger than six months should NOT receive fluoride supplements and that babies older than six months receive supplements only if they live in an area where the drinking water contains less than 0.3 ppm of fluoride. Fluoride supplements tend to contribute to excess intestinal gas (wind).

Vitamin B12 Vitamin B12 supplements are strongly recommended for mothers who adhere to vegetarian diets that include no animal products, such as vegan and macrobiotic diets. Such diets can lead to a vitamin B12 deficiency in mother and/or baby because this vitamin is primarily available from animal protein. Symptoms of Vitamin B12 deficiency may include loss of appetite, regression in motor development, lethargy, muscle atrophy, vomiting, blood abnormalities and neurological problems. If caught early enough, treatment with vitamin supplements can completely resolve these symptoms.

If you have additional concerns about these or other nutrients, please contact your local LLL Leader. To find a Group near you, call 1-800-LALECHE, look at our LLL Web Page Index or follow the hints in our page on finding a local LLL Leader. If you are unable to find a local Group, you may consider attending one of our on-line LLL meetings.

Well, I went and checked out that KellyMom link. Great resource! But I ended up drawing a different conclusion than I expected when I read about Vitamin D. It says that although breastfead babies rarely need supplements of vitamin D there are some factors that increase the risk of rickets, and one of those is worth noting for urban parents:

<<Baby has very little exposure to sunlight. For example: if you live in a far northern latitude, if you live in an urban area where tall buildings and pollution block sunlight, if baby is always completely covered and kept out of the sun, if baby is always inside during the day, or if you always apply high-SPF sunscreen. >>

I posted earlier that I didn't see the point, but this is exactly the kind of explanation I was looking for. I live in NYC, and although we go out nearly every day, I do tend to keep my baby in the shade. I suppose it's possible she isn't getting enough sun.

Maybe I'll try to find a more natural supplement than the TriViSol. Any suggestions?

No. We do not use those. I started my baby on them at 2 or 4 months 3 years ago, and then read online a study linking the use of those vitamins to asthma so I stopped. Later I learned that those vitamins are completely unnecessary, and I was glad I trusted my gut. I am not going to pay a formula compnay for something my baby doesn't need. I have a 3 year old and a 10 month old, both are perfectly healthy.

Breast milk has all the vitamins a baby needs. If you are worried about low nutrients then either supplement your own diet or eat better foods yourself. My pediatrician recommended them again when my first was 9 months old, and I threw the prescription away. He also did a test to see what the iron levels were in my son's blood and they were perfect.

Breast milk has vitamins in it that are bioavaliable. Formula and vitamin supplements are barely bioavaliable at all. Also another drawback of the vitamins can be constipation from all that iron.

Peace.

A light skinned baby needs about 10-20 minutes of sunlight per day to make Vitamin D. Skin cancer is actually caused by a Vitamin D deficiency and sunburn is actually linked to increased survival from mealnoma.

Supplementing with vitamin D reduces the body's ability to make the hormone by itself through sun exposure. I believe using full spectrum light bulbs might help too although I am not sure. You might check out icpa4kids.com for the latest article called "Sunburn increases survival from mealnoma."

http://www.pathwaystofamilywellness.org/references/references_14.html

Seasonal:

Sun Exposure Increases Survival of Melanoma
Van D. Merkle, DC, CCN, DABCI, DACBN

From the Article:

We've been told for many years that the sun is bad! According to the Mayo Clinic, all forms of skin cancer have been on the rise. The greatest rise has been in melanoma, which is the most serious and most deadly type of skin cancer. Even with our sun-phobic, sunscreen-wearing society, the percentage of people with melanoma has more than doubled over the last 30 years.

In contradiction to the “typical” skin cancer prevention advice, the journal Cancer in March 2002, did an examination of 506 regions and found a close inverse correlation between cancer mortality and levels of ultraviolet B light. The likeliest mechanism for a protective effect of sunlight is vitamin D, which is synthesized by the body in the presence of ultraviolet B. In a more recent study in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute [February 2, 2005], 528 melanoma patients were assessed. It was found that self-reported skin awareness, high intermittent sun exposure, and even sunburn were all linked to improved survival from melanoma. Attempting to explain their findings, the authors note that sun exposure is essential for the skin to make vitamin D3. Vitamin D has anticancer properties and therefore could explain the beneficial association between sun exposure and survival from melanoma...

About the Author:

Dr. Merkle is a Certified Clinical Nutritionist and has two Diplomate Degrees in nutrition. He has a private nutrition and chiropractic practice in Dayton, Ohio. Please visit his website at: www.Bk2Health.com. For additional information about science-based nutrition visit: www.sciencebasednutrition.com.

JMarie7:

My 7 month old is on vitamins also.  He started on the TriViSol for vitamin D, and now that he's over 6 months, he's on the vitamins with flouride.  It is important for them to have flouride, especially if it's not in your water supply (or your not using any tap water to make formula or cereal).  You can check with your local water company to see how much flouride is in your water.  Hope this helps!

Actually fluoride is toxic and causes a host of problems from fluorosis of the teeth to thyroid problems. One reason it's in our water is because it is used for mind control.

Fluoride is present in Prozac as well.

It's a waste of money and totally bad for babies which is why we try to avoid it as much as we can and are looking into filtering it out of our water. Also calcium is good for your teeth and was present in the same water that they used to initially test the fluoride on the population.

Another reason it's in our water supply is because people make money off of selling their toxic waste instead of having to dispose of it properly. It can cause slurred speech and other problems too, it's poison - DO NOT USE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DeeEss:

I hate having to give the baby vitamins. TriViSol has artificial flavors and is very sweet--tastes like coca cola to me. God! do they honestly think babies need to develop that kind of taste so soon? My baby hates the taste of it (so far) and spits most of it out. So I'm not sure what good it's doing. I'd love it if someone could explain WHY the baby needs this.

YET ANOTHER REASON not to take them or any medication containing artificial sweeteners. Splenda (sucralose) or anything containing phenylaniline is totally poison to your body. Do not use them!

smashedpea:

Our family doctor recommended vitamin D as well, but not the prescription kind, just the regular stuff from the pharmacy. This had never come up in the first six weeks when the midwives were still looking after her, so I'm not sure whether this is actually necessary or not. We ended up giving them to her while exclusively breastfeeding - but stopped once she started eating real food alongside the nursing.

 

No offense but that is silly. Breast milk is all your baby needs. Adding a solid food diet would not add vitamin D to anything anyway, although it would accomplish developing a person who can eat something besides mother's milk.

BabyCakies:

My 6-month-old daughter's pediatrician gave her a prescription for vitamins.  It contains A, E, and D, along with iron and fluoride.  She is breastfed, eats mostly organic baby food (fruits, veggies, and almost everything with a little oatmeal that contains iron), and doesn't yet have any teeth.

Is this supplement, especially the fluoride, necessary?  Are your babies on vitamins, too? 

 

Another thing to worry about is Vitamin A toxicity. If you're adding vitamin fortified foods then you have to think about things like that. Those baby cereals also are linked to diabetes (because they are refined carbs with no nutritional value) as well as allergies, especially when they are introduced too early, and I would not recommend them. If you're talking about any sort of flaky cereal made for babies, that is what they used to make just so they could fortify it with iron to give to formula fed babies because iron form formula is poorly absorbed. If your baby is getting constipated then this supplementation could be the reason.

Babies do not have to eat mushy food with a spoon, you can just let them have soft fruits and veggies as finger foods when they're old enough to handle it and then you can introduce table foods as they get closer to a year old.