Need Advice Re. Baby and Liquid Vitamins

A.
Those vitamins are nasty I know, but the problem is that at about 10-12 weeks babies start to become depleted in the iron they got from you before being born. That is what the vitamins are for, so yes he probably will need the vitamins although I have no idea how you are going to get him to swallow it. I actually didn't give it to my children because they were supplemented with formula.

Shaklee has a great vitamin for infants.

http://www.shaklee.net/healthyhomebydesign/product/20073

Good Luck and if you have any questions about shaklee or this product let me know.

D.
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The only nutritional supplement I would give my baby that young would be breast milk - and maybe water if he wants it. If your nutritional supplement is sound and pure it should be fine for him through your milk.

I know about Reliv. It is wonderful. I breastfeed and took it and my daughter is just fine without suppliments. If you still feel like you want to add something per your doctor suggestion, you can use the children's Reliv in a small dose or SHAKLEE has a liquid vitamin for infants. My website for Shaklee is www.shaklee.net/homehealth
I did give my duaghter the infant liquid off and on but I think she could taste it and wasn't too interested in it.

A., you've received a lot of responses already, and some are conflicting, so I wanted to add a good website for factual information regarding this topic.

From kellymom.com:

http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/vitamins/vitamins.html

<<Vitamin and mineral supplements are not necessary for the average healthy, full-term breastfed baby during the first year. Breastmilk is all that your baby needs for at least the first six months of life. Studies have shown that vitamins, fluoride, iron, water, juice, formula and solid foods are rarely beneficial to healthy breastfed babies during the first six months, and some can even be harmful. There are certain cases where a vitamin supplement may be needed for a breastfed baby during the first year, but these cases are the exception, not the rule.>>

As for Vitamin D supplementation specifically, check out kellymom's page: http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/vitamins/vitamin-d.html

It goes into great detail about whether to supplement the baby or the mother, or just give sun exposure, etc, depending on your baby's individual level of risk.

And FYI, I never supplemented my bfing baby, and she was exclusively breastfed until about 9 months (and very healthy).

HTH, M.

If you're both healthy, giving your young baby a supplement seems unnecessary to me. If you're concerned about vit D due to the pediatrician's rec, do some research on your own. Look into sunshine and NATURAL sources of vit D and do some research at http://www.westonaprice.org

PLUS, I just cannot believe God/Nature/Mother Earth would create a system of feeding our young that required supplementation. How could we have survived for this long if we had to supplement a tiny baby with an artificial supplement. The sun and breastmilk are 100% natural. Your baby can definitely tolerate a little sun!

Try to use the Rainbow Light Nutristart vitamin for the infants. They are easy to digest. They are great. I started using them after my baby got sick after using Shaklee vitamins (horrible!!!!). The Rainbow Light is very gentle for the baby stomach. They are food based multivitamins.

Let your baby get about 15 min. total of sunshine a week and he'll be fine! Do you think humans ran down to walgreens and picked up liquid vitamins for the first 10,000 years before doctors thought they knew better than God or mother nature? I would also suggest talking to a La Leche leader (www.llli.org). LLL is THE best resource for breastfeeding info.

Hi, I too have taken Reliv for about 5 years now. And no you do not need to give your baby any extra vitamins if you are breastfeeding. The reliv is plenty. Most doctors don't lnow much about Reliv or how great it is. I move my babies onto regular reliv as soon as they are weined. My kids are super healthy and rarely get sick at all, and I have three of them under the age of 5.

I just read an article in Parents about this. They do suggest giving Vitamin D supplements to babies that are 100% breastfed. This is something that they would get in formula and that we get from the sun. Unfortunately you cannot let the baby out in the sun. I would do some more research if you really don't want to give your baby anything, but we did give my first child Vitamin D for the first few months while I was breastfeeding and she did fine. If you do decide to give your baby the supplement ask your doctor for one that only has vitamin D as your little guy does not need anything else.
Hope this helps.

If you are healthy and getting nutritious food and vitamins, you do not need to give your breastfed infant extra vitamins. I've never heard this advice from any midwife or pediatrician. Personally, I'd do this very hesitantly if at all.

Why would you give your baby vitamins. This is all just so contradictory. So its better to breast feed than formula but if you breast feed you have to give vitamins that formula has. Doesn't make a whole lot of sense. I really don't think you need to worry about giving your infant vitamins. I think like someone else said you are passing through all the needed supplements through what you eat. And if he is lacking something the sun provides I think 5 minutes out in the sun every day would solve that.

My oldest daughter takes liquid vitamins, but she did not start until after she was a year old. My physician never said I needed to give her anything else because she was breastfeed and the supplement I was taking was enough for the both of us. The supplement was started when she was beginning to breastfeed less and eat more solid foods. So I would think that your newborn is just fine and no added supplements would be needed. You could also check with the Le Leche League and see what they say.

Our pediatrician also prescribed baby vitamins for my 100% breastfed baby. I too was uncomfortable with the idea. After doing a bit of research, I found information countering baby vitamins. Especially iron fortified vitamins - as they oddly enough can cause problems with natural iron absorption and possibly cause diarrhea and/or constipation. I decided to call the pediatrician and ask why she thought my daughter needed vitamins.

She told me that they give a prescription for vitamins to every patient. In their experience the vast majority of babies are weaned before 3 months, so they figure they'll get a jump start on it. She told me if I have no plans to wean, then there is no substantial reason to give my baby supplements - although she did question the risk of screwing up my baby's natural ability to absorb iron.

My daughter is now 7 1/2 months, still breastfeeding, and just starting to experiment with solids. She is thriving. I make sure that the food I give her has naturally high levels of iron - such as whole grains (oatmeal, quinoa, brown rice) - and I stay away from "iron fortified."

Did your Dr. give any good reason to give your baby liquid vitamins? Unless there seems to be a nourishment issue,or he has something that might require an extra boost -preemie maybe??? I'm not a pediatrician, but from everything that I know..and nursing all 4 of my kids, breastmilk along with a healthy diet on your part should be more than enough for him. Before you say yes or no to anything your Dr. or anyone else says check in first with thier intention, then check in with your own assumptions. It's great that you are seeking other opinions and support before just following orders - you are following your maternal intincts:)
On a side note, if you aren't already, make sure you get enough Omega Fatty 3's (either as a supplement or in salmon or tuna a few times a week)...it is really really good for their neurological development.

Happy nursing and parenting!

(BTW..I like your description of "work at home mom" instead of stay at home mom :)

A.
Joyous mom of 4, 14 yrs of happy marraige birth and parenting educator.

Don't worry. I just gave it to my daughter straight, she didn't care. Try it and see how it goes.

Hi A.,
I am a pediatrician and can respond to your question. Yes your baby needs a vitamin supplement for Vit D if his nutritional intake comes primarily from breat milk. Vit D is not passed in breast milk no matter what nutritional supplement you take or how much sun exposure you have. Because you are likely not taking him out in the sun much he needs vit D supplementation to make strong bones. This recommendation comes from the American Academy of Pediatrics and has been out about 2 years now. It is recommended to give Trivisol 1/2 dropper daily which contains A,C and D vitamins that help absorption of the Vit D. Yes I agree with the other moms that breast milk is the perfect food for babies so keep up the great work!

J. L

Hi A.,
I am a mom of 3 too all 3 1/2 & under as well so I know how life can be demanding/busy but FUN. I definetely know Reliv and I have used this as my prenatal nutrition all the way until now. When I was breastfeeding, I made sure other than eating healthy, that I always take my Reliv shake. I have no need to use other vitamins for me and baby as Reliv is already complete and balanced nutrition. I did double the scoop for Classic 2xaday. Results were great and I know baby is getting it too. It is a good feeling when going to wellness visits that doctor says keep up the good work.
When they reached the age of introducing solid food then I introduced to them the Reliv Kids Now. I mix it in their formula or their first cereal. Still until now all my kids,my family take Reliv everyday and couldn't ask for more assurance and peace of mind when it comes to nutrition. No major health complications, active, happy and alert.
call me if you have any questions or if you just want to chat (mommy talk) you may certainly can. My ph # is ###-###-####.
proud mom like you. ~ M.

In my opinion, giving a breastfed baby vitamins is 100% ridiculous. That is a holdover from the "formula is better" belief days, and has no basis in logic or reason. If breastfed babies needed vitamins, then no baby in history (before vitamins) would have made it to age two. If God had intended babies to need vitamins, he would have built them into breastmilk - which he did!!!! If you are eating a healthy diet, then the necessity for vitamin supplementation seems questionable, at best.

I have 3 girls that I breastfed ...... I never gave viatmins.... the research I'm reading is that the best way to get "vitamins" is through food.... so make sure you are eating lots of fruits & veggies as well & your son will be great!

Especially if you are breastfeeding and are eating well yourself there is no need to give your baby extra vitamins. If you decide to give them to your baby, however, I would look for something that does not have sugar or a bunch of additives, maybe look for something at a natural food store.

As far as the previous response Omega 3's are the best and very important. Although if you are looking to get them from fish you may want to try wild caught salmon and avoid the tuna. This can have high levels of mercury in it and tuna is not great for kids now-a-days because of this.

I breastfed my son until 15 months and my daughter until 20 months and they never had a vitamin supplement. I was never told to give them one and I never even thought of it because I was taking my vitamins and eating healthy. Neither one of my children had issues with their iron levels at 9 months old when tested. I guess what I am wondering is why are they telling you to give him a vitamin? I am not an expert or a doctor, so please consult with them on this matter, or you could also call a lactation consultant and ask them.

Hi A. -

I am not familiar with the Reliv vitamins but if you son is very healthy, I would not worry about adding additional vitamins to his diet. As you wean him from breastmilk, you might consider looking for whole food herb supplements that will add the additional vitamins he might be missing. Some supplements include: Spirulina, Chlorella (both of which are whole food blue-green algae and contain a wide spectrum of vitamins/minerals easily assimilated by the body), alfalfa (the dried powder added to his foods or the fresh sprouts - again very high in natural vitamins); milky oat heads, rosehips, and many others.

If you are interested in additional information, I am available at Chakra Botanica Herb & Tea Room in Payson. Stop in and say hi!

Blessings,

M. M. Ernsberger
Certified Clinical Herbalist
Certified Hypnotherapist
Certified Life Coach
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I belong to two breastfeeding support groups and I've heard in both of them that breast milk is the perfect food and you do not need to supplement with anything else! Your baby should be getting all he needs!

If you are taking a really good suppplement that should be enough, especially if you are exclusively breastfeeding. You could always check what your taking against some other vitamins supplements and try incorporating more into you diet. I have never heard of a doctor suggesting that for such a young baby.

Best Wishes,

M.