Vitamin D and Babies

January 26, 2012 at 7:30 am Leave a comment

Babies need vitamin D for growing healthy bones and teeth. Vitamin D is made by the human body when it is exposed to sunlight.

It is hard to be sure if a baby is getting enough vitamin D, so advice from the Department of Health recommends that supplements are taken by certain groups of people:

all children aged six months to five years old
all pregnant and breastfeeding women
all people aged 65 and over
people who are not exposed to much sun, such as people who cover up their skin for cultural reasons or those who are housebound or confined indoors for long periods
people with darker skins such as people of African-Caribbean and South Asian origin

(Source: Leaflet from DoH, Jan 2010)

Breastfed babies will get vitamin D from breastmilk, which is one reason
why it is important for pregnant and breastfeeding mums to have good vitamin D levels themselves.

Baby formula has vitamin D added to it, so formula-fed babies get their vitamin D from their milk.

Other Sources Of Vitamin D

oily fish, such as salmon and sardines
eggs
fortified fat spreads

Adults and children can get vitamin D via some types of food, such as oily fish and eggs. It is difficult to obtain enough vitamin D via diet alone, so exposure to sunlight is also important, especially in winter months when the daylight hours are shorter.

Vitamin D supplements are recommended by DoH for children aged 6 months to 5 years unless they are drinking 500ml (a pint) or more of infant formula a day.

During the winter spend time every day in sunlight – a good reason for going to the playground. A pity it rains so much in winter.

For more on Vitamin D see:

http://www.babycentre.co.uk/baby/startingsolids/milkat6mnths/

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/vitamins-minerals/Pages/Vitamin-D.aspx

http://www.dh.gov.uk/prod_consum_dh/groups/dh_digitalassets/documents/digitalasset/dh_111302.pdf

Entry filed under: Questions From Parents. Tags: babies, breastfeeding, children, formula, milk, sunlight, vitamin d, vitamin d babies, vitamins.

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