vitamin D

[gghmommy]

how do you give it to your babe, before or after a feeding? how long do you continue drops and can I take anything that gives it to baby through breastmilk? (I figure not, but this would be so much easier for me)

[tesslouise]

If you take several thousand IUs of vitamin D every day and are not yourself so deficient that your levels need to "catch up," baby will get vitamin D from your breast milk. Kellymom has references.

[mibarra]

I just did drops whenever. They are sweet and my babies loved them.

[manniewcu]

I was told to take 2000iu of Vitamin D each day while BFing in addition to my prenatal vitamin that I still took. I never had to give my baby anything else.

[smalltownmama]

I was told to use the drops. Why do they need the vitamin d supplement though? My pediatrician was vague

[l_Kimmie_l]

I never used the drops. My pedi recommended it, but I happily declined.

[mommaroo2Lou]

I used the drops the 1st time but not this time. The doc said to just put a couple drops on my nipple before latching. I would think that in some places it might not matter so much but for a winter baby living here in Chicago, there is almost no Vitamin D getting made naturally from sun exposure. Today is the first sun I've seen in at least a week and it is too cold and windy to take a babe out. *sigh* I miss CA.

[waterisntsomething]

When DS was little we were out in the sunshine for enough time every day. Now that he's older I am giving him cod liver oil for his teeth but it has a lot of vit. D in it.

[pinktoes]

In the northern half of the U.S. it's very difficult in the winter months to get sufficient Vit D from the sun. Kelly Mom does explain it well but note even if mom isn't deficient (and MANY women are) very little is passed through to the breast milk.
http://kellymom.com/nutrition/vitamins/vitamin-d/

With more and more benefits being researched, or if you tend to use sunscreen religiously, it's a good idea to supplement.
I supplemented just from the dropper. Or when I bottle fed I added a bit to my breast milk.