Polyvisol ????

[@llli*mamadavid]

I took my two week old for her pedi
Appt and her pedi said I should be giving
Her these vitamin drops and couldn't
Believe I had not given it to my other two
Whom I BF. My question is, is this really
Necessary? I thought breastmilk had everything
Your child needed, and since when has
Formula had more necessary nutrients
Than formula? I haven't gotten it yet, nor really
Plan to unless I hear a bunch of you do this. Pls share!!!

[@llli*gamom]

Why does the pediatrician want your LO to have these??? I'm sure others will chime in soon, but my understanding also is that BM provides all necessary nutrients, etc. You personally may need to keep taking your prenatal vitamins, but I am a little leery about giving an infant vitamins unless it's absolutely necessary (especially ones that have iron in them!)

[@llli*joe.s.mom]

There is some debate on Vitamin D supplementation in particular, and I believe it is recommended by the LLL. However, just my experience: I never gave my baby those drops, and I never worried about it, and he was fine. However, we are fair skinned in a very sunny climate and I might give Vitamin D to my next baby even so. Breastmilk does provide all of the vitamins that your baby needs - with the possible exception of Vitamin D. There is a real concern these days that most mothers are not getting enough Vit. D and thus cannot make enough for their babies.

But it's a complicated issue, and intelligent minds differ on the necessity of supplements: your Pediatrician had no reason to guilt trip you about it!!

[@llli*mommal]

Hmm, how did you other 2 kids turn out? I bet they're fine!

My pediatrician does suggest vitamins, but not until the 6 month mark. Last time she asked me about vitamins I told her that I just give my kid a healthy diet and Vitamin D drops- but only in the winter when we're indoors a lot. She said that was fine. So there's obviously a big diversity of opinion on vitamins, and you don't have to take any one pediatrician's word for anything!

[@llli*nsm]

Like pps said it is for the vitamin d. But you can get drops that are just vitamin d and it is just one droplet a day that you drop on your nipple before nursing there are several brands Carlson is the only one I have seen in stores otherwise you have to buy them online. I gave my ds vitamins a few times but I do plan on giving them to my dd especially because it is winter and we don't get outside much. Ds turned out fine though.

[@llli*chicas]

my pedi suggested the same to me, which is funny, since the same pedi did not say anything 2 yrs ago with my other son. i did see the vitamin and they have one for bf babies only...i'm thinking about it

[@llli*maddieb]

Yes the big concern for young babies is the lack of Vitamin D-Vitamin D insuffiency is a SOCIETY WIDE ISSUE and is not only related to breastfed babies. Its important because recent research shows vit D to be monumentally important for lifelong good health throughout the body's systems.

Supplementing with Vit d is relatively new reccomendation from the AAP, 2008 I want to say? Certainly when I had my babies in 2003 and 2006 vitamins were never mentioned, except to tell me to keep taking prenatals.

Basically it is thought that, primarily due to changes in lifestyle, and concerns about skin cancer, we are not out in the sun enough without protective clothing or sunscreen. This leads to moms (probably) being Vit D deficient themselves, during pregnancy and while breastfeeding, and thus baby is as well. The typical adult reccomended dose found, for example, in prenatals, has been shown to be insufficient to increase the amount in breastmilk enough.

If you live in a more northern climate and/or have darker skin, your risk is greater, but studies have shown vitamin D defiiency across climates and ethnicities.

The counterargument is that babies absorb nutrients so readily from breastmilk, breastmilk does not need to contain the dose a supplent does as those are so hard to absorb. Also, some argue that since the best source of vitamin D is through exposure to sunshine, geting babies out in the sun would do the trick, and others argue it is too unsafe to let babies be in the sun enough (due to potential skin damage) to absorb enough vitamin D.

There have been some preliminary studies about giving moms megadoses of vit D and seeing if that raises levels in breastmilk enough, but I believe there has not been enough studies to advance that suggestion.

If you are concerned that bb may need Vit D supplementation, the Vit D only single drops formulations will not likely interfere with breastfeeding and be easy to give bb.