Should I give my son vitamins?

Dana - posted on 03/01/2010

HI i went through this dilemma as well... I thought i was giving my baby the best natural feed ever, with no preservatives and so on... My Dr said breastmilk lacks vit D... so he wanted me to start my baby boy on vitD drops.. he said formula fed don't need it they have it in their milk... i was about to give him when my husband searched the net on pediavit D drops and found many furious parents angry that it contains preservatives that are very much questionable to being carcinogenic... BHT in particular... so i just skipped it and decided to expose him to sun rays whenever i could... be careful, from behind glass it doesn't work as he needs UVB which is filtered by glass... so it may be impractical if you live in a cold area. HOWEVER he said stop all vitamins once solids start... anyways i was on none.

Deanna - posted on 02/26/2010

You want to give Vitamin D. There is a suprising number of people who are deficient in it. Also at this age they should be getting Flouride enriched Vitamins.

Alicia - posted on 02/26/2010

my doctor gave my son vitamin d drops until he started baby food then he said he no longer needed them

Amber - posted on 02/24/2010

I tried to give my daughter the Enfamil Tri-Vi-Sol vitamins and she did not take her bottle at all! That stuff smells horrible I didn't blame her but you can try if you feel your baby needs it. I use formula and my pediatrician told my to give her viamins and she's in the 97 percentile and is healthy. I think doctors want to be safe. The nurse said babies will rarely take the vitamins because they do taste gross even when mixed with food or formula. good luck!

Emily - posted on 02/24/2010

Typically breastfed babies do not need extra vitamins. You are right that your baby gets all he needs from your breastmilk as it is the perfect food! Sometimes breastfed babies need Vitamin D supplementation if you live in an area that gets little sun. But all you really have to do is expose your baby to a little sunlight a day in order to get the vitamin D.



The other supplementation they sometimes need is iron. But it is still very rare for a breastfed baby to need iron supplementation. There is very little iron in breastmilk; however, the iron that is present is in a form that is super absorbed by baby's body. Which is why it's still rare for a breastfed baby to need extra iron. Plus, if baby is on solid foods, he will get iron from those foods.



Personally I wouldn't give the vitamins. I never used extra vitamins with my first child and he was perfectly healthy. I am using them with my 5-month-old now, but only because she was premature. If she was full-term I would not be using them.

Beth - posted on 02/24/2010

Be careful with the iron fortified cereal. My daughter started the vitamins and we had her on iron fortified cereal and then started having belly aches and was constipated. I swapped her cereal to regular cereal and she was fine. She was getting too much iron! So, just be careful and mindful. :)

Jenny - posted on 02/24/2010

My pediatrician recommended Tri-Vi-Sol with iron since babies need iron and they don't get enough from breast milk or veggies (fruits). He also suggested to give him iron fortified cereal (rice or oatmeal). Nothing about other vitamins. My son is 6 months and he's doing great.
Hope this helps

Beth - posted on 02/22/2010

My pediatrician has me taking my prenatal vitamins still and I give my daughter Tri-Vi-Sol vitamins. It’s made by Enfamil I believe. Her reasoning is that it’s good for everyone to take vitamins. When you are breastfeeding your baby only gets a little bit of what you take in, so the vitamins I give her directly are a consistent source for her. I hope that helps! :)

Candace - posted on 02/22/2010

The only vitamin I've heard that breast fed babies should have is Vit D because babies don't get it from breast milk and it is important for them especially in the winter months when they are not in the sun a lot. I never gave it to my son personally, but you could ask telehealth about it?? I took vit D supplements, Omega 3 and calcium and prenatal vitamins while breastfeeding hoping baby would get some too. Some doctors don't keep up with the times and can be very misleading and say things that aren't always true. Like when my son started to eat baby food, he was drinking less formula obviously, the doctor said he needed more formula, and to cut back on the food. When I said. "isn't he getting vitamins from the food? She really didn't know what to say! Sometimes they just like to have an opinion!