specific vitamins for newborns

[Teejay]

I keep reading in vegan nutrition texts that vegan babies should be supplemented with B12 & especially Vitamin D.

I assume these must come in liquid form as I don't know how else a baby could take them.

Does anyone know where you can get a vegan form of these?

I get my prenatals and DHA from Vegan Essentials -- but this is yet another thing to think about...!

[5xblessed]

If you are going to breastfeed and you have adequte intakes of these vitamins I see absolutely no reason to supplement a baby. When she/he is eating mostly table food and just nursing occasionally (between 12 and 18 mo?) I begin a vitamin. If you are really concerned I would look at the La Leche League site. They have wonderful information available. My MD did once suggest vitamin D supplements based on a small study done in North Carolina showing some dark skinned babies who never went outside didn't have enough vitamin D. When I pressed him he said 30 minutes of sunshine a WEEK on arms and face would supply a baby's vitamin D needs. We just made it a point to take a walk or play outside.

[Teejay]

Thanks for that advice. In the meantime I did stumble across the La Leche league site & you are right, it is very useful.

Also I checked the UK Vegan Society site & it does seem that as long as I get a good intake of these, it shouldn't be a problem. (Apparently your stores of B12 are no good for the baby as they don't come through the breastmilk, but if you have daily intake it does.)

It was in the book Becoming Vegan that I read about giving the baby a supplement -- from the second week of life they said! -- and I had seen similar things elsewhere. But as my partner pointed out, if it couldn't be absorbed through breastmilk, then the problem would be exactly the same for non-vegan mothers & babies...

I guess I'm just at the worrying stage, with only 7 weeks to go!

Also it's just as well if we don't need them, because I can't find a vegan liquid infant vitamin anywhere on the net or in stores. They all seem to have fish-derivatives on them. You can get vegan vitamins for older children, but I don't know about for babies.

[Elin]

A friend of mine spoke to a swedish nutrition nurse (maybe not the right term, but you know what i mean... :) ) and he adviced them to give their child supplement by crushing a pill and mix it with breast milk (if the child is younger than 6 months) and later fruit purée. I guess that you need special quantity advice for each supplement brand, but the pill-crushing idea should work no matter which brand it is.

Something about vitamin D and supplements. If you live in the north you need supplement. In Sweden all babies, children and presumably even adults need vitamin D-supplement during october-april.

[Teejay]

I thought that if you get adequate exposure to sunlight the Vit D should be all right (before I read all the things in books).

Of course in very northern countries it could be hard to get any sunlight at all in the winter. But here in mid-Ohio we get quite a lot of sun even in the snow.

Also I will be continuing to take a multivitamin myself.