yummy supplement?

[addysmom]

Is there a infant supplement with specifically Vit B12 and Vit D that doesn't taste nasty. My poor little Addy scrunches up her little face ever time I give her her vitamins and I tasted it, it is pretty gross.

[Erin Pavlina]

How old is Addy? What are you giving her now? is it a liquid?

[addysmom]

She is 5 months and it was suggested (by our health store) to give her Twin Lab infant supplements (not sure if they're vegan, they are the only ones I found, actually). I figure it's more important to give her the vitamins than to worry if they were vegan and not give them to her.

i thought about mixing it with a veggie, but so far she is exclusively breastfed, so if I can get something that isn't gross, I don't have to give her any veggies yet.

yes, they are liquid

[Erin Pavlina]

This is sort of a gray area in the nutritional community, but I believe that your baby will get enough B12 from your breastmilk as long as you're sure you're getting enough B12.

I mean, let's think about this for a second... How come omni babies don't need a B12 supplement? They're getting it from their mommas. Why wouldn't vegan babies?

I never gave Emily a B12 supplement when she was breastfeeding. I would look into the possibility of discontinuing the supplement and just pumping yourself up with plenty of B12, daily!!

What does everyone else think? Did you ladies supplement your infants while you were breastfeeding?

[soon2bveg]

As quoted from La Leche Leagues Breastfeeding Answer Book, p.606:
"In one reported case (Kuhne 1991), the breastfeeding baby of a mother who cosumed no animal products developed a severe vitamin B12 deficiency... The mother showed no signs of a vitamin B12 deficiency... Two studies found lower concentrations of vitamin B12 in the milk or other signs of a vitamin B12 deficiency in mothers on a macrobiotic diet (Specker 1994; Dagnelie 1992)"

JoAnn Farb talks about what she learned about B12 in her book Compassionat Souls. She mentions that even though we can store B12, it may not be available to a fetus and it may not be enough to meet the demands of pregnancy (and I would say that nursing during the first year puts similar demands on your body.) She also notes that a B12 supplement in vitamin form might not be as absorbable. So, I would say, you might only be absorbing enough for you. She suggests a more absorbable form is using a spray or lozenge. The direct quote, "If a nursing mother's diet contains sufficient B12, then her baby will get it from her milk. The easiest thing to do is include a sublingual b12 supplement (methlcobalamin is best) every other day..." The information in her book is based on conversations with Dr. Klaper.

So, maybe the conservative route to take is to have baby's B12 checked if you have a sympathetic Dr. and be sure it's coming through your milk and if not, boost both of your intake until you can confirm it's sticking. Sound reasonable?
Best of luck! -Carla