Vitamins for Infants (D, Iron, Fluoride and more)

Vitamin D: Current CDC recommendations are for all infants to receive 400 IU of vitamin D unless they are consistently drinking at least 32 oz of formula per day. Vitamin D is not technically a vitamin by strict definition, it’s a hormone that our bodies can make with sufficient daily direct sunlight exposure on bare skin. However, we should protect ourselves (and especially our babies) from direct sunlight to prevent burns and increased risk of skin cancer. Especially at northern latitudes, where during winter months insufficient UVB light necessary for vitamin D activation reaches the earth, and especially for dark-skinned infants who have higher levels of melanin to block UV light absorption, vitamin D supplements are required to ensure healthy bone and teeth formation. Read this downloadable info sheet from the National Institutes of Health for more specifics on vitamin D, with upper tolerable limits for all ages.

Several products are available:

  • Tri-Vi-Sol (includes vit A, D, C, artificial flavors and color agents) – Safeway or Walmart
  • Just D (only vit D, no flavor or color agents) – Cactus Flats
  • D-Drops (concentrated drop, you can put on your nipple just as you latch baby) – online (Amazon etc..)

Some babies don’t like the taste of the vitamin drops and spit them out. You can try any of the options above; sometimes one brand works better than another. If your baby spits it up, don’t give a second dose, just try again the next day. If you are already giving your baby occasional bottles of pumped milk at least daily, it might work to “hide” the taste by adding the vitamin drop to a bottle (only once per day). Use a smaller amount of milk in the bottle with vitamin D added to ensure your baby takes the full dose.

Some mothers ask us if there is a certain dosage of vitamin D THEY can take in order for it to transfer enough vitamin D to their baby through their breast milk. A good study (randomized, controlled) by Dr. Bruce Hollis, published by the AAP in 2015, suggests that 6400 IU daily of vitamin D taken by a lactating mother  (NOT the baby) is sufficient for providing her baby adequate vitamin D. Keep in mind this assumes you are exclusively breastfeeding (baby has to be getting enough volume of breastmilk to take enough vitamin D), and the upper tolerated level set by the Institute of Medicine is 4,000 IU per day for adults. Whether you decide to take 6400 IU of vitamin D yourself OR you choose to give 400 IU directly to your infant, it is important to be consistent with taking it daily.

No other vitamin supplements are necessary for full term, healthy exclusively breast fed and formula fed babies in the first 6 months of life.

Fluoride: Starting around 6 months, families may consider a fluoride supplement if they live in a household with non-fluoridated water. The AAP fluoride recommendations are: if your water has less than 3 ppm (3 mg/L) of fluoride, consider fluoride supplementation until recommended otherwise by your dentist or PCP. Even before your baby’s teeth erupt, they are forming, and fluoride is essential for optimal tooth development. This includes exclusively breastfed infants, combination-fed infants regardless of water source, formula fed infants living in households with non-fluoridated water or drinking ready-to-feed formula, and formula fed infants living in fluoridated households but using bottled water to mix powdered formula.

Kodiak Fluoridation as of January 2022:

    • USCG Base housing (base, aviation hill and lake louise) water supply DOES have fluoride (7 ppm).
    • City of Kodiak water supply DOES NOT have fluoride.
    • Kodiak Island villages (outside city limits) and anyone on a private well DO NOT have fluoride.

Iron: Exclusively breastfed infants need additional sources of iron between 6-9 months. Iron is usually not an issue for completely formula fed infants.

  • any kind of meat (ground finely or blended to match baby’s chewing ability) 
  • liver paté (not more than 1x/week), re-fried beans 
  • iron-fortified infant cereal (avoid too much rice cereal), mix with vit C or 100% fruit juice 
  • variety is more important than any one iron-rich food overall 

Other vitamins: Read our post on iron, and read here for further information about other vitamins or special situations we are often asked about. Please contact us with any questions!

DISCLAIMER: We know when you surf the web for information, you can get conflicting results, and it’s not easy to know whether you are finding evidence-based, high quality recommendations. That’s part of our job here at Kodiak KINDNESS; we are here to support your informed decisions about infant feeding through your baby’s first year. We’ve done some background work, and to the best of our knowledge, this post reflects current best practices. However, the information contained in this post and any links contained herein is for your informational use only; it is not a substitute for professional advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Furthermore, Kodiak KINDNESS is not responsible for the accuracy of any information contained in this post or links contained herein; it is for you to review at your own risk and discuss, as needed, with your health care professional in order to make a plan that suits your individual circumstances. 

 

< Back to Tips & Tools

Share This