Breastfeeding and the Use of Human Milk
Text extracted from the PDF
Vitamin D de?ciency/insuf?ciency and rickets has increased in all infants as a result of decreased sunlight expo-
sure secondary to changes in lifestyle, dress habits, and use of topical sun-screen preparations.
To maintain an adequate serum vitamin D concentration, all breastfed infants routinely should receive an oral
supplement of vitamin D, 400 U per day, beginning at hospital discharge. 133
PDF attached at bottom of this page
See also Vitamin D Life
- Overview Moms and vitamin D
- Intervention of 400 IU of vitamin D raised infant blood levels 14 ng – Jan 2012
- Recommend 100 IU of vitamin D per kg of infant weight in Poland – July 2011
- 400 IU vitamin D daily was enough for most infants – Jan 2011
- Infants getting 1400 IU vitamin D weekly grew better – May 2011
- Only about 10 % of breastfed infants get even the minimum recommended vitamin D – April 2010
- A Finland study tried 2,000 IU dose for CHILDREN (10,000 children!)
They reported a significant decrease in type I diabetes decades later - NO toxicity, hypercalification, etc. etc.! - More Calcium absorbed from formula than breast milk, lacking vitamin D – Aug 2012
There are several ways to increase Calcium absorption (all increase the vitamin D)
- Use formula which is fortified (infant milk is fortified in many, but not all countries)
- Supplement mom with > 5,000 IU of vitamin D
- Supplement infant with > 400 IU of vitamin D
- Make sure the infant gets lots of sunshine (hard to do if far from equator, dark skin, etc)
See also web
- Impact of Vitamin D Supplementation during Lactation on Vitamin D Status and Body Composition of Mother-Infant Pairs: A MAVID Randomized Controlled Trial Sept 2014
tried both 400 and 1200 IU, neither provided any vitamin D in breast milk. Full text on-line