A new study shows that breastfed babies don’t get enough Vitamin D. The facilitators of the study believe this is related to two factors: that pediatricians aren’t encouraging awareness and mothers inaccurately believe that breast milk provides everything babies need. Vitamin D has definitely become a recent medical emphasis if not obsession. It seems like almost every condition from osteoporosis to depression can be traced back to low Vitamin D levels. I don’t necessarily think that these details are incorrect. My husband suffered from low Vitamin D levels for probably close to decade, but no one thought to have him tested into a couple of years. His levels were scarily low. Apparently this is becoming more common among Americans due to lack of sun-exposure and lack of enriched dairy intake. If you don’t drink milk or eat enriched yogurt (sometimes soy produces are also enriched, but not always), take a multi-vitamin with high enough levels or spend more time outside, your levels are likely to be low. Apparently, Vitamin D is not passed to a baby through the breast milk. But at the same time, pediatricians are careful to tell moms to keep babies under 6 months out of the sun and then to always use sun screen. The only solution that remains is supplements. But as a mom I’m not sure I think this is the best solution.
The reason I don’t think we saw much of an issue with Vitamin D levels in the past is that people were outside more. People worked outside and played outside, especially children. I remember coming home from school and on the nice day wanting to go right out to swing in the backyard or make pretend pies under the plum tree. But most children today don’t get enough outdoor play. Researchers want to encourage more outdoor play and exercise for the sake of quelling childhood obesity, but no one will address it regarding Vitamin D. Researchers and pediatricians put parents in an awkward position, Vitamin D is good, but sun is bad.
I understand the risks of both low Vitamin D and early sun exposure. Neither is good. My parents were big proponents of sunscreen for extended periods of direct sun, but not every day and for every possible situation where we might be in the sun. But I still don’t believe supplements to be the best solution. First of all, the above study also noted, contrary to the title, that formula babies are not exempt from low Vitamin D problems. Most formulas are enriched with Vitamin D, but not enough to keep a child at optimum levels. Even formula fed babies should be taking a supplement, even though most pediatricians only emphasize supplements for breastfed babies. When my pediatrician first suggested a vitamin for my daughter I was irritated. One of the whole points of breastfeeding was make sure that my newborn was getting the most complete and natural food source available. Nasty tasting vitamins from an eye dropper filled with artificial dyes and flavors didn’t exactly fit the bill. But I was a new mom who felt guilty so I bought the vitamins. Wow, were they pricey! Another reason I chose to breastfeed was for financial reasons. But here were little bottles of vitamin supplements only available in one or two very expensive name brands. (I find this insistence ironic given that the new standards won’t allow me to get fluoride vitamins for my daughter, something I strongly support). Plus, my daughter hated them. Every time I tried to give her the supplements, she would spit them everywhere. She got very little of the liquid and most of it managed to stain clothes and walls. Not to mention the fact that I was paying about $3 and ounce for this stuff. Because it was such a hassle I rarely remembered to give her the vitamins. The doctor suggested adding it to her bottle, but as my daughter was almost completely breastfed and rarely took breast milk from a bottle, that wasn’t exactly practical. Once she was 6 months old and began eating some solid foods I tried mixing the vitamins into her food a few times a week. This was a mixed success, but it was workable compromise. Again, being a new mom I felt sufficiently guilty for this and worried that my daughter wasn’t going to get the proper nutrients. But soon I noticed something. Whenever I took my daughter to my parent’s house, my father would take my daughter out in the backyard. He called it her Vitamin D treatments. 10 minutes of being carried around a sunny backyard at non-peak sun hours. She thought it was fun and even at 18 months old whenever we go to my parent’s house she immediately wants Pop-Pop to “Go out” with her, pointing to the back door. I remembered something my husband’s doctor had told him regarding increasing his Vitamin D exposure.
The doctor said my husband should mow the lawn with his shirt off or spend 10 minutes in the bright sun with his bare arms and back exposed a couple times a week. Why couldn’t something similar work for my daughter? I realized that babies had thinner skin and were more sensitive to sun-exposure but was 10 minutes every now and then at non-peak sun times really going to hurt her? I’m sure my dermatologist would have been in horror, but I wonder if my pediatrician would have said the same. When doctors don’t agree on whether sun exposure in moderation is good or bad, it puts parents in the middle, forcing us to make our own judgments. Last summer I slathered my daughter in sunscreen when we went for our afternoon walk. When we went to the beach I bought her an SPF bathing suit that covered practically her whole body. But when we go out in the back yard, just to run around for 10 minutes, I don’t. She wears a hat, if I can get her to keep it on. But I also started feeding her Vitamin D enriched yogurt at 8 months old. She still hates her vitamins, though now the current obsession is making sure she gets enough iron and calcium, and I still hate how expensive they are. I compromise by trying to give her as balanced a diet as I can manage and giving her supplements in her food once or twice a week. Parenting, I’m quickly discovering, is all about compromise.
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