Research Shows Bottle-Fed Babies Get Adequate Vitamin Amounts
The old school of thought was that breast-fed babies were getting all the vitamins and nutrients they needed. Now, the nation's leading group of pediatricians, the American Academy of Pediatrics, is recommending that breast-fed babies receive vitamin D supplements to prevent rickets and vitamin D deficiencies.
"Breast milk contains very little vitamin D," said Dr. Lindsey Grossman, who is the medical director of the Pediatric Ambulatory Center at the University of Maryland Children's Hospital. "Bottle-fed babies should be getting an adequate amount of the vitamin since formula is often fortified with vitamin D."
This recommendation comes at a time when rickets is on the rise. The bone-softening disease is linked with a limited intake of vitamin D. It can cause bowed legs, soft skulls and can even delay walking and crawling in babies, according to health experts.
Sunlight is also a source of vitamin D, but with the increased awareness about the dangers of ultraviolet rays, many more people are using sunscreen, which prevents the body from making the vitamin.
Vitamin D can easily be given to infants as drops. Pharmacies typically carry vitamin D as an over-the-counter vitamin combined with vitamins A and C as well. The recommendation is that infants, beginning in the first two months of life, should get 200 IU of vitamin D each day.
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