Baby Vitamin C

Baby vitamin C is one of the key vitamins for all humans and babies. Here is some information about this important vitamin. The human body cannot create vitamin c by itself, so it’s very important that you get this vitamin from other sources. One of the best and easiest places to find baby vitamin C is in fruit juices, Which also happens to be very easy to feed your babies with.

It is important to remember that the bode can only absorb small amounts of vitamin C each intake. Oo you have to spread the vitamin C consumption over the day to make sure you get enough. The vitamin C that the body cannot absorb goes out the natural way trough the urine.

So if the baby is low on vitamin C, it’s not sufficient to give it one big dose, the supply in the body has to get built up over a longer period of time with regular intaked of baby vitamin C.

Some effects that low vitamin C has on the body is a weaker immune system, less effective intake of iron, small bleedings in the gum, general weakness and fatigue. So it is very important that vitamin C is included in the baby´s diet. This is even more ciritical when the baby start to consume solid food.

Vitamin C is also a very unstable vitamin. Most vitamin C in the food is destroyed quickly when exposed to light, heat or both. That makes it very important to keep fruits in cold and dark places to keep vitamin C value high.
An orange slice loses half of its quantity of vitamin C in only 30 minutes if it’s exposed to light in room temperature. It can often take long time for the baby to consume food, so it’s often a good idea to give it only small quantites vitamin C rich food at each time, and keep the rest in the refrigerator.

Recommended daily allowance of vitamin C for baby according to Linus Pauling institute is  

Birth to 6 moths: 40 mg/day

6 to 12 moths: 50 mg/day

1 to 3 years: 15mg/day

The recommended dose of vitamin C is about 50% higher for smokers, this is not a concern for babies, as they rarely smoke. But there have been theories that babies from smokers also should increase the dose of baby vitamin C. This has not been verified, and you should not give your baby a higher dose than the recommended without speaking with your doctor. Remember, each baby is individual and has its own needs. 

There are also several good articles regarding the amount of vitamin C that you should take during pregnancy. Here is one article about baby vitamin C  and what it does for you during pregnancy. Its recomended for most mothers to increase their intake of vitamin C during pregnancy. Remember however, to always ask your own professional doctor before making any changes in your diet.