Baby Vitamin D

Baby vitamin D is one of the most important vitamins for babies

Vitamin D is used in the body to, among many other things, absorb calcium and build bones. It is also said to prevent diabetes later in life and many other diseases like cancer and artery disease. Most commonly lack of vitamin d cause rickets. 

More general information about vitamin D can be found on Wikipedia’s homepage.

Baby vitamin D is absorbed in high quality but small amounts from the breast milk of the mother and produced from the skin in sunlight. The amount of vitamin d from breast milk is determined by the mothers own volumes of vitamin D, so it is very important for mothers to have sufficient quantities of vitamin D. 

This is even more important if the child spends most of its time indoors and have to have much clothing outside. It is important to let the child get out in the sun at least some periods of time during the day, so it can buil its supply of vitamin D. It is also important that the skin is exposed to the sun, in other cases it’s not possible for the baby´s body to produce vitamin D.

Vitamin D exists in some foods, but it can only be created from sunlight. Food that contains vitamin D has either produced it itself with sunlight exposure or the organism has eaten vitamin D rich food itself.

Vitamin D has become a problem trough the cultural changes under the last centuries. With less time spent outside and more clothing, we have reduced the general sun exposure, especially in the northern latitudes. This is why it’s been more and more common that doctors recommend baby drops to children to prevent rickets and other problems that comes from lack of vitamin D

Some of the most common alternative sources for vitamin D are, 

- Vitamin D fortified milk 

- Cheddar cheese 

- Tuna 

- Salmon 

The human body is primary designed to produce its own vitamin D from sunlight, so trying to find alternative sources should be the last solution. 

It is usual that doctors include vitamin D drops for babies if it show signs of rickets or other vitamin D related affections. And many babies in the northen latitudes get vitamin D drops to make sure that they always have good values of vitamin D in the body. This is because northen latitudes often have very few hours of sun per day some parts of the year, and often need more clothing.

The time the babyneeds to be exposed to the sun to create sufficient amounts of baby vitamin D depends on several things; among the most important is the general pollution, the weather and the skin color of the mother and baby. The easiest way to make sure that you baby gets enough vitamin d is to consult your doctor.