Babies fed with breast milk receive all the necessary nutritional contributions to grow and develop without external aid until 6 months, as it contains the most appropriate components for this. Nature is the best of the wise.
Vitamin D or "vitamin of the sun" is one of the essential nutrients for proper growth and child development, since it favors the incorporation into the body of calcium and phosphorus and contribute to building our bone mass. Therefore, in the smallest it is necessary to prevent diseases such as rickets and other bone abnormalities.
Our body naturally synthesizes vitamin D when we take sunbaths. However, given our current pace of life and the dangers of sun exposure, especially in babies, it is increasingly common for pediatricians to recommend a vitamin D supplement for babies, that both breast milk and formulas do not provide enough if the baby is not exposed to the sun.
The vitamin D supplement usually comes in the form of a liquid solution, taken orally, and must be prescribed by the pediatrician, who will indicate the drops that the baby needs each day, usually from the second month of life.
The mother can increase the content of vitamin D in breast milk by eating foods rich in this component.
Although a brief exposure in the sun it would be enough to synthesize the necessary vitamin D, it is necessary to know that the filter of a high-factor sunscreen prevents such synthesis, so if the baby walks in the sun with protection he will not receive those benefits.
Therefore, we must inform ourselves, consult the pediatrician and assess the need for this supplement.
In my case, although at the beginning it was somewhat reluctant to give this supplement to my baby, after informing me I saw no problem in giving a couple of drops a day of the vitamin, a fact that of course does not imply any impediment to continue breastfeeding. In fact, the decisive factor that prompted me to give this supplement is that I was much more reluctant to expose my newborn baby to the sun without protection. It is convenient to remember the necessary precautions for sunbathing.
