Vitamin D : Essential for your baby

You are pregnant and your baby is expected to arrive in a few months? Preparing the nursery, buying the first clothes, the stroller, the crib, diapers, the first toys, and thinking about your baby’s nutrition—are these things on your mind? That’s completely normal! But how many of us plan to give our baby a vitamin D supplement from birth?

Yet giving a vitamin D supplement is essential and recommended for all children starting from the very first day. Although vitamin D is found in several foods and can be produced through exposure to sunlight, recent studies estimate that up to 24% of children are deficient. In particular, breastfed babies are considered the most at risk. Indeed, even though breast milk is the best nutrition for your child, breastfeeding mothers have very high vitamin D requirements, and the vast majority of mothers do not get enough. As a result, breast milk does not contain sufficient vitamin D.

Other factors also increase the risk of deficiency. Pediatricians rightly recommend not exposing babies directly to the sun and applying sunscreen starting at 6 months of age. This therefore reduces the chances of producing vitamin D naturally and in sufficient quantities. In addition, our long winters expose us to much higher risks since sun exposure is greatly reduced for a large part of the year.

What are the consequences of a lack of vitamin D?

A vitamin D deficiency can have serious short- and long-term consequences for a child’s development. Vitamin D is not only useful for the immune system and the development of bones and teeth, but it also plays an essential role in metabolism. A lack of vitamin D can cause dental deformities, more frequent cavities, growth delays, more frequent infections, a higher risk of autoimmune diseases, general developmental delays, and even a higher occurrence of diabetes in children.

Because the signs of deficiency are difficult to detect in babies, it is best to act preventively and provide a daily vitamin D supplement. Health Canada recommends that all full-term, healthy infants receive a supplement of 400 IU of vitamin D per day.

Among the supplements available, the Land Art brand is the only one to offer a liquid vitamin D3 for babies made in Canada that is certified organic. Available in the best natural health stores and online, this outstanding Quebec product contains 490 doses, and only one drop per day is needed! Flavorless and preservative-free, this vitamin D can be taken directly on the tongue, on the mother’s breast, or even mixed into baby’s food. Its affordable price, unique organic certification, and practical dropper make Land Art’s certified organic vitamin D3 for babies the ideal product.

For more information about the different vitamin D3 products offered by Land Art, visit our web page dedicated to these vitamins.

By Nicolas Martineau, B.Sc. Nutrition

Reference:

https://cps.ca/documents/position/vitamin-dhttps://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20229973/

https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/infant-and-toddler-health/expert-answers/vitamin-d-for-babies/faq-20058161#:~:text=Your%20baby%20needs%20vitamin%20D,to%20prevent%20vitamin%20D%20deficiency.

https://health.clevelandclinic.org/do-babies-really-need-vitamin-d-supplements/#:~:text=Infant%20formula%20contains%20vitamin%20D,is%20different%20in%20every%20baby.

https://www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding/breastfeeding-special-circumstances/diet-and-micronutrients/vitamin-d.html

https://www.canada.ca/fr/sante-canada/services/aliments-nutrition/saine-alimentation/apports-nutritionnels-reference/tableaux/valeurs-reference-relatives-vitamines-tableaux-apports-nutritionnels-reference-2005.html

https://www.canada.ca/fr/sante-canada/services/aliments-nutrition/saine-alimentation/vitamines-mineraux/vitamine-calcium-revision-apports-nutritionnels-reference.html#a15