Advertisements, family members and even health professionals often urge mothers to add “something” to baby’s perfect diet of mother’s milk. According to the our comprehensive guidebook, THE WOMANLY ART OF BREASTFEEDING, if a breastfeeding mother is getting an adequate supply of vitamins in her diet, her milk will contain adequate nutrients in the perfect balance for her baby. If your baby is healthy and doing well, there is no need for vitamins, iron, or other supplements in the early months. Furthermore, many mothers have found that vitamin or fluoride supplements may cause fussiness or colic in their infants. By treating each mother and baby as a unique pair, unnecessary supplementation can often be avoided.

Concerns are sometimes raised about the breastfed baby’s need for these specific nutrients:

Vitamin D

Exclusively breastfed healthy, full-term infants from birth to six months who have adequate exposure to sunlight are not at risk for developing vitamin D deficiency or rickets. Rickets occurs because of a deficiency in sunlight exposure, not because of a deficiency in human milk.

La Leche League International’s THE BREASTFEEDING ANSWER BOOK, 3rd Edition, lists the following risk factors for vitamin D deficiency:

  • Dark skin
  • Consistent coverage of skin with clothing or sunscreen when outdoors
  • Live in areas where there is little sunlight for parts of the year or do not go outdoors
  • Live in areas of heavy air pollution, which blocks sunlight
  • Mother is vitamin D deficient

Other risk factors include:

  • increased birth order
  • exposure to lead
  • the replacement of human milk with foods low in calcium or foods that reduce calcium absorption

For more information:
Sunlight Deficiency: Helping Breastfeeding Mothers Find the Facts, LEAVEN August-September 2003

Sunlight Deficiency, Vitamin D, and Breastfeeding, LEAVEN June-July 2003

SUNLIGHT DEFICIENCY AND BREASTFEEDING, BREASTFEEDING ABSTRACTS November 2002

Iron

According to THE BREASTFEEDING ANSWER BOOK, published by LLLI, the iron in human milk is better absorbed by your baby than is the iron in cow’s milk or iron-fortified formula and cereals. This means that the quantity of iron in human milk is appropriate for baby instead of the larger quantity in cow’s milk. The full-term healthy baby usually has no need of additional iron until about the middle of his first year, around the time he starts taking solids. The high lactose ad vitamin C levels in human milk aid the absorption of iron, and breastfed babies do not lose iron through their bowels.

If there is concern about the baby’s iron levels, a simple hemoglobin test can be done in the doctor’s office. If necessary, it is easy to offer the baby foods which are naturally rich in iron. However, iron drops and iron-fortified foods sometimes cause digestive upsets when given to babies and can actually reduce the efficiency of iron absorption.

Women are often advised to continue to take prenatal vitamins as long as they are breastfeeding and these vitamins often include a large dose of iron. The iron levels in a mother’s milk are not affected by the amount of iron in her diet or by iron supplements she may take.

Fluoride

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommended in its 1997 policy statement that babies younger than six months should NOT receive fluoride supplements and that babies older than six months receive supplements only if they live in an area where the drinking water contains less than 0.3 ppm of fluoride. Fluoride supplements tend to contribute to excess intestinal gas (wind).

Vitamin B12

Vitamin B12 supplements are strongly recommended for mothers who adhere to vegetarian diets that include no animal products, such as vegan and macrobiotic diets. Such diets can lead to a vitamin B12 deficiency in mother and/or baby because this vitamin is primarily available from animal protein. Symptoms of Vitamin B12 deficiency may include loss of appetite, regression in motor development, lethargy, muscle atrophy, vomiting, blood abnormalities and neurological problems. If caught early enough, treatment with vitamin supplements can completely resolve these symptoms.

La Lehce League International Website. These Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) [from LLLI] have been written by accredited La Leche League Leaders and reviewed by our Professional Liaison Department staff.