When do We Supplement Vitamin D for our Infants and Kids?

Today most Americans spend their time indoors, especially in the winter months. This includes children as well, so how much milk does a kid have to drink to get 400 IU a day? Are you ready for this? A whole quart! So if you’ve got a kid that doesn’t like milk, or you’re purposely avoiding it for health reasons, there are other dietary forms of D like eggs and fish that can also be implemented as part of a natural way to expose our kids to more D in their diet when they are not getting adequate exposure to the sun. Very simply, a teaspoon of cod liver oil provides about 400 IU of D. I also learned that not all fish oils are equal, and so you must read the labels on your supplement bottles to see which ones have adequate D (some are nominal). As far as D in eggs, you’d have to eat about eight egg yolks a day to get a 400 IU intake. And if your family likes fish, eating salmon, tuna, and mackerel will provide the most D, but for omega 3 intake be sure they are wild caught and not farm raised (which is higher in omega 6s).

Now as far as toxicity levels go, you may want to check out Dr. Mercola’s Vitamin D quiz. I think you may be surprised to learn that typical supplemental levels just aren’t as dangerous as medical science has lead us to believe over the years. Another great source, if you’ve got the time, is Dr. Michael Holick’s video slide show from the European Symposium on Calcification of Tissues entitled, “The Vitamin D Pandemic and its Health Consequences.” This is a humorous and informative presentation that will also surprise you. And his research spans the globe. Dr. Holick links vitamin D deficiency to not only rickets, but to diseases like M.S., Rheumatoid Arthritis, Cancer, and Coronary Heart Disease.

Infants of breastfeeding mothers, on the other hand, may need vitamin D supplements. This is something I was never made aware of during my nursing days which seemed to last almost 5 straight years between all three of my boys. During this entire time I never considered the issue. After my oldest son’s diagnosis of Celiac last year, I ran across an interesting article by Roy Jamron. He begs the question,

“Do vitamin D deficiency, gut bacteria, and timing of gluten introduction during infancy all combine to initiate the onset of celiac disease?”

after two recent studies raise the potential that this may be true [6]. This may in fact be the very reason we saw our son’s health rapidly decline into a neurological disorder at age 3 1/2. He was born jaundiced in the month of January, was exclusively breastfed for six months, extended breastfed up to one year, and was introduced to gluten just prior to six months of age. I dutifully lathered him with sunscreen and kept him in the shade because conventional wisdom tells us that a baby’s skin is most delicate between birth and 2 and direct sunlight is dangerous. His toddler diet consisted of many glutenous snacks, actually, and he suffered from bouts of croup and ear infections in his early days often enough to require antibiotics nearly a handful of times before he was three.

Jamron says: “Vitamin D has recently been demonstrated to play a role in preserving the intestinal mucosal barrier. A Swedish study found children born in the summer, likely introduced to gluten during winter months with minimal sunlight, have a higher incidence of celiac disease strongly suggesting a relationship to vitamin D deficiency.[3] Recent studies found vitamin D supplementation in infancy and living in world regions with high ultraviolet B irradiance both result in a lower incidence of type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disease closely linked to celiac disease.”

Well, I’m quite comfortable now, after looking a bit further into the vitamin D issue. We eat plenty of eggs in our house these days, and the kids take cod liver oil daily. They get plenty of sunlight, and since I no longer use sunscreen on them I’m confident their little bodies are D making factories as a result. We also do use vitamin D fortified goat milk in our diets, and they do take multivitamins, so I am confident that our boys are getting enough D without an additional supplement.

Myself, on the other hand, I think I may try taking some D this winter. I don’t get direct sunlight often as I should, and if the experts are right, I can safely take up to 2000 IU a day in the winter if I’m a person that doesn’t get much sun year around.

1. Dotinga, Randy. “Vitamin C Megadoses Hamper Cancer Treatments in Mice.” Washington Post. October 1, 2008.
2. Somers, Suzanne. Breakthrough: Eight Steps to Wellness. Crown Publishers: New York. 2008 (p. 93).
3. Steenhuysen, Julie. “Pediatricians say double vitamin D dose.” Reuters. Oct 13, 2008.
4. “Vitamin D research may have doctors prescribing sunshine.” Associated Press. USA Today. May 21, 2005.
5. Shute, Nancy. “How much Sun does it take to Make Vitamin D?” U.S. News. October 17, 2008.
6. Jamron, Roy. “Do Vitamin D Deficiency, Gut Bacteria, and Gluten Combine in Infancy to Cause Celiac Disease?” Celiac.com. June 16, 2008.