To D or not to D

If the media are to be believed, we're all about to develop rickets from vitamin D difficiency. None more so than (shock horror) breastfed babies. Other high risk groups include those who cover their skin (what, with clothes? Surely not?!)and those who use high factor suncream. Now correct me if I'm wrong, but I failed to spot on any of the media bombardment about slip, slop, slap PROTECT YOUR CHILD FROM SKINCANCER, a footnote warning along the lines of: if you keep your children out of the sun, and use a high factor sunscreen, they won't get sunburn and they're less likely to get skincancer, but their bones will crumble from vitamin D difficiency.

So now there are recommendations for vitamin D supplements. For you, me, every-bloody-body! Quick, go buy some vitamin D before it's too late! Apparently, pregnant and breastfeeding mothers should take 10 micrograms a day BUT NO MORE because, and I quote "use of excessive amounts of vitamin D in nursing mothers may result in hypercalcemia in infants. Doses of vitamin D analogs in excess of 10 micrograms daily should not be administered to nursing women." source: http://www.rxmed.com/b.main/b2.pharmaceutical/b2.1.monographs/CPS-%20Monographs/CPS-%20(General%20Monographs-%20V)/VITAMIN%20D.html

Conveniently, the mega expensive pregnancy/breastfeeding pills contain this exact amount (10mcg) along with a whole load of stuff I'm sure you don't really need. Strangely, I can't find 10mcg of vitamin D by itself for sale in the shops (it is available online though); the closest I've found is 12.5mcg tablets from Boots, which say on the pack "take two a day." 25 micrograms...more than double the safe amount for pregnant/breastfeeding women. Now, we know I'm a worrier. I read medical journals for fun. I triple check the ingredients in things to make sure the RDAs are right. So I know that I shouldn't take 25 mcg of vitamin D. But what about the non-worriers out there? The mums who've seen all this hooha, gone into a chemist, bought some vitamin D supplements and started chugging them down 2 a day because that's what it says on the pack? It doesn't say anything about "if you're pregnant or breastfeeding, check with your pharmacist/doctor." All this media frenzy should be MORE SPECIFIC!

And then we get to the little people. The eldest takes a general multivitamin, so he's covered, but for littlest, where do I get extra vitamin D in a form he can take? Oh joy, my only option is another multivitamin; the pharmacist in Boots checked their policy, and they recommend Abidec. But further research shows that the type of vitamin D in this supplement, D2, isn't as useful as D3, and a paper in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2006 made a case for removing D2 as a vitamin supplement altogether! Source: http://www.ajcn.org/content/84/4/694.long

Clearly what I REALLY need is a yummy, safe dose of all of his nutritional needs in one milky serving...and would you believe it, Cow and Gate, who are behind the Feeding for Life group funding this research and making a lot of this noise, actually make such a product! Why didn't they say?! I could have saved myself so much trouble...
What I'll actually do, is continue to get outside in the sunshine; continue to eat salmon, a serving of which is practically your entire day's requirement, and find a supplement for the youngest with D3 in it. Because as much as Cow and Gate might be expecting it, I refuse to join in with their Formula Milk Has All the Answers campaign.

**ADDITIONAL INFO**

Further reading would suggest that 400 IU (10 mcg) of vitamin D3 is now the safest bet for breastfed babies. I've gone for Natural Factor D3 drops for Kids 400IU, which are made from organic olive oil, and you only need 1 drop a day; easy to pop onto a clean finger/nipple for a baby to suck! They're made by a Canadian company, but you can buy them here or from Amazon (using the app - not through the website for some reason!!)