What Parents Need to Know about Vitamin Supplements for Infants

As a new parent, you are undoubtedly full of questions about how to care for your baby. From sleeping to eating, your baby’s needs are changing daily, and it can be challenging to figure out exactly what they need, when they need it. One of the most common questions concerns vitamin supplements for infants. Do they need them? And, if so, what type is best, and how often should they be given?

Both formula-fed and breast-fed babies require a wide range of vitamins and minerals. And, it can be challenging to ensure that they are receiving adequate amounts – particularly when they are not yet consuming solid foods.

The following provides some guidelines on vitamin supplements for infants, and when it might be necessary to give your baby a formula designed specifically for infants.

Vitamin D
While the body does make its own vitamin D with exposure to sunlight, infants and toddlers who are kept out of the sun and who are using sunscreen could be at risk of Vitamin D deficiency. Because almost all infant formulas contain vitamin D, most formula-fed babies do not need additional supplementation. However, babies who are exclusively breast fed may require vitamin D drops to receive their daily requirement. Many of the best infant vitamins, such as Animal Parade Baby Plex Sugar-Free Liquid Drops, will contain vitamin D to ensure that this nutritional requirement is being met.

Iron 
Iron is necessary for both growth and development in infants and toddlers. Breast milk supplies ample amounts of iron for a baby’s first six months. However, additional iron is required after that and can be consumed in iron-fortified cereals, dark leafy vegetables, and meat. Most formulas are iron-fortified and can be used throughout the first year of life. Thus, it is rarely necessary to provide iron in the form of a supplement for an infant or toddler. Before doing so, it is very important to consult with your child’s pediatrician.

Once Solid Foods Are Introduced
Most babies begin eating some amounts of food at around four to six months. First starting with iron-fortified cereals, and then progressing on to fruits, vegetables, and meats in the form of pureed foods, some babies will develop significant food preferences and aversions that make it necessary to add vitamin supplements for infants.

Infant and toddler nutritional formulas typically contain balanced amounts of:
• Vitamin A
• Vitamin C
• Vitamin D
• Vitamin E
• Thiamin
• Riboflavin
• Niacin
• Vitamin B-6
• Vitamin B-12

The percentage of daily value (DV) should not exceed 150% for one vitamin to prevent a possible overdose. And, it is never a good idea to give an infant, toddler, or young child a vitamin supplement for adults. Vitamin supplements for infants are formulated with amounts that meet the needs of small, but growing bodies.

Could a Kids Multivitamin Help with Your Child’s Weight Management?

The percentage of children with obesity has increased substantially over the last two decades. And, there are some very serious risks for children carrying extra weight. With the rise in childhood obesity, heart attacks and type 2 diabetes have both increased substantially for people under 30. Because of these health risks, some parents are seeking out new ways to help their children improve their health and drop unhealthy extra pounds. This includes adding a kids multivitamin to their children’s daily regime.

How Kids Multivitamins Can Help Fight Obesity
A recent study has shown that the amount of fat cells in an adult body is equal to the amount of fat cells in the body when a person is 18 years of age. This gives new insight into why adults who were obese as children have such difficulty managing their weight later in life. It also makes it clear that helping children control their weight early is essential to having a lifetime of good health.

Forming a Healthy Practice
A daily kids multivitamin helps promote healthy practices. By getting kids to think about nutrition on a daily basis, it can start to form an improved routine that includes diet and exercise.

Bridging the Nutritional Gap
Many obese children who are consuming high numbers of calories each day are actually malnourished. This is because what they are taking in offers little in the way of nutritional value. A kids multivitamin can help provide the vitamins and minerals that are needed to support good health.

Supporting Increased Activity
Increased exercise is most often needed in a comprehensive weight loss plan. With more activity, additional nutrition is required. This can be hard to obtain through just the food children eat. If exercise is increased, kids multivitamins can help support the extra demands placed on the body.

Weight loss is challenging at any age. For children, it can be particularly difficult to treat. With a smart nutrition and exercise plan supported by a well-formulated kids multivitamin, children can have the best chance of overcoming this serious health issue.

Storing Strategies for Kids’ Multi Vitamins

Making it a habit to give your children kids’ multi vitamins can help support their growth and long-term health. Yet, how effective and safe the vitamins are has a lot to do with where you store them. The following guidelines can help you increase the lifespan of kids vitamins and enable you to keep them safely stored.

1. Do not store kids’ multi vitamins in the bathroom or kitchen
The vast majority of us store vitamins in either the bathroom or the kitchen, but these locations are not the best locations because of the variances in heat and the additional moisture that is common to these areas. Cool, dry places in your home that are convenient to your daily routine are a much better choice.

2. Keep vitamins out of the refrigerator
Condensation can build on vitamins that are stored in the refrigerator causing them to lose potency.

3. Keep vitamins in their original containers
Confusion over administering vitamins is more likely to happen if they are kept in unmarked containers or old prescription bottles. To ensure you know what you’re giving to your children, always keep kids’ multi vitamins in their original containers.

4. Always check to make sure the child’s safety cap is secure
Vitamins can look like candy. Some even taste nearly as good as candy, too! Don’t take chances by making it possible for your child to open a bottle of vitamins. Take the extra few seconds to ensure the bottle’s cap is securely locked.

5. Keep kids’ multi vitamins out of reach of children
Perhaps, the most important strategy when it comes to the safe storage of kids vitamins is to keep them out of the reach of children. This means in a cabinet or shelf far above where they can reach. Ideally the cabinet should have a lock on it to prevent adventurous children from climbing to new heights to get their hands on their vitamins.

Children’s Vitamin D Supplements for Preventing Kids from Developing Type 2 Diabetes

Type 2 diabetes increasingly is being diagnosed in children and teenagers. While obesity, a poor diet, and a sedentary lifestyle are well-known contributing factors for this largely preventable disease, vitamin D deficiency could also be considered a factor. Because of this, children at risk of developing type 2 diabetes may benefit from incorporating children’s vitamin D supplements into their diets.

A child’s risk of developing type 2 diabetes is 75 percent if both parents have the condition. Could these at risk children benefit from proactively taking children’s vitamin D supplements?

Studies Suggesting Vitamin D Supplements for Children Could Help Reduce the Risk of Acquiring Diabetes
Studies are now being conducted in Denmark to demonstrate a possible link between type 2 diabetes and vitamin D levels less than 25 ng/ml. Currently, 20 ng/ml was considered in the normal range. Many nutrition experts are beginning to consider 30ng/ml and above to me more desirable.

For children, keeping vitamin D levels at the optimal level requires a substantial amount of bare skin to sunshine exposure. UVB rays interact with skin’s cholesterol to initiate a conversion process that generates vitamin D3 to promote other hormonal activity in the body.

For many parents, the desire to avoid sun exposure is putting children at risk of vitamin D deficiency. This is why pediatricians frequently recommend vitamin D supplements for children. While these supplements are frequently prescribed for children with other conditions such as asthma, allergies, and ADD/ADHD, there could be measurable benefits for children to take children’s vitamin D supplements if they are at risk of acquiring type 2 diabetes.

The most effective formulas of children’s vitamin D supplements are those that contain vitamin D3 that support optimal growth and long-term health. By providing a daily amount of this essential vitamin, parents may be able to help reduce the risk of their children acquiring type 2 diabetes.