Does My Baby Need Supplements?

You must be concerned by this question when heading into the weaning period and starting your baby on solid food. The answer varies between one baby and another, and one case and another.

However, healthy, full-term born babies don’t need extra vitamins and minerals, namely if their weaning period was pushed till the sixth month, allowing their body to get enough nutrients, vitamins and minerals to grow up and develop their physical, motor and social skills. The same thing applies to babies who eat a wide variety of food beside breast milk.

There are exceptions, however. In which cases supplements are necessary? What kind of supplements is recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics? Here are the details:

Vitamin D

It’s widely known that Vitamin D deficiency is the fate of babies feeding on milk of mothers suffering from malnutrition or vitamin D deficiency, having dark skin, or getting too little sun. In these cases, vitamin D supplements are necessary to avoid curvature of bones.

However, in normal cases, food rich in vitamin D likely constitutes sufficient vitamin D supplementation for breast milk that doesn’t contain a high degree of this vital vitamin, much needed in the complementary breastfeeding phase.

Fluoride

There are no physical evidences nowadays that fluoride supplements contribute to healthy teeth for your baby. Therefore, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends not giving fluoride supplements to babies after the sixth month, unless they are susceptible to caries or they drink water from a source almost free of fluoride.      

Briefly, there’s no need to give your baby supplements, for the simple reason that they’ve already reached weaning period. It’s better to discuss the matter with the pediatrician before making any step in this regard. 

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