In a message dated 95-10-24 13:22:52 EDT, you write:

>Date:    Tue, 24 Oct 1995 12:21:44 -0400
>From:    Tony Whyte <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Vitamin supplements
>
>My wife is breastfeeding our 3rd child. For our first two children the babys
>were prescribed a vitamin supplement containing I believe vitamin A, D and
>flouride, the product name may have been Tri-Vi-Flor. Our current
>pediatrician
>has not prescribed this supplement and we are worried the baby may not be
>getting the required levels of these nutrients. I was looking to see if
>there was any consensus, or personal experience one could share.
>
>

In response to your concern,  the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has
recently recommended that routine supplementation with flouride in children
under 6 months may actually prove harmful due to a condition know as dental
flourosis where the teeth are stained by the flouride.

For children >6 months, you only need supplemental flouride if your home's
water supply contains less than 0.6mg/L of fluoride.

As far as vitamin supplements go, their is still a little controversy.  If
the mother and baby are in general good health without any underlying
conditions, and if mom eats a healthy diet (with or without mom taking a
vitamin supplement),  providing supplements to the baby is probably not
needed.  Some pediatricians may say that the levels in breastmilk are low,
BUT the form in which the vitamins are supplied in breastmilk is MUCH easier
for a baby to utilize.

I have a VERY healthy 4 month old who does not take anything but 100% mom's
milk.  He does not show any signs of vitamin deficiency.  If your wife and
child are both healthy as stated above, vitamin supplements are probably not
needed unless a problem is identified.

Jeffrey S. Fouche, RN, BSN
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