It seems to me that we probably started this Vit K shot business because of our practice of early circs on little boys. In the Jewish tradition, boys aren't circed until day 8, which is when Vit K production kicks in for babies. The rationale currently given for Vit K is to help fight the rare possibility of a brain bleed, a risk which is probably more legitimate for the fragile preemie than the healthy full-term newborn. I personally opted out of Vit K and eye drops for my last two babies because I knew that I had no risk for transferring STDs during birth and that I wasn't circing them, either, which is probably the strongest argument for Vit K. Regarding fluoride: I agree with others who say, "if mother nature didn't put it into our diets naturally and didn't put it into our milk, then let's not give it to our babies, either." Interesting that recently concerns have arisen for damage do to *too much* fluoride supplementation; it was bound to happen! -Lisa ****************************************************************************** Lisa A. Marasco, IBCLC / [log in to unmask] International Board Certified Lactation Consultant / [log in to unmask] ******************************************************************************