Dear all:

I posted previously about sunlight deficiency before, but I thought I would remind everyone what I
discovered about Manhattan.   There have been over one hundred well-documented cases of
hospitalization for rickets among caucasian infants in Manhattan.  Yes, dark skinned infants need
10x more sunlight than light skinned infants but that does not mean that it does not occur among
lighter skinned infants too.  In the winter months in Boston the sunlight is sufficiently filtered
because of the northern latitude that there is NO conversion of vitamin D on the skin - I forget
exactly how many months.

Canada has been using vitamin D supplements for over 10 years with no adverse affects to
breastfeeding.

I was also quite shocked to learn that there have been cases of rickets in Atlanta, Ga!

The one item I'm going to check is the CDC recommendations.  My recollection is that
supplementation should not start until 2 months and I know the IU recommended are half of what
is in the Trivisol.  Here in Manhattan I run into all sorts of newborns who are spitting back up the
vile stuff.  For some reason, pediatricians are recommending that parents start this right away,
rather than the recommended 2 months.  So, I want to get my facts straight for parents that are
unsuccessful trying to stuff the stuff into their newborns.

Best regards,

Susan E. Burger, MHS, PhD, IBCLC

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