NOTE: This is not an April Fool's joke.
There is one and only one supplement recommended for all infants under 6
months of age here, and that is cod liver oil.  The recommendation is not
tied to feeding method.  No one talks about BF being relatively more
'deficient' in Vitamin D because almost no foods have much Vitamin D.  The
spin put on it here is that we don't get enough daylight to make our own as
the body was meant to do.  The other spin, about keeping the cod liver oil
industry running, is such a given that it is not even mentioned.  Parents
are informed that multivitamin mixtures also contain A and D but no
omega-3s; they are cautioned not to use both products for fear of
overdosing.

Cod liver oil, pharmaceutical quality, one teaspoonful every day from the
age of 4 weeks.  No upper age limit!  Supplies vitamins D and A and omega-3
fatty acids!  No danger of overdosing because who could STAND to ingest that
much?!

I'll be traveling to the US later this month.  Maybe I could earn some extra
spending money for my trip by bringing along a case or two of our national
pride, cod liver oil!  (OTOH, if even one bottle broke in my luggage I would
have to replace everything I own, and possibly everything owned by the
people whose luggage was next to mine in the hold.  Never mind.)

Nancy Wight said it: breastmilk is low in Vitamin D because we aren't
supposed to ingest our Vitamin D.  We are supposed to produce it.  Rickets
is a growing problem.  The many reasons have been mentioned by previous
posters and I read them with interest.  It seems just a little odd to me
that if a child doesn't get out because the neighborhood is so unsafe that
families are effectively imprisoned indoors, the way we deal with that is to
give vitamin supplements.

BTW, in Sweden they give Vitamin D drops to children and can't believe
Norwegians take cod liver oil, eeewww!  So the supplements are out there,
folks.  If enough people demand it I bet they could be obtained in N.
America as well.

cheers
Rachel Myr in Norway

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