In ,
HollyLewis wrote:

*rather controversial recommendation. The natural source of Vit D is sunlight.
*Therefore, if your baby gets at least a few minutes of sun exposure most days,
*s/he almost certainly does not need any Vit D supplement.

My understanding is the AAP is recommending the vitamin D because they
ALSO recommend *always* using extensive sun protection/sunscreen/keeping
baby in shade/etc -- they felt that for public health purposes, it made
more sense to recommend extreme caution with respect to sun exposure and
then add in the D supplementation than to suggest small amounts of sun
exposure are ok and avoiding the D supplementation. that's what my
pediatrician told me, anyway.

*In any event, I certainly wouldn't dispute the right of any mother who gave her
*baby Vitamin D supplements to describe the baby as exclusively breastfed, at
*least for ordinary purposes. I suppose it might make some difference if she's
*giving the baby's medical history to a doctor.

Yes, it might. If the baby had some strange problem, and the mother didn't
explain about the vitamins, the doctor could miss a case of vitamin-borne
illness (if the vitamins were contaminated during manufacturing or
something...)

--
hillary israeli vmd http://www.hillary.net
"uber vaccae in quattuor partes divisum est."
not-so-newly minted veterinarian-at-large