Exclusively breastfed infants should receive vitamin D supplementation as breast milk provides newborns with only about 20% of what is recommended by the Institute of Medicine for infants during the first year of life

In January 2016 researchers from Denmark published the results of their study to assess vitamin D levels in breast milk during the first 9 months of breast-feeding. Blood and breast milk samples were taken from 107 mothers at 2 weeks, 90 mothers at 4 months and 48 mothers at 9 months post-partum and vitamin D levels assessed. Results showed that vitamin D levels in breast milk decreased during follow-up which was attributable to a decrease in the number of women taking vitamin D supplements, or the use of a lower dose  in women taking supplements. Vitamin D levels were also seen to be generally higher in summer than in winter. Analysis showed that breast milk provided newborns with a vitamin D intake of under 20% as recommended by the Institute of Medicine. The researchers therefore concluded that exclusively breastfed infants should receive vitamin D supplements to reduce the risk of developing nutritional rickets.

við Streym S et al. Vitamin D content in human breast milk: a 9-mo follow-up study. Am J Clin Nutr. 2016 Jan;103(1):107-14

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