Speaking of the topic of [calcium supplement], I believe that Bao’s parents are full of questions to ask.
[My baby is almost 2 years old and has only 8 teeth. Do you want some calcium? ]
[The baby has been losing his hair recently and is still sweating. Can calcium supplement improve? ]
[Baby’s ribs are a little everted, is it caused by calcium deficiency? ]
… …
It seems that as long as the baby’s growth and development are slightly different, the most easily thought of by treasure parents is [calcium deficiency].
As a result, holding the mentality of “supplementing points is definitely better than not strengthening”, they bought calcium supplements for their babies one after another, hoping that everything would be all right after supplementing calcium.
However, is calcium deficiency the reason why the baby has these abnormal conditions? Do babies really need calcium supplements? How should calcium be supplemented?
I have to say, there are a lot of treasures in life, parents are just worrying about it.
Always worried about children’s calcium deficiency,
On the way to raise the baby, every parent must have suspected at least once that the child was calcium deficient.
Even if you are calm enough, when the baby suffers from bald pillow, late teething and late walking, the [kind-hearted people] around you will constantly remind you whether the child is short of calcium and why not give the child some calcium.
Therefore, we must solemnly tell all parents here that most of the legendary symptoms of suspected calcium deficiency have nothing to do with calcium deficiency.
1. Occipital baldness
Pillow baldness can be said to be the most commonly considered symptom caused by calcium deficiency, but in fact pillow baldness is mainly related to the baby’s repeated turning of his head and rubbing of the pillow when lying in bed.
In addition, it is also related to the hair growth cycle of newborns.
2. Rickets
Rickets is caused by vitamin D deficiency in the body. Although vitamin D deficiency will affect the absorption of calcium and phosphorus by the human body, the main culprit of rickets is vitamin D deficiency, which is not really due to calcium deficiency.
3. Mild valgus of costal margin
It may be related to the weak abdominal muscle strength of children, which cannot be caused by calcium deficiency.
In addition, many thin babies have mild valgus at the rib edge. If the baby is thinner, mild valgus at the rib edge is also a normal phenomenon.
4. Late teething
There is no inevitable connection between the morning and evening of teething and calcium deficiency, and it is more likely to be related to genetic genes.
5. Late closure of fontanelle
The anterior fontanelle of infants is generally completely closed at the age of 18-24 months, and some infants will not close until they are two years old, which is not directly related to calcium deficiency.
However, if the child lacks vitamin D, rickets may be caused, which may lead to delayed closure.
6. Children walk unsteadily and are prone to stumble.
These have nothing to do with calcium deficiency. If the child has no other abnormalities, it is good to wait patiently.
7. It is easy to wake up at night.
There are many reasons for crying at night, such as colic, gastrointestinal discomfort or dependence on breast milk, most of which are unrelated to calcium deficiency.
8. Sweat a lot
When babies sleep, sweating after activities is a common physiological phenomenon, which has little to do with calcium deficiency, but is more likely to be related to high indoor temperature.
9. Slow growth of deciduous teeth
Some babies have not continued to grow teeth for a long time after growing several teeth. In fact, this kind of situation is very common and has nothing to do with calcium deficiency.
Tooth growth is periodic and does not necessarily erupt regularly according to time.
10. Short stature
In fact, the fact that children grow shorter than their peers is also closely related to genetic genes. In addition, whether feeding is reasonable or not will also affect growth and development. Blind calcium supplement cannot make children grow taller as soon as possible.
Calcium supplement and vitamin D supplement are indistinguishable.
In life, there are quite a few people who describe calcium supplements and vitamin D supplements as [calcium supplements].
However, this is completely different!
Although vitamin D can promote the absorption of calcium and phosphorus by the human body, if the human body takes in insufficient vitamin D, it will correspondingly affect the absorption of calcium and may also cause calcium deficiency in babies, but vitamin D supplement is different from direct calcium supplement.
For infants, the best way to supplement calcium is to drink milk. In other words, a child who drinks enough milk every day is not prone to calcium deficiency.
Major pediatric organizations in the world really suggest that infants must supplement only vitamin D every day, because breast milk lacks vitamin D and vitamin D obtained from supplementary foods is also very limited.
The “Guidelines for Breastfeeding within 0-6 Months” issued by the Chinese Nutrition Society on August 1, 2015 clearly pointed out that infants should be supplemented with vitamin D 10ug (400IU) daily for a few days after birth. Exclusive breastfeeding can meet the calcium demand of infants’ bone growth without additional calcium supplement.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that all infants and young children should ensure that they take at least 400IU of vitamin D per day from soon after birth. Vitamin D has been added to formula milk, so infants do not need to supplement vitamin D if they drink enough formula milk (1000 ml) every day, otherwise the difference in vitamin D should be supplemented to 400IU per day.
What the baby needs is not calcium but vitamin D.
To sum up, healthy full-term babies before 6 months old generally do not lack calcium. Because whether breast-fed or formula-fed, infants and young children have enough calcium from milk to meet their physical development needs, and no additional calcium products are needed.
The daily milk volume of babies aged 6-12 months is guaranteed to be above 600 ml, that of babies aged 1-3 years is guaranteed to be above 480 ml, and that of children aged 4-6 years is guaranteed to be above 300-400 ml. Coupled with reasonable diet, there is no need to worry about calcium deficiency in children.
What you have to do is to continue to insist on vitamin D supplementation for your child, especially when your child’s daily intake is insufficient.
When supplementing vitamin D, special attention should be paid to the problem of [quantity].
Before, I met a precious mother who said that she would give her baby one cod liver oil and another vitamin AD drop every day. In fact, the ingredients of the two supplements are very similar, mainly vitamin A and vitamin D.
At the same time, supplementation is easy to cause excess. For infants, excessive intake of vitamin A may cause poisoning, while excessive intake of vitamin D is easy to increase the possibility of slow occurrence of sound field.
Therefore, parents must remember this point. The recommended daily vitamin D intake for breast-fed babies is 400IU per day, so when buying products, remember to read the ingredients on the outer package of the products.
So when vitamin D should be supplemented to what? The advice of the American Academy of Pediatrics is to make up until the end of puberty.