05/09/2025
It's not that breast milk is deficient in vitamin D, it's that humans don't get the majority of their vitamin D from food, they get it from the sun!
In certain counties, and for certain groups of people, research finds that they may not be able to get the amount of vitamin D they need without supplementation.
Here in the UK, we're one of those recommended countries, and babies and young people are one of the groups.
Current UK guidance is that breastfed babies, and babies who are combi fed but having less than 500mls formula per day, be supplemented, from birth, with 8.5 to 10 micrograms daily. Formula milk has the supplement added, so over 500mls a day and no additional supplement is required.
If we're breastfeeding it's recommended we take a daily 10 microgram supplement too.
(In some countries they recommend that if we're breastfeeding we take a high dose of 160 micrograms and that's enough that the baby doesn't need supplementing, but at present this isn't recommended in the UK. )
*It's entirely up to you whether you choose to give supplements to your baby. I'm just sharing some information we have in the hope that you won't worry that your breastmilk is in some way lacking, and that you can go away and explore in more detail if you wish.*
