Vitamin and iron supplements for bub???

I don't know anything about supplements for bub, but I'd make sure that you take a good multivitamin so you have good quality breast milk.

I'm stil taking Blackmores pregnancy and breastfeeding gold. Hmm, that's a point, perhaps I should have mentioned that to the paediatrician!

I've heard that iron stores at birth are lower in prem babies than full-term babies. Other factors (e.g. cutting the cord after it has finished pulsating) can increase the amount of iron bubs gets. Don't know about the need for other vitamins though, but have heard that it's common to supplement in some other countries.

Also bubs gets priority for your iron - he will get the iron from your breastmilk, even if it leaves you anaemic (hopefully not!).

Hiya.

Emily was prem and was put on the iron and vitamin supplements and had them up until she was established on solids - at around 7 months I no longer needed to give them to her.

I was told by the hospital staff here that from about 36 wks gestation, the baby packs on the iron stores ready for birth, and it's these iron stores that get them through to about 6 months when they usually start solids and get their iron from food. There is only a little a bit of iron in breastmilk - enough for full term babies, but not enough for prem babies.   I think the paediatrician probably meant Callum's iron stores will be low, not yours.

Prem babies need the extra iron and vitamins to help with weight gain and brain development, otherwise they can get very lethargic and slow to gain weight, so it's important that he has the supplements. I know it can be a reall P in the A faffing around to get bub to take the supplements everyday, and it was soooooooo much easier when Emily didn't need them anymore.

Feel free to PM me if you have any other questions re: prem stuff, the supplements or anything else.

Thanks heaps guys. LOL TrudandEm, I was actually thinking this afternoon that the paed was probably meaning Callum rather than me .. VERY smart lady but loads of people get their pronouns mixed up here and sometimes it does make conversation a bit funny. The paediatrician obviously knows Callum is a boy but she's always referring to him as "she" .. and then "he" in the next sentence! So possibly just something lost in translation. Anyways, now I don't feel like I'm giving him something he doesn't need so that's cool, thanks for putting my mind at ease

Twinboys2b wrote: Just a bit of advice: the iron stains just about everything - especially the carpet if your DH decides to drop it on new carpet!! But if you don't use muslins and your bubs spills it stains all your nice white bub clothes. Also, the other supplement we used was Vitadol C which when mixed with iron goes black & also stains things so best to feed it your babies at diff. times.

YES YES YES! I found a bit of lemon juice squeezed onto the stain would sometimes help. Having lots of muslin squares comes in very handy to mop up the drips and spills. I also fed DD the Vit C and iron at different times too to avoid the horrible black/brown concoction it made, but occassionally would mix if I really had to.