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Navigating Nutrition: Are Infants Supplements Necessary? · Talking FACS

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  Welcome to Talking FACS, what you need to know about family,
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  food, finance, and fitness.
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  This nationally recognized, award-winning podcast is hosted by the University
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  of Kentucky Family and Consumer Sciences Extension Program.
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  Our educators share research knowledge with individuals, families,
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  and communities to improve quality of life.
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  Hello, and welcome to Talking FACS, what you need to know about family,
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  food, finance, Dance, and Fitness.
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  I'm your host, Mindy McCulley, Extension Specialist for Instructional Support
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  with Family and Consumer Sciences Extension at the University of Kentucky.
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  We are housed in the Martin Gatton College of Agriculture, Food, and Environment.
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  When parents start the process of switching children from a liquid diet to a solid diet,
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  there are often questions about what types of food they should eat,
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  and are they eating enough,
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  and how much they should eat, and what supplements they need,
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  or do they need supplements?
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  So today, my guest, Dr. Courtney Luecking, Extension Specialist for Maternal
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  and Child Health, is here to answer all of those questions. So welcome, Courtney.
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  Hello, Mindy. I am excited for you to be here so that we can have this very
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  important discussion because I know these questions are burning in the
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  minds of parents if they aren't coming out of their mouths.
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  Yes. I mean, nutrition is so, so important in that first year of life.
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  It sets a foundation for growth and development.
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  And so I understand people might have concerns, especially because it's a new time.
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  There's so much change that's happening pretty quickly over a relatively short
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  period of time. So just when you think you figured it out, it's probably changed
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  and it's time to figure out whether you're on the right track at that point.
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  You can watch a child change almost daily in that first year of life.
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  It seems like that they grow overnight.
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  Every night they go to bed and they'll wake up maybe every few hours and they're
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  wanting something to eat.
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  And then they get to the point where they might start to sleep through the night.
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  And you're wondering, are they hungry because they've been sleeping so long?
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  And so how do you know when and what and how much to feed a child at,
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  say, three, six months of age?
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  Yeah, so there's no, you know, kind of hard and fast about like they need this
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  much at this point, because as you indicated, babies or infants,
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  when I say infants, I'm referring to any child under the age of 12 months,
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  that they are changing at a very rapid pace.
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  And so there's this idea of responsive feeding that we can talk about where
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  we really pay attention to babies' hunger cues and their satiety or fullness cues.
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  And so when they start to give you a hint, maybe becoming at a very,
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  very young age, more restless and bringing their hands to their mouth or rooting,
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  so turning their head towards someone's chest, those can be signs that they're hungry.
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  And when then they start to push, turn their head away from a food source or
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  sometimes even fall asleep when they're really, really little.
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  Those are some of those signs that they're getting enough to eat of breast milk
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  or I should say human milk or fortified infant formula.
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  And then as they get older, they can be a little bit more communicative with
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  those cues, kind of like looking at you, pointing, or even as they start to speak then.
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  And they can let you know if they need more or if they start to have enough,
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  maybe by pushing foods off the table.
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  So when a child is nursing or being fed infant formula,
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  we are pretty confident that the nutrients that they're getting,
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  the vitamins and the minerals that are in that human milk or the formula,
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  are the nutrients that the child needs or that the baby needs or that the infant needs. eat.
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  But once they're moving into those solid foods, do we need to provide other
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  supplements or vitamins for the child?
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  Great question. So I want to go back to the first part where you were talking
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  about human milk and infant formula.
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  And they do provide most, if not all, of the nutrients that children need to grow.
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  But there are two that I want to highlight specifically because they're particularly
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  important for those babies who are being fed human milk.
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  That's vitamin D and iron.
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  So they're important for all babies. But your question about supplements,
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  we can dig into a little bit more about each of those, that those might be supplements
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  that babies fed human milk might actually need.
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  Okay. Because that's not fortified like the formula is.
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  Exactly. So formula is created through adding components to create that,
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  what we'll call kind of like that nutrition puzzle that babies need.
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  And human milk has a lot of those nutrients as well, but vitamin D actually
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  doesn't go through the breast milk, not in high quantities.
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  And so that's an important one that we need to make sure babies are getting
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  through other sources. And then iron, all babies have stores.
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  Most babies, I should say, are born with enough iron to last the first four to six months.
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  And after that point, it's important that we start to get, or they start to
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  get iron from food sources or possibly even a supplement, depending on what
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  or how much they're eating.
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  And we should probably understand that vitamin D is something that we would
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  need to supplement because we have to get it supplemented through our milk.
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  If we drink cow's milk, it's fortified with vitamin D and we need to get it
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  from the sunlight, right?
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  Yes. So vitamin D, it's really important for children's bone and tooth development.
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  And so that's why we want to make sure that they get enough because that will
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  set the tone for their bone health over the course of their life.
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  You indicated that milk is a really big source of vitamin D for in the American
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  diet, but infants, so those babies that are under 12 months of age should not
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  have cow's milk to drink.
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  And so that takes away kind of that primary source.
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  Now, kiddos who are, we'll kind of work backwards. So, kiddos that are under
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  a year, they can eat table foods.
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  And so, there are a couple foods that have vitamin D that are in higher sources naturally.
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  So, that's some fatty fish, things like salmon or light canned tuna or sardines
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  or even eggs, particularly the yolks. Now, you might say, Courtney,
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  what about food allergy concerns?
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  But the evidence is pointing us to this notion of early exposure.
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  So if you do have concerns about fish or eggs, which are some two of those kind
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  of big eight that can cause food allergy reactions to check with your health care provider.
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  But otherwise, it's OK to start introducing them between that six to 12 month age and yogurt.
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  So not milk, but it's OK if infants are eating that yogurt.
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  And sometimes that's oftentimes fortified, meaning vitamin D is added to it
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  because it wasn't usually there. Or if it was, it was in really small quantities.
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  And even if mom is still breastfeeding, we need to be really adamant to make
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  sure that they understand that vitamin D is not something that passes through
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  breast milk to the infant.
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  Yes. So vitamin D supplements are something that should be talked about with
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  a health care provider right after a baby's birth. and they should be started
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  soon after if a baby's only having human milk.
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  If they're having a little bit of formula and a little bit of human milk,
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  then they can talk to, again, talk to the health care provider to figure out
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  what's right for you. So what about iron?
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  How do we get more iron into the baby's diet?
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  Yes. So our youngest kiddos, they should, so under six months of age,
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  or some people say it's okay to start introducing foods as early as four months of age.
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  But so those youngest infants are only having breast milk or infant formula, nothing else.
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  Their iron stores should be okay at this time.
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  Formulas typically have iron added to them, so they're okay.
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  It's at that four to six month range when we start to introduce foods.
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  So we can focus on starting to offer those foods that are higher in iron.
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  There are plant and animal sources.
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  So things like sweet potatoes or peas, we would just make sure that we get them
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  to a texture that's developmentally appropriate for where the child is at.
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  Same thing with like strawberries or spinach, but easily like blending these
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  foods and things. So those are plant sources that we can offer.
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  Or meat, poultry, eggs also have iron,
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  and then they can help enhance the absorption of those plant sources.
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  So you could serve something maybe like a ground turkey and some blended spinach
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  or something, and that would be a great source of iron for baby.
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  If babies are not consuming a lot of foods yet, or at least not foods that are
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  higher in iron, there are supplements available as well.
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  So there are kind of these blends. So polyvisol is an example of like where
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  it has iron and vitamin D and sometimes a few other things that are great for babies.
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  And so we know that vitamin D is important to aid in the development of the teeth and the bones.
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  Why do babies need that iron? Iron is also really important for brain development.
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  I know people don't typically think of like iron and brain, but that's one really important piece.
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  And then also it's important for a protein
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  called hemoglobin and this is in our red
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  blood cells it helps us get oxygen from one place to another in our bodies and
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  so it's really important so that kids can grow and play and have that energy
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  to do so and i would also think that it's going to help aid in fighting some
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  of those infant diseases like RSV for one.
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  Yeah. So like there's a generally healthy diet would be important for trying
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  to ward off some of those intense infections.
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  Yes. I am sure that keeping children healthy is parents' number one goal.
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  And so having a nice healthy diet is important for all of us.
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  So Courtney, are there any last thoughts that we need to share before we wrap up this show?
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  No, I think it's just keeping in mind, I guess the bottom line I would say,
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  like, do infants need supplements?
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  It depends, right? So it depends on what their primary food sources are.
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  Once they start to add in the formula or human milk, and then once they're starting
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  to add those table foods, just keeping an eye on like, what are they eating?
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  How much are they eating? So it may not be an all or nothing for supplements,
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  but at the end of the day, don't hesitate to contact a health care provider
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  to discuss an individual child's needs.
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  And I have found in my years of child raising that your health care provider is your best friend.
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  And they usually don't care to talk to you if you have any concerns or want
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  to at least discuss what's going on with your child.
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  Absolutely. A place to start and they can field out to someone else if they need to.
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  Definitely. Definitely. Thank you so much for taking the time to share with us today, Courtney.
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  Absolutely. My pleasure. If you are just tuning in, you're listening to Talking
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  Music.