2 minThe birth of your first child is one of the most beautiful moments in your life, but it also brings many new questions and responsibilities. For example, how do you ensure that your baby stays healthy? An important part of this is vitamin K. In this blog, you can read why this vitamin is so important and how long you should give it to your baby.
In this article, you will learn
- What vitamin K is and why it is important
- How to prevent vitamin K deficiency in babies
- Why breastfeeding requires extra vitamin K
- How long you should give your baby vitamin K
Why is vitamin K important?
Vitamin K is vital for blood clotting. It helps the body prevent bleeding by promoting the formation of clots. Newborn babies usually have low levels of vitamin K, which can lead to an increased risk of bleeding, especially in the first few days after birth.
To prevent bleeding in newborns, most babies are given a vitamin K injection immediately after birth. This injection helps to quickly restore vitamin K levels in the body and ensures proper blood clotting.
However, this injection only maintains your baby's vitamin K levels for 7 days.
Fortunately, there is another way to protect your baby besides an injection: vitamin K drops.
Breastfeeding and vitamin K
Infants do not produce enough vitamin K in the first few months. It is only after 3 months that babies start producing vitamin K themselves. That is why it is important to give them extra. The body produces vitamin K in the intestines, but this does not happen sufficiently in infants. Newborn babies do not yet have the intestinal bacteria to produce the vitamin themselves.
How long should vitamin K be given?
As mentioned above, babies only start producing vitamin K themselves after 3 months, so a supplement is needed for the first 3 months. This applies to babies who are breastfed or who receive less than 500 ml of formula per day. Vitamin K is added to formula milk.
Because babies receive a vitamin K injection at birth that provides a sufficient supply for one week, the advice is to supplement vitamin K from day 8 until three months after the birth of your baby.
