Cod oil is a common health product. Cod liver oil is rich in nutrients and can promote the development of babies, so it is very popular among parents. However, experts warn that excessive cod liver oil supplementation for babies can lead to poisoning. Today, I will tell you about the precautions for babies to take cod liver oil.
Precautions for babies taking cod oil
1. The amount of cod oil supplement should be controlled to avoid poisoning the baby.
Many parents only know that it is good for babies to take cod oil supplements, but they do not know that excessive cod oil supplements can also cause poisoning in babies. Both vitamin A and vitamin D in cod oil can cause poisoning with different symptoms. Vitamin A poisoning develops slowly and often manifests itself as hair loss, dry skin, unbearable itching, loss of appetite, and ease of agitation. Some children also develop vitamin D poisoning, which manifests as loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting, along with high blood calcium and impaired kidney function. These two conditions can be collectively referred to as "cod oil poisoning", and once diagnosed, the drug should be stopped immediately.
2. Choose high-quality cod oil.
The best cod oil for babies is concentrated, and the new cod oil with a vitamin A and D content ratio of 3:1 is the best choice.
3. Appropriate dosage.
Babies must eat cod oil in an appropriate amount. Children’s daily physiological need for vitamin D is 400 units. Mothers must calculate the dosage and never overdose.
And if the baby is breastfed, the baby needs to take cod oil, because the baby can not absorb much vitamin D from breast milk. If the baby is eating milk powder, then even if the baby takes the dose of cod oil, the vitamin D content in the milk powder must be included. Therefore, if the vitamin D in the milk powder and cod oil combined exceeds 400 units, then it is OK Eat every other day.
The correct way to eat cod liver oil
Lack of vitamins can cause illness, but supplementation must be moderate, and excessive supplementation can also cause illness. The recommended daily intake of vitamin A is 2500 to 5000 international units, and the recommended daily intake of vitamin D is 400 to 800 international units. If large doses are taken in a short period of time, or excessive daily intake of vitamins A and D for a long time can cause poisoning, manifested as loss of appetite, weight gain, irritability, sweating, headache, vomiting, lethargy, joint pain, muscle Pain etc. The concentrated vitamin AD drops (i.e. concentrated cod liver oil drops) sold on the market contain 50,000 international units of vitamin A and 5,000 international units of vitamin D per gram. There are about 30 drops in 1 gram, so 3 to 5 drops per day are enough.
When parents feed various infant formulas and fortified foods to their babies, they must carefully check the content of vitamins A and D in the formula. They should pay attention to the total daily intake of the baby, including from various sources. Vitamin A and vitamin D content in foods should be fortified to avoid excessive dosage, which may even cause poisoning.
If you are breastfeeding and your milk is sufficient, and your baby can often bask in the sun, you do not need to take cod liver oil. If the baby is eating formula milk, was born in winter without exposure to the sun, is breastfeeding but the mother has poor nutrition, or the baby has poor gastrointestinal digestive function, the baby should be given cod liver oil.