You give your baby vitamin D every day. Then the bottle changes: another brand, supplement purchased on the internet, different concentration… and you keep the same number of drops. This is precisely the trap that Dr. Gérald Kierzek points out in the video: one drop does not contain the same amount of vitamin D in all products.
Her advice is not to stop supplementation. On the contrary, Dr Gérald Kierzek recalls that vitamin D is prescribed from the first days of life to prevent rickets, a disease which disrupts bone development. The key point is elsewhere: if the bottle or concentration changes, the number of drops should be checkedideally with the pharmacist or doctor who is following the child.
Why can changing the bottle be a problem?
With vitamin D, the action seems simple: count drops. But this benchmark can be misleading. Depending on the product, one drop can provide a very different amount of vitamin D. Replacing the prescribed medication with a food supplement, especially purchased online, can therefore significantly change the dose actually received by the child.
The National Medicines Safety Agency, ANSM, warned of this risk in 2021, after cases of overdose in young children having received supplements enriched with vitamin D. The Order of Pharmacists relays the same recommendation: in children,
favor medications rather than food supplementsbecause their quality, their concentration and their methods of administration are better regulated.
The nuance is important: it is not a question of saying that all supplements are dangerous by nature. The risk arises especially when replacing one product with another, or adding several sources of vitamin D, without recalculating the total intake. True Medical had already relayed this alert on the risk of vitamin D overdose in children.
What are the risks of excess vitamin D in babies?
Vitamin D is essential, but too much can have serious consequences. An overdose can lead to an increase in calcium in the blood, called hypercalcemia. This situation can cause digestive disorders, unusual fatigue, significant thirst, but above all expose one to
kidney damage.
This is why a product change should not be trivialized. Two bottles may look the same, both be administered as drops, but not deliver the same amount per drop. Some medication instructions also remind us that all sources of vitamin D must be taken into account: medications, supplements, enriched food, supplemented milk, etc.
In practice, do not give a dose “on instinct” and do not automatically take the old prescription if you use another bottle. The prescription corresponds to a product, a concentration and a method of administration.
The 3 checks to do before giving the drops
The good reflex, as summarized by Dr. Gérald Kierzek, is to check the dose, not just to count the drops. Before administering vitamin D to your child, three points should be checked.
- What product was prescribed? In children, health authorities recommend choosing a medication rather than a food supplement.
- How much vitamin D does each drop contain? If you change the bottle, brand or concentration, ask the pharmacist to check the correspondence before keeping the same number of drops.
- Does your child receive other inputs?
Certain products, milks or supplements may also contain vitamin D. Do not combine sources without medical advice.
Then follow the prescribed dose and the administration device provided with the product. A pipette, a dropper or a tip cannot necessarily be replaced by another: they can deliver different volumes.
If you think you have given too many drops, or if you have combined several products containing vitamin D,
seek medical advice immediately : doctor, pharmacist or poison control center depending on the situation. Do not stop your baby’s supplementation permanently without talking to the professional who is caring for him.