Just wondering what other people are doing. While breastfeeding, do you just take a regular multivitamin or do you still take the prenatal vitamins? I know the prenatal ones have a lot more folic acid and iron than regular ones, but do you really need that much folic acid once the baby is born (especially since I already get tons of folic acid from my diet since I'm a vegetarian).
I continued to take my pre-natals and the DHA (is that correct...it's been a year since I breastfed =))supplement for eye and brain development while I breastfed. My Dr said it was good for baby, plus I was getting the pre-natals free at Meijer.
M.
Unfortunately the OTC vitamins are not the best as they are usually synthetic. I believe you should be on a GOOD multi while breastfeeding and after. Even being a vegetarian sometimes you need supplementing. Read your labels and know your company. Would love to get you some info. S.
According to my family doc (my OB & also our ped), you should take prenatal vitamins while you are nursing. I also take fish oil for the omega 3's (get a brand that says its mercury free).
I continued with the prenatals under the instruction of my OB.
I am a vegetarian too, but still take the prenatals. I also take fish oil supplements. I know, not vegetarian, but I've decided to do it during pregnancies and nursing because I think it's the most efficient way of getting good Omegas, etc.
I also supplement with Astragalus and Echinacea as needed.
If you are already on a good prenatal it should work fine to use while nursing. There is way more science involved than I can take on learning so to figure out what vitamin I should take I turn to the Comparative Guide to Nutritional Supplements by NutriSearch. It is a bood made by a third party company in Canada that rates Supplements in North America according to 18 different criteria. I hope this helps and happy nursing!
Totally random, but a good way to tell if you are getting to many b vitamins is to check the color of your urine. Extra B vitamins are not absorbed and won't hurt you, but they will make your urine more fluorescent in color. I'd say that if the iron isn't constipating you and your body is using the folic acid, then there is no good reason not to continue to take them.
It is recommended that you take prenatals. They way I see it......I was taking them before, because I was feeding two (myself and baby) and while bfing I am still feeding two. Besides, you might as well, unless you are having a hard time with the prenatals. Folic acid is good form more than prenatal period, also, but there are many other nutrients that are taking a stronger role after the birth and are found in better amounts in the prenatals.
I still just take PNV I guess b/c I have them in the house. I know my OB said you need additional calcium when bfing for more then 6 months. Otherwise she didn't say either way. I think its probably fine either way if you compared them and they are similar otherwise.
I was advised to stick with the prenatal vitamin during both pregnancies.
Marsh pharmacies offer a prescription grade prenatal for free! Have your OB or primary care provider write a prescription (they'll know because Marsh has had this program for about 2-3 years), and you can get them free indefinitely.
The goal is that by providing the vitamins free, you'll return for your breast pump needs, other Rx's, etc.
My ob said to just take a regular multi vitamin...you don't need the extra folic acid anymore, which is the main difference I think in the two. Also, I just read an article in Prevention magazine about many people getting too much folic acid and what it can cause.
If you eat cereal, bread....you get enough.
I also took the Expecta DHA supplement while breastfeeding, for brain development.
Use up your prenatals and then a multi-vitamin and extra Vit. D are fine:)
I just took my regular multivitamin (though, I was never taking a prenatal, just the multivitamin the entire pregnancy). I also took a plant-based DHA supplement (I think it was Expecta) which was supposed to be helpful for brain development. Most are fish based, but this was plant based (I'm also vegetarian).
I've heard prenatals. I was bad at remembering to take my vitamins even while I was pregnant. And with the 2nd pregnancy I was nursing my first. With the third I took a vitamin here and there when I remembered and I don't reacall taking them while nursing with this one. Anyway, all my kids are very healthy. It's the bfing alone that does it! Take em or don't either way the nursing's what counts.
So it just dawned on me that you're refering to youself right? Like I said, I hardly took vitamins and all was well with me.
