Doctor's urgent warning as parents' diet mistake changed shape of baby's legs
Children grow and develop at different rates, but one set of parents decided to reach out to a doctor after noticing a worrying change in their toddler. As the child approached their second birthday, mum and dad could see their little one's legs were starting to bend inwards and went in search of answers.
Their story has been shared by London-based doctor Sermed Mezher, who confirmed that the child also walked differently compared to others their age and had a widening of their wrists. He then revealed what was happening - and it was all down to their child's diet. Taking to TikTok, Dr Mezher explained that the mother had exclusively breastfed their child up to nine months old and that the child hadn't given any vitamin D supplementation during this period.
"Vitamin D is an essential part of a growing child’s bone strength," Dr Mezher said, via the Huffington Post. "And you can’t get it from breast milk." He said children can also get it from food sources – such as salmon, eggs, orange juice and red meat – and sunlight. "The child was given supplements [to treat the issue] but only had a mild improvement," the doctor added.
In the caption for the video, he stated: "All exclusively breastfed babies and those receiving less than 500ml of formula milk should receive vitamin D supplements daily." Not all babies need to be given vitamin D supplements. The Department of Health and Social Care recommends that "babies from birth to one year of age who are being breastfed should be given a daily supplement containing 8.5 to 10 micrograms of vitamin D to make sure they get enough". While breast milk is considered a great food source for babies, it provides virtually no vitamin D so babies can quickly become vitamin D deficient.
But if your baby has more than 500ml of first infant formula a day, they don’t need a vitamin D supplement because formula milk is already fortified with the vitamin. It is also recommended that all children aged one to four should take a daily supplement (10 micrograms) throughout the year as it can be hard to make all the vitamin D we need from sunlight and diet alone.
Baby boy has spent his life in hospital as doctors are 'scared' to discharge him
There is one thing you should absolutely avoid giving young babies - and that is water. The general consensus is that babies should only be given milk until they're at least six months old, after which a sip of water here and there has been deemed safe. However, as Katie Zeratsky, a dietitian at the told , up until the age of one, babies can live without water.
This, she explains, is because "they get all of their fluid needs through human milk or infant formula. Even on a hot day they can get all of their hydration needs through human milk or formula." The First Steps Nutrition Trust has said: "Fully breastfed babies do not need any water until they have started eating solid foods. This is because the composition of breastmilk changes to meet the infant's needs, including for water which is a component of breastmilk."
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