Original | Pregnancy
Abstract: There are really not many babies who are really deficient in calcium!
Every parent has endless worries!
The child is crying badly, is there not enough milk?
If the child sleeps unsteadily, is it uncomfortable?
If the child sweats a lot and has less hair, is it a calcium deficiency?
Speaking of calcium deficiency, many parents are really, worried that calcium-deficient children are not tall, and they are also worried that calcium-deficient children do not grow teeth... So I tried to give my child calcium supplements.
But calcium, really can not blindly supplement! Once the head is made up, it is the child who suffers.
A while ago, @Wenzhou Business Daily reported a news, a 4-year-old little girl, because her family blindly supplemented calcium, made up for a big problem.
Because the child does not sleep well, the father consulted an "expert" on the Internet, and the other party said that the child did not sleep well because of calcium deficiency and had to strengthen calcium supplementation.
So, the father began to give the child a crazy calcium supplement model, milk increase, calcium supplement, vitamin D also doubled to eat, so it was supplemented for three or four months.
As a result, the child directly made up for urinary incontinence and enuresis.
Went to the hospital for examination, showed high urinary calcium, the doctor said that calcium supplementation is excessive.
Pregnant mother reminds parents: this calcium really can't be supplemented!
If the supplemented calcium exceeds the child's own needs, excess calcium, the body can not absorb, will be deposited in various parts of the body, resulting in problems.
Mild symptoms, nausea, constipation, etc. occur.
Severe urinary calcium is too high, causing urinary incontinence, enuresis, kidney stones, etc.
It may even affect heart function, causing premature calcification of bones, microcephaly, etc.
Indiscriminate calcium supplementation, the child who suffers!
Calcium supplementation is excessive, and the kidneys of 1-year-old babies are full of stones!
Calcium supplementation, calcium deficiency is only needed when calcium is lacking, and it is not a lack of calcium blindly supplemented, which is harmful to children.
Some parents in order to make their children grow taller and teeth faster, they do not hesitate to give the baby a desperate meal of calcium tablets, but blindly supplementing calcium will increase the burden on the child's kidneys and cause more serious diseases.
@ People's Daily once reported a news, a 1-year-old baby girl in Meizhou, Guangdong Province, because parents are worried that their children are not tall, worried that their children will lose at the starting line.
When the child was 10 months old, he frantically supplemented calcium, and as a result, the child developed severe hematuria, and both kidneys were full of stones, and surgery was necessary.
Heilongjiang also has an 18-month-old baby, because the mother is worried about the child's calcium deficiency, she gave the child calcium supplementation for half a year.
Usually, soy products are not eaten less, and as a result, the lower part of the ureter grows a stone as large as peanut rice.
There are many more examples to be listed, and as the old saying goes, things must be reversed, and this also applies to calcium supplementation.
Blindly giving children calcium supplements will really affect the child's physical health, don't let love become hurt!
7 big rumors of calcium deficiency, don't step on one!
Many misunderstandings about calcium deficiency, many parents still can't walk out of it.
Today's pregnant mother summed up clearly: the following problems are not calcium deficiency.
Baby sweating a lot: This is related to the physiological characteristics of the baby's autonomic dysfunction development, do not worry too much, with the increase of the month of age will gradually improve.
Baby is unsteady: lower extremity muscles and bones should be examined, independent of calcium deficiency.
Late teething: Each baby's growth rate is different, there are individual differences, so the time of teething is also different.
Baby short: height is mostly related to genetic and nutritional factors, if the baby's growth curve is normal, it is healthy, not calcium deficiency.
Baby pillow baldness: most of the baby is lying, coupled with sweating, heat, itching and other factors, and can not be grasped by hand, can only rub to alleviate discomfort, so the friction place will have obvious pillow baldness, which is normal.
Baby joint ringing: When holding the child, the joints are heard to make a noise, which is caused by the temporary loosening of the joint cavity, and has nothing to do with calcium deficiency.
Baby sleep, sleep is not good: more than a month of baby, no stimulation on the appearance of fright, the time of appearance there is a certain regularity, that is mostly intestinal colic, and calcium deficiency has nothing to do.
So when is the baby really deficient in calcium?
When it comes to calcium deficiency, many parents will take their babies to do bone density testing to determine whether they are deficient in calcium.
But in fact, low bone density ≠ calcium deficiency, for normal growth and development of the baby, routine bone density testing is completely meaningless, there are three reasons:
There are no international standard values for measuring bone density in children to refer to.
The results of different instruments in each hospital are also different, and they cannot accurately reflect the bone calcium metabolism.
In babies at the peak of growth, it is normal for the bones to be incompletely calcified and the high water content in the bone tissues to be low and minerals.
In fact, babies with calcium deficiency do not have obvious symptoms, and the most important thing to worry about is "hypocalcemia".
If the baby is long-term calcium deficiency, especially when the blood calcium concentration is less than 1.8mmol/L, the baby will be diagnosed with hypocalcemia, and there may be hand and foot twitches, systemic spasms and other manifestations.
This situation needs to go to the hospital for diagnosis and treatment according to the doctor's instructions, and it is not something that parents can deal with by buying some calcium tablets at will.
There are really not many babies who are really deficient in calcium!
Many parents are worried about the baby's calcium deficiency, and indeed, calcium is really too important for the baby's development.
Calcium not only strengthens bones, but also protects your child's soft internal organs, such as the brain and lungs.
Once the body is deficient in calcium, it will directly affect the health of the baby.
But what parents should know is that for most children, as long as they eat well in their daily diet, it is impossible to lack calcium.
● Babies aged 0 to 6 months, whether it is breast milk or formula, as long as the milk is sufficient, there will be no lack of calcium.
● Babies over 1 year old, if the diet is balanced and not picky, dairy products, green vegetables, soy products are eaten, there will be no lack of calcium.
What parents really have to do is to ensure that their baby's calcium intake is sufficient through diet.
First of all, every parent needs to know how much calcium their baby needs.
The calcium requirements of children of different ages are different, and the recommendations given in the "Reference Intake of Dietary Nutrients for Chinese Residents (2013 Edition)" are as follows:
To ensure that the baby's calcium intake is sufficient, parents only need to do two things:
Guaranteed milk intake: Milk and its products are the best source of dietary calcium.
●For babies aged 6-12 months, the daily milk intake is guaranteed to be more than 600 ml.
●Babies aged 1-3 years are guaranteed to have more than 480 ml of milk per day.
●Children aged 4-6 years are guaranteed to have a daily milk intake of more than 300-400 ml.
Nutritionally balanced: Eat more foods high in calcium
For babies over 1 year old, in addition to ensuring adequate milk, they should also eat more foods with high calcium content, such as dairy products (cheese, yogurt), soybeans and soy products, green leafy vegetables, shellfish, fish, etc. are also good sources of calcium.
The amount of calcium in common foods
Source: Reference Dietary Nutrient Intake for Chinese Residents (2016)
Remember: after adding complementary foods, the amount of milk is sufficient and the diet is reasonable, so there is no need to worry about the child's calcium deficiency!
However, not all babies do not need additional calcium supplements, and if there are:
Premature babies, low birth weight babies.
Babies with severe picky eaters or a very unbalanced diet.
Identify babies who have been diagnosed by their doctors as calcium deficient and need calcium supplementation.
Babies with inadequate calcium supplementation due to illness or a special diet (such as allergies).
Babies with long height in the short term can consult a doctor to see if they need to supplement calcium as appropriate.
Calcium supplementation, only in the absence of calcium to supplement, according to the degree of calcium deficiency of the baby, under the guidance of the doctor to supplement, do not blindly supplement calcium!
Instead of obsessing over calcium supplementation, it is better to give your baby vitamin D supplementation seriously!
In the case of a normal diet, the baby will not be deficient in calcium, and parents do not have to cling to calcium supplementation.
Before the age of 2, the only thing the baby has to supplement is vitamin D, vitamin D is to promote the absorption of calcium by bones, insufficient intake will cause rickets.
Be sure to pay attention to the role of vitamin D, the body needs vitamin D to help absorb calcium, without calcium, calcium can not reach the location needed to build strong bones.
The "Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents 2016" points out that vitamin D supplementation is started from two weeks after the baby is born, no calcium supplementation is required, and premature babies or other special circumstances need to follow the doctor's advice.
So how to supplement vitamin D?
Exclusively breastfed babies: Breast milk is low in vitamin D and parents should start giving their baby 400 IU of vitamin D a day after a few days of birth.
Pure or mixed-fed babies: Choose a formula fortified with vitamin D, and if the daily milk intake exceeds 1,000 ml, no additional vitamin D supplementation is required.
If formula drinks less than 1000ml per day, vitamin D400 IU/day can also be directly supplemented, which is a safe dose and can effectively prevent vitamin D deficiency rickets in children.
Premature babies, low birth weight babies: vitamin D800 to 1000 IU supplementation every day after birth, changed to 400 IU per day after 3 months.
When do I need to supplement vitamin D?
From the perspective of preventing rickets, the Chinese guidelines recommend supplementation up to 2 years of age, and infants and young children under 2 years of age recommend supplementation of 400 IU/day.
Based on a large body of research, the American Academy of Pediatrics has made recommendations that can be supplemented until puberty.
Canada and the United Kingdom in the north suggest that they must be supplemented for a lifetime!
To sum up: supplement 400 IU a day until teenagers and even adults! Especially in high latitude areas, areas with more rain, less sunshine, long looking forward to at home, rarely go out outdoor sports baby.
The last thing to remind parents is: whether it is calcium or vitamin D, do not overdose, and do not decide whether the child needs calcium or vitamin D through self-judgment.
Whether your child needs to take calcium or vitamin D supplements should be judged by a doctor!
Reference articles
https://www.bellamysorganic.com.au/blog/calcium-and-its-importance-in-a-childs-diet/https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/calcium.html