A Whole New Baby

Timmy is a happy, content baby who sleeps now. It's a miracle. After this, we made a bunch of changes, and it's impossible to tell exactly which one made the difference, but I'm pretty sure it's the vitamins. We stopped giving him Polyvisol, the vitamins with iron for toddlers and breastfed babies. The pharmacist had told us it might constipate him and we would then have to give a suppository. But he never seemed constipated per se... he still pooped, maybe slightly less. We also started giving him Mylicon. His crib mattress is elevated a little bit and he has been swaddled the past few nights.
And he's a dream. The past two nights he has had a five hour stretch of sleep. This morning at 6:15 I heard him making a few noises, but he wasn't crying. I went in to check on him since it had been so long, and he was really hungry but he wasn't crying! Then he went back to sleep after cuddling and playing with me. Shocking! When he's awake, he's happy now. And cuddly. And delightful.

I'm curious if anyone else had a problem with polyvisol. I found this, with one poster saying the following:

I never gave my DS any vitamins. They were not even mentioned by our pedi at the time so I never even considered that he might need them.
Our current pedi prescribed them for DD at birth, not because of anything about her condition but because I guess he just prescribes them as a matter of course to BF babies. Well, I didn't really check into it and just followed the doc's advice, or tried to. The first time I tried to give it to her she vomited everywhere. The second time I put 1/4 that amount into EBM and she again vomited everywhere. Well, at that time I threw them in the trash. I felt comfortable doing that based on my experience with my DS.
Now, I'm glad I did not give them to her, because I've since learned that supplemental iron is actually BAD for BF babies unless there is a demonstrated iron deficiency (rare)-this can be determined by a simple blood test if your doctor is worried or your LO is showing signs of anemia. BM does not have high quantities of iron, but the iron in BM is almost completely available or able to be absorbed by babies. On the other hand, the synthetic iron in supplements, formula, and cereals is absorbed at a rate of something like 10% so they have to give megadoses. These megadoses usually cause stomach upset or constipation (see above) and interfere with one of the antibodies in BM that protects babies from GI distress and diarrhea. I learned these facts from two main sources:
book: Milk, Money and Madness: The Culture and Politics of Breastfeeding
online: Vitamins and Supplements
Obviously, it's your call. But I personally wish that I had been informed of these facts earlier.


I figure I take vitamins and eat pretty well. He'll be fine for a month or two without them and we can reevaluate when his system is more mature.

Thanks for the support and advice. I'm just glad Timmy's back!