Newborn

A newborn's first supplement is usually just one: vitamin D. In the UK, breastfed babies are advised to have 8.5 to 10 micrograms a day from birth. Babies who drink more than 500ml of first infant formula a day already get vitamin D from the formula, so extra drops are not needed.

Vitamin D contributes to the normal growth and development of bone in children. Sunlight on the skin is the main natural source, but newborns are kept out of direct sun, so the drops usually run all year. Our wider vitamin D3 range also covers older children and adults. The products on this page are dosed and packaged for the first months.

Drops, sprays and liquids differ more than the label suggests

Vitamin D dissolves in fat, so most baby drops sit in an oil base such as olive oil or MCT, a light fraction of coconut oil. That matters at this age. An oil drop can go straight onto a clean nipple, a washed fingertip or the bottle teat before a feed. Sprays are made for older mouths and are hard to aim at a few weeks old.

• Single-drop dosing: one drop is the full daily amount, so there is less to measure and less to spill.
• Pipette or multi-drop: more flexible if your health visitor advises a different amount, but you have to count.
• Flavourless: keeps the taste of the feed unchanged, which some babies notice straight away.
• No added sugar or alcohol: normal for this age group, still worth checking on the label.

How we choose the products in this collection

We look at three things before a baby product goes online: the form, the dose and whether the combination makes sense at this age. For a newborn that means D3 in an oil base at 8.5 to 10 micrograms, not a fourteen-nutrient formula built for toddlers. We leave out products that overshoot the UK advice, because more is not better here. We buy directly from the brands, so what arrives is what the label says, and our compliance team checks every product before it goes live. We also test ourselves, and independent labs spot-check batches. Read how we select brands and products.

What changes around six months

From six months to five years, UK advice moves to a daily supplement with vitamins A, C and D, unless your baby still has 500ml or more of first infant formula. Vitamin C contributes to the normal function of the immune system. Vitamin A contributes to the maintenance of normal vision. This is the point where many parents swap a single drop for a multivitamin. Do not run both at once: cod liver oil alongside A, C and D drops can push vitamin A intake too high. You can browse by life stage when that moment comes.

Be realistic about what a drop does. It covers a nutrient that breast milk and UK daylight do not reliably supply, and you will not see anything happen from the outside. Consistency is the whole point, so a bottle that lives next to the changing mat beats a better formula you forget. If you are breastfeeding, your own intake is a separate question, because your supplement does not replace your baby's drop. Our pregnancy and breastfeeding selection is built around that difference.