Baby vitamins

In the first year, almost everything a baby needs comes from breast milk or infant formula. Vitamin D is the exception. Breast milk contains little of it, and babies are kept out of direct sun. That is why UK guidance singles it out, and why most items here are drops.

The Department of Health and Social Care advises a daily supplement with 8.5 to 10 micrograms of vitamin D for breastfed babies from birth to one year. Babies having more than 500 ml of infant formula a day do not need one, because formula is already fortified. From six months, the advice widens to vitamins A, C and D. Older children and adults follow one figure of 10 micrograms, which you can see in our range of vitamin D3 drops and capsules.

If you receive Healthy Start payments, free vitamin drops are available through the NHS scheme. Buying makes sense for everyone else, or for parents who want a different form or a product without added flavouring.

Forms that suit a body of five kilos

A baby cannot swallow a tablet, so the format decides everything. Three types appear in this collection:

• Vitamin D3 drops in oil. Vitamin D is fat-soluble, which means it needs some fat to be absorbed, so an olive or coconut oil base fits it. Give the drops on a clean spoon, or on the nipple just before a feed.
• Multivitamin drops with A, C and D. Usually from four or six months, mixed into milk or a spoonful of food.
• Sprays and syrups. Easier once your child sits up and eats solids, less practical in the newborn weeks.

Strengths per drop differ widely between brands. Five drops of one product and one drop of another can both give 10 micrograms. Read the label rather than copying another parent's routine, and never give two supplements that both contain vitamins A and D.

Two practical points come up often. Babies push out drops with a strong taste, so a neutral oil base usually goes down better than a sweetened syrup. And if you stir drops into a bottle your baby does not finish, part of the dose stays behind, which is why a spoon first removes the guesswork.

How we choose baby vitamins

We judge three things: the form, the dose and the combination. For babies we prefer vitamin D3 in a plain oil base, with the micrograms per drop printed clearly on the label. We keep high-strength adult drops out of this collection, because a dosing slip weighs heavier in a body of five kilos. We add a multivitamin only when the vitamin A level stays inside the amounts UK guidance intends. Every product passes our compliance team before it goes live, we buy directly from the brands, and independent labs spot-check batches. You can read how we select.

Who this suits, and who can leave it on the shelf

Breastfed babies, and babies having less than 500 ml of formula a day, are the clear group. Fully formula-fed babies drinking more than that already get these vitamins in their milk. Vitamin K is not part of this collection: in the UK it is given at birth by the midwife, as an injection or as oral doses. For the first weeks, start with our Newborn selection.

You will not see or feel a supplement working in a baby, and it does not replace milk or first foods. It quietly covers the gap our climate and diet leave open, one small dose a day. When your child turns one, the amounts change, and our overview by life stage shows what fits next.