Infant Vitamin a Deficiency: How to Protect Your Baby

An infant's immune system is quite fragile, and as a new parent, you're doing all you can to make sure that your baby is safe and healthy. Protecting your infant's health even before birth is important, but you may find that your little one is experiencing vitamin deficiencies during the first few months of life for various reasons. Here are some of the causes and symptoms of vitamin A deficiency in infants, as well as ways to cure the deficiency in your infant.

If you notice that your baby's immune system is not as strong as it should be, this could be a sign of a lack of vitamin A in the body. Vitamin A helps the body to fight off infection, and keeps organs functioning properly. If your infant constantly has colds or flu symptoms, it could be a result of low vitamin A levels. If your little one is not able to eat solid foods yet and you are breast feeding, you may want to ask your doctor about a safe supplement you can take to increase your child's vitamin A intake.

Vitamin A is also the 'vision vitamin' since it is found in high amounts in vegetables like carrots or sweet potatoes, and in orange colored fruits, such as peaches and apricots. These foods also contain beta carotene, which helps the body to ward off sickness and promotes heart health. While your baby is not able to see in full color until about 6 months or so, it's important to make sure your infant's eye health is intact from birth. Vitamin A deficiency is the leading cause of childhood blindness, but some children experience conditions such as measles or chronic diarrhea even before blindness sets in-these are prime indicators that more vitamin A is needed in the diet.

Once your child is old enough to eat strained or solid foods, be sure to feed him or her foods like mashed carrots, peach puree, green leafy vegetables, and organic milk (you can mix this with some formulas as well). If you are raising your child to be vegan or dairy-free, vitamin A-fortified versions of rice and soy milk are available as well. It is also believed that the bulk of vitamin A comes from animal sources such as eggs, liver, and milk, so if you're vegetarian and are feeding your child a vegetarian diet, the intake of vitamin A-rich foods needs to be increased up to ten times! You should also ask your doctor about child-safe supplementation or eye drops with vitamin A to preserve your baby's vision and prevent further illness.