Maternal vitamin D supplementation to improve the vitamin D status of breast-fed infants: a randomized controlled trial.

Objective: To determine whether a single monthly supplement is as effective as a daily maternal supplement in increasing breast milk vitamin D to achieve vitamin D sufficiency in their infants.

Patients And Methods: Forty mothers with exclusively breast-fed infants were randomized to receive oral cholecalciferol (vitamin D3) 5000 IU/d for 28 days or 150,000 IU once. Maternal serum, breast milk, and urine were collected on days 0, 1, 3, 7, 14, and 28; infant serum was obtained on days 0 and 28.