When should babies take zinc supplements? When is the best time for babies to take zinc supplements?

Calcium, iron, zinc, selenium and vitamins are all very important for the healthy growth of babies and none of them can be missing. If your baby is zinc deficient, he or she will lose appetite and become picky about food. Long-term zinc deficiency will cause your baby to grow and develop slowly. Moreover, babies who are zinc deficient have poor immunity and are more susceptible to diseases. If the baby is deficient in zinc, zinc supplementation should be given in time. The same applies to iron deficiency, iron supplementation should be given in time.

Symptoms of zinc deficiency

1. Loss of appetite: Daily food intake suddenly decreases, and symptoms such as picky eating, anorexia, and pica appear.

2. Unusual food habits: Children start eating strange things, such as nails, wood, soil, stones and other foreign objects.

3. Slow development: height is 3~6cm shorter than children of the same age.

4. Poor immunity: frequent colds and fevers, or respiratory infections such as tonsillitis and pneumonia.

5. Abnormalities of nails and tongue: white spots appear on the nails and hangnails grow on the fingers. Or there may be irregular red and white patterns on the tongue, commonly known as geographic tongue.

6. Slow reaction: lack of concentration and poor memory.

7. Decreased vision: Patients with zinc deficiency will experience obvious vision loss and suffer from diseases such as astigmatism and myopia. Especially at night, their vision is even more worrying.

8. The skin's self-healing ability is reduced: wounds are not easy to heal and skin diseases are more likely to occur.

9. Increased oral ulcers: recurring and incurable

Tips for zinc supplementation:

1. For babies who are severely deficient in zinc, it is best to supplement it alone, and not to supplement it together with iron, because iron will rob the zinc absorption channel. If you supplement them together, it will be in vain. It is best to take them separately in the morning and evening. (Babies with iron deficiency anemia must supplement iron and zinc together to avoid zinc deficiency)

2. When mixing powdered zinc, do not use vegetable water or fruit juice as the phytic acid and tannic acid in them will hinder the absorption of zinc. Just mix it with boiled water.

3. Do not supplement zinc immediately after a meal. The phytic acid in the staple food will also affect the baby's absorption. During the zinc supplementation period, you can consume some fermented staple foods, such as steamed buns, bread, etc., because fermentation will destroy phytic acid.

4. Zinc and probiotics can be supplemented together. Probiotics can maintain intestinal health and help the absorption of nutrients.