The short answer is yes. Vitamin D is an important vitamin that helps the body absorb calcium and phosphorus from the gut. These two minerals are the building blocks for all the bony tissue in the body, including a baby's skull. Vitamin D deficiency leads to low calcium in the bloodstream, causing a condition called rickets.
Sources of Vitamin D
Vitamin D is produced in the body when the skin is exposed to sunlight. This inactive form of the vitamin then goes to the liver and the kidneys to become active. Babies also obtain vitamin D from their diet. According to the NIH's Office of Dietary Supplements, human breast milk is low in vitamin D, so infants who are exclusively breast-fed need vitamin D supplementation until they start consuming whole milk or vitamin D-fortified formula. Dietary sources of vitamin D for older babies and toddlers include orange juice, yogurt, eggs and ready-to-eat cereal.
Causes
Vitamin D deficiency usually results from inadequate exposure to sunlight or reduced absorption of the vitamin from the gut. According to the Merck Manuals Online Medical Library, babies should have direct exposure to sunlight to their face, arms or legs for five to 15 minutes at least three times a week. Some infants have a hereditary form of rickets that prevents the activation of vitamin D in the kidneys. Also, exclusively breast-fed babies have a higher risk of developing rickets.
Symptoms
Vitamin D deficiency can cause muscle weakness and pain, as well as bone pain. This can cause irritability in a baby, resulting in difficulty sleeping and feeding, and poor weight gain. Rickets also causes softening of the skull bones, a condition called craniotabes. According to the Merck Manuals Online Medical Library, this makes the skull feel like a ping-pong ball. Because of the weakness of the bones, babies with rickets have difficulty learning to sit and walk, and can have bone deformities as they get older, like thickening of the ribs and bowing of the legs. Rickets also predisposes babies to bone fractures, even with minor trauma.
Treatment
Vitamin D supplementation is the main treatment for rickets, as well as the main strategy to prevent the complications of vitamin D deficiency. All breast-fed infants should receive supplemental vitamin D until they are 6 months old and their diet becomes more diverse. Babies with rickets also need daily vitamin D supplements for about a month, or until calcium levels normalize.
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