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Vitamin D for infants aged 7 to 11 months
Ten micrograms a day. This is the one age group where a vitamin D supplement is standard practice across the Nordic and Baltic countries rather than a personal choice, and the reason is that neither breast milk nor a northern winter supplies it.
These are published population reference values, not a diagnosis and not a prescription. A reference intake describes what covers a healthy group; it cannot tell you your own status, and no page can. Pregnancy, chronic illness, medicines and malabsorption all change the picture — take those questions to a doctor, midwife, pharmacist or dietitian.
Why infants are a special case
Breast milk is a poor source of vitamin D — that is a property of the milk, not a failure of the mother. Infant formula is fortified, so a formula-fed baby gets some from the feed itself, which is why national advice usually distinguishes between the two and sets the supplement accordingly.
On top of that, infants are kept out of direct sun deliberately and correctly, and at these latitudes there is no usable ultraviolet B for months anyway. So there is no meaningful skin synthesis and little dietary supply. EFSA sets the adequate intake at 10 micrograms a day for 7 to 11 month olds and 15 micrograms from one year.
Rickets is the reason this is not optional
Vitamin D deficiency in infancy causes rickets: soft, deforming bone, delayed motor milestones, and in severe cases low blood calcium with seizures. It had largely disappeared from northern Europe and has reappeared in pockets, which is why national child health programmes take supplementation seriously.
The counterweight matters too. Vitamin D is fat-soluble, infants are small, and high-dose products intended for adults are genuinely dangerous to them. This is a case for the product and the schedule your child health service recommends, at the dose they specify, and for nothing bought on a hunch.
Where the schedule comes from
Finland and Estonia both run national vitamin D supplement advice for infants and small children through the child health system, and the exact product, dose and duration are set nationally and revised from time to time. This page deliberately does not print a schedule, because a stale schedule is worse than none.
Your family health nurse, child health clinic or paediatrician has the current one, and it takes one question to get it.
What food contributes at this age
Very little, honestly. Once complementary feeding is under way, oily fish is the only substantial food source, and portions at this age are tiny. Fortified products vary by market. The supplement is doing the work, and the food table on the main vitamin D page shows why.
How this compares with every other group
| Group | Reference value | Type | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Infants 7-11 months | 10 µg | AI | |
| Children 1-3 years | 15 µg | AI | EFSA band is 1-17 years |
| Children 4-6 years | 15 µg | AI | EFSA band is 1-17 years |
| Children 7-10 years | 15 µg | AI | EFSA band is 1-17 years |
| Children 11-14 years | 15 µg | AI | EFSA band is 1-17 years |
| Boys 15-17 years | 15 µg | AI | EFSA band is 1-17 years |
| Girls 15-17 years | 15 µg | AI | EFSA band is 1-17 years |
| Men 19-50 | 15 µg | AI | |
| Women 19-50 | 15 µg | AI | |
| Men 51 and over | 15 µg | AI | |
| Women 51 and over | 15 µg | AI | |
| Adults 65 and over | 15 µg | AI | EFSA sets no separate value for older adults |
| Pregnancy | 15 µg | AI | no increase in pregnancy |
| Breastfeeding | 15 µg | AI | no increase while breastfeeding |
Ordinary food against the 10 µg figure for infants 7-11 months
Top of this list: Trout, 22.8 µg in a 120 g serving (a fillet) — 228% of the 10 µg figure for infants 7-11 months. One serving covers the whole day on its own.
| Food | Ordinary portion | Per portion | Share of the day |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trout | a fillet, 120 g | 22.8 µg | 228% |
| Canned sockeye salmon | half a tin, 100 g | 21 µg | 210% |
| Sardines | half a tin, 60 g | 2.88 µg | 29% |
| Whole milk † | a glass, 200 g | 2.6 µg | 26% |
| Skim milk † | a glass, 200 g | 2.4 µg | 24% |
| 2% milk † | a glass, 200 g | 2.4 µg | 24% |
| Cod | a fillet, 130 g | 1.56 µg | 16% |
| Canned tuna | a small tin, drained, 100 g | 1.2 µg | 12% |
| Egg (hard-boiled) | 1 egg, 50 g | 1.1 µg | 11% |
| Margarine tub † | a scraping, 10 g | 1.07 µg | 11% |
| Boneless pork chop | a chop, 120 g | 0.84 µg | 8% |
| Chicken thigh | a thigh, 120 g | 0.24 µg | 2% |
† US milk is fortified with vitamin D, and reduced-fat and skimmed milk also with vitamin A. Fortification of liquid milk is not universal in Europe - read the carton.
† Margarine is fortified with vitamins A and D here as well, but the amount is set by the manufacturer, so treat this figure as indicative rather than as a property of the food.
Portion sizes are ordinary household servings chosen for this table, not official reference portions, and the shortlist is an editorial one: everyday foods eaten in this region rather than the highest per-100 g entries in the database. A raw per-100 g ranking would be topped by dried herbs, drink powders and fortified breakfast cereals, which answers a different question. The composition data is American, so where US fortification practice differs from European practice the row carries a dagger and the reason. For the full per-100 g ranking of a nutrient, the food-data section of this site publishes one.
The whole nutrient, not just this group
The Vitamin D reference intake page carries the full age and sex table, the upper level, and what the value type means.
Related pages
Vitamin D for children aged 1 to 3
The same nutrient, a different life stage.
Vitamin D for adults 65 and over
The same nutrient, a different life stage.
Vitamin D in pregnancy
The same nutrient, a different life stage.
Sources: EFSA Dietary Reference Values · Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex XIII · USDA FoodData Central SR Legacy (food composition) · EFSA scientific opinion on dietary reference values for vitamin D (2016) · Nordic Nutrition Recommendations, Nordic Council of Ministers · Tervise Arengu Instituut, Estonian national nutrition guidance · Ruokavirasto, Finnish national nutrition guidance · checked 2026-09-06
Frequently asked questions
How much vitamin D does a baby need?
EFSA adequate intake is 10 micrograms a day for infants aged 7 to 11 months, rising to 15 micrograms from one year. National child health services set the supplement schedule.
Does breast milk contain vitamin D?
Very little. That is a property of breast milk rather than a problem with breastfeeding, and it is the reason infant vitamin D supplementation is standard practice in northern Europe.
Can you give a baby too much vitamin D?
Yes. Vitamin D is fat-soluble and accumulates, and infants are small. Use the product and dose your child health service recommends, and keep adult high-dose products away from children.
Turn a reference value into your own week
TempoLife adds up what you actually ate, so you can see how a real week sits against the figure on this page.