Do your kids take vitamins?
We adults may have vitamins or supplements we take, but I could use some suggestions on vitamins or supplements for the kids set. A quick status update on my Facebook about my almost 6-yo down with a scratchy throat and sniffles solicited a few quick suggestions, including Hyland's "Sniffles and Sneezes", "C-Plus Cold Tablets" and kids Emergen-C. When you feel that the kids' immunity levels are low, do you supplement with something other than lots of fluids and fruits/veggies high in Vitamin C?
Probiotics and adequate vitamin D have been recommended to me for the little ones.
Posted by: Suzi Balleisen | September 17, 2009 at 11:16 AM
No....I don't feel that is necessary.
Posted by: Rebecca, American Mami in Sweden | September 17, 2009 at 11:52 AM
My kids take a multi-vitamin and an anit-oxidant every day. They are from the Nature's Sunshine kid's line. I've noticed that if we run out, about four weeks later they get run down more easily and seem to perk up again when they start taking them. They love them and are super excited to eat them every day. Wish I could get as excited about my gobs of herbs I slug back every day.
http://www.naturessunshine.com/us/products/catalog/category/default.aspx?pid=82
Posted by: Suki | September 17, 2009 at 11:52 AM
I give my almost-3 year old a child's multi-vitamin daily, primarily to get enough vitamin D. Seems like there's good evidence that usually people don't get enough of this. My daughter loves them! I don't do anything differently when faced with a cold, however.
Posted by: Elle | September 17, 2009 at 12:16 PM
we ran out of vitamins awhile back and for a month at least, every time i went to the store i would forget to get more. when i thought about it, no one had been sick for awhile whereas before, with 3 kids and 2 adults, it seemed like something was going around every couple weeks. when i finally got more, the kids were sick within 2 weeks. so i stopped again and no one has been sick. then paranoia took over and i thought the vitamin companies had somehting to do with it! anyway, now that school is on, we'll see how my theory holds up. they have a balanced diet so i'm not real concerned with extra vitamins right now, but with winter coming i'll look into vit.d and c.
Posted by: shannon | September 17, 2009 at 12:31 PM
My kids take a gummy multi-vitamin and fish oil capsules every day.
When they have a cold, I make the Jewish grandma's chicken soup and have them drink more OJ.
Posted by: philomom | September 17, 2009 at 01:11 PM
Nah - colds are part of life. They take a multi every day, and eat a well rounded diet. When they are sick, I usually buy a watermelon though. It's cold, so easy on their throats, full of fluids to keep them hydrated, and I am sure the vit C doesn't hurt either. That's the only thing I really do extra other than common sense stuff related to fluids, etc.
Good luck this season!
Posted by: mamatothree | September 17, 2009 at 01:44 PM
I give my 3 year old son a gummi vitamin with fish oil already in it (they smell funky, but he likes them) every night before he brushes his teeth for bed. We get 'em at Costco.
http://tinyurl.com/n2v6qn
Posted by: Ellen | September 17, 2009 at 03:38 PM
Daily gummi vitamin is all. When she's sick, more fluids.
Posted by: anon | September 17, 2009 at 04:24 PM
My daughter generally eats a healthy and balanced enough diet that I don't give her vitamins. However, when she's gone through picky periods and I wasn't feeling good about her food intake, I'd supplement with vitamins. When I buy them, I get the gummi vitamins from Costco.
When she's ill, we treat the symptoms and make sure she's well-hydrated. Knock on wood...that doesn't happen very frequently.
Posted by: Sheryl | September 17, 2009 at 05:02 PM
I give both my kiddos, 3 and 1, kid's echinacea as a daily supplement plus vit c and a multi vitamin for the 3 year old. when they do get sick we do hydrotherapy (wet socks), Emergen-C, and extra doses of the echinacea. Good luck!
Posted by: Emily Flippin Maruna | September 17, 2009 at 09:45 PM
Rhino beanie vites and lots of yogurt (with probiotics) seem to do well...
Posted by: Kristin | September 17, 2009 at 10:19 PM
I give my child a lot of fruit and veggies. She also takes multi-vitamins prescribed by doctor.
Posted by: headbands | September 17, 2009 at 11:35 PM
Our 18 month old and 7 year old take Childlife liquid multivitamis,Carlsons liquid fish oil,liquid calcium w/vitamin D and powdered berry greens everyday. They eat really well but I want to make sure they get everything they need and if it just makes them have expensive pee I am ok with that. They are self imposed mostly vegans (Im not)so I like them to get the calcium and omega 3's.Our naturalpathic Dr. put them on these supplements.
Posted by: Heather | September 18, 2009 at 10:28 AM
I am concerned about the lack of regulation of supplements in general, and choose to purchase "USP verified" childrens' multivitamins (the last purchase was from Costco) that we have the kids take when their meals have been haphazard.
Posted by: Anon | September 18, 2009 at 06:07 PM
My daughter takes two gummi vites and a swig of fish oil (Nordic Naturals strawberry or peach flavor). We get them at New Seasons. I actually give them to her as treats, for finishing her broccoli or something. I know...
Posted by: lea | September 18, 2009 at 10:49 PM
I'm a bit worried about multivitamens since the report came out about lead in most all multivitamens, even those for children. Do a google search and you will find more detailed information
Posted by: anne berry | September 19, 2009 at 11:12 AM
Given the comment above regarding lead and multivitamins, I looked at the FDA website: http://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodSafety/FoodContaminantsAdulteration/Metals/Lead/ucm115941.htm
It appears that samples had levels well below what's considered safe.
Posted by: Elle | September 20, 2009 at 07:48 PM
What happens when there is a "safe" amount of lead in this toy that your child is exposed to, a "safe" amount in the vitamin that your child ingests, a "safe" amount in the soil they play in....? What do all of these safe levels add up to at the end of the day? Is there really a safe level of lead?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8259639.stm
Posted by: j. | September 21, 2009 at 10:30 AM
Why do all the good tasting "fun" vitamins have to be gummy? Both our pediatrician AND our dentist frown upon this - so much sugar and sticks to the teeth.
We do a multi from Trader Joes but I'd like a better one. We also do the fish oil that Dr. Sears recommends. We usually do one or the other whenever my daughter remembers, because I never do (luckily that's almost every day). Eating healthy and washing hands often are more at the forefront of my mind.
Posted by: Melissa | September 21, 2009 at 12:09 PM
we do vitamin D, b12 and a DHA if i can somehow get it into a smoothie.
Heather - you sound like youve got all the bases covered, but watch out with the calcium - its a scam! calcium causes calcification in the body - hardening, aging. usually the body just needs adequate magnesium to make its own calcium. look it up online.
Posted by: cc | September 22, 2009 at 05:19 PM
p.s. keywords: nanobacteria, david wolfe (not the coral calcium thing that just came up in my search)
Posted by: cc | September 22, 2009 at 05:28 PM
Thanks cc! I will look it up. The last thing I want to do it harm my kids-yikes!
Posted by: Heather | September 24, 2009 at 11:32 AM
Hey you know its much safer to give your kids natural vitamins rather than chemicals. Stargate Nutrition material is brown like nature not white like chemical.
Posted by: Ralph Quinlan Forde | September 24, 2009 at 11:44 AM
I've been taking suplements for years, but haven't thought about giving them to my little one.
How do you know what a safe child's dose is though?
Also, did you all do the liquid multi with fluoride?
If not, were their teeth OK in the end, or do you regret it?
I have such mixed emotions on the issue.
I feel horrible every time I give it to my little one.
Should I be listening to my gut here??
Posted by: Erin | September 24, 2009 at 05:12 PM
@cc: but calcium does help with the absorption of Vit. D...
Posted by: Leslie | September 24, 2009 at 05:46 PM
I do a multivitamin because my 4 y.o. is SUCH a picky eater that otherwise I would really worry about him getting all the daily (or even weekly) vitamins he needs. This way I can still present him with healthy varied meals but not freak out as much if he turns his nose up at everything. (And we don't give in and make separate meals--don't want to go down that road.)
Posted by: Anjani | September 25, 2009 at 12:20 AM
A good blog post with nice community feedback - my son's six now and he's been using some natural multi vitamins since he was 2. They're called Vita squares by GNLD and he also uses Omega 3 from the same guys. I posted a comparison of some leading kids multi vitamins - you may find it interesting http://healthyfoodsupplements.wordpress.com/2009/09/09/hear-from-people-whose-kids-have-been-using-vita-squares/.
Posted by: Nishit Kotak | March 14, 2010 at 04:32 PM