Do you use vitamins?

[Kitten-B]

As DS2 has just finished with formula and DS1 (3) is getting pickier and pickier I thought maybe it was time to follow the new NHS advice to give young children a daily multivitamin (particularly containing vitamin D).

Do most people do this now?

Just went to Boots but got confused by the choice -any recommendations? They seem pretty expensive when it's for 2!

Particularly what do you do for under 3s? All I could see was basically a medicine-like syrup. Oscar isn't great with medicine when he has a temperature so do not want to put him off it anymore by forcing it on him every day!

Is there any drops I can put in his cow's milk instead?

 

[biglebowski]

I got these last week for my lo. He is 12mo and off formula now. I got the vitamin drops. Spoke to the pharmacist and I got the NHS Healthy Start ones. They were £2.03 for a bottle. Hes taking it fine so must taste ok.

 

[Pearls18]

Yeah I've always done vitamins although I can forget on times! When DS was under 1 I used to give him abidec drops, when he was 1-3 I gave him abidec syrup and now he's 3+ he gets the chewy gummies in the shape of cars which look just like sweets. I will be doing the same with DS1 and I also take vitamins while I am BF, keep an eye out in supermarkets they are often 3 for 2 and I believe holland and Barrett do good deals.

(Because I was BF I had to start them with DS from 6 months)

 

[RachA]

I wouldn't give them unless I had a reason.
DS has always had a great and varied diet so he's never had them.
DD on the other hand has had them since she was 1 as at that point she refused pretty much all food apart from weetabix. I still use them most of the time. Up until she was 4 she had the abidec drops. Now though she has Animal Parade-they are seriously expensive but I needed something with a proper dose of iron.

 

[KBC1220]

I never gave them as a baby and my 4 year old just starting taking them. He has the superhero gummies.

 

[Natsku]

I've used the chewable tablets since 15 monthsish (I also use them for myself as they taste so good!)

 

[charlie15]

I give vitamin d only. It's by natures aid from holland and Barrett. It is totally tasteless liquid and I put it in her porridge every morning.

 

[FAB mama]

We've used prescription vitamins from the pediatrician since 6 months. They are liquid drops that contain A, C, D, fluoride, and iron I think. He switched to the ones with iron at 9 months because he tested low for it and still tested a little low at 12 months. I don't give them every day though. He won't use a spoon or accept being spoon-fed so we have to squirt them in his mouth which he HATES. If I put it in a cup to drink with something he'd probably never finish the drink, so I don't bother that way.

 

[babyjan]

There's abidec drops and the syrup one with a lemon taste, now we're trying wellkid, my friend recommended, it's important he gets them everyday as he doesn't eat much at all.

 

[Poetry]

I love the Wellkid ones (hate the name, though!) as it seems to have the widest range of vitamins included and both of mine will happily knock it back

 

[minties]

In a way I do, they both drink stage 3 toddler formula which has more stuff in it than cows milk does. I mainly get it because it's cheap.

 

[hanelei]

I do, but only because my son is a massively picky eater, I probably wouldn't if he ate better. I also use toddler formula in his breakfast cereal about half the time for the same reason, but will probably stop that when he turns 3 in April.

I'm not so concerned about vitamin D because we live in a relatively sunny climate a lot closer to the equator than the UK and get plenty of outdoors time year round, but I'm not sure he's getting enough of other vitamins and minerals.

 

[lau86]

I never did but I was advised to at his 2 yr check up. I bought them from the childrens centre they're a liquid and you drop it onto food.
I like to follow guidelines lol!!

 

[OmarsMum]

I give him organic concentrate fruits & veggies extract with omegas type of vits in addition to superfoods powder. I add them to smoothies or fruits pots

 

[babybaker2011]

We use multi-vitamin drops and I just add it in with some juice/water mix at lunch.

 

[Button#]

I do and I put it in his water as that's the only way he'll take them.

 

[MumToEva]

We use Abidec syrup - Eva still has a bottle AM and PM, so I put it in the bottle - it smells lemony but it doesn't see to bother her in the slightest.

 

[ronnie1234]

Never give them if lo having healthy varied diet do I need to?

 

[Pearls18]

Never give them if lo having healthy varied diet do I need to?

Where in the world are you? In the UK it is recommended that vitamin D is given to pregnant and BF women, children under 5 and the elderly. It is mostly absorbed from sunlight but because the UK is rubbish for sunlight and because we protect our skin so much with sun block etc (especially the vulnerable people above) we are not always getting enough, it isn't something that is easy to get from diet alone. So if you are UK it is recommended you supplement, if you're in a sunnier country like Australia I imagine it might not be

(There has been a resurgence of rickets in the UK and they account for this with us protecting ourselves from the sun more not getting enough vitamin d)

 

[SarahBear]

I don't do vitamins. I do breastfeed though, so that is one reason to not worry about it, whereas you're going off formula, so it's more of a concern on your end. I'm not sure what I would do if I wasn't able to breastfeed her for some reason. As for vitamin D, we never did vitamin D supplements. I question whether or not I should have when she was younger. As for vitamin D now, she gets outside for daily walks, we eat fish weekly, and she eats eggs daily. Hopefully that, plus wherever else you get vitamin D, is enough. We also get fresh local, pastured eggs, so they probably have more vitamin D than the factory farmed eggs. The fish are also fresh and local. In addition to that, we get really high quality beef (so it therefore has more nutrition in it). Not everything we get is as amazing in its quality as the beef, fish, and the eggs that we get, but we try to address nutrition through quality food rather than vitamins. I know kids can get picky, but that's less of a problem when breastfeeding.