Vitamin supplements: worth it or a waste of money?

[DumbledoresFairy]

Ds3 (3) is going through the hardly eating anything stage. I know it is a stage as he is my fourth and they have all gone through it, so I am not worried about getting him eating more per se. However, I have just bought him a bottle of Minadex tonic as it concerns me that he cannot possibly be getting enough vitamins. I did the same for ds2 at a similar age but then I remember he was always getting coughs and colds and was often tired and tearful so I really felt he needed a boost (I think the HV recommended it for me). Ds3 is not going through a stage of frequent illness and has normal energy etc, so am I wasting my money buying vitamin supplements for him? I am sure dh thinks I am, but I get twitchy when I see how little gets eaten day after day. What does anyone else think? Does he need them or am I wasting my money?

[TheOlihantheIvy]

I think government recommendations are that ALL children under 5(?) take a supplement of Vit A, C & D. Ds takes them because he also goes through phases of not eating very well. I'm sure it can't do any harm and if it makes you less twitchy then it has to be a good thing.

[DumbledoresFairy]

Good grief, does the government really recommend that? Where have I been that I have missed out on knowing that? I suppose it is the sort of thing you learn in baby clinics, and I have not been to one since ds3 was about 1 year old.

[TheOlihantheIvy]

I think it's the sort of info they keep quiet in case parents start demanding they make them free!! I read it somewhere, M&B magazine I think. I also have a phobia of baby clinics, haven't been since dd was 8 weeks - she's now 15 months!

[DumbledoresFairy]

A long long time ago - really back in the mists of time, when ds1 was little, well OK about 10 years ago - you used to be able to buy tiny bottles of liquid vitamins at the baby clinic for 52p. But you had to know about them - they didn't advertise they were there for some reason!

[RubberDuckWithCranberrySauce]

I always give my two vitamins - not sure if they do any good, but I figure they can't harm and it stops me from stressing too much if they go through a bad eating phase.

Actually, thinking about it, my homeopath thinks we should all take vitamins, because even if you're on an excellent diet with local organic produce, the nutrients in our soil have depleted so much in the last 50-60 years that it's hard to get all the vitamins we need from diet alone... apparently. I can't remember the exact figures but it was something shocking like only 30% of the mineral levels left in the soil.

[DumbledoresFairy]

But surely vitamins in a bottle aren't as good as vitamins from food. Or are they? I am a bit unsure of this ground.

[RubberDuckWithCranberrySauce]

Depends on their source apparently - they should be "food grade" vitamins. Some of the cheaper vitamins can be in a format that the body doesn't recognise as food, so doesn't absorb it so well.

I should repeat that I'm not an expert - I'm just parotting back what I was told I just take 'em as a cheap way to hedge my bets.

On the plus side, since I started on the homeopathy + vitamins + cut back on caffeine (for allergy related problems, not general health) I've had the pleasant side effect of far fewer colds and bugs so far this winter. Last winter I got everything going from about October onwards. I've only had one cold so far and that was mild (frantically touches every piece of wood she can find!)

[RubberDuckWithCranberrySauce]

This is the blurb I got sold, anyway Finally found it on the internet and relieved I remembered it fairly closely...

[crazydazy]

DG I can certainly recommend them. My children have been taking them since autumn last year and (touch wood) they have not been ill with anything and that includes tummy bugs (and you know how we hate those!!!). I give them the Bassets chewy vits every day and even if they do get a snuffle they get over it very quickly. I panic now if I run out of them.