Calcium supplements for children - anyone use them and if so which ones

[katierocket]

DS (4) doesn't/won't drink milk. He has it on cereal and the odd yogurt but that's about it. over the last few months I've been a bit concerned that he might not be getting enough calcium and then I read today in the Sunday TImes that children up to 11 years old should have the equivalent of 1 pint a day.

So, calcium supplements - any recommendations for ones that might go down easily? chewable but not stuffed full of crappy sweetners

my ds's dietician also said 350 mg a day for children up to three.

It occurred to me. You know that Tesco now do calcium supplemented fruit juice ( much like the tropicana idea but in apple or tropical) in lunchbox size cartons now? My DS loves them for school. They're in the own brand small carton section, blue packaging.

Isn't there also spring water with added calcium, I'm sure I had it when I was pregnant.

yes, i had it too

This thread is 3 years old so wonder if anyone out there has any new info on calcium supplements for a toddler? DS2 - won't touch any milk, yoghurt & is very faddy about cheese, so I'm rather concerned about his calcium levels...

and bump again a year later.
DD aged 4 has 2 or 3 yoghurts a day. She might be having milk at school, I can never get that out of her. There is 9% of her recommended intake in her multi vitamin. In that I'd guess she's only getting 30 to 50% of the recommended intake a day. There's no way I'd get her to drink milk/flavoured milk at home.

I've heard that calcium supplements can be harmful for children. if anyone could explain that, i'd be grateful.

Thanks

I think you don't need to worry about supplementing as there is calcium in geen veg too. Going by nutritional advice I got in the past, once we have teeth, we don't drink milk (no other mammal drinks milk beyond weaning).
Added calcium is not brill, as by itself it might not be absorbed that well. There is also a problem with Ca/Mg balance (cows milk has too much calcium and not enough Mg).

Are his nails breaking up clean off or in layers? Coz my ds's was breaking off in layers and I found through testing he was Zn deficient (Zn is involved in connective tissue problems). Gave him some Zn supplements and his nails are fine now.

Thanks for your advice nightcat. How do you go about testing for deficiencies?

Zn can be worked out from liver enzymes (not sure if there is Zn direct blood test), other things like Ca, Mg, Cu, vit D, A, K, B.. can be done via blood test.
I think it's important to test for vit D, as that can affect calcium absorption, so it's not always as simple as giving them calcium.
I also tested my ds hair for metals (Zn def showed up too), but this was not in NHS, costs about £20 now.