Do you give your under 3yo a vitamin or mineral supplement?

[99redballoons]

If yes, which one do you use?

My ds is 21mo and for about 4 months (14-18mo) I gave him a Kindervital vitamin supplement and a Kindervital Mineral supplement (both completely natural with no artifical preservatives, colours, sweetners etc). I could get the vitamin one in Sainsbury's, but had to order the mineral over the net. This became a bit of a pain as the website were hopeless and I haven't found it elsewhere. Plus he ended up having 4tsp in a day. Soooooo, a few months ago we moved onto Haliborange multi-vit liquid, but it is missing the minerals... I really want to make sure ds is getting enough iron and zinc in his diet (but he hates nearly all vegetables, esp dk grn ones!). There seems such poor range for the under 3's in local supermarkets and pharmacy's.

What do you give and why? TIA

I only give cod liver oil.

I use the haliborange liquid, but would be interested to know if there is something better. My kids both love the Haliborange stuff though

I was giving abidec in DD's juice when she seemed to be getting every bug going... seh still got lll the bugs though, so quit!!

Will be on fish oils soon though I think....

are all your dd/ds's under 3? Thx for the comments

my ds's are 3.5 and 5, but have been giving the vits for a couple of years.

Yes, I give my DD (14 months) a combined vitamin and mineral supplement called Usanimals by Usana Health Sciences. I crush it up into her breakfast. DS (5 years old) has 2 of these a day. I also give them EFAs.

I've been giving dd the Bassetts chewable vitamins for a month or so and only just realised it says they're for over 3-year-olds!! . She seems to have been ok so far - do you think I should stop? I know they're not the most healthy ones but she takes them which she wouldn't with others I tried and she does seem to have had less colds and coughs lately ...

She's 2 1/2 by the way. Could I have done her any damage by giving them?

Mummylonglegs, my ds is 2 + 1/2 and iron deficient and I can't get him to take any form of liquid vitamins. I too have been considering giving him the tablets or jellies even though he is a bit young. It's a case of weighing the unknown reason for the age limit and having his development slowed because of the lack of iron. Tricky. Still debating it but I know that my friend gives her 2 + 1/2 yr old the 3+ tablets...

Thanks logic. I got quite worried when I realised. I don't have any of the drops that are suitable for her age to compare the levels. If anyone has some to hand to compare I'd really appreciate it.

There's:
Vit A 800ug
Vit C 60mg
Vit D 5ug
Vit E 10mg

Hi Mummylonglegs, my Haliborange has the following and is for age 1 month upwards, for adults and children.
1-4months half 5ml tsp
4mo-4yrs one 5ml tsp
4yr-adult two 5ml tsp

amounts per 5ml tsp
Vit A 200ug
Vit C 25mg
Vit D 3.5ug
Vit E 2mg

These are quite alot less than your quantities. If she's having a whole basset then I would either change brand all together or definitely give only half the current quantity (just mother's intuition, I'm not medical!).

I will look up the Usanimals, thx Ghosty. Which EFA's do you give? I did give ds Omega Essential Balance Oils for short while but we didn't use the bottle as quickly as we were supposed to and it became a waste of money. Now that I'm pg I guess I should be taking them too so may look into that one again. There are so many EFA liquids out there how do you know which one gives the best balance?

bump

My 2.4 yo ds has just started to take vitamin tablets. The packet clearly states suitable only for 3+ but think this is due more to their (in)ability to chew something that size, rather than it not be suitable for any other reason. My ds is capable of chewing it ok so he should be alright. I have to hide the box as he thinks they are sweets.

I started giving him multivits as he is vegetarian, and wondered if his tiredness could be due to him lacking something. My HV reckons he doesn't need them but that I could give him them if I would be happier to.

99redballoons ... have a look at my webpage Usanimals are on there. Sorry for the blatant plug!
Just so that you are aware ... it is not wise for anyone to take vitamin A ... it can be toxic to the system ... best to take a supplement that has beta carotene in it ... that is the pre cursor to Vit A and helps your body produce its own Vit A ...

Thanks for the further replies.

I will check out the actual contents list, ghosty, and the link. Thx.

BioCare do a childrens Vitamin and Mineral supplement - I get it from my health food shop - one capsule daily for a 2 year old.

They have a website, and you can order over the phone if you find it hard to locate it. We have used this for 5 years now

I only give IQ liquid. i hide the vanilla stuff in their milk.

Yes
chewable chalky tablets, little blighter won't eat fruit and mainly eats dry things and only one reall meal a day

my ds is nearly 8 months old, and doesn't like anoy kind of formula at all. Doesn't bfeed that much, and i want to give him a vitamin supplement. Anyone know if he too young? I have the animal parade vits but there is no lower age limit on the pack.

We use Boots own Multivitimin Syrup!

we use an exc one called healthaid Haemovit liquid gold. its in liquid form, contains iron plus all the vits and minerals..iodine
lysine
calcium
potassium
manganese
honey
malt extract
ginkgo biloba
sasparilla
birch leaf extract. its exc for our son who has a restricted diet and when he has his blood tests to check his levels they are perfect BUT its only from 3 yrs up it says but they may do a younger age version if you ask..i get it from in dependant health shop/pharmacy .but well recommended

i forgot to add that animal parade are also very good and have everything in them and are chewable

Thanks all for the replies! Will look into all of these.

ruty, the Haliborange one I'm currently using for ds says it can be given from 1mo, half a 5ml tsp per day. It's mentioned lower down in the thread. It is however, missing the minerals (it just has core vitamins). I think DH got it in Sainsburys. Not saying it's the best one (as we're looking to change!) but HTH.

C&P BioCare's formula:

Benefits and Features of BioCare Children?s Multivitamins and Minerals

· Vitamin C presented in a low acid form as magnesium ascorbate
· Vitamins B6 and B12 are presented in their biologically active forms; pyridoxal-5-phosphate and hydroxycobalamine
· Vitamin D3 is a highly active form of vitamin D
· Contains yeast-free organic L-selenomethionine
· Contains natural vitamin E
· Excipient and additive free to suit food intolerant individuals
· Suitable for vegetarians

Ingredients typically per vegetable capsule

125mg Magnesium Ascorbate (providing 116.9mg vitamin C and 8.1mg elemental magnesium)
20mg Magnesium Gluconate (providing 1.1mg elemental magnesium)
15mg Calcium Gluconate (providing 1.4mg elemental calcium)
15mg Vitamin B5 (calcium-d-pantothenate)
10mg Vitamin B3 (niacinamide)
8mg Vitamin B6 (pyridoxal-5-phosphate)
7.5mg Vitamin B1 (thiamine)
5mg Vitamin B2 (riboflavin)
5mg Vitamin E 7.5i.u. (d-alpha-tocopherol) (natural source)
5mg Zinc Ascorbate (providing 4.2mg Vitamin C and 0.8mg elemental zinc)
5mg Iron Ascorbate (providing 4.8mg Vitamin C and 0.2mg elemental iron)
4mg Manganese Ascorbate (providing 3.5mg Vitamin C and 500mcg elemental
manganese)
1.5mg P.A.B.A (para amino benzoic acid)
500mcg Choline Bitartrate
400mcg L-Selenomethionine (yeast free) (providing 20mcg elemental selenium)
360mcg Chromium Polynicotinate (providing 18mcg elemental chromium)
225mcg Vitamin A 750i.u. (retinol palmitate)
150mcg Vitamin D3 15i.u. (cholecalciferol)
35mcg Sodium Molybdate (providing 14mcg elemental molybdenum)
8mcg Folic Acid
8mcg Biotin
8mcg Vitamin B12 (hydroxycobalamine)
6mcg Copper Gluconate (providing 0.8mcg elemental copper)

Non-active ingredients:
Cellulose, vegetable magnesium stearate
Capsule: cellulose and water

Think I'll look at healthaid Haemovit liquid goldas well though as it sounds a good formula

Thx FIMAC1, where did you get this info? I've just been searching google myself The Haemovit does look good, but clearly says from 3y and my ds is 22mo. Do you think "vegicaps" are chewable or must be swallowed?