Need Ideas on How to Get a 3 1/2 Year Old to Eat His Vitamin

HI! I'm in West Warwick and I have a 5 and 3 1/2 year old plus a 5 month old! For my 5 and 3 year old, they didn't like taking vitamins either! Now I give them the gummy vitamins and they LOVE it! They think I'm giving them a candy treat instead of something good for them. I tried them myself and it just tastes like a gummy bear! Hope this helps!

Hi M.

Have you tried the gummy vitamins. My son started at about two telling me yucky when I gave him the hard vitamins but then discovered the gummy ones. I buy them at Walmart or Sam's club for a really good price. Hope this helps!

S.

I don't know if he has to take a special vitamin or what? My daughter used to refuse all vitamins but will take the Nature (something, not sure of the name) from Walmart it is a gummy vitamin and she loves them she also takes the gummy vitamin C. I am not sure how old they are appropriate for, she is 8. If you have to give him the other vitamin you can crush some of them and mix in apple sauce, pudding, yogurt, jello, icecream etc. ( I have to do that with my huge vitamins). Good luck!

Although they are probably not as effective as most vitamins on the market, I would get him the Flinstone vitamins. My son is "excited" every day to take his vitamin... he sometimes even asks for more (which of course, I don't give to him). If you have already tried that, try the gummy flinstones vitamins - a friend of mine gives those to her son, and he loves them!

Hi M.
I give both my daughters a powdered vitamin that is fruit punch flavored and they love them ask for them numerous times a day. I get them from Arbonne which is a Swiss health and wellness co. Their products are made with no chemicals, dyes or artificial flavoring, they are vegan certified, paraben free, mineral oil free. I dont know about you but I would much rather have my kids putting a healthy vitamin in them than whats on the market today. If you would like to try these I could send you some samples. You can only buy these through an Independent Consultant, as they are not sold in the stores.
Good Luck
Kristina

try and reward him with something that is fun and educational or something that he really likes or likes to do. That might make a difference.

Hi M. - If you do an internet search, you can find some sites that offer liquid vitamins that even though still have a smell and taste, it's easier to mix with juice. Just do a search for a 'childrens liquid vitamins". My son has sensory processing disorder and is very sensitive to taste and smell so we have spent a lot of money on vitamin searches - this is we're we've had the best luck.
Good luck

Maybe try giving him a different brand to liven it up a little and excite him with something new? I don't know if he likes the Gummy kind, but there are lots of those out there to try, like bears, Flintstones, etc. My 3.5 year old never liked the gummies kind and will only eat the chewable kind. I get mine at Trader Joe's - they are the kids' chewable daily vitamins in the bear shaped container. If you're already using the gummies, try the chewables and see what happens. Sometimes something new is all it takes to get them going! Maybe you could even try having one yourself with him! I also don't see anything wrong with good old-fashioned bribery sometimes... as awful as it is, it works! Keep the stakes low, like maybe he gets a little treat or present at the end of the week if he has eaten his vitamin the majority of the days. It won't last forever - I have learned that kids move through these stages pretty quickly, for better or worse! Good luck!

I buy liquid vitamins for toddlers for the days when my son won't eat his vitamin.

I dont know if its Flintstones or something similar that you are giving him, but I remember how gross those were and I can imagine he would call them yucky. They have kids multivitamins which arent gross tasting like the Flintstones are, such as the gummy bear kind. Explore the many options at the drug store. I used to work in a pharmacy and there must have been a couple dozen options for kids.

Try a different brand they all taste slightly different and he may like it better or instead of crushing it up get the liquid drops that they give infants and check w/ your ped on the correct dose and hide that in his food or liquids.

You might experiment w/ other brands that do not taste "yucky' to him. My children have gone through several brands before we found one at the whole foods store they like.

Are you completely locked in to that particular brand of vitamin? Would you consider something that is not a pill? About 2 years ago, the papers were full of articles on all the undigested pills (vitamins, prescriptions, sex hormones, antipsychotics, you name it) that were in the water supplies of many many cities & towns -- so there is plenty of documentation that pills aren't absorbed anyway. My daughter's pediatrician told her that, by buying vitamin pills, she is simply purchasing "expensive urine" because they aren't absorbed by the children anyway. She switched to a delicious shake - Kids Now - that comes in vanilla and chocolate. It's absorbed upwards of 95% within just 20 minutes of drinking it - and the kids haven't been sick since. Her 6 year old is a really terrible eater, like your child, so she really worries about nutrition. Or at least she did until she started Kids Now. It also has DHA and omega 3s for brain development so a lot of kids have improved focus. It's safe for infants too which is completely reassuring. I'd love to share more if you are interested. Enjoy your wonderful family!

They also make gummy cars which my son loves. He thinks they are a treat. We also never call them vitamins :-)

I used Polyvisol drops (they come with iron). You can get them at CVS or Walgreens. When I put it in their juice they don't notice a thing (and they usually do notice that stuff and do the same thing -refuse it).

I also found Marvel vitamins that are like gummy bears...they have Iron Man, SpiderMan, etc. (I don't think they have iron though) Now that they will eat those I don't have to do the drops anymore. I used to tell my oldest that the vitamins help him get stronger and run faster. It seemed to make him a bit more enthusiastic :-)

C.

Hi M.
Reliv's Kids Now is a delicious choc or vanilla shake that gives kids balanced safe nutrition. And he can "create" his own recipes. With your help of course. It is even safe for the little girls too!
J. H

have you tried gummy vitamins? my daughter loves fruit snacks so when i open the package i usually just stick one in there.

also try the V8 Fusion juice - they have a bunch of flavors and my daughter loves them - it has a full serving of fruits and veggies in it. she gets one glass a day - usually at dinner. (milk with breakfast, water all day long and juice with dinner).

I also agree with the gummy vitamin suggestion. They don't have that iron aftertaste that the other chewables have.
-S.

Go with the gummy ones. Our three year old has no idea they are vitamins and he actually reminds us to give him his gummy for the day sometimes.