Toddler Vitamins - Hockessin,DE

Try different types of veggies. my son loves red peppers and carrots because they are sweet. many fruits have a lot of vitamin c. Keep trying you will find something she likes. Try broccoli raw,they seems to be a favorite too. I think if she has a well balanced diet and is growing well there is no need for additional vitamins.

I think with all the concern about sunscreen diminishing our Vitamin D, a lot of people are starting a multivitamin. Couldn't hurt.

We do a "mini multi"-- we use Trader Joe's chewables. They have plant-based colors and flavors, and what I would consider the most important vitamins to supplement without a bunch of unproven or unnecessary supplementation. I tend to use them more in the winter when I'm more concerned about Vitamin D and not as many fresh fruits and veggies, but I don't think that it hurts anything to give one in the summer.

My personal prejudice is against the ones that look like gummy bears because oding on vitamins is very serious, and it should be clear which are vitamins and which are candy. Also, the Flinstones (which, of course, I grew up on) have artificial sweeteners, colors, and flavors. Yuck.

Hi A.,

Your daughter needs green leafy vegetables in addition to the peas and corn. Those provide nutrition, but a different type, and they also convert to sugar almost immediately in the body.

Vitamins are a good idea if it is a good vitamin. Flintstones and the types that you pick up at Walgreens or Walmart are not good. They actually do more damage. There are nutrients in them but they don't absorb properly so they create free radicals. Free radicals creat diseases and need extra antioxidants to keep them in check. I take a vitamin that is guaranteed to absorb like food and does not create free radicals. There is a chewable toddler form as well. If you're interested, let me know and I can send you some information on it.

To answer your question, either get a good vitamin or avoid it all together.

God bless,

M.

How about getting professional advice from your pediatrician? I asked my pediatrician if vitamins were necessary when our son turned 2 and he told me to give him half a vitamin until he turned 3, when he could have a whole one. Lots of meds are based on the average weight of a child (then they convert that weight estimate into an age recommendation). Be sure to ask your pediatrician if weight matters in vitamin dosing, and what vitamins your child actually needs.

We do the Flintstone vitamins, just in case, but I don't think it's necessary. In fact, I've stopped giving them to my son unless he asks for one. As long as kids are eating really well balanced diets, the vitamins, IN MY OPINION, are simply overkill. Of course I buy them from time to time, but I'm not militant about giving them. We also give my son NutriPals, since he's in an anti-veggie phase. The NutriPals are chock full of the same thing in the Flintstone vitamins.

A.,
I definitely gave my boys vitamins. Unfortuantely I didn't know much about supplements and gave my oldest son Flintstones before I found out how bad they and other ones at the store are. Go with good organic, food based supplements. A landmark study was published a couple of years ago by the Universtiy of California at Berkley showing that taking a synthetic vitamin lead to poorer health than taking none. It also showed that the natural supplements used in the study lead to greatly improved health. If you want to know more about the study or the natural supplements, let me know.
Victoria

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Would be glad to help. T.

I've always given my kids vitamins. I take vitamins and I feel that they help fill in the gaps when we're going through a picky eating phase or we have a day of junk food at an amusement park, etc. Unless you take too many, they can't really hurt! I've used Flintstones in the past, but I love the Gummy Vites and Brain Booster gummies by Little Critters. You can get them at most grocery stores, and I get large bottles of them at Costco. Both of my boys love them, and they are made with all-natural colors and flavors.

HI A.---Vitamins do not do the same for the body as food. And, yes, multii-vitamins will create an imbalance in the body and eventually create problems in the long run. Keep reintroducing those veggies on a regular basis. Dr. Bill Sears (www.askDrSears.com) tells that it can take 10 or more exposures before a child will accept a new food. I would also recommend his 'Family Nutrition' book.

I do, however, feel that we all need help with our nutrition, particularly in order for our bodies to be strong enough to prevent degenerative disease. And eating the right foods, lots of fresh fruits and veggie (mostly veggies, they contain the healing nutrients), whole grains, legumes (beans), nuts and seeds, provide us with disease fighting nutrients. We are supposed to eat in excess of 10 servings each day. Of course, that differs by age and sex and activity level. I have charts that tell how much a 2 yr old should be eating.

So, Dr. Bill and I both recommend a whole food based supplement that contains the dehydrated fruit and vegetable juice powders of 17 different foods. There is substaintial INDEPENDENT research to show that it gets into the body and positively impacts the immune system, protects and repairs DNA ( think anti-aging), reduces inflammation and free radical damage, as well as positive cardiovascular benefits. It impacts every cell, every organ system in the body, because it is recognized as FOOD in the body.

I take great comfort that I am eating a broad range of nutrients every day. The powders are put into capsules and gummies for little ones. If you are interested in additional info, please feel free to contact me. I am a health educator, not a sales person. If you feel you have a need, I have a potential solution for that need. I'd be honored to help.

PS. If you look at supplements, be sure that they are food based and do not contain artificial sweeteners or colors. You'd be better off with nothing than to consume 'negative' ingredients. And, btw, corn is a grain, not a veggie.

Be well, D.

I give my 2 yr old the flinstone complete vitamins. It is the only one i could find that has iron in it that his age he can take. He gets only 1/2 of one once a day. The reason I started him on the vitamin is that his iron level was a little low a while back and he does not eat fruit or veggies every day. I have always been told even if the kids do eat good and you give the a vitamin they will just poop out whatever extra nutrients they did not need.

the way I see it, it can't hurt. My kids eat a very good diet, but I have been given them gummi bear vitamins since they were 2, just in case they don't get everything they should have.
BTW, corn is considered a starch. It isn't really a veggie.

My son will be 2 in 5 days. He takes a daily gummy vitamin. He is a very healthy eater and eats all types of fruit and veggies. I just think he still needs a daily multi-vitamin and his pediatrician agrees.

My daughter was breastfed and since that's low in Vitamin D (and I'm not the outdoorsy type), we gave her Polyvisol. When she was old enough for Flintstones, we talked it over with her doc who recommended the 2-3 year old formula as it gets them 400 IU of Vitamin D. The AAP is considering (or has?) putting the Daily IU up even higher, so we do it for "insurance". I agree - nothing beats a balanced diet, but we all know that toddlers and preschoolers will eat or not eat if the mood strikes. Dr. Terry Brazelton (BRILLIANT doc)'s book suggests it, esp. with finicky eaters.

I give my boys vitamins, even though they eat very healthy and like fruits and veggies. Most vitamins are water soluable, so what ever their body does not need, their kidneys will fliter out the excess. I believe it's an easy way to insure their good health. My children gets colds/flus much less often than many other children I know. I don't known if it is because they eat well or if it's the vitamins, but I'm not changing anything. I also give them extra vitamin C (300mg 2-3 times/day) when they are sick - they both get them even if one is sick to help prevent the other from getting sick. It helps them get over their colds faster. If a bug is going around school, I also kick in the extra C. The risks of taking vitamins are very small. Since most are water soluable, it is very difficult to get too much - and very easy to get to little. Fat soluable vitamins (E, A, D) have to be taken in very large doses for a long time to reach anything close to a toxic level, so taking vitamins is very safe.

My kids have taken vitamins since they were pretty young.
BUT there is an enormous difference between Flinstone "vitamins" and the like and a real, WHOLE FOOD vitamin. Synthetic vitamins are full of crappy ingredients including fillers, artificial dyes, flavors, chemicals & other stuff that should never be given to small children.

I, personally, like Animal Parade vitamins. My kids have always had them & they LOVE them! They actually ask for them!