As a kid, we ate the fruity, chalky Flinstone’s chewable vitamins. My mother kept them in the cabinet above the toaster (which I now recognize as probably not the best vitamin storage place, given the heat from the toaster!) and she would parcel them out each morning as we ate breakfast. I expect she gave us the Flinstone’s chewables because they were the only option in our one-traffic light town. Though 30 years later and in NYC, the choices are endless, and daunting.
Vitamins for infants? Of course, your first decision is whether or not to administer vitamins to your children and you probably will look first to your pediatrician for advice. With my son, the pediatrician didn’t want me to give him liquid vitamins, however our new pediatrician (insurance change!) wanted my baby daughter to take them. Though to be honest, I never could get myself to give them to her – they seemed too medicinal. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that breastfed infants who consume less than 17 ounces a day of fortified formula take a vitamin D supplement. One common infant supplement is Enfamil Poly-Vi-Sol with Iron. The supplement tastes perfectly awful, and most babies will cry and fight you to avoid taking them.
Vitamins for toddlers and older? With this group, some doctors recommend vitamins and others don’t. Many don’t seem to mind either way, as long as the FDA recommended amounts for nutrients aren’t surpassed. The theory “if you have a healthy diet then you don’t need vitamins” gets a little sticky with our willful children who may go for a week only eating white food, or apples, or (more possibly) pizza. I was interested to read this by Dr. Alan Greene on About.com, “A daily multivitamin is more than just a safety net for occasional nutritional accidents. It is also like spackle to fill in the small nutritional holes, gaps, and cracks that many children develop every day.”
Health food and vitamin stores all offer many children’s vitamins, and there are lots of other options available online. As you decide which vitamin to give, think about which other ingredients are acceptable for you and your family – dyes and corn syrup are common.
Gummies? Gummies are prevalent and generally well liked by children, with Gummy Vites being the most popular among my friends. Most gummy vitamins list a dose of one for children aged two to four and two vitamins for children four and above. Flinstones Gummies got the “Best Multivitamin” seal on Consumer Reports : “this multivitamin contains… age-appropriate levels of nutrients like folic acid, vitamin D and vitamin A. ……and it’s the only children’s multivitamin tested that doesn’t exceed tolerable intake levels for vitamin A as retinol.” Trader Joe’s sells Gummi Vites, which are not to be confused with GummY Vites mentioned above. There isn’t an age range indicated on the bottle, but it seems safe to say that gummy vitamins are best for kids aged two years and above. Trader Joes brand is less expensive than “Gummy Vites” and they are just as good tasting. Don’t bother with TJ’s “Great Tasting Sea Gummies”- they are anything but great tasting. They smell so badly that no one in our family wanted to try one. (I, brave soul, did and promptly spit it out). ConsumerLab.com notes that “the Trader Darwin’s multivitamins (for kids) contained 5,000 IU of vitamin A as retinol, which is higher than the upper intake level of 3,000 IU.”- though I have never seen Darwin’s multivitamins for kids sold in the local Court Street store, I may have missed them. Fairway and other drug stores sell Hero Nutritionals Yummi Bears Multi-Vitamin and Minerals. We liked those too though I thought the gummies were a little tougher to chew and that concerned me as a choking hazard.
Chewables? Most of the chewable vitamin options show doses for children four and above, though a few options (Marvel Superhero Chewables or Centrum Kids Nickelodeon Chewables) say a two or three-year old can take one half of a tablet and children four and older can take one whole tablet. Breaking a vitamin every morning seems like one extra step I would rather skip, further fueling my devotion to the Gummy Vites. Trader Joe’s sells a Children’s Chewable in the form of animals for all age ranges. They are similar in taste to Flintstone’s, a little chalky but sweet.
Will they take them? Since I started giving my kids the Gummy Vites, there is no coaxing necessary to get them to take them. They (and I) would eat the bottle if possible. The obvious concern, after the dyes and sweeteners, is the idea that the kids are eating candy at breakfast, but we store it and treat it like medicine. Some mothers have told me it took them two or three tries to find a vitamin that their kids will take without complaint, so I recommend buying the small bottle (usually $9 or $10 for a bottle of 60.)
Ultimately, you probably can find a vitamin to suit your requirements, whether that be dye-free, shaped like princesses, or flavored like Jolly Rancher candies. Or if you want to take a walk down memory lane – there are lots of different kinds of Flinstones chewables.