Vitamins

[Raising Ethan]

I shared this info at a message board with other moms and thought I’d post it on here also. After ton's of research I finally found these items I feel comfortable giving to my 2 yr old son. They are listed below and natural and inexpensive. I buy the majority of vitamins & vegan friendly foods from www.vitacost.com. The prices are the best I’ve seen and the shipping costs $4.99 regardless of how many items you get. I even buy body/bath/house products from them since they carry natural brands which can not be found in local stores. You may even find some items offered on www.Amazon.com.

This is what Ethan takes almost daily, one per day. I call it “candy” and he get’s excited to eat these:

Dr. Mercola Children's Multi-Vitamin (1 p/day)

Dr. Mercola Children's Krill Oil (1 given every 2-3 days)

Udo’s Choice Children’s Blend Probiotic — 4 Billion cells- (1 p/day given only if runny nose)

Hero Nutritionals Yummi Bears Calcium with Vitamin D) (1 given  every 2-3 days)

This year since we switched to almost Vegan & he hardly ever gets sick. 

A parent asked me if all these are really neccesary. It's true that your overall nutrition should come from the form of whole foods that are organic but I do believe in supplementing. We turned Vegan this year and yet still def. don't get enough organic, local veggies everyday. Some days we eat better than others and this way I know he get's all his vitamins even if he decides he prefers not to eat enough veggies that day! I usually don't give the full dosage the company's brand recommends, for example his multi-vitamin says to take 2 p/day and I give him 1, knowing very well that he gets some vitamins from the food he eats. Since we don't eat much of any dairy or meat, we need extra calcium, vit.b12 and others in our diet. It's just my way of making sure his needs are covered.

Visit: http://products.mercola.com/multivitamin-childrens-chewables/

If you have other natural brands of vitamins that you give to your child please let me know.

[nhockaday]

Doesn't he eat well? I mean, does he really need all of that? Most doctors (not that I follow their advice) recommend that kids don't take vitamins if they eat healthy, and I'm sure you guys eat lots of fruits and veggies.

[Raising Ethan]

It's true that your overall nutrition should come from the form of whole foods that are organic but I do believe in supplementing. We turned Vegan this year and yet still def. don't get enough veggies everyday. Some days we eat better than others and this way I know he get's all his vitamins even if he decides he prefers not to eat veggies that night! I usually don't give the full dosage the company's brand recommends, for example his multi-vitamin says to take 2 p/day and I give him 1, knowing very well that he gets some vitamins from the food he eats. Since we don't eat much of any dairy or meat, we need extra calcium, vit.b12 and others in our diet. It's just my way of making sure his needs are covered. Did u watch the vid.? Visit: http://products.mercola.com/multivitamin-childrens-chewables/

[nhockaday]

I give my son a multi and I give him DHA-fortified organic milk. I think vitamins are good in moderation. One thing I would like to do is give him more calcium and vit. D.

[kmum]

We give K vitamins also. 

On a daily basis, she gets a multi vitamin, vitamin D, C, a probiotic, & fish oil ( supposed to be good for speech on top of the well known benefits).

If she is sick, we up the vit., echinacea, & a chewable elderberry.

FYI - I've read that kids can not process the flax oil, so a fish oil is better.  It is also best for pregnant mom's to use fish oil in order for the baby to benefit.

[trinity papa]

I prefer the natural approach of taking in the vitamins through fresh food intake, so i dont over cook them but still cooked especially for meat stuff.

Vit D - well from the sun through swimming exposure depending on sun intensity not more than 5-20mins a day.
Most other Vit from fruits and veges, and she eats quite some fruits a day.
Probiotics from yakult a japanese live lb drink.
I don't realy like th epills approach since, sceince thought us that vitamins a destroyed once exposed to air or heat, least treatment and packaging it. Also while it was common though that vitamin C keeps the cold away, there was an article that mentioned too much vit C causes breast cancer or was it colon  or some other cancer .... especially those from the pill form .... i think you can google it ....

[Raising Ethan]

We give K vitamins also. 

On a daily basis, she gets a multi vitamin, vitamin D, C, a probiotic, & fish oil ( supposed to be good for speech on top of the well known benefits).

If she is sick, we up the vit., echinacea, & a chewable elderberry.

FYI - I've read that kids can not process the flax oil, so a fish oil is better.  It is also best for pregnant mom's to use fish oil in order for the baby to benefit.

I couldn't find anything that says kids can't process Flax oil. Could you possibly send the link where you had read it?

[Raising Ethan]

I prefer the natural approach of taking in the vitamins through fresh food intake, so i dont over cook them but still cooked especially for meat stuff.

Vit D - well from the sun through swimming exposure depending on sun intensity not more than 5-20mins a day.
Most other Vit from fruits and veges, and she eats quite some fruits a day.
Probiotics from yakult a japanese live lb drink.
I don't realy like th epills approach since, sceince thought us that vitamins a destroyed once exposed to air or heat, least treatment and packaging it. Also while it was common though that vitamin C keeps the cold away, there was an article that mentioned too much vit C causes breast cancer or was it colon  or some other cancer .... especially those from the pill form .... i think you can google it ....

Could you tell me where you buy yakult a japanese live lb drink? I've never heard of it, is it diary? Yeah, I would also prefer not giving pills either but we still take them until we start eating more organic unprocessed foods.  That's a good point..."vitamins a destroyed once exposed to air or heat, least treatment and packaging it". Have you seen Foodmatters dvd? They talk a lot about vitamins, if you haven't, you would really enjoy watching it.

[Raising Ethan]

**I've made some updates on what brands Ethan is given.** Please see the revised list above and please let me know of others natural brands that you use which doesn't contain these ingredients. Here's a table showing examples of risky ingredients. It also illustrates how two of the most popular children's multivitamin formulas stack up.

Multivitamin Ingredient Description Flintstones™ Complete? Centrum® Kids Complete?
Iron If child consumes entire bottle can overdose and die Yes Yes
Artificial flavors Term used for unknown synthetic and artificial chemicals Yes Yes
Carrageenan Food additive causing potential gastrointestinal disorders Yes Yes
Hydrogenated vegetable oil This oil is a trans fat which can weaken your kids' immune and cardiovascular systems Yes   
Aspartame Artificial sweetener (also known as NutraSweet™) linked to potential immune system and neurological problems Yes Yes
FD&C Red #40 Lake Synthetic dye shown to cause potential colon system damage Yes Yes
FD&C Yellow #6 and Blue #2 Lake Synthetic dyes linked to potential hyperactivity and behavioral problems in children Yes Yes
Magnesium stearate (or stearic acid) A potential toxic metal additive from pill production and hydrogenated oils Yes Yes

[annaskids]

scary what they put in our kids food and then call it healthy snacks isn't it? 

[susanschorn]

Absolutely terrifying.  Why do they have to put so much sugar in everything??  Do they really think no one would eat it without those dyes? >

Thanks for all the good info ladies!

[2010BEBES]

Oops,  I guess my grandson pediatrician is not fond of vitamins. I will have to inform myself more and check with his dad.
Thanks for sharing.

[Marmee]

Wow, that is a lot of vitamins.  I have to say that I believe the majority of my children's essential nutrients and vitamins come from the food they eat.  If they are sick then I would supplement while the rest and recuperate but other than that I don't.

The biggest thing you can do to increase your child's intake of essential nutrients is to include a wide range of organic fruit and vegetables in their diets.  These are more abundant in organic food and whilst somebody eating conventional produce may be lacking in essential vitamins and minerals somebody who has a plentiful supply of organic produce should not.

I will be back later to some links about this but am on the laptop so don't have access to my links.

[dadsrock]

I would also suggest variety in diet rather than supplementing with synthetic vitamins. Many synthetic vitamins are not even usable by your body.  A diet that is rich in whole grains, fruits and leafy green vegetables rarely needs additional nutrients anyway.

[Raising Ethan]

We're def. trying to find local, organic produce in our area but it's harder than imagined. There isn't a WholeFoods store nearby and our local farmers in our "Farmers Market" also spray for pesticides. We are growing some vegetables in our garden and they taste SOOO much better than any grocery store's version.

I know that vitamins do work because when I personally take mine, I can notice a difference if I stop. My skin, hair, nails are not as shiny. I give them to my son out of love and I buy the best brands for him available.

Also, just an observation this year since we switched to Vegan he hasn't had one cold.

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