How to Get My Son to Take Multivitamin

Did the dr approved of this? Does he/she knows? At this age child should be eating Bertie’s, fruits and vitamins.. that’s where they get their vitamins..

Call up his dr and ask for suggestions.. you sometimes can do more harm than good. There is a reason you can not find it.. because it might be dangerous. Ask his dr if there is even a need.

Hello R., I am a nutritionist and work with all ages. It is rare that I recommend a multi to anyone. Typically each individual I see needs different targeted nutrient supplementation instead. For a two year old, who is otherwise healthy, I see no reason for a multi vitamin. You also said the one you are trying out smells like iron- iron should not be supplemented with unless you know you have an iron deficiency. Instead, at 2 years old, focus on teaching him about Whole Foods, rainbow of colorful Whole Foods and expose him to a wide variety of fresh foods, local foods, in season food. This is much more important than adding in a multi vitamin. So many toddlers today are already hooked on fast food, processed foods, foods high in sugar and salt- if he is eating quality foods in their natural state, you are giving him the nutrients he needs in their natural state. Mother Nature knows what she is doing! It sounds like he is a healthy growing toddler and you are feeding him a healthy diet. Save yourself the aggravation and skip the multi!

Gummies are a choking hazard, and totally full of sugar which is terrible for his teeth. Getting him into a sugar habit is something you will regret.

Have you talked to the doctor about what your child eats, and about vitamins? They are not harmless (note the warning labels). So, if anything, you should be looking for a highly absorbable liquid formulation that carries not warning labels, and you should be looking for something with way more nutrients than the typical store-bought vitamin. Your pediatrician may be one of the thousands who call these products "expensive urine" since they don't have enough in them to be absorbed and which are then just eliminated in the pee. That's not where I'd spend my money.

But trying to force it and creating a battle around food is never going to work out the way the parent wants.

Unless your pediatrician has suggested a multivitamin, I’d wait. Of course mine are much older so the thoughts might be different now on this.

We started using multivitamins about 4 I think and it was the Flintstone chewables. I would check with your doctor first before you put your kiddo on anything.

Your other question regarding water intake. My son drinks a lot too. He drinks at least 80 oz per day and if he’s working outside that can easily double. He doesn’t have diabetes, but he drinks a lot. He also doesn’t drink anything but water with the exception of milk in the morning at breakfast. No soda, no juices, just water.

If you’re concerned about his diet and trying to supplement with vitamins, that can be a hard thing to do. Vitamins, unless they’re made a certain way, aren’t absorbed and won’t take the place of a good diet.

My son is anti veggies although when he was younger he was less picky. Keep trying different kinds and introducing them to him. Even a couple of bites is fine. I used to cook veggies and purée them and then load spaghetti sauce with them. Cook your rice in chicken bone broth to add extra protein and it gives good flavor.

Sorry to ramble on, but with your two questions, I thought you’re more concerned with his diet and making sure he gets the nutrition he needs.

Another thing I would tell my son is “big boys love carrots or carrots help you see better or whatever. He was very interested from 1.5-3 to be considered a big boy. ❤️🙂

This doesn't answer your question, but I will give my thoughts in case this helps someone.

My relative, a dietitian in pediatrics division, doesn't recommend them.

If a child is severely low in nutrients and ill, there are supplements in liquid form (like drinks) I think they would recommend over chewies etc.

His nutrients should come from diet. I would continue to work on diet - I gave suggestions in last question. Eggs, dairy, whole grains, fruits ... pb (I like the natural kind and so do my kids)

Good luck.

*I did give my kids a multivitamin before checking with my relative, when they were young. When we stopped, it made absolutely no difference to their health if that helps. I think it just made me feel 'better' to be honest. They weren't any better off for taking it if that helps.

My doctor only tells me to take them (specific ones and specific forms) when I am low and have been tested by blood samples. Otherwise, you tend to pee out any excess you don't need. You tend to show signs (physical or mental) if you have a deficiency so unless your child is showing them, I'd skip the multivitamin. Probably just spending money without needing to.

Try protein shakes. My kids love them, chocolate, strawberry, vanilla. They are full of vitamins. I call them “milk shakes”. Just be sure to get with low grams of sugar. The to go bottles are very convenient.

Unless your doctor has specifically recommended a vitamin, do not give them. Defer to your child's pediatrician on this - not some need to dose your kid with stuff he likely doesn't need.

If your doctor is recommending iron drops, you can buy flavored ones at most drugstore/big box chain stores. Other than that, just focus on good eating habits and he will be just fine.

Give him a gummy vitamin made for kids at this age.
Also, I sneak in extra veggies into dinners I make (look into Jerry Seinfeld's wife's book) like shredded carrots and/or zucchini in my meatloaf for example.

If you are low income you may be eligible for state help. If you don't have insurance, the state or federal government will pay for medical appointments. Because my daughter is low income she gets help paying for food through the WIC program. This program provides help in being sure the baby/toddler is meeting developmental steps.

I suggest making an appointment with a pediatrician to see if he has a medical reason for drinking that much water.

Is it possible he drinks water because he's hungry? Does he have 3 meals a day plus snacks? Are you able to provide an assortment of healthy food? Could he be drinking water at night out of habit.

Have you tried helping him soothe and go back to sleep without water. My 3 yo granddaughter uses her pacifier at night to self soothe. It clips on her pjs so she can find it. A pacifier is healthier than drinking water at night.

Have you tried giving him food instead of water some of the time? Many kids love berries and grapes and apple slices. He may refuse at first. Just keep offering.

If his doctor says he needs iron or multivitamins he can give you a prescription for them in liquid form.

Your son needs to learn to eat better. You need to provide him with a balanced diet. It really bothers me when I hear mom's state "He's a picky eater". If he's a picky eater? You allowed it to happen by catering to him. this is NOT negativity. This is fact. Unless your son has allergies? You don't fix him special meals. You feed him what you feed everyone else in the family.

If he has a good diet? He won't need a vitamin.

If you're looking for more ways to get him to get more vitamins? Try the Pedia-Sure drinks or smoothies.

Good luck!

gummies are very fun. they're also more sugar than vitamin.

why make this into a battle? feed him nutritious food. that's a way, way better way to get vitamins.

if he's deficient in a particular vitamin then get his pediatrician to prescribe him that particular supplement.

khairete
S.

If you are low income you may be eligible for state help. If you don't have insurance, the state or federal government will pay for medical appointments. Because my daughter is low income she gets help paying for food through the WIC program. This program provides help in being sure the baby/toddler is meeting developmental steps.

I suggest making an appointment with a pediatrician to see if he has a medical reason for drinking that much water.

Is it possible he drinks water because he's hungry? Does he have 3 meals a day plus snacks? Are you able to provide an assortment of healthy food? Could he be drinking water at night out of habit.

Have you tried helping him soothe and go back to sleep without water. My 3 yo granddaughter uses her pacifier at night to self soothe. It clips on her pjs so she can find it. A pacifier is healthier than drinking water at night.

Have you tried giving him food instead of water some of the time? Many kids love berries and grapes and apple slices. He may refuse at first. Just keep offering.

Unfortunately gummy vitamins are high in sugar - so while they taste great, you really don't want to get into that sugar habit.
One way to go is to use a syringe.
Hold him down and squirt the vitamin down his throat and have a water chaser ready to get the taste out of his mouth.
Can you vary his diet enough so that he won't need to take a vitamin?
Flintstone chewables were our go to vitamin for a long time.

You mention iron taste. Do these vitamins contain extra iron? Don’t give those to your child. If you end up finding a brand he likes, and he gets into them and eats too many, extra iron can actually be fatal. My kids got into their vitamins while I was unpacking boxes in the bathroom the second night of a move. They ate half of a big bottle and we were lucky that the vitamins didn’t have extra iron or I would have had to take them to the ER. As it was, even without the extra iron, Poison Control had me give them Syrup of Ipaca to make them vomit. My kids never did that again.

Don’t have extra iron in your house. You never know when he’ll decide on a dime that he likes the vitamins after all.