Multivitamins - what will your toddler accept?

[One Sweet World]

Government advice, not widely highlighted by midwives or health visitors in my experience, is for all children under 5 to take daily multivitamins. I've tried offering Abidec and the 'great tasting' Wellkid Baby and Infant, but both are very firmly rejected by my 20-month old. Any tips?

[edanna]

Mix it into something? I used to add it to milk but my kids will take Abidec off the spoon now.

[Pickle]

Is the advice not simply because of the nationwide problem of people not cooking healthy meals and lacking basic nutritional knowledge? If your little one is eating well I'm a firm believer that a vitamin supplement isn't necessary. If they get what they need from food you are literally flushing money down the toilet :)

I had HVs tell me (with both #1 and #2) that I should give my babies supplements "because you are breastfeeding and it doesn't have the same vitamins as formula". Grrr.

[Saffron]

That's outrageous! And sooo annoying. When health providers give wrong/bad advice, it always makes me feel that it then undermines their good advice b/c I'm inclined to be a skeptic about everything. I had a nurse tell me that I should stop b/fing when my daughter's teeth erupted, b/c she (wrongly) thought breastmilk causes dental caries.

I think supplements are a bit of a waste if your diet is good, but at the same time, if it puts your mind at ease, then I can understand why people use them, eg vitamin D deficiency is a big concern for many people at high latitudes. Plus, some children seem to be more fussy about food anyway. I give my daughter Bassetts occasionally, but I don't worry about it if she doesn't have one for a while either.

I think the BLW weaning book has info on dietary sources of vitamins/minerals in the back pages. I also found Alex Richardson's book "They Are What You Feed Them" to be really easy to read and not patronising of parents. It has advice and information on a wide-variety of food and supplement-related issues with diet.

[sunbob]

The hv gave me a couple of free bottles of healthy start vit d drops. I keep forgetting to give them but when I do remember both children love their synthetic banana taste.

[GinaG3]

I always diluted abidec with water as a juice for my daughter and she always accepted with breakfast. She has had vitamins since birth. She is now taking bassetts soft and chewy from about 30months old, 6 months before recommended. I always gave her vitamins as I breastfed for 2 years throughout ongoing health issues with myself. She never dropped feeds ever between this time. Until she self weaned at 2 she was still feeding as if she was a newborn although a lot of it would of been for comfort more than milk. Whilst I was breast feeding I was found to be extremely vitamin d deficient (my consultant had never seen such low levels of vitamin d in a woman of my age - I had almost none in my system) I had to start immediate high dosage of vitamin d to boost my supply. This made me very weary of her lacking in vitamin d too, since then I have always made sure she took a multivitamin supplement.

[edanna]

Pickle, your HV was just repeating government advice. Although it may seem dispiriting it's true that we can be absolutely sure how much vit D is in formula and we can't with breast milk. That doesn't mean anyone is saying breast milk isn't as good and I certainly don't want to get into that debate! But advice has to be formulated on a population basis so if many women don't have enough vit D then their breast milk won't contain alot, so supplements are reasonable advice.

[One Sweet World]

Thanks for all these helpful posts. I breastfed my daughter till 15 months and absolutely believe it was the best thing for her, but took supplements myself during that time. I heard a news item about a baby of 4 months dying from Rickets in the UK, presumably because the mother's level of vitamin D during pregnancy was very low, which has reminded me about the issue. In January this year the Chief Medical Officer sent out advice that all pregnant and breastfeeding mothers, and children aged 6 months to 5 years take vitamin D, as evidence suggested 1 in 4 people are deficient. See http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/9035173/Vitamin-D-deficiency-in-UK-a-major-problem.html, or for the letter itself, http://www.dh.gov.uk/prod_consum_dh/groups/dh_digitalassets/@dh/@en/documents/digitalasset/dh_132508.pdf. There are signs of a resurgence of Rickets in the UK, at the extreme end, and other bone development problems in milder cases. From what I understand, it was eradicated at one time by giving all children Cod Liver oil, and by supplementing common foods, but now we longer give Cod Liver oil, and are rigorous about covering children up and using sunscreen in sunny weather, the problem is resurfacing. The organic foods I've been buying (good for other reasons) don't seem to be supplemented as old-fashioned sugar and salt laden baby foods once were, perhaps!

[Saffron]

edanna Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Pickle, your HV was just repeating government

> advice. Although it may seem dispiriting it's true

> that we can be absolutely sure how much vit D is

> in formula and we can't with breast milk. That

> doesn't mean anyone is saying breast milk isn't as

> good and I certainly don't want to get into that

> debate! But advice has to be formulated on a

> population basis so if many women don't have

> enough vit D then their breast milk won't contain

> alot, so supplements are reasonable advice.

OK, but, surely the advice should be to supplement the mother, as Vit D complexes in breastmilk would be more readily absorbed than extraneously delivered Vit D to the infant???

Also, I still think Pickle's HV was wrong to compare b/fing to formula. If supplementation is needed, it is not b/c there is a comparison to be draw to formula. Actually, breastmilk from a healthy mother is the standard to which all other infant feeding formulas should be compared. If supplements or dietary changes are thought beneficial, it should be as a way to maximise the benefit derived from a healthy, normal breastfeeding dyad, not as a comparison to formulated milks.

[Saffron]

OSW your point about Vit D and the recent use of sunscreens, covering up etc is very salient in my mind. We're very fair-skinned and are always very sun cautious.

An adult friend of mine was recently told that b/c she needs to use so much sun protection during the summer for fair skin, there is little chance that she has ability to store enough Vit D to last through the winter. Her Vit D is so chronically low that her GP and her dietitian have recommended supplements, as they felt it would be difficult to assure her vit D was high enough through diet.

Sunbob, interested in the Vit drops you got from HV! I will ask our HV too at our 2yr check this week.

I try not to obsess about nutrition, but I guess there are a few times when our bodies can use some help. xx

[bumpy]

My 27 month old has been taking these for a while and loves them, especially playing guess the animal...!

http://www.usanimals.com/productinfo_cn.html

[srisky]

I add the abidec drops into her cereal in the morning, which masks the taste

[crystal7]

My daughter has been taking Sainsburys chewable multivitamins and omega3. She loves them! We started them when she was around 2.5 years although they say from 3. She is a very fussy eater so I feel they can only do her good. It's very difficult to get her to take medicine so the abcd ones were out even hidden she could tell- they do stink! I also have a 6 month old and I keep diverting to give his healthy start drops. I'm still breastfeeding him though and I take supplements myself.

[oimissus]

we use the wellbaby vitamins which our 2 year old loves. She is veggie and also quite fussy so these are a precaution for her. You can't get the drops (which I used to put into her milk) from the HV at 2 years old so you have to buy. I wasn't sure about the chewy sweets (too many dentists in the family!) so went for liquid which we give at breakfast so her teeth will be cleaned soon after.

TBH I think this is good advice, we can offer the most balanced diet in the world but can't force our children to eat it, so at least this ensures they are getting important nutrients.