Should My Daughter Have a Multivitamin?

Updated on June 01, 2009
B.O. asks from Goldsboro, NC
6 answers

Hello moms..
I am asking for help once again. My daughter has been doing well with fruit, but not so well with veggies and so I have been giving her some liquid multi vitamin. Not always the full dose though. I think it may be because she is teething again. She is 15 months old and getting her i teeth and possibly some more molars so I heard this can effect it. She used to eat veggies great, but not so much now. Do you think it is bad or have you ever been told that it is to help make up for the loss of nutrients from the veggies she is missing? Thanks

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So What Happened?

Thanks for all your advice. I will definetly keep offering her veggies and am going to give her only a half the recomended dose of vitamins since she loves fruit. I think I will try to get creative somehow also. Thank you.

More Answers

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C.T.

answers from Seattle on

I'm very holistic and rarely agree with "established medicine" like the AMA. However, even though we eat organic and really healthy our soil is really depleted. Which is why the AMA recommends everyone take a multi-vitamin/mineral supplement.

My kids take and love these: http://www.melaleuca.com/ps/index.cfm?f=ps.productDetail&... from Melaleuca. They use the patented oligofructose complex so the nutrients are bioavailable.

C.-WAHM to 5 y/o virtual twins
Owner: http://www.BeHappierAtHome.com

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C.M.

answers from Portland on

I give my son a glass of the Odwalla superfood or similar juice once a day. This helps give him extra boost of veggies, sometimes I mix it with carrot juice.

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K.B.

answers from Seattle on

You should talk to your pediatrician, but I know that most kids go through phases of what they will and won't eat. They are usually short lived and will change as time goes by. My son is 3 1/2 and has gone through several different food phases. He used to be a banana freak and loved bananas. But, for the past two months, he will take two bites and then not go near it again. He also loved cheese sticks (the string kind) but now only wants "cheese square" as he puts it, you know, the sliced kind. He loves his broccolli and eats that pretty well though. I think as long as you keep offering her the veggies that she will eventually go back to them. You can also try offering different kinds of veggies, maybe she is bored with what she has been getting. You can also try to sneak them into her. You said she is teething right? Does she like to suck or chew on cold things? If so, you can get one of those mesh food bags that they make for little ones to start self-feeding without the risk of choking. You can get them at any Target or WalMart I believe. Mash up some bananas and mix in some carrot juice, or baby carrot puree and then freeze them. You could also take any of the baby food purees and thicken them with bananas or corn starch, put them in the bag, freeze them, then give them to her. They can get pretty messy, but what toddler isn't messy. Good luck!!!

D.J.

answers from Seattle on

If you read the lables of the vitamines you will notice that they provide only 20, 30, usualy not more than 60% from the needed daily amount. Plus the body absorbs a very small part of it. Natural vitamines from the fruits and veggies are the best. Good luck!

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M.L.

answers from Seattle on

Our pediatrician suggested that my daughter start on a multivitamin at about 4 months. She's been on it since! My nealy 2 year old daughter eats a wide variety of foods (including lots of colors of fruits and veggies) and a balanced diet while she continues to breastfeed. When I asked if it was really necessary, she said that it really is. Vitamin D was the main vitamin she cited since it is really hard to get enough naturally. When we talked with our ped. about my daughter being vegetarian, she said that the vitamins with iron were most appropriate since my daughter may well be lacking even with her varied diet. Since I tend to be anemic, we decided to go with the iron vitamins. We use Poly-vi-sol with Iron since Target's generic doesn't have iron. Costco sells Poly-vi-sol infant/toddler multivitamins for cheaper than anywhere else

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Z.A.

answers from Seattle on

It's better to get your vitamins and minerals from food sources, because your body will digest them more easily. HOWEVER, even though most multivitamins just get peed out instead of absorbed, as long as you're staying within the recommended doseage for weight/age you should be fine. The only thing it will hurt is your pocketbook.

Incidentally, feel free to keep giving her veggies baby-style (from a jar, strained, broiled and mashed, what-have-you). After all, one person's strained carrots is another persons mousse, and add eggs and it's another's soufflé. I know *I* can't eat crunchy foods when I have a toothache. Yowza. Ouch. But give me some Saag Panneer, or ginger-garlic mashed potatoes, and I am one happy camper.

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