Hi L.,
My 4 year old son takes Juice PLUS+ and it is available in gummy form for toddlers like your son and mine. Because you are interested in natural/alternative healing, you might be interested in this product moreso than the vitamin supplements. Juice PLUS+ is made up of whole foods--it is NOT considered a vitamin. Basically, it is 17 fruits, vegetables, and whole grains that have been juiced, dried at low temps to perserve the phytonutrients, and put into capsules for adults, chewables for those who cannot swallow capsules, and gummy form for toddlers. There are NO added isolated vitamins, only the vitamins that naturally occur in the fruits and vegetables, but because it is the WHOLE fruit being processed, you get so much more than just the Vitamin A or C. Did you know that an apple has over 150 different phytonutrients?
Can you imagine your 4 year old consuming some beets, kale, spinach, carrots, parsley, broccoli, cabbage, tomato, rice bran, oat bran, apple, orange, pineapple, cranberry, peach, cherry and papaya every single day!
Juice PLUS+ is labeled gluten-free and approved for Kosher diets.
As for the sugar concern, there is just under 1 gram of sugar per gummy and the usual dosage for a 4 year old is three fruit and three veggie gummys for a total of 5 grams of sugar. The natural sweetners are corn syrup, beet powder, and clarified grape juice.
If you or anyone else is interested in learning more about Juice PLUS+, please feel free to call me at ###-###-####, visit my website at www.Veggies4Kids.com, or e-mail me at ____@____.com. I will be happy to show you the research behind Juice PLUS+ and offer you some samples, so you can determine whether your son would even take them.
My niece is a VERY picky eater, but she loves her Juice PLUS+ and takes them every day. You can also read more about Juice PLUS+ at http://www.askdrsears.com/html/4/t040501.asp. Dr. William Sears is a preeminent pediatrician, who personally takes Juice PLUS+ and recommends it for his patients as well. He is a big proponent of Attachment Parenting, if you have heard of that.
In any case, with your sons special needs, I would also want the product with the least amount of artifical additives such as dyes, etc. Good luck!