OT - Toddlers and MultiVitamins?

[twinmama]

Does anybody give their baby/toddler multivitamins?

Brandon's eating has gone downhill lately and he's showing signs of iron deficiency again (he was iron supplements for the first 6 months or so of the year). I don't want him to start losing weight - because we've almost cracked the 10kg mark and the pead. was happy with us. So I was thinking of getting him some multi-vitamins. Before he went on iron supplements his eating was bad, but once we got that under control he was eating a lot more - but now we're going back downhill again - to the point where he doesn't even want to eat dinner.

Thoughts?

[Jo]

I give Liam a multivitamin when his eating isn't terribly flash. Sometimes he goes through periods where he doesn't eat any vegetables and sometimes he barely eats at all! I give him incremin daily during these times and I have found, through trial and error, that it really helps with his growth. For a long, long period I didn't give him a vitamin supplement and he ate stuff all and had absolutely no growth during that time. He's now growing again for the first time in a year

[Jeni]

I give JD centrum for kids... not all the time but he goes through stages of refusign to eat vegies or meat... (lol he lives on pasta and rice bubbles some weeks!).

They do say 2yrs plus though...

[tikki]

Julie, don't know if you get it up there but the milk we use for Lily is called Junior by Brownes and it's got iron, zinc, calcium and vitamins in it. I bought it cos I don't know much about milk (neither DH or I drink it) and assumed that was the best thing for her That might help with the iron.

But MVs sound like the go I'm sure lots of people would use them in your situation.

[2littlegirls]

I give my DD Cenovis Kids Multi. It is a rasberry flavour chewable.
I started giving it to her as she was getting sick a fair bit.

[Lexi]

I give Lolly a multi-vitamin daily. Nutrimon is our favourite - I think different multivitamin combinations/amounts suit different people & it can be a bit of an experiment finding one that works well for *you*.

At the moment every cold she gets lands us in the ER with a bout of ashtma, so I'm hoping it will just generally keep her healthier and reduce the number of colds she picks up (and yes I know they have to pick up *some* colds, etc....).

She does the typical will/won't eat toddler thing & often won't eat what I put in front of her at a meal, so this way I know she's getting a nutritional top-up & don't stress it too much. I think most toddlers are like this though with their eating though?

[twinmama]

Thanks guys - I thought you'd all say no - they don't need it - give them a balanced diet etc.

I need to get a syrup as he wouldn't chew anything up. Getting a syryp in him will be fine as he's been constantly on medication the last year - tonsilitis, pneumonia, flu, cold, asthma etc (hopeing the multivitamin will stop that as well - he has a constant cough).

Tikki - yep we can get that milk up here - might add that to the shopping list as well.

[~*Rebecca*~]

I know you used to be able to get one that had multivitamins in it and also something that made them want to eat like and apitite thing.

It has a giraffe on the box if that helps.LOL It was also liquid form. Any chemist should have a few in the baby section.

[HG01]

I'd go for the one that is supposed to increase their appetite too (the giraffe on the box sounds familiar). It's easy to say give them a balanced diet, but if they wont eat, you can hardly force it down their throats. We've been very lucky and I've bred two little pigs who eat all the time. I hope it helps Brandon get his appetite back.

[johT]

ive often pondered giving jade a mutlti-vitamin, as she is a poor eater.
i used to give her 'toddler' formula and milo instead once a day
but im worried about giving her vitamins since she may get more than she needs, even though i know *most* excess vitamins would just come harmlessly back out!
probably a good idea, i did take calcium and iron supplements in pregnancy jic..., so i might look into liquid vitamins again...