It is the belief of most parents that
children are eating a relatively healthy diet, but
if not, they throw up their hands and give up.
Children are then plied with multivitamins. Though
this is not a bad thing to do, many children think
they are candy especially now that they come in
gummi candy, gumballs, and cute animal and cartoon
characters.
This is extremely serious because if they are with a
kids reach, they could be taking more than you know
about. If there is the remotest chance your child has
ingested too many, immediately call Poison Control and
get them to the emergency room.
If your child overdoses with multivitamins with iron
your child could become seriously ill or die. All manner
of medications must absolutely be kept out of the reach
children. If you think your child needs them generic
multivitamins are fine but for the most part, children
get a lot of their vitamins in their diets.
If your child is either allergic to dairy products or
won’t eat them, calcium will need to come from other
sources. A consultation with your child’s pediatrician
is important. One vitamin daily is all a child needs
even if his diet has been questionable for that week.
The absorption of other vitamins could be blocked if
there is too much of any one vitamin. For example, too
much calcium can prevent the absorption of other
vitamins such as iron. Healthy food choices are not a
child’s priority you can expect to be giving your child
vitamins well into their teens.
Before buying vitamins you should know that opinions
about vitamins with iron for children vary greatly. One
belief is that you should, in fact, be giving vitamins
with iron. Another philosophy is that never should a
child be given vitamins with iron in them.
In infancy my own child showed signs of iron deficiency
as an infant. Always check with your child’s doctor; my
child’s doctor put him on iron fortified vitamins and he
is healthy now. A disease called Hemochromatosis is
caused by too much iron in the blood.
The iron becomes unusable by the body and it is not
washed out of the body easily. It is almost always a
fatal disease and can cause serious health issues.
Calcium helps build strong bones and muscles and is a
very important part of your child’s diet.
Calcium is a mineral. Kids who eat ice cream, yogurt,
and cheese or who drink milk usually get enough calcium
from their diets. Some do not like dairy products, still
others are allergic to them. Children can be assisted in
getting what they need by consuming calcium fortified
juices, cereals and vitamins.
Drinking fluoride treated tap water and bottled water
and/or using fluoridated toothpaste is enough for most
children. Your child should not be given fluoride
supplements without checking with your pediatrician.
Your child’s teeth could be permanently stained if they
get too much fluoride.
This defeats entirely, the purpose of the treatment of
water and the use of toothpaste meant to protect your
child’s teeth. Infant multivitamins in liquid form is
available and usually administered with an eye dropper.
The drops contain vitamins A, C, and D and may have
added iron. Also they may have other vitamins and
minerals such as thiamin, niacin, riboflavin and vitamin
B-12. Chewable children’s vitamins are available in the
forms of cartoon characters and/or animals. Now vitamins
are available in gummi candy and gumballs.
Try buying gum ball vitamins or cartoon characters if
your child is difficult about taking vitamins. Your
child should always be supervised while he’s taking his
vitamins. My son never gets to take his vitamins on his
own, I give them to him.
He may or may not take it or he could take too many.
Children’s vitamins could be a very good thing but too
much of a good thing could be fatal. They should not be
left in the reach of children. Eating what is right is
not your child’s top priority so giving him vitamins may
offset some of that.
Adjustments to child’s diet should always be discussed
with your child’s pediatrician, it’s better to err on
the side of caution. It’s fine to have fun shapes but
your child could think they are candy and they should be
kept out of reach of children or locked in a cabinet.
