Healthy eating can be difficult for busy parents. Being a parent is hard enough without having to make sure that your child has all the required vitamins and minerals. Parents know that a balanced diet helps children grow strong and reach their potential, but sometimes you need a little help. When this happens, parents turn to vitamin supplements.

 

But even busy parents want to make sure that giving a child vitamins is the right thing to do. If your child fits any of the following conditions, then you should consider offering a kid’s multivitamin.

 

Surviving Parenthood with Picky Eaters

Nutrition and healthy eating are challenges for most parents. It seems that most kids prefer fast food over fruits and vegetables. Yet healthy bones, growth, and development depend on healthy food. When a child consumes unhealthy food consistently, health and behavioral problems become an issue. Obesity, childhood diabetes, and heart disease are on the rise.

 

Vitamins for children are a natural insurance policy that helps boost the immune system and gives well-meaning parents the peace of mind they need.

 

Kids Who Love Their Milk 

Some kids love cows milk and refuse to eat other things. Some parents believe that milk helps the baby sleep and offer it during meals and before bed.

 

According to the Mayo Clinic, if kids drink more than 24 ounces of dairy products per day, then they might become iron deficient. Iron an essential vitamin that helps carry oxygen throughout the blood. When milk is consumed with foods that have iron like dark green vegetables than the body has a hard time absorbing the mineral. Taking a vitamin gummy with iron can help.

 

Lack of Sunshine (Vitamin D)

For the first six months of life, babies subsist on breast milk or baby formula. Both great sources of vitamins and minerals. But if the baby is solely breastfed, The  American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that moms add a vitamin D supplement to their baby's milk or water.

 

Research shows that some mothers are vitamin D deficient, either due to a poor diet or lack of sunshine, and are unable to pass on the required amount through breast milk. Vitamin D converts sunlight into vitamin D to build calcium. Parents can take a calcium supplement or offer their child a multivitamin with vitamin D.

Following a Restrictive Diet

Once parents get their due date and start picking out a baby name, they usually don't think about multivitamins for their children. Getting pregnant is the goal. But as kids grow, diet becomes an essential factor. Some kids may be on a restrictive diet, due to allergies such as lactose intolerance. Or follow a vegan or vegetarian diet that may lack enough iron. In that case, offering a children's gummy multivitamin will help add necessary vitamins and minerals to your child's diet.

 

Healthy kids deserve healthy food. But if parents worry that their child lacks enough nutrients or want to help boost the immune system than a child should take vitamins. Consult your healthcare provider for more information. In the meantime, choose a multivitamin that's easy to digest and packs a powerful daily punch, ensuring your child grows healthy and active.

 

Dawodu, A., & Wagner, C. L. (2007, September). Mother-child vitamin D deficiency: An international perspective. Retrieved April 14, 2019, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2084036/

Is Drinking Milk With Meals Decreasing My Iron Absorption? (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.livestrong.com/article/525262-is-drinking-milk-with-meals-decreasing-my-iron-absorption/

Is your child getting enough iron? (2019, February 19). Retrieved April 13, 2019, from https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/childrens-health/in-depth/iron-deficiency/art-20045634

Vitamin D: On the Double. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.healthychildren.org/English/healthy-living/nutrition/Pages/Vitamin-D-On-the-Double.aspx

Watson, S. (n.d.). Iron: What You Need to Know. Retrieved April 14, 2019, from https://www.webmd.com/vitamins-and-supplements/features/iron-supplements#1

Where We Stand: Folic Acid. (n.d.). Retrieved April 13, 2019, from https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/prenatal/Pages/Where-We-Stand-Folic-Acid.aspx