Calcium supplement for 5 yr old not eating dairy

[HRJ]

I feel horrible that I haven't been supplementing my DS. He's been off dairy since 22 mos. We did some calcium supplmentation with powders from Kirkman and New Beginnings when he was younger but they didn't go over real well. One gave him diahrrea (calcium carbonate) and they were very chalky and didn't disolve well in juice. So he'd be chewing the junk at the bottom of the glass and gagging on it.

So I gave up.

He drinks Almond Breeze and we do eat brocoli almost daily. But he usually only eats 4 'trees' of it.

I was looking at Whole Foods today. they have gummies but I am afraid if we start that, he'll bug me for them all day.

I also bought Carlson's chewable calcium citrate for myself and it was nasty. I haven't even tried it on him yet.

His ped (integrative med ped) said she's read so much about calcium supplementation that she doesn't know what to recommend.

I guess it can be a bad thing b/c your body doesn't absorb well and then gets calcium deposits?

My acupuncturist told me that calcium citrate is the most absorbable, so I am trying to stick with that.

[prettyflwrs]

well I don't know if this is going to be popular advice here, but I have two kids that can't have dairy and one of the kids also can't have soy. I give them a glass of calcium fortified orange juice almost every day. It is pretty much the only juice they drink. But it makes me feel better about their calcium intake.

[tanyalynn]

Originally Posted by HRJ

I guess it can be a bad thing b/c your body doesn't absorb well and then gets calcium deposits?

It needs to be balanced with other nutrients, I'd think magnesium, vitamin D and vitamin K2 would be the ones that jump out at me most.

A few food sources: homemade stock, the kind with bones simmered for hours, various green veggies, I think some nuts are decent sources though it'd be best to soak and then dry them to help with digestibility (absorbing the minerals), also small fish with bones are a great source (canned sardines or salmon, I mean, so the bones are soft and easy to eat).

That said... we use a supplement too. How old is your LO now? Thorne is a brand sold lots of places online and they have multi-mineral supps (cal and mag and some other minerals), Biomins and Citramins are two that come to mind. Even young kids can learn to swallow pills, or what I did for a long time was open capsules and put the powder in between 2 layers of applesauce. IMO everyone should consider a vitamin D supp since so few of us have a truly outdoor lifestyle.

[HRJ]

His pediatrician already has him on 3,000 units of D a day b/c he has a defiency.

He doesn't swallow pills. Have you ever tasted the powder in applesauce? Do you think it is manageable?