I'm so frustrated (vitamins and my son)

[AFWife]

I bought the Rainbow Light powder stuff that was recommended to me on here...

Yeah, he won't drink it. IF we can force it down him he drinks about half of it. I've put it in everything (including smoothies) and he won't do it. (OH, and when it says "easy dissolve" or whatever...it lied)

He doesn't eat anything pureed (well, the problem is that he doesn't eat much of anything these days)

I even tried to cut off part of the nipple of a bottle and sneak it in a smoothie like that (he won't drink it out of the straw cup that he loves...Mommy's smoothie? Sure, we'll drink that. DS's smoothie? Nope, won't do it) he got two sips in and then tried to pour it out.

These were expensive, dangit. I feel like the sink gets more of it than he does. I'm so frustrated and worried.

[just_lily]

Other than not eating much, do you have a specific reason to worry about your DS?  Is he losing weight, or looking unhealthy?  All toddlers go through phases where they seem to live on air so as long as this isn't a long term issue I really wouldn't worry about it too much. 

But if you are really desperate to get the vitamins down him, what about a good quality ice cream? 

[AFWife]

Originally Posted by just_lily 

Other than not eating much, do you have a specific reason to worry about your DS?  Is he losing weight, or looking unhealthy?  All toddlers go through phases where they seem to live on air so as long as this isn't a long term issue I really wouldn't worry about it too much. 

But if you are really desperate to get the vitamins down him, what about a good quality ice cream? 

This has been going on for several weeks now...I just can't imagine it's healthy to barely eat for that long. His energy is fine and I haven't checked his weight (he's been steadily losing that baby fat though...for months now) He does get REALLY cranky when he doesn't eat so I'm dealing with that.

He'll eat sometimes if Daddy is home and eating...but DH has class 2 days a week and doesn't get home until 8pm.

I'd have to shell out for something dairy free...and even then I dont' know that he'd eat it.

[Aubergine68]

My son won't drink smoothies but will eat popsicles made with smoothies - best with some fruit like blueberries or grapes that give it a darker color.

He will also eat pancakes with stuff mixed into the batter or into fruit sauce.  

What foods does your child reliably eat?  Have you tried breaking up the dose into smaller amounts if he's only eating a little at a time?

[AFWife]

Right now there is nothing that he'll eat consistently. It's like a gameshow every day

[Aubergine68]

That's rough, but it is the way it works with many toddlers, it seems. 

Do you have access to a good scale so you can track his weight?  Here you can weigh a child at any dr/ped office or health unit, for tracking weight for carseat purposes.  Maybe you will find that he is in fact gaining (or losing) and you can decide how much of an issue food/vitamins need to be?

 I know it is not everyone's first choice, but would he eat something like a gummy vitamin, cut up?

My fussy eater is now 4 and finally eating a little more reasonably - more variety, more vegetables -- he is underweight for his height  but has been gaining all along -- he's been hovering around the same weight for about a year now, though he has been getting taller.   He was my youngest of 3 and having the experience of parenting other children before him, I was a little more careful about not engaging in "food fights" with him -- I'd learned with his older sibs that one just can't win those.  He weaned at 16 mo, though I would like to have nursed him longer, due to a surgery I needed which involved a long recovery time.  I still strongly wish I'd been able to bf him longer -- I would have worried a lot less. 

He ate better for/with daddy than mommy, too.  My dh would play games with him, pretending he was going to take a sip of milk or bite of food and ds would "sneak" it before daddy got it, and daddy would pretend to be surprised.  I never much approved of this sort of thing  but - hey- it made eating fun instead of stressful and he wasn't hungry.  Maybe I should have tried that, too.

[EdnaMarie]

My kids take Schiff's multivitamins.  They think they are candy.  They have no idea that vitamins are not their daily treat.  I give them out as a reward.  Yes, they have fructose in them.  No, I don't give a rat's ass.  There are no artificial ingredients, they taste sweet, and they love them.

Plus, the price is right.  They are not the PERFECT vitamin in the theoretical sense, but they are perfect for us because the kids eat them.

I have to hide them in a locked cabinet, LOL.

I don't worry about my daughter, who I think is all of one day older than your son, and how she eats daily, though that is partly because I am still nursing her.  She has her days, and she is very skinny.  But then... lean runs in the family.

If I were you, I'd just keep offering what you prepare for the two of you.  DD2 eats mainly off my plate these days.  I don't know what she thinks we're putting in hers, LOL.  But she prefers to eat on my lap, together, and eats WAY more that way.  Like, three to four times as much.  She also prefers my smoothie.  What I do is I just make a bunch and share and then have more seconds for myself.

So, that's what is working for us.  YMMV but I do think that it's normal for them to be figuring stuff out at this age.

[crunchy_mommy]

Well we use the Animal Parade vitamins & like the pp's kids, DS thinks it's some kind of treat. He asks for an elephant or a cat or whatever. He'll eat the whole vitamin (which is half a dose) 60% of the time though, which is better than not at all. He doesn't eat much of anything else so I was kind of surprised he eats them, even if it's inconsistently. I would get a small (inexpensive) bottle of some kind of fun-shaped chewable and see if he does any better with that. Or try mixing the powdery stuff so it's thick? Then it's more concentrated so even if he only drinks a bit, he's getting more of the nutrients... I don't know, I wouldn't stress about it too much... does he take any kind of milk or formula?

[YayJennie]

If he'll drink your smoothie, I'd put the vitamins in "your" smoothie and drink a little, then let him drink it.  Nothing wrong with a little trickery  ;)

But yeah, I wouldn't push vitamins this young unless you have a major concern.  We do chewable omega-3s that Wyatt likes called oceans kids made by Garden of Life.  They make a multi too, but he pretty much just sucks on them and they get sticky and I don't see a need for a multi really, so I don't worry about it.  Frankie is probably just cutting some teeth and not that hungry.  It's a phase he'll grow out of.  Just keep offering him a variety of healthy foods and try not to worry about it.  If he is getting cranky because he's hungry but really won't eat anything you offer, you can always give him milk in a bottle :)

[AFWife]

We do raw milk. So I know he's getting the good fats (calories) and a lot of nutrients through that... I just worry sometimes.