Prenatal vitamins I can actually swallow?

[alpenarwen]

Hey mamas and mamas to be...

We are trying for baby #3 and I would REALLY like to find some prenatal vitamins that aren't horse pills!

My first 2 pregnancies I purchased the Rainbow Light multis and I really tried to be good about taking them but was lucky if I managed to choke down one a day. I have a hard time swallowing pills at the best of times, let alone when I have morning sickness. I just gave up on vitamins altogether for the past year but now my body is feeling the effects 

Can anyone recommend a prenatal that is smaller, or maybe a soft gel or a capsule instead?

Also, has anyone used Carlson brand soft gels? Just picked some up from the store but they were very pricey so if anyone can suggest something cheaper I will return these...

TIA!

Heidi

[lillymonster]

Buried Treasure makes a liquid. I looked into it, it might be low on something - iron?, and it's expensive, so it might be something to get you past the first trimester.

Kirkman labs makes one, Perry Prenatal, it's a hypoallergenic brands, so it's not whole foods, but it's a small capsule for 2x a day and it's pretty cheap.

Right now I am taking everything seperately. I take liquid cal/mag/vit D, seperate iron with folic acid, b-12 and c, b-6 pill and then some of my DD no-iron gummy vitamins because she didn't like the taste and I didn't want to waste them.

[imogenlily]

It's more labour intensive, but I actually count the values of folic acid, iron, etc. in my food, and increase certain foods as needed to recommended pregnancy intakes. I started doing this because I would throw up instantly after taking a prenatal vitamin.

[Drummer's Wife]

There's also chewables prenatals.

[nova22]

Originally Posted by imogenlily 

It's more labour intensive, but I actually count the values of folic acid, iron, etc. in my food, and increase certain foods as needed to recommended pregnancy intakes. I started doing this because I would throw up instantly after taking a prenatal vitamin.

 I can't tolerate Rainbow Light, either, but they are the best I can find (and highly recommended by my midwife) as far as what they contain. I have yet to see a chewable prenatal that comes anywhere close to them. Instead, I take all kinds of other stuff every day:

- acidophilus

- gentle iron

- chlorophyll

- fish oil capsules

- calcium magnesium (a recent addition to my daily routine, recommended by my midwife because I have had some issues with borderline blood pressure and edema)

- 1qt per day of my midwife's homemade pregnancy tea, which contains alfalfa, nettles, raspberry leaf, rose hips, etc. She says that 1qt per day is equal to taking a prenatal.

It's a huge pain to sit there every morning with all those pills looming before me, but at least I can swallow them. Rainbow Light is like torture!

[imogenlily]

Originally Posted by nova22 

- 1qt per day of my midwife's homemade pregnancy tea, which contains alfalfa, nettles, raspberry leaf, rose hips, etc. She says that 1qt per day is equal to taking a prenatal.

I do this tea, too!

[alpenarwen]

Thanks for the tips everyone! Maybe I will try to take everything separately...

I have never seen chewable prenatals. What company makes them?

I also learned about Concept DHA...

http://www.uspco.com/conceptdha/

They claim to be smaller than other prenatals, but are prescription only (and what is up with those creepy anime-esque illustrations?)

[Jayray]

I take a chewable adult multivitamin.  It has less folic acid and less iron than a prenatal, but is pretty much the same in every other way.  I also drink RRL tea and try to get a good amount of dairy for the calcium.

During my last pregnancy, my husband cut my Rainbow Light vitamins in half and sanded down the rough edges.   But I couldn't even deal with that this time.  And I feel like I eat a pretty balanced diet.

[alpenarwen]

Originally Posted by Jayray 

During my last pregnancy, my husband cut my Rainbow Light vitamins in half and sanded down the rough edges.  

Wow, now that is love!!

Who makes an adult chewable? I honestly have never seen them...and believe me, I've looked :)

[LaurenAnanas]

My Rainbow Light vitamins are capsules, not tablets, so I can open them up and sprinkle them on food or add them to a smoothie. It even suggests that on the label.

[StephandOwen]

I've found prenatal gummy chewables! I found them at Kroger but I've seen them at Target too. The brand is VitaFusion (I think). It has folic acid and DHA, but it doesn't have iron. I need the iron desperately so I take Flintstones Complete chewables every other day and then the prenatal gummy on the other days.

[Jayray]

I get my adult chewable at Trader Joes.  I know their prenatals are from Rainbow Light.  Maybe the adult chewables are too??

[yell]

My OB has told me that over the counter prenats are good enough because they don't contain enough folic acid.  He said I should have 1000 mg (or whatever it's measured in, I can't remember) and my VitaFusion gummis only have 800 or something like that.  Anyone else heard this?

[Lisoula]

Originally Posted by Jayray 

During my last pregnancy, my husband cut my Rainbow Light vitamins in half and sanded down the rough edges.   But I couldn't even deal with that this time.  And I feel like I eat a pretty balanced diet.

I think the recommendation is 800mcg during pregnancy, unless you have a strong history of neural tube defects, and then it's 1000mcg-4000mcg depending on what your provider recommends.

Bellybar makes a chewable prenatal, but I haven't read the label to know if it's sufficient enough.

Originally Posted by yell 

My OB has told me that over the counter prenats are good enough because they don't contain enough folic acid.  He said I should have 1000 mg (or whatever it's measured in, I can't remember) and my VitaFusion gummis only have 800 or something like that.  Anyone else heard this?

[alpenarwen]

Originally Posted by Jayray 

I get my adult chewable at Trader Joes.  I know their prenatals are from Rainbow Light.  Maybe the adult chewables are too??

SIGH! If only they had Trader Joes here in Texas 

Thanks SO much for all the helpful info everyone. I checked on the Rainbow Light website (which I probably should have done in the first place). Their Certified Organic prenatals are the ones in capsule form that can be sprinkled on food. I think I will give them a try. They don't contain calcium, which to me is a plus, since calcium inhibits iron absorption I'd rather take my calcium separate from my iron anyway.

In case it is helpful to anyone else...Rainbow Light also makes some tablets called Prenatal Petite which are smaller than the regular prenatal tablets. There are photos of the pills on Amazon showing their size relative to other pills and they do look a lot smaller! So between those and the prenatal chewables other people mentioned, it seems I've got lots of options...hooray! 

Thanks again!