Good Morning ladies. I need a good vitamin recommendation for my 8 year old boy. No gummy or flintstone-esque types. My son eats a well balanced breakfast,sleeps 9-10 hrs, is not a morning person, so drags himself out of the house, might be more drama then actual low energy but..... I have admittedly slacked off on the vitamins. So any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Have a great day!
HI Ladies, thanks so far for the vitamin recommendations. I already wake my son 1/2 earlier than needed becasue of his pokiness in the morning. I love Flintstone vitamins but my son doesn't and he's a texture boy so gummies are
"weird on his tongue". Keep the suggestions coming, I'm gonna check out the Vemma one and Focus Factor after work tonight.
I like Krista's advice about "pre-waking" -- It has REALLY worked for my son.
Also, don't discount the value of a Flintstone vitamin. They are often rec'd for pregnant women who do not tolerate pre-natal vitamins!
I don't think this is a vitamin issue, especially if he is generally a healthy child.
It's going to sound strange, but you may want to get him up a little earlier in the morning so he can "wake up" before having to get himself up and moving. I'm a morning person, but hubs is not. I have to "start" waking him up at least 15 minutes before he actually needs to get out of bed. If he has to get up immediately he drags for the first hour of the morning.
If your son is getting a well-balanced diet, especially breakfast, then vitamins won't help (despite all the claims of this multi-billion dollar industry). I would add an hour to his sleep schedule. At 8, he could need 10-11 hours of sleep each night.
The vitamin most often claimed to increase energy is vitamin-B and while B vitamins do "help unlock the energy in foods..." just about everyone in America already gets all of the B vitamins they could possibly need in their diets and extra B vitamins are just flushed out of the system.
There can be so many problems related to low energy. Our family are fans of the supplement by Truehope called EMPowerplus. Often connected to "mental" illness, in low dosage it is a really good multi-vitamin supplement. Our pediatrician approved of it even at the high doses used for our child's "mental" illness (which was intertwined with her low energy - see http://www.ItsNotMental.com).
BUT, there are so many things you might want him checked for, such as his thyroid levels. And even light and dark can affect his sleep cycle, what time he goes to bed and what he does before bed (see http://itsnotmental.blogspot.com/2009/01/sleep-timing-of-..., Vitamin D level, blood sugar level, food sensitivities (gluten and dairy sensitivity are common), allergies, adrenal hormones, mitochondrial dysfunction (may need Omega-3 fatty acids (Fish oil- http://itsnotmental.blogspot.com/search?q=fish+oil ), CoQ10 or methylated B vitamins, or).
Just something to keep in mind IF one simple multi-vitamin does not cure his low energy.
what about something like pediasure or carnation instant breakfast, something he can drink while he gets ready to go.
I pick up a sample yesterday at Costco call Focus Factor for kids. The front of the says formulated to help support healthy brain function. I tried them. and they taste a little like a tums, and don't have that terrible after taste like Flinstone. My kids will eat them, not ask for them.
My son REFUSES to even try taking any vitamins so he now drinks one of my Slim Fast (actually the ones from Wal Mart, they are sooo much better tasting!) drinks in the morning. It has vitamins so at least he's getting SOMETHING into his body.
We tried the gummy vitamins and he hated them. My husband and I tried them and they WERE HORRIBLE!
We use a supplement called Vemma Next. It is a fantastic product. Our daughter loves the taste and it is liquid so we know that she is absorbing all the vitamins and minerals in there. Just go to http://vemma.com for more info.
