Source: Renzo’s / @RenzosVitamins
Giving your kids vitamins can be tricky because the ingredients, particularly sugar, can be suspect AF. The last thing any parent wants is for their children to be bouncing off the walls from something that was essentially supposed to be healthy. The other tricky part is getting your child, especially as a toddler, to actually swallow the pill or liquid or chew the gummy.
In my case, my 2.5-year-old’s pediatrician instructed me to start her on iron supplements so I went on the hunt for what I felt were good vitamins. First, I settled on a liquid brand. I figured that liquid would hit her system quickly and would be easy for her to take so that was a plus. We started out really well. I’d deliver the dose with a syringe and she would happily swallow the iron. But after a couple of weeks, in true toddler fashion, she started spitting the liquid out –not because she didn’t like it (I don’t think), but because she got fascinated by the concept of spitting liquid out (she starting doing this with water and milk too). As a toddler parent, I know there’s no point in questioning or trying to reason with her. The only other thing I could do was try to find a solution.
After doing some research I stumbled across Renzo’s Dissolvable Vitamins. The brand describes itself as being geared toward picky eaters and “making healthy easy.” The vitamins come in four different formulas: Multivitamin, Iron, B6 and D3. Each formulation is plant-based, non-GMO, and without animal products and added sugar. The website even breaks down what some of the more complicated sounding ingredients actually are and explains that its vitamins are easier to digest than most on the market. I was also intrigued by the fact that the vitamins are dissolvable.
I thought they would be an instant hit with my daughter but I was wrong. She was freaked out at first by the texture and I thought all hope was lost, but I offered her the vitamins for about three days straight before she finally decided to try one and she liked it. She asked for more, which I obviously declined because the dosing says to give them one, but now she’s excited about taking her iron and actually requests them herself if I don’t remember.
I tested the vitamin myself and, as promised, it’s small, dissolves quickly, and actually tastes as good as an iron supplement can. I know that last part sounds suspect, but iron supplements all tend to have a hint of metal taste for obvious reasons. That can be off-putting for kids but with these, while there is that metallic hint, it’s not too strong and, again, the pills dissolve quickly so the taste can be washed away with water though my daughter never needs to wash it down. My daughter, who is a picky eater, consumes them like a champ and I plan to purchase more items from the range. I actually hope this brand considers creating adult vitamins because taking supplements never really gets easier, but more people would be more likely to comply if doing so could be as quick and painless as Renzo’s makes the process for kids.
