We all know how important it is to our health that we enjoy a balanced diet. This is particularly crucial for growing children, but sometimes it can be difficult enough to persuade your child to eat their dinner at all, without also worrying that they’re getting their recommended amount of vitamins and minerals each day.
Multivitamins make the job much easier, as they can simply be given to your child once a day to supply them with nutrients that they may be missing from their food. However, it can be difficult to decide which is the right option, particularly when your child's health is concerned. We’ve created this buying guide to help you out, as well as a list of the top ten multivitamins for kids from shops such as Amazon, ASDA, Tesco and Boots.
For those after a quick look, here is our Top 5:
Image | 1 ![]() Chewwies | 2 ![]() Vitabiotics | 3 ![]() Abidec | 4 ![]() BetterYou | 5 ![]() Centrum | 6 ![]() Haliborange | 7 ![]() Vitabiotics | 8 ![]() Vitabiotics | 9 ![]() Vegums | 10 ![]() Natures Aid |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Name | Multivitamins | WellKid Smart Chewable Multi-Vitamins | Multivitamin Drops | MultiVit Junior Daily Multi Vitamin Oral Spray | Kids Multimineral Food Supplement | Multivitamins Calcium & Iron | WellBaby Multi-Vitamin Liquid | WellKid Peppa Pig Multi-Vits | Gummy Vitamins for Vegans | Mini Drops Multi-Vitamin For Infants and Children |
Features | A Tasty, Balanced and Allergen-Free Choice for All the Family | A Comprehensive Supplement for Older Kids up to 12 Years Old | A Well-Balanced Multivitamin Suited to a Wide Age Range | Every Ounce of Goodness for 1 Year Olds and Up | An Affordable Pick Containing Every Vitamin from A to Z | A Range of Vitamins Supplemented by Calcium and Iron | Designed to Aid the Growth of Babies and Toddlers | Fun Strawberry-Flavoured Chews for Kids Aged 3-7 | Environmentally Friendly and Perfect for Those on a Vegan Diet | Easy-to-Administer Drops Made Specifically for Infants |
Price | £6.99 | £6.25 | £5.50 | £6.45 | £4.80 | £4.50 | £5.75 | £7.50 | £24.95 | £5.95 |
Age Range | 3 years upwards | 4-12 years | Birth - 12 years | 1 year upwards | 4 years upwards | 3 years upwards | 6 months - 4 years | 3-7 years | 3 years - adult | 3 months - 5 years |
Type/Dosage | Chews, 1 per day | Chews, 1 per day | Drops, 0.3/0.6 ml per day for children under 1 year/children over 1 year | Spray, 4 sprays daily | Chews, 1 per day | Chews, 1 per day | Liquid, 5 ml daily | Chews, 1 per day | Chews, 1-2 a day depending on age | Drops, 1 ml daily |
Flavour | Raspberry | Mixed fruit | - | Raspberry | Fruit | Orange | Orange | Strawberry | Strawberry | Orange |
Dietary Requirements | Vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, halal | Vegetarian, gluten-free | Contains peanut oil | Vegetarian | Gluten-free | Gluten-free | Vegetarian | Vegan, vegetarian | Vegan, vegetarian | Vegetarian, gluten-free |
Nutritional Information | Sugar-free, no preservatives, no artificial colours or flavourings | No preservatives, no artificial colours or flavourings | - | - | No artificial colours | No artificial colours or flavourings | No artificial colours or flavourings | No preservatives, no artificial sweeteners | Natural flavours and colours | Sugar-free, no artificial colours or flavours |
Vitamins | 9 | Full range | 7 | 14 | Full range | 9 | 9 | 9 | B12, D2, B6 | 9 |
Minerals | Calcium, biotin, folic acid | 9 | - | Selenium, iodine | Calcium, iron, potassium, zinc | Calcium, iron | Folic acid, iron, zinc, copper, malt extract | Folic acid, calcium, biotin | Selenium, iodine, folic acid | - |
Volume | 30 | 30 | 25 ml | 25 ml | 30 | 30 | 150 ml | 30 | 120 | 50 ml |
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Not all children’s multivitamins are suitable for all children, and they’ll almost always come labelled with a minimum age that a child must reach before they can begin to consume them, and a maximum age at which they'll need to progress to another, more advanced multivitamin.
Just as they have different nutritional requirements to adults, children of different ages have different needs to each other. It is, therefore, incredibly important that you stick to the recommended age guidelines, as failing to do so can result in your child ingesting an unnecessary or insufficient amount of a certain vitamin.
Those looking to begin supporting the diets of newborns will need to take extra care – there are significantly fewer multivitamin options for children under 3, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any at all. In fact, there are a few suitable for children under 6 months and, and occasionally, even from birth.
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Next, consider the range of the age suitability. Parents with multiple children will benefit most from multivitamins with wide age ranges: you’ll can use one brand to support the whole family, which is sure to make shopping trips a little easier. Additionally, if your child is particularly fussy, it helps to find a multivitamin that they can continue to take without the need to search for a new one after just a few years.
On the other hand, there are also benefits to multivitamins with narrow age ranges. A multivitamin specially designed for children of a set few years is more likely to contain a balance of vitamins tailored to that age group.
Take this example: the body of a 3-year-old is undergoing completely different changes to that of a 12-year-old, and while a wide-ranging multivitamin will sufficiently cover both age groups, a multivitamin for ages 3-7 will contain nutrients that specifically support the developmental changes that the 3-year-old is experiencing.
Chews and tablets are simple enough in practice – just give one to your child to swallow after one of their meals, safe in the knowledge that they'll be getting everything they need. However, how likely your child is to accept this willingly will depend largely on the flavour of the chew.
Though many are sweetly-flavoured, kids don’t tend to look too fondly on the powdery tablet type, instead preferring the soft gummy variety, particularly when paired with a nice, fruity flavour. Check the ingredients, though, as while many multivitamins are naturally flavoured, some do use artificial sweeteners.
The jury’s out on which type of multivitamin is better absorbed by the body than the other, though some do believe that liquids and sprays come out on top. However, where there is an undisputed variance is on how easy these different forms are to administer.
Some liquid multivitamins, for example, can be dropped straight into food or drink without your child even knowing. Though, as many multivitamins contain strong flavours, your child may notice, unless dropped into similar-tasting, or particularly strong-flavoured, food or drink. Meanwhile, multivitamin sprays are much quicker to administer. A quick few sprays into your child’s mouth will do the trick!
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Surely every multivitamin contains all the necessary vitamins, right? Well, yes, while it’s true that every multivitamin contains the right selection of vitamins essential for good health, that doesn’t mean that one doesn’t contain a slightly different balance to another and that there isn’t an extra bunch found in one that isn’t in another.
If you’re especially concerned about your child getting one particular type of vitamin, it’s a good idea to check the label, though this is quite rare. If there are any significant omissions, a manufacturer will usually make note of it.
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A good multivitamin will also contain minerals such as magnesium and potassium. Mineral content differs quite drastically among multivitamins, so if you’re particularly keen for your child to get their daily dose of a certain mineral, it pays to check the label. Quite often, though, a manufacturer will be eager to advertise the fact their multivitamin contains these additional minerals and will feature it on the packaging.
Manufacturers also tend to offer different variants of their multivitamin featuring a different selection of additional minerals, so you can choose whichever you prefer. Haliborange, for example, provides multivitamins with additional calcium and iron – minerals that are beneficial for bones and the immune system.
This ranking has been compiled by the writing team at mybest UK via careful evaluation of the points made in the buying guide and thorough research of each product and comparing multiple verified customer reviews across the EC sites used.
£6.99
Age Range | 3 years upwards |
---|---|
Type/Dosage | Chews, 1 per day |
Flavour | Raspberry |
Dietary Requirements | Vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, halal |
Nutritional Information | Sugar-free, no preservatives, no artificial colours or flavourings |
Vitamins | 9 |
Minerals | Calcium, biotin, folic acid |
Volume | 30 |
£6.25
Age Range | 4-12 years |
---|---|
Type/Dosage | Chews, 1 per day |
Flavour | Mixed fruit |
Dietary Requirements | Vegetarian, gluten-free |
Nutritional Information | No preservatives, no artificial colours or flavourings |
Vitamins | Full range |
Minerals | 9 |
Volume | 30 |
£5.50
Age Range | Birth - 12 years |
---|---|
Type/Dosage | Drops, 0.3/0.6 ml per day for children under 1 year/children over 1 year |
Flavour | - |
Dietary Requirements | Contains peanut oil |
Nutritional Information | - |
Vitamins | 7 |
Minerals | - |
Volume | 25 ml |
£6.45
Age Range | 1 year upwards |
---|---|
Type/Dosage | Spray, 4 sprays daily |
Flavour | Raspberry |
Dietary Requirements | Vegetarian |
Nutritional Information | - |
Vitamins | 14 |
Minerals | Selenium, iodine |
Volume | 25 ml |
£4.80
Age Range | 4 years upwards |
---|---|
Type/Dosage | Chews, 1 per day |
Flavour | Fruit |
Dietary Requirements | Gluten-free |
Nutritional Information | No artificial colours |
Vitamins | Full range |
Minerals | Calcium, iron, potassium, zinc |
Volume | 30 |
£4.50
Age Range | 3 years upwards |
---|---|
Type/Dosage | Chews, 1 per day |
Flavour | Orange |
Dietary Requirements | Gluten-free |
Nutritional Information | No artificial colours or flavourings |
Vitamins | 9 |
Minerals | Calcium, iron |
Volume | 30 |
£5.75
Age Range | 6 months - 4 years |
---|---|
Type/Dosage | Liquid, 5 ml daily |
Flavour | Orange |
Dietary Requirements | Vegetarian |
Nutritional Information | No artificial colours or flavourings |
Vitamins | 9 |
Minerals | Folic acid, iron, zinc, copper, malt extract |
Volume | 150 ml |
£7.50
Age Range | 3-7 years |
---|---|
Type/Dosage | Chews, 1 per day |
Flavour | Strawberry |
Dietary Requirements | Vegan, vegetarian |
Nutritional Information | No preservatives, no artificial sweeteners |
Vitamins | 9 |
Minerals | Folic acid, calcium, biotin |
Volume | 30 |
£24.95
Age Range | 3 years - adult |
---|---|
Type/Dosage | Chews, 1-2 a day depending on age |
Flavour | Strawberry |
Dietary Requirements | Vegan, vegetarian |
Nutritional Information | Natural flavours and colours |
Vitamins | B12, D2, B6 |
Minerals | Selenium, iodine, folic acid |
Volume | 120 |
£5.95
Age Range | 3 months - 5 years |
---|---|
Type/Dosage | Drops, 1 ml daily |
Flavour | Orange |
Dietary Requirements | Vegetarian, gluten-free |
Nutritional Information | Sugar-free, no artificial colours or flavours |
Vitamins | 9 |
Minerals | - |
Volume | 50 ml |
The NHS recommends that supplements containing vitamins A, C, and D should be given to children aged 6 months to 5 years daily. Supplements should not be given to babies who consume more than 500 ml of baby formula each day.
Vitamins C, D, and zinc can greatly contribute to improving your child's immune system.
Vitamin C is one of the most powerful immune system boosters, and a deficiency can leave you susceptible to a number of ailments. Vitamin D can also help to fight viruses as it plays a vital role in the production of proteins that kill viruses and bacteria, particularly in the respiratory system.
Written and researched by Ben Willimett
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