You have decided to get your
family’s diet on track and eating healthier. Good for you, but you are weary
from the battles of taking vitamins. What do you do? Is it worth the battle to make
them take supplements? Can’t they get all they need from food?
We all know that it is nearly
impossible to eat right all…the…time. That is why we often need to supplement
our diets.
For example, your kids will eat
apples and bananas, but getting them to eat any veggie other than corn is a
real challenge. There goes the notion of eating 3-5 servings a day.
Then there is fish. Eating cold
water fish is good for cardiovascular health and brain health – helping kids be
healthier and learn faster. Most kids love fish sticks, but good luck finding
much fish inside the breading. We know that those things aren’t healthy, but
try and get your kids to eat the good-for-you fish like salmon, sardines, etc.
Well, you might as well have more luck with them keeping their rooms spotless
without being told to.
Then there are the pro-biotics –
most yogurt that kids will eat have little to no live bacteria in them or will
survive the stomach acids on their way to the gut and they are loaded with
sugar! So much for the good stuff.
Those are just a few reasons why we need
to supplement our kid’s diets with vitamins, but how do we do that with
vitamins that aren’t loaded with sugar and other nasty chemicals themselves?
Shaklee’s chewable children’s
vitamin, Incredivites
is the most complete multi-vitamin/multi-mineral out there. It is awesome with
many children’s health improving dramatically. It does not contain any artificial
ingredients, colors or flavorings.
Of all our customers who have
tried Incredivites,
I have had very few whose children did not like them. Most kids begged for
more! For the few that didn’t the parents found that the children had a
previously unknown texture issue more than a taste issue.
However, on occasion I come
across a parent who has a child who is just plain stubborn.
So what do you do if your child
has a texture issue or is really just used to the sugary vitamins that do not
contribute to good health?
With a texture issue it becomes
necessary to find ways to get the vitamins in them without disrupting their
balance.
We all know of the recipes where
you can mix in veggies as recipe substitutions – Pinterest is full of them. It’s
the same with vitamins. Increditvites and other Shaklee
vitamins can be ground then mixed into the food.
When it comes to just plain stubbornness,
at this point as a parent, you have a choice to make – allow your child to
dictate what they eat or stand firm on some things like this, while you let
other things not as important go.
See, at some point we must stop
trying to keep our kids happy at all costs, including their health and decide
that as parents, we make the choices on what they eat for their own good.
Taking a good vitamin is one area as parents, we do not let our children tell
us what to do.
My son never wants what I want
him to have for breakfast and it has been so tempting at times to just give in
and let him have pizza for breakfast or a candy bar or donuts, but I know that giving
in to his whims is not what’s good for him and I refuse to let him dictate his
diet. Though he loves his Incredivites, he hates cereal,
smoothies and other healthy alternatives.
So every day I decide to stand
firm and I offer him choices of what is acceptable to me and he gets to choose
from those options. This way he feels he has some control over his life. He
also knows that taking his vitamins is an area where I refuse to give in and he
must take them.
Is it always easy? No.
Do I grow
weary of his complaining? You bet.
Do I give in and let him skip? Not on his
life.
He means too much to me to let his health be an area where I compromise.
Luckily he learned quickly that taking his vitamins is a must do and he reminds
me
now if I forget!
We are their teachers and
sometimes teaching must get creative.
Though I recommend insisting
children try one bite of a new food, I don’t like to force eating a whole
serving. If the veggies for example, are not going over well at the dinner
table, you can easily find a recipe to help you “get it in them” so to speak.
It’s the same with vitamins, you
have the option of grinding them up and adding them to applesauce, smoothies
and more. Simple as that.
Many children have found relief
from allergies with Alfalfa, but they haven’t learned to swallow tablets yet.
Mixing them into food is a great way to help them get them without all the
gagging, complaining and stress.
Keep this in mind the next time
your child says, “I can’t swallow that” or “I don’t want to chew it!” If they
can swallow big bites of pizza or hamburger or whatever, they can swallow a
tablet – it often is just in their head.
I taught my son to swallow
tablets at an early age. By two years old, I wanted to give him the Optiflora
pearl which is the probiotics. It is small, slippery and easy to swallow –
perfect for teaching. I did not try to hide it, I put it on a spoon of
applesauce and instructed him to take his “little ball”. I explained it had
good soldiers in it to help his body fight off the bad soldiers that makes him
sick. This made him happy to take it and he learned very quickly.
He then went on to learning to
swallow the Alfalfa tablets one at a time by taking big swigs of water and “floating”
or letting the tabs “swim” in his mouth before swallowing.
I got creative in my teaching and
he got the nutrients he needed to stay healthy or recover fast from the rare
times he did get sick.
Now, many parents may say I’m
being harsh or uncaring about their situation with their kids not wanting to
chew the Incredivites
or eat vegetables, etc. I never want to come across that way, but as a parent
myself, I know there are some things worth fighting for. My child’s health is
one of them. I learned through long hours of study that the Incredivites
were the very best vitamin out there and that was the one I wanted him to have.
So if your children are some of
the very few who won’t chew the Incredivites,
you can take a stand or you can get creative. You have a choice.
I know you love your kids and
only want the best for them. We have the best vitamins, that’s why you ordered
them in the first place, all they need is you to back them up.
If you need help with ideas or
your children are driving you crazy, contact me. My son often drives me crazy, it’s
that age I’m told, so call me and we can go crazy together. There is safety in
numbers, so if you need another parent’s shoulder to lean on or you want to
talk with a group of parents and share battle scars, we offer the perfect place
to do that.
We often have parent get-togethers
where we learn about children’s health and nutrition then have a social time to
share stories. Just contact me and we can save you a seat.
I wish you best of luck. Your
health and your children’s health mean a lot to us and are worth the fight. Remember,
we are here if you need us.
Wishing you all the best,
Julie
To learn more about our children's health products, please visit: ToBeHealthy.MyShaklee.com
Always
Safe, Always Works, Always Green
See why
we work when others don’t
Find us
Online at:
Product Info & Ordering
Website: To Be
Healthy
Health & Wellness Info
Site: Better Health in 31 Days
Our Health & Wellness Blog: YouToBeHealthy.com
Like us on Facebook: To Be Healthy
Twitter: You To Be Healthy
Pinterest:
YouToBeHealthy
Google+:
Shaklee ToBeHealthy
Comments