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Hello! I’m Anjali. I’m a board certified health coach, author, wife, mom and food lover from the SF Bay area (now living in Seattle, WA!); with a passion for delicious food and a desire to make healthy eating easy, tasty and fun! Learn more about me here and stay for a while!

Anjali Shah

The Healthiest Children’s Vitamins: 2023 Guide

This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Please read my disclosure.

Are you looking for the healthiest children’s vitamins on the market today? This post (which I update monthly) will help you find the best one for your child!

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Note: If you are looking vitamins for adults I’ve got you covered with my updated best adult vitamins article.

Kids Vitamins can be confusing. There are so many questions: Is there a such thing as an “unhealthy” kids vitamin? Do you need a vitamin with iron? Which vitamins are the best? Do kids even need vitamins at all?

A lot of these questions can be really overwhelming because there is so much information out there! So I did a bunch of research and found the healthiest kids vitamins out there today. This is your guide for the best multivitamins for kids: what to buy, what not to buy, and what to look out for!

First of all, do kids even need vitamins to begin with?

Most pediatricians will tell you that it’s not necessary for most healthy children who are growing normally (source). For kids who eat well and eat a variety of food, they can get all of the nutrients they need from whole foods. But many kids are very picky, or don’t eat a lot of food, or aren’t growing well, and that makes a lot of parents worried that they aren’t getting the nutrients they need! In those cases, I’d recommend talking to your pediatrician, and if they suggest giving your child a multivitamin then definitely do so. 

When buying a multivitamin, what should you look for? 

Kids multivitamins generally come in two groups: 1) With Iron and 2) Without Iron. You should buy a multivitamin that doesn’t exceed 100% daily value of most of the vitamins for your child’s age group – primarily Vitamins A, E and K (that will be indicated by the label on the back). The exception here is for Vitamin C and other water-soluble vitamins. Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin but is ok to have at more than 100% of the daily value because most people are deficient (including kids) and Vitamin D isn’t toxic unless it’s in exceptionally high doses which wouldn’t be in a daily vitamin. If the vitamin does have more than 100% of A, E and K then I would just give your child half the dose on the bottle.

Free Children’s Vitamins 1 Page Printable

Fill out the form below to receive your FREE 1-page checklist of the best vitamins by age (0-18 years) and the right dosing by age!

So what should you buy? What’s the healthiest children’s vitamin out there? 

Luckily there are tons of options! Below is a list of my favorites: they all are made with natural ingredients, have no weird preservatives or any of the ingredients above added, and a few even derive the vitamins from organic food sources which I absolutely love because they are better absorbed by the body that way. Most of these will have a tiny bit of cane sugar or fructose added, but as long as it’s less than 4g per serving it’s not a huge issue.

Note: Some of the items below were given to me to review by the manufacturer or as part of an affiliate program. I may receive commissions if you make a purchase through the links provided. I only recommend products I’ve actually evaluated, I believe are the highest quality, and can do the most to help you and your family. By purchasing any of these products from the links below, you help keep this blog running, so thanks for your support! I am not a doctor, so don’t disregard anything your doctor has told you based on what you read here. Please consult with your doctor before starting any new supplements.

ALL of the vitamins I recommend below do NOT contain gelatin. They are all vegetarian friendly! A few vitamins on the list (like First Day Vitamins, Hiya Vitamins, Llama Naturals Organic Gummies, and Ritual) are 100% organic and free of ALL heavy metals, contaminants, and allergens as well!

The Healthiest Children’s Multivitamins With Iron

The Healthiest Children’s Multivitamins Without Iron

The Healthiest Children’s Liquid Vitamins Without Iron

  • ChildLife – it’s a little higher in sugar than I’d like, but you can start using it at 6 months of age (the other two options are for older kids)
  • Garden of Life for Toddlers – this vitamin is 100% organic, made from whole foods, has no sugar added, and you can use it starting at 1 year of age. I haven’t found a liquid vitamin with probiotics that has a cleaner ingredients list yet!
  • Best Nest Multi + for Kids – this is the most comprehensive liquid kids vitamin I’ve found that you can start at 1 year of age. It does have stevia extract added, so that is something to consider depending on whether you want your child to have stevia!
  • Mary Ruth’s Kids Liquid Vitamin – no sugar added, organic, liposomal (better absorption) and you can use it starting at 4 years of age.
  • Premium Children’s – no sugar added and you can use it starting at 4 years of age

The Healthiest Children’s Iron Only Supplement

An iron-only supplement is a good option if you go with a multivitamin without iron, because it will add the iron missing from those vitamins back into your child’s diet. I generally recommend supplementing with iron if your child has been tested and is iron-deficient (otherwise supplementing with iron is not necessary for most kids). The two best iron-only supplements are:

  1. Mary Ruth’s Liquid Iron For Toddlers: Organic, Non GMO, Super clean ingredients list, formulated for kids aged 1-3.
  2. Mary Ruth’s Liquid Iron For Kids: Organic, Non GMO, Vegan, formulated for kids aged 4+ and adults can use it too!
  3. Nature’s Nutra because of relatively its super clean ingredients list.
  4. Gaia Herbs: Use for older children (or with pediatrician’s approval for babies), non GMO

The Healthiest Children’s Omega 3 Supplements

The primary Omega 3 supplement I’d recommend for kids is Nordic Naturals. They have an infant DHA supplement and a children’s DHA supplement – both of which are extremely pure, has no added preservatives or sugar, and are in liquid form so they can be added to just about anything! Children’s Best Gummy DHA is the best gummy Omega 3 supplement I’ve found, and ChildLife Cod Liver Oil is also a good option for kids starting at 6 months of age!

The Healthiest Children’s Vitamin D Supplement

If you’re looking for a gummy Vitamin D supplement for kids, I love these Vitamin D gummies from Llama Naturals (and as a bonus, adults can use them too!). If you’re looking for a liquid Vitamin D supplement for babies, toddlers, and older kids, I love these Vitamin D Drops from Raise them Well. There is literally nothing added to them (no flavors, colors, etc.). They are liquid and you only need one drop in your child’s milk per day. They’re marketed for infants, but you can use them for any age. Super easy, tasteless and pure. For two other great options, BabyD Drops and UpSpring makes a pure liquid Vitamin D supplement as well.

The Best Vitamin C For Kids

Many of you have asked me for my thoughts around Vitamin C supplements for kids. Here are my picks for the healthiest, best Vitamin C for kids. If you’re looking for a chewable vitamin, I recommend Raise Them Well Children’s Immunity Chewable with Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Vitamin K and Zinc.

If you’re looking for a gummy, I recommend Llama Naturals Vitamin C with Elderberry added, or Children’s Best Organic Immune Gummy (with Elderberry). Other good gummy options include Olly Kids Immunity or WellVites.

If you’re looking for a liquid vitamin, I like Mary Ruth’s Liquid Vitamin C or ChildLife Vitamin C. And if you’re looking for a gummy for older kids/adults, I like Mary Ruth’s Vitamin C Gummies.

Lastly, if you’re looking for the best elderberry supplement for kids, I like Gaia Herbs Elderberry, and for an all-natural, sugar-free immune booster for kids using Beta Glucan, I love Beta Kids Gummies!

The Healthiest Probiotics Supplements For Kids

I love Garden of Life’s line of probiotics – they are shipped cold and their powdered kids probiotic can be added to your child’s drink (milk, water, etc.). They also have a kids’ chewable probiotic if you need an option that doesn’t require refrigeration (but it does have maltodextrin).

If you’re looking for an organic gummy probiotic, I like Children’s Best. If you’re looking for a liquid probiotic, I recommend this organic liquid probiotic from Go Healthy Natural. Four other probiotic options that I like are Llama Naturals, Hiya Probiotic, Children’s Best Super Probiotic, Klaire LabsPROKids and Dr. MK’s Natural Probiotic (the only caveat with Dr. MK’s is that it’s sweetened with sorbitol which is a sugar alcohol).

The Healthiest Prebiotic Supplement for Kids

There is only one prebiotic I’ve found that’s safe for toddlers and kids, and has super high quality ingredients and no stabilizers or artificial flavors/colors added. I recommend BeginHealth if you are looking to supplement with a prebiotic for your child. It contains only three ingredients: 2’FL HMO (Human Milk Oligosaccharide) – with a Molecular structure identical to the one found in breast milk, Oligofructose (Chicory root fiber), and avocado oil. It’s super clean and really effective! Learn more about the best probiotics for kids in my article where I answer all your questions about the topic.

What Ingredients Should Be Avoided In Kids Vitamins?

It’s also important to look for the ingredients that are added to the tablet that aren’t vitamins. Ingredients like: Sorbitol, carrageenan, artificial colors and flavors (like Red #40), aspartame, sucralose, to name a few! You definitely don’t want to be dosing your child with these ingredients on a daily basis along with their multivitamin.

So let’s start with what not to buy: The answer here is most of the commercially available, leading brands of multivitamins. The biggest offender of which is Flinstones Chewable Vitamins. 

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What’s crazy is that on the label, Flinstones calls out that they are “Pediatrician’s #1 Choice.” And most people do buy Flinstones vitamins! I even remember eating them when I was a kid. They tasted so good! It was like a treat every morning. And if you are giving your kids Flinstones vitamins right now, don’t feel bad! You are not alone, and thanks to all of the deceptive marketing out there, there’s no way you’d know that Flinstones isn’t the best choice for any child. Before doing all of this research I didn’t realize how problematic they were, and why it’s important to switch away from them.

The reason they are problematic, is because there are a ridiculous number of offensive ingredients in Flinstones Vitamins that truly, should not be there at all, and are not necessary. Take a look at two of their best sellers (I’ve highlighted in bold all of the ingredients to avoid):

#1 |Flinstones Chewable Vitamins with Iron: Sorbitol, Mannitol, Fructose, Sodium Ascorbate, Ferrous Fumarate, Silicon Dioxide, Carrageenan, Natural and Artificial Flavors, FD&C Red #40 Lake; Less Than 2% Of: Aspartame†, BetaCarotene, Cholecalciferol, Cyanocobalamin, D-Calcium Pantothenate, dl-Alpha-Tocopheryl Acetate, FD&C Blue #2 Lake, FD&C Yellow #6 Lake, Folic Acid, Magnesium Stearate, Niacinamide, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin, Soy Lecithin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Acetate.

#2 | Flinstones Chewable Complete: Granulated Calcium Carbonate (Calcium Carbonate, Dextrose Monohydrate, Sugar, Maltodextrin, Microcrystalline Cellulose), Sorbitol, Sodium Ascorbate, Ferrous Fumarate, Natural and Artificial Flavoring, Pregelatinized Starch, dl-Alpha Tocopheryl Acetate; Less Than 2% Of: Beta-Carotene, Biotin, Calcium Pantothenate, Cholecalciferol, Cupric Oxide, Cyanocobalamin, FD&C Blue #2 Lake, FD&C Red #40 Lake, FD&C Yellow #6 Lake, Folic Acid, Gelatin, Magnesium Oxide, Magnesium Stearate, Mono- and Diglycerides, Niacinamide, Potassium Iodide, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Phytonadione, Riboflavin, Silicon Dioxide, Soy Lecithin, Sucralose, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Acetate, Zinc Oxide.

Why are these ingredients bad? Let’s take them one by one:

  • Sorbitol and Mannitol are sugar alcohols. Some sugar alcohols can cause digestive issues and discomfort in some people because they can’t be digested properly by the body. Mannitol is typically better tolerated than sorbitol, so in choosing between the two, I would avoid sorbitol over mannitol.
  • Carrageenan is an emulsifier that thickens products, but it has been linked to high levels of inflammation in the body, digestive issues, etc.
  • Maltodextrin: this is an indicator that the food is highly processed. It’s used as a thickener, filler, or preservative in many processed foods, and it can cause spikes in your blood sugar because it has a high glycemic index.
  • Natural and Artificial Colors – Red #40, Blue #2, Yellow #6. What are these doing in a kids vitamin? These are so problematic and have been linked to all kinds of health problems including allergies, hyperactivity, learning impairment, irritability and aggressiveness.
  • Artificial flavors – also highly processed and unnecessary in a kids vitamin.
  • Aspartame and Sucralose – this is what diet sodas are sweetened with, and are highly controversial. Research hasn’t proven one way or the other whether they lead to long term health issues, but it has been proven that they cause an insulin-response by the body (because your body thinks you are eating sugar when you are not – source). If you wouldn’t give your child a diet coke, you shouldn’t give them a vitamin with this in it!
  • Mono- and Diglycerides is one of the most widely used emulsifers to keep oil and fat from separating. It’s just an indicator that the food is processed.
  • Oh, and gelatin. While this isn’t a harmful ingredient, it kind of sucks for any vegetarians or vegans out there who are giving their kids this vitamin without knowing that it’s not actually veggie-friendly.

Runner Ups / Children’s Supplements That Are Borderline

  • Solgar. This is one I’d get only if you can’t find any of the other ones on the list above, because while most of the ingredients are good, it does have carrageenan which – as I mentioned – it’s better to avoid.
  • YummiBears Organic Multivitamin (note: this vitamin does have cane sugar added – if you give your kids the full dose then it’s 6g sugar which is more than I would like in a vitamin)
  • Seeking Health (Note: The link may say women’s/mens but the label indicates this can be used for kids aged 4 and up. It’s also good for kids with MTHFR mutations. But I am waiting for a response from the company on the prop 65 warning on its label, so I’ve moved them down here for now!)
  • Nature’s Way Alive! The only downside to these is they are sweetened with sorbitol – which is a sugar alcohol that can be irritating to the digestive system. Other than that though, their ingredients look good!
  • Rainbow Light (this comes in powdered form). This was on my “top vitamins” list until August 2019, when news of a class action against Rainbow Light came out because their prenatal vitamins contained heavy metals (including high levels of lead). While this class action doesn’t apply to their children’s vitamins, I’d still be wary of buying from Rainbow Light until they have rigorous heavy metal testing in place for ALL of their vitamins.

I hope this helps you in navigating the world of kids’ vitamins! And if you want more detailed information I recommend you to read my article about kids immunity vitamins.

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1,512 responses to “The Healthiest Children’s Vitamins: 2023 Guide”

  1. Hi Anjali,
    With this being an incredibly hard winter with viruses upon virus’s for my kids I am really looking to add multivitamin for overall support. They currently take lil critters Vit c and d with zinc immune support and the culturelle probiotic. (Happy to see lil critters was on the list). With plans on switching them to lil critters multivitamin I was just wondering if I should also be looking for omega 3 as I do not see this vitamin in the ingredient label for Lil critters or in other multivitamins I have looked into. My boys are 4.5, 6.5, 8.

    Your blog was so incredibly helpful as I was trying to figure all this out on my own. So happy I came across this on Pinterest.

    • Hi Mari! Thanks so much for reaching out and I’m so glad you’ve found this post helpful! To your question, you could certainly add Omega 3s for added immune support. I would recommend Nordic Naturals for kids. Hope that helps and let me know if you have any other questions!

    • Hi Sava! It’s ok – but the vitamins on my list are much better both in terms of quality of the vitamins themselves (Yum doesn’t use methylated B vitamins for example), and the added ingredients in the vitamins (Yum uses Benzoic Acid as a preservative which I don’t love). Hope that helps!

  2. Hello, want to start my boys with vitamins, ages 7 and 12, what are the best one? My 12 has adhd what else should he take thank you.

    • Hi Renata! For your 7 year old, I would recommend Hiya Vitamins. Your 12 year old could take Hiya as well, but I would ask your pediatrician if they want him on an teen vitamin given that he’s almost a teenager. If they do want him on a teen vitamin, I would recommend one of these vitamins for teens. Hope that helps!

  3. I ordered the hyia vitamins. I’m now looking into getting something for winter immunity boost. I thought about Raise them well immunity however I noticed it has Sorbitol in the ingredients. We do take homemade elderberry so I don’t think he can take anything with that in there, unless he can? I did order child life vitamin c however it’s not agreeing with him since it does have fructose. We don’t give him anything with that since high in sugars it affects him differently. He’s 4. What would you recommend?

    • Hi Ella! If you are already giving him Hiya and your’e giving him elderberry, I don’t think you need to add any additional vitamins as you don’t want to double dose on anything. You can add a probiotic to help boost immunity if you would like! Hiya actually makes a great probiotic that I love so that’s what I’d recommend. You can find the Hiya probiotic here. Hope that helps, let me know if you have any other questions!

  4. Hi there, would you have any recommendation for similar vitamins in the UK please?
    I have been using Garden of Life until now for my 4 years old daughter but I can’t find them anymore and I tried ordering those above but there is no delivery in the UK available at the moment.

    Many thanks

    • Hi Raluca! Unfortunately I’m just not aware of what’s available in the UK specifically because I live in the US. But if there is a specific vitamin you’re considering and you want some feedback on it, feel free to email me a photo of the ingredients label / nutritional panel (to anjali@pickyeaterblog.com) and I can give you my thoughts!

  5. I’m so sorry I have one more question. If we stick with ortho molecular. What immune boosting vitamin do you recommend? Vitamin C, zinc, etc.

    • Hi Ryan! If you’re using the Ortho Molecular vitamins, I actually wouldn’t recommend any additional supplements because the Ortho Molecular ones already have over 100% of the daily value of all the vitamins – especially Vitamin C, and they already have a good amount of Zinc. You could add something like this elderberry supplement if you wanted to (provided your pediatrician agrees) – but other than that the Ortho Molecular pretty much covers all the immune boosting vitamins as well!

    • Hi Ryan! In general, Ortho Molecular is a good brand. I couldn’t find any information on how much sugar was in Supernutes Vitamins – they list 5 grams of carbohydrates on the label that I found online, so I’m not sure if that translates into 5 grams of sugar or not. They use high quality vitamins, my only concern is that the dosing amounts of some of the vitamins (especially the B vitamins) included in Supernutes is really really high, especially for the 1-3 age group. If you do use this vitamin, I’d ask your pediatrician for guidance on dosing, because I think giving the full dose would probably be too high of a quantity of vitamins for most kids. Hope that helps!

      • Thank you so much. We give him 2 or 3 vitamins a day. Is there another recommendation that would be bette Or similar to these? Would hyia work just as good? I noticed that it doesn’t have vitamin b, iron or vitamin k. But I love the ingredients. However do you think he needs mineral intake not just the vitamin intake? If that makes since

      • Hi Ryan! Hiya is a great option, and it’s only one per day, and it doesn’t “overdose” on any vitamins, so those would be the reasons to switch to Hiya. Hiya has almost all of the B vitamins included (it is missing one), and you are right, it doesn’t contain iron or vitamin K, but you could always supplement with iron and typically most kids don’t need a vitamin K supplement. Regarding mineral intake vs. vitamins – I would ask your pediatrician about that! They can tell you whether to choose Hiya or Ortho Molecular after evaluating your son’s diet, because really that’s what your multivitamin should be doing – supplementing what your son is missing in his diet and then giving him a little boost on vitamins that are hard to get from food anyway. I hope that helps! Let me know if you have any other questions!

  6. You recommended to stay below 4g of sugar. I was looking into getting garden of life my kind organics. However I noticed it has 5g of sugar. Would it be best to keep looking? Or is this okay.

    • Hi Ella! 5 grams of sugar is borderline – if your kids do well on the Garden of Life vitamins, I’d say it’s fine to use them. But if you want a zero added sugar vitamin that’s comparable to Garden of Life, I’d go with Hiya. I also wouldn’t get any vitamins that are 6 grams of sugar or more per serving. Hope that helps!

      • I really wanted to try llama however I noticed it doesn’t have zinc. This kid just gets sick so much. He’s currently on a multivitamin from our chiropractor with vitamins that range higher than any of these. Garden of life gummies has more in them that’s why I thought about that particular brand. But I don’t like the 5g of sugar.

      • Hi Ella! I understand! That’s why I was recommending Hiya (not Llama) for your son 🙂 Hiya has a good mix of vitamins and almost 30% of the daily value of zinc for kids aged 4+. If you need more zinc than that, you could do the Garden of Life chewables which have 33% of the daily value of zinc and only 1 gram of sugar, or Raise Them Well which has 45% of the daily value of zinc and 0g sugar. The Garden of Life gummies have only 15% of the daily value of zinc, and more sugar as you mentioned, so all of these options should work better for what you’re looking for 🙂

  7. Hi! I just bought the Olly kids multi with probiotics tonight and my son (who is an extremely picky eater) actually likes these. We’ve tried Smarty Pants, Plexus, Nature’s Plus, and the Good Day Chocolate Vitamin and it has been a struggle to get him to eat those. He does NOT like tart/citrus flavors at all. I would continue to give him the Olly since he likes them but I just noticed when I re-read the label that the folate is not methylated and is synthetic folic acid. Can you recommend a vitamin that tastes similar to Olly that has methylated vitamins?

    • Hi Halee! First Day is similar to Olly and has methylated vitamins, so does Ritual for Kids and Garden of Life! For But honestly, taste wise, it can be so subjective. I generally feel like all the gummies listed in this post taste similar, and so do my kids (they have tried most of these vitamins and like all of them). So you might have to try a few of these to figure out which one works for him! Hope that helps!

  8. Love this overview. We tried a few of them over the years and ended up committing to Hiya vitamins based on reading about them here (and our pediatrician suggestion). Thanks!

  9. What would be a clean brand for Vitamin E? My son was told to take this but haven’t seen one for children. Thank you

  10. Hi there! I was wondering if it is safe to buy these vitamins on Amazon, or is it better to buy them directly from their brand’s website? Specifically Nordic Naturals and PROkids probiotics? Thank you!

    • Hi Ashlee! I have had no issues buying any of these vitamins from Amazon, since all of them are being sold through the brand’s own store on Amazon (I’m not buying them through 3rd party sellers). But you should do what you feel comfortable with! You can certainly buy them directly from the brand’s website as well!

    • What do you think of smarty pants fiber multivitamin? I was surprised how these once are less sugar than their normal multivitamin gummies.

  11. I have done research about the ingredients in kids vitamins. I’m guilty of giving my daughter flinstone vitamins in the past. However, since I became more educated, I switched to Hello Bello organic brand vitamins. We noticed a huge difference. This source has also been helpful in educating us in ingredients to avoid and why.

    • So glad you’ve found a vitamin that works for your family and that you’ve noticed a difference in switching! That is so great to hear and I’m glad this post has been helpful for you too! 🙂

    • Hi Shana! Inulin for kids seems to be fine as a short term supplement, but I haven’t seen enough research or data on the use of inulin as a permanent supplement for kids to be able to tell you either way. If it were my kids, I would give them a probiotic daily, and use inulin when they appear to be more constipated and need to “move things along.” But you should also ask your pediatrician for their perspective, as they might recommend inulin over a probiotic for your kids!

    • Hi Ange! I’m glad you found this post helpful! To your question, every post on my blog may contain affiliate links, and as an affiliate partner & Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. You can see more details about this in my disclosure. Hope that helps clarify!

  12. Hi Anjali,
    My 6 yr. old doesn’t drink milk so he has to take a calcium supplement (800mg a day). Can you please recommend one that’s somewhat tasty? Unfortunately he only like chewable or gummies. Thanks in advance!

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