We Tried Every Kid Vitamin We Could Find. Here's What We Actually Use Now.
Do ya'll remember Flinstone's Vitamins? If you are an elder millennial like me, you probably took them. I specifically remember spitting them out and hiding them in various places around my house, and as a registered dietitian and mom of 3 I really don't want my kids having that same experience.
I get this question constantly: what vitamins do your kids take?
Honest answer: we went through a lot of them before landing on what we use now. And because I'm both a mom and a functional nutrition dietitian, I probably overthought this more than the average parent. I even made a spreadsheet (I know, I know)...if you're nerdy like me you can view it here.
MeSo here's the full breakdown. What we tried, what I found on each label, and what we ultimately landed on. I'll also share what I personally look for when evaluating any kids multivitamin as an RD working with mamas and their kids.
Before we get into it: this is not a sponsored post, but some of my posts including this one do contain affiliate links. I have a whole collection of Kids Supplements on my Fullscript where you can view some of these options and more. These are just my honest thoughts. Always run supplements by your child's pediatrician or healthcare provider before starting anything new. And as always, this is for general informational purposes and is not medical advice.
Food First, Always
I say this every time I talk about supplements and I'll say it again here: food comes first. A whole food, nutrient-dense diet will always outperform any vitamin. If your kids are eating liver, eggs, salmon, dark leafy greens, and colorful vegetables consistently, their needs are largely covered. If they aren't, get a copy of Naturally Nourished Kids and start introducing them to real food.
Most kids aren't eating that way every day, especially during toddlerhood when the food preferences get a little bit more...specific. That's where a good multivitamin has a place, to fill gaps and serve as an insurance policy.
What I Actually Look For on a Kids Vitamin Label
Because you're going to see me reference these things throughout, here's my quick mental checklist:
Active nutrient forms. The form of a nutrient determines how well the body can actually use it. The big ones to look for: folate should say 5-MTHF or methylfolate, not folic acid. A significant number of kids carry MTHFR gene variants that limit their ability to convert folic acid, and unmetabolized folic acid has its own concerns.
B12 should be methylcobalamin, not cyanocobalamin. Vitamin A should ideally come in two forms: beta-carotene and retinyl palmitate, since some kids convert beta-carotene poorly on its own.
Meaningful doses. Having a nutrient on the label means nothing if the dose is too low to matter. Vitamin D is the biggest offender here, the standard 400 IU in most mainstream vitamins is inadequate for most kids, especially those with limited sun exposure. I look for 800 to 1,000 IU.
Sweeteners and additives. This one is more nuanced than most wellness content makes it sound. I'm not automatically pro-sugar-free, cane sugar in small amounts is a real food ingredient I understand. What I'm more cautious about is some of the sugar alternatives like erythritol, which is heavily industrially processed despite its clean reputation, and high total sugar loads that add up daily from something your kid takes every single day. I'd also be wary of fructose which can be a stressor to the liver. That said, some of these things are in kids vitamins for a reason, to get them to taste good, so there is not really a 100% clear cut answer here.
Third-party testing. The supplement industry is not well regulated. NSF or Clean Label Project certification is a minimum.
Now here's how each brand stacked up.
Seeking Health Kids Multivitamin Chewable (~$32/month)
This is the formula I'm most impressed by on paper, and the one I'd reach for first if I were working with a child with a confirmed MTHFR variant or any methylation concerns.
If I'm being purely clinical, this is the best overall formula on this list. Every B vitamin is in its active form — folate as Quatrefolic (two active folate forms together), B12 as both methylcobalamin and adenosylcobalamin, riboflavin as riboflavin 5'-phosphate, B6 as pyridoxal 5'-phosphate. Minerals are Albion chelated throughout, which is the gold standard for absorption. Vitamin D is 1,000 IU. There's also K2, lutein and zeaxanthin for eye health, CoQ10, and L-carnitine — none of which show up in mainstream kids vitamins.
No sugar, pretty clean other ingredients, third-party tested.
If your child has a known MTHFR variant or methylation concerns, this is where I'd start.
The honest downside: my kids thought it was way too sour. But overall, it's a really good option, and I do recommend it especially for older kids or tweens who are not yet swallowing pills and ok with a more sour flavor profile.
Grüns Cubs (~$45.56/month)
Grüns is in a different category from everything else here, it's less a multivitamin and more a greens-plus-multi hybrid. The whole food blend is 6.3 grams per serving, which is substantive: spirulina, chlorella, shiitake mushroom, astragalus, wheatgrass, plus an extensive fruit and vegetable list. K2 is notably high at 59.4 mcg. Folate is 5-MTHF, B12 is methylcobalamin. Four grams of fiber per serving.
The tradeoff is real though: 7 grams of added cane sugar per serving, the highest on this list, and the highest price point at $45.56 a month. The marketing is excellent, they are now at Costco and you're going to see influencers pushing this one. You have to take the whole packet of 6 gummies daily. My three year old liked it. My five year old did not. Compliance, as always, is the variable come back to.
Metagenics MetaKids Soft Chew (~$28/month)
A solid practitioner-grade formula with one notable gap: vitamin D is only 300 IU, which is below even the standard recommendation. Folate is Quatrefolic, B12 is methylcobalamin, zinc is well dosed.
The other ingredients include cane sugar, tapioca syrup, and erythritol — the erythritol is the piece that gives me pause given the heavy processing required to produce it. If you go this route, add a separate vitamin D3.
Our take: its has a starburst-like texture which I don't love for young kids as a possible choking hazard. My kids 3 & 5 have no experience with candy and had no idea what to do with it.
Mary Ruth's Sugar-Free Gummy (~$15/month)
The most budget-friendly option and genuinely accessible — you can find it at Target. Folate is methylfolate, B12 is methylcobalamin, zero added sugar. The organic fruit powder blend is a nice touch.
The honest limitations: vitamin D is only 120 IU, which is not a meaningful dose, and the formula covers only about ten nutrients total. The sweetener blend uses erythritol alongside xylitol and stevia. For a child eating a varied diet who just needs some B vitamin insurance, it's fine. For a child with real gaps, it won't cover enough ground.
One note: Mary Ruth's makes many different products and the formulations vary significantly. I use and like their infant liquid multivitamin with iron for Otto — you can read about that in my baby supplements post here.
My kids did really like the taste of this one and Mabel keeps asking when she can have "those bears" again.
SmartyPants Gummy Multivitamins (~$29/month)
Not gonna lie, these taste like candy and I may have eaten quite a few. I also took the Smarty Pants Prenatal Gummy during my first trimester when morning sickness was at its peak, and overall it is not a bad brand, its just hard to fit everything we need into a gummy.
Vitamin D is 800 IU, vitamin C comes from acerola cherry, B6 is in its active form, folate is methylfolate, B12 is methylcobalamin, K2 is included, and choline shows up at 18 mg. Choline is critical for brain development and almost never in kids vitamins, though this isn't really enough to move the needle. Kids need more like 200-375 mg/day...just eat 2 eggs and you are golden. There's also a flaxseed oil omega-3, though I'd note that ALA from flax is not the same as DHA from fish or algae and doesn't replace a marine-sourced omega-3 for brain development support so this feels more like a marketing gimmick.
The tradeoff: 4 grams of added cane sugar per serving, every day.
Hiya Health (~$30/month, 50% off the first month with this link), our winner for now!
Here's where we landed, and here's the honest version of why.
On paper, Hiya is not the most sophisticated formula here--that's Seeking Health and it's not close. But Hiya covers the things that matter most: folate is methylfolate, B12 is methylcobalamin, vitamin D is 1,000 IU, vitamin A comes in two forms, selenium is selenomethionine. Zero added sugar, sweetened with monk fruit and mannitol. Clean other ingredients — colors from beet root, spirulina, and turmeric and a fruit and vegetable blend added. Third-party tested, Clean Label Project certified.
And then there's the real life piece. Hiya comes in a refillable glass bottle with stickers so kids can personalize it. We got Hot Wheels for my son and Disney Princess for my daughter. They decorated their bottles themselves and they ask to take their vitamin every morning. That is not a small thing. A vitamin your kid takes every day beats a better vitamin they spit out and hide under your refrigerator (yes it happened) every single time.
We've also been really happy with their probiotic, which has become part of our morning routine alongside the multi. It has 10 billion CFU and 3 strains that are well researched when it comes to kids, immune and gut health. We are also testing out their Bedtime Essentials Chews which have l-theanine, chamomile and Gaba. Take 50% off your first month of anything at Hiya Health with this link.
The Bottom Line
None of these options are perfect and as someone who has formulated supplements in the past I know it is a tall order to get the right vitamins in the right dosage AND make it palatable in a chewable form. If I had more hours in a day I'd probably just come up with my own...will add to my to do list ;).
When I'm evaluating any kids vitamin I'm asking four things: are the nutrients in forms the body can actually use, are the doses meaningful, what's in the other ingredients, and will my kid actually take it every day. The last one matters more than most people want to admit.
If your child has methylation concerns or significant nutrient gaps, start with Seeking Health. If gummies are the only option, choose Gruns or SmartyPants. For us right now, Hiya is what my kids picked. And for Otto, our youngest, we do something different entirely. You can read about his supplement routine here.
If you liked this post and want more where this came from, subscribe to my newsletter in the link below!