11 best baby vitamins 2024

With such a huge variety of baby vitamins available to buy, it can be hard to know exactly what your child needs and if they really need them.

While you might be offering a balanced diet full of all the fruits and vegetables if your little one is old enough, babies and young children can be quite fussy when it comes to food. It’s important that they get all the essential vitamins they need to help boost their immune system and support healthy development and growth.

Best baby and toddler vitamins at a glance

• Best flavoured baby vitamins: Natures Aid Mini Drops Multi-Vitamin, £5.81
• Best baby vitamins for gut health: BIOGAIA Protectis Probiotic Drops with Vitamin D3, £22.16
• Best baby vitamins for breastfed babies: Baby Ddrops Liquid Vitamin, £11
• Best NHS baby vitamins: Healthy Start Children's Vitamin Drops, £4.29
• Best sachet baby vitamins: Optibac For Babies & Children, £18.99

Registered Family Nutritionist, Julie Clark, says: "Vitamins and minerals are essential for normal growth and development particularly in the early years as your child’s body is growing quickly and they’re used for chemical reactions within the body,

"Their key roles are to help the body use up the calories in food, process fat, protein and carbohydrates, and help in the repair and building of cells and tissues."

Before purchasing any baby vitamins, it's always important to talk to your GP or a pharmacist for advice.

Are vitamins necessary for babies?

Registered Midwife and Kendamil Expert, Emma Thompson said: "It's really important that babies take vitamin supplements, as recommended by the NHS. The guidelines recommend that all children aged six months to five years are given vitamin supplements containing vitamins, A, C and D every day."

"It's especially important that babies who are being breastfed should be given a daily vitamin D supplement from birth."

Emma also mentioned that if you're formula feeding your baby, and they're having more than 500ml of infant formula a day, then they don't need vitamin supplements as the formula is already fortified with vitamins.

How else can I introduce vitamins in my babies diet?

Emma said: "If baby is older than six months and weaning, then ensuring a varied diet with a mix of vegetables, fruits and dairy products will help. There is also the option to use a vitamin drop designed for babies, just ensure you check the dosage."

Iron

When your baby is born, they have their own stock of iron and zinc, which have been passed onto them while in the womb. However, by the time they're six months old, those stocks are running out and your baby needs 7.8mg of iron.

Dietician, Jo Travers, from The London Nutritionist says: "This is why you need to start weaning onto food at this age, milk does not provide enough nutrients for your baby, which is why you need food."

"While formula is fortified with nutrients, including iron, you should also ensure that you wean them using iron-rich foods such as meat, dark poultry meat, beans, pulses and dark green leafy vegetables"

It’s worth remembering that calcium can prevent the absorption of iron so giving them milk at the same time as a plate of baked beans could potentially limit the iron content of the beans. To counter this, ensure you serve up foods containing vitamin C alongside them as they can aid the absorption of iron.

Vitamin C

This nutrient is needed to help absorb iron from food. Jo says: "while calcium is a very important nutrient for ensuring your baby builds up strong bones and teeth, it can also inhibit the absorption of non-haem iron,"

"This comes from vegetable sources such as spinach or kale. However, you can boost absorption by eating foods containing vitamin C, such as oranges, peppers, kiwis and broccoli."

Vitamin C also helps to strengthen your baby’s immune system, which can be quite weak in the early years of life.

Vitamin D

This is probably one of the most crucial vitamins needed. "It’s made when sunlight hits the skin, but because the levels of sunlight in the UK can be quite low, it’s vital that children aged between six months and five years take a supplement drop containing vitamin D," says Julie Clark.

"However, babies who are fed infant formula will not need vitamin drops until they are receiving less than 500ml (about a pint) of infant formula a day, as these products are fortified with vitamin D." There are a few dietary sources of vitamin D – fortified breakfast cereals and margarine, but NHS advice states that you should boost your baby’s sources with a supplement.

Vitamin A

Essential for eye health, normal growth, development and the immune system, vitamin A (the beta carotene variety) can be found in orange and yellow coloured foods such as carrot, butternut squash and mango.

Omega-3 and 6

Helping to support brain growth and development, omega-3 and 6 are an important part of a child's diet.

Parenting expert Lorraine Thomas, founder of the Parent Coaching Academy, says: “Science has found that a blend of omega-3 and 6 in the diet help with behaviour, memory and, as a result, learning. They also help with sleep patterns according to researchers from Oxford University. They found children who had a diet rich in omega-3 and omega-6 slept for longer and woke up less in the night compared to those children who did not have a diet rich in omega-3 and omega-6.”

How can I help increase my child's intake of vitamins?

Clinical Nutritionist at VIVIO Junior, Eva Hill Hamilton said 80% of parents worry that their child doesn't get all the nutrients from their diet alone. She shares her top tips for boosting their intake of key vitamins to keep them at their best:

• Keep it real: The foods we feed our children should resemble 'real foods' as much as possible. Encourage your child to help you prepare fruits and vegetables to spark their interest and build their confidence when it comes to new foods or foods they tend to refuse. Blend up chickpeas to make your own hummus for dipping veggie sticks or mashing-up your child's favourite fruits.

• Don't forget protein: We tend to focus a lot on fruits and vegetables when it comes to our children’s wellbeing, and forget healthy proteins like cubes of chicken, beans and lentils, and seeds and nuts which are packed with immune-boosting nutrients like omega 3s, iron, vitamin D and selenium. Ensuring your child has a serving of protein with every meal and snack is key to supporting healthy growth and development.

• Enjoy variety: Family life can be hectic at times, so it’s understandable to want to make the same meals that you know your little one will eat, however with over 70% of our immune cells living in our gut, ensuring your little one eats a rainbow of fruit and vegetables is a great way to ‘feed’ the good bacteria living in your child’s gut and fend off those bugs and germs. Pasta is a popular choice for lots of little ones, so offering different types such as pasta made from beans and lentils, or spelt pasta which contains more nutrients, are both great ways to include more diverse foods in our children’s diet.

Is it okay to not give my baby vitamin drops?

Emma said: "what your baby might need will depend on their feeding routine. All breastfed babies will need a Vitamin D supplement from birth and all families can talk to their healthcare providers to access the right options for their little ones."

About the experts

Eva Hill Hamilton is a Clinical Nutritionist who works with VIVIO Junior and advices the best way for baby's and children to get the right nutrients.

Jo Travers is a registered dietitian and author, and provides nutrition advic_e. She is a professional evidence-based London nutritionist._

Julie Clark is a registered Nutritional Therapist, that aims to help families enjoy a healthy life. She uses her knowledge as a nutritionist and as a parent to give practical and easy advice.

Emma Thompson is an expert who works with Kendamil, and is also a registered midwife.

Samantha Ball is a Commercial Content Writer and freelanced for the Mother&Baby website for two years before joining the team full-time. She's a mum of two and loves browsing for the best products and cute outfits.