Using Supplements with Children

Recommended daily nutrient intakes

There are dosage guidelines for working with recommend daily nutrient intakes (RNI) by age, which can found on the UK nutrition website here:

https://www.nutrition.org.uk/attachments/article/234/Nutrition%20Requirements_Revised%20Oct%202016.pdf

Remember the RNI is the amount that is required to meet the needs of the majority of the population, it is not normally looking at therapeutic dosing for conditions. The RNI is made up from all sources (food and supplements). This can be handy if you are trying to supplement a diet of a fussy eater.

The NHS has specific supplement dosage guidelines on Vitamin D, Vitamin A and Vitamin C in infants and children. You can see their standard advice here:

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/vitamins-for-children/

These have been taken form the NICE guidelines.

Therapeutic dosing

If you are needing to alter the dose of a nutrient or herb to match a therapeutic outcome that has been used in a research article, there are few things you need to do.

If it is a vitamin or mineral, you can check what the upper tolerable limit is of that nutrient from UK government guidance for safety:

Then, if you are using a manufactured product and/or a research paper that has been evaluated in adults, you need to alter the dose for the child.

There are two pharmaceutical dosage rules that you can use:

Clark's Rule

Clark's rule uses the child's weight in pounds (lbs) to titrate down the dose.

Formula:

[child's weight (lbs) / 150] x adult dose = child's dose

N.B. 1 pound = 0.4536 kilograms

Young's Rule

Young's rule is only to be used over the age of two. It uses age to titrate down the dose.

Formula:

[child's age / (child's age/12)] x adult dose = child's dose

If using multiple products, make sure to check for any dosage overlaps and keep below the upper tolerable limit.

Using herbs or novel products

Always check with the manufacturer about the safety of the product for children and remember to adjust the dose accordingly.

Gaining compliance

Most children can not swallow capsules. You might begin to have some luck with tiny sized capsules from seven upwards, but even then, you’d be lucky!

Normally when I am trying to pick a product for a child I try to look for:

• Liquid nutrients that I can mix into yoghurts or smoothies
• Liquid herbals glycerine-based herbs are often sweet to taste so can be tolerated. If I am using alcoholic tinctures, I drop them into warm water to evaporate off the alcohol a little before giving to the child
• Powders can be mixed into food, smoothies and if need be, a little bit of honey on a teaspoon, as honey itself can have medicinal properties
• Capsules you can open these to use the powder inside in food or drinks, but first you might need to check with the manufacturer
• Sublingual sprays are often quick to administer

I have been known to make natural ice lollies in which I put a dose of the herb or nutrient I need, or sometimes natural gummies or jellies divided into a daily dose. The more creative you can be the better! - Debbie Cotton, ND (Invivo)