If you follow me on Instagram then you may have seen me mention recently that our house was hit with a bout of sickness - any parent knows that having one poorly child can be really difficult, but when all 3 little ones are unwell at once it really does become a very intense juggling act!
I spent the best part of a week trying to split myself into 3 - trying to help soothe my 2 year old Noah who was beside himself with ear pain, running backwards and forwards with a sick bucket for my 3 year old and trying to battle to get medicine into my 12 month old who seems to be able to take on the strength of five men when confronted with the sight of a medical syringe!
It was around 5 hours in to this experience that I swore I was going to look into how to take better care of our immune systems, knowing that I just didn't have it in me to battle against another round of full-family illness! And since Tyne started nursery last September, it's fair to say that our immune systems have been working overtime to keep those nursery bugs at bay.
Since then I've been reading up on ways to use food to boost our immune systems and I've been trying to put some key changes into place. Of course, my kids are no different to anybody else’s and they don't always want to eat the healthy options – in fact lately both Tyne & Noah have developed obsessions with ham and they ask for it every single meal time. Even at breakfast!
So in an effort to encourage them to try new things and tempt them away from old familiar favourites, I've tried to mix up their meals a bit more - introducing a new recipe once or twice every week but trying to keep it as fun and child friendly as possible. We've been increasing our fruit & veg intake by having more homemade smoothies in the afternoon, and I've recently found a fantastic range of veggies aimed at kids in Lidl. The range includes things like Cauliflower Clouds, Romanescosaurus Rex (these have been a big hit in our house!), and Sweet Potato Piggies - and they have been a HUGE help in encouraging the kids to eat more healthy options.
Eggs are one thing that I have been struggling to get Noah to eat recently, as he seems to have taken a dislike to the texture but I know that eggs are a good source of Vitamin D which is crucial for our immune systems and so lately I've been trying to re-introduce them in different forms such as omelet shapes - confronted with a standard shaped omelet Noah is not interested at all, but the second you cut that omelet into dinosaur shapes? He is all over it! I found out whilst looking into healthier eating that The Department Of Health recommends Vitamin D supplements from birth onwards, especially for children up to 5 years old. Since learning this, I have been using Colief Vitamin D3 drops in addition to trying to boost our intake through food.
The drops have been really ideal for our family as they are suitable for all of us - Jon & myself too! So there's no need to buy different supplements for everybody, just one bottle can be used for us all. The drops can be taken as they are or added to food and drinks, making them super easy to administer to fussy medicine-reluctant children like mine - I have been adding them to our healthy smoothies or yogurts everyday, in an effort to keep those immune systems as strong as possible.
This week I've filmed a little video showing What My Kids Eat In A Day and how I’ve been trying to encourage a healthier diet and incorporate our Colief Vitamin D3 drops into our daily routine.
Take a look at the video below:
I’ve partnered with Colief to offer one lucky reader a special #D3licious hamper filled with goodies to help your little ones stay as healthy as possible. For a chance to win your own bottle of Vitamin D3 Drops, Nutribullet baby and a selection of nibbles, all you have to do is:
- Share a picture on Instagram of your kids’ favorite healthy snacks using the hashtags #ColiefUK and #VitaminD3licious
- Like @ColiefUK on Instagram
To find out more about Colief Vitamin D3 drops, just visit here Available at Colief, Boots and Superdrug
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