Hiya Vitamins Reviews

If you’re worried about your child’s daily nutrition, then you aren’t alone. Studies show that 20-60% of young children have been reported as “not eating optimally” by their parents, with up to 50% of them being dubbed picky eaters.1 While picky eating can occur in children who are developing normally, it can be concerning, and you may be interested in supplementing your child’s diet with a multivitamin. But, with so many options on the market, how can you know which is the best for your child?

One relatively new option is Hiya, a brand that specializes in fruit-flavored chewable tablet vitamins and supplements for kids ages two and up. The company claims to be better than traditional children’s vitamins, but does this claim hold up? In our review of Hiya, we analyze the efficacy, safety, cost, convenience, and taste of its offerings to help you determine if it’s right for your family.

Hiya’s multivitamins offer a non-gummy option for kids who may need more nutrients. We think the high vitamin and mineral content in the multivitamin makes it most suitable for picky eaters ages 4 and up, while the multi seems less recommendable for ages 2-3. Meanwhile, Hiya's other products — a greens powder, an iron chew, a sleep chew, and a probiotic chew — all have their merits. The company has room to improve its third-party testing, though, and the inclusion of sugar alcohols could cause digestive issues.

Over the past two decades, Innerbody Research has helped tens of millions of readers make more informed decisions involving staying healthy and living healthier lifestyles.

For our review of Hiya, we spent over 70 hours reading through dozens of scientific articles and journals on children’s optimal nutrition, including the recommended intakes of vitamins and minerals for the specific age groups Hiya caters to (ages 2-3 and ages four and up). We also personally purchased Hiya’s multivitamin and supplements, spoke with customer service representatives, and tried the company’s offerings ourselves to give you the most accurate and up-to-date information on the customer experience.

Additionally, like all health-related content on this website, this review was thoroughly vetted by one or more members of our Medical Review Board for accuracy.

When evaluating Hiya, we considered five criteria that we felt would be most important to parents in search of the right vitamins or supplements for their family: safety, effectiveness, cost, convenience, and taste.

Let’s go over how Hiya stacked up in each (and how some competitors compare).

Safety

Similar to competitor OLLY’s multivitamin, Hiya’s multi is intended for two age groups: kids two to three years old and kids four and up. It’s the same product, and the dose is the same, but it provides a different percent Daily Value for each age group.

Competitor SmartyPants, on the other hand, divides its vitamins for these age groups into two different products entirely: one for toddlers and one for kids. And First Day only offers vitamins for kids who are at least four years old; there aren’t any options for younger children.

Generally, we prefer SmartyPants’ approach of having two separate vitamins for each age group. Children’s vitamin and mineral needs change pretty rapidly (and sometimes drastically) in the first few years of their lives,2 3 so having supplements tailored to the different needs of specific age groups may be the safest route to take — especially when you consider that the Tolerable Upper Intake Levels (UL) also differ between these age groups.4 The Tolerable Upper Intake Level is the maximum daily intake that’s unlikely to cause adverse reactions, meaning anything over this limit can lead to health risks.5

Now, the vitamin and mineral content in Hiya’s multi is rather high compared to its close competition, with 11 nutrients being over 100% of the recommended Daily Value for kids two to three years old. And one of the nutrients, vitamin D, goes over 100% for kids four and up. For the older group, we’re not too concerned about the high vitamin and mineral levels in Hiya; it should be generally safe for them (but we still recommend getting the okay from your family doctor or pediatrician, first). It’s the younger group where our concerns lie, and they’re the main focus of our safety details.

We’ll go into more detail under the “Is Hiya Safe?” section later on, but some of these vitamins and minerals can pose some risks in high amounts. One of the most risky is vitamin A, for which children aged 1-3 have a recommended intake of 300mcg.2 Hiya, though it doesn’t reach the UL of 600mcg, does give kids 360mcg.4 If your child eats meat, fish, egg yolks, dairy products, leafy greens, or brightly colored vegetables, then they’re already getting some vitamin A from their diet, and supplementing with a high amount of the vitamin could put them at risk of Hypervitaminosis A, also known as vitamin A toxicity.6 Children are at higher risk of vitamin A toxicity due to their smaller body size, and they may become sick after small doses.7

None of our mentioned Hiya competitors — First Day, OLLY, or SmartyPants — offer nearly that much vitamin A in their multivitamins. Even SmartyPants’ vitamin for kids four and up contains about half the vitamin A content of Hiya. Again, we’ll go into more detail later on, but this is definitely something to keep in mind if you’re considering Hiya’s multi for a younger child.

Moving on to other safety topics, each batch of Hiya’s vitamins is third-party tested for heavy metals and microbial contaminants. We do have some concerns over the method Hiya’s third-party lab uses for heavy metal testing (it may not be as sensitive as we’d prefer), but we’ll go into more detail later under the dedicated safety section. Our mentioned competitors also undergo third-party testing for heavy metals and other contaminants, but both OLLY and SmartyPants are NSF-certified, which is one of the strictest safety standards to meet.8

Ingredient-wise, Hiya’s products are vegan, non-GMO, and free from gluten, milk, soy, eggs, shellfish, fish, and wheat. But, while Hiya’s vitamins are made in a peanut-free facility, the Kids Daily Multivitamin, Bedtime Essentials, Kids Daily Iron+, and Daily Greens + Superfoods all contain coconut, and the Kids Probiotic contains sunflower oil, both of which can be allergens.

Effectiveness

Hiya’s multivitamin has some of the highest vitamin and mineral content we’ve seen, but comparisons can get a bit tricky since Hiya is intended for two age groups: children two to three and children four and over.

As an example, SmartyPants Multi & Omegas vitamins come close to or even beat some of Hiya’s nutrient amounts at times, but it really depends on which age group you’re considering. If you’re shopping for a child aged two or three, then you’d be looking at SmartyPants’ Toddler option, which comes close to Hiya’s multi in some areas but is ultimately beaten in percent Daily Values (%DV) across the board. For children four and over, you’d need SmartyPants’ Kids’ variety, which does outdo Hiya in several %DVs, but not all of them.

The list below offers some quick details on each vitamin’s nutrients with percent Daily Values over 100%:

• Hiya (ages 2-3): vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin D, thiamin, riboflavin, folate, vitamin B12, biotin, pantothenic acid, zinc, manganese
• Hiya (ages 4+): vitamin D
• SmartyPants Toddler: vitamin C, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, biotin
• SmartyPants Kids’: vitamins D and B12

Potential safety concerns (which we covered above) for younger children aside, the overall high nutrient content does make Hiya more “effective” in filling in any gaps from a less-than-stellar diet. For this reason, we consider Hiya’s multivitamin to be the most beneficial for the pickiest of eaters.

The other Hiya supplements also have some evidence pointing towards their efficacy. Here’s how some of the research breaks down:

• Hiya’s iron supplement contains carbonyl iron, which demonstrated superior effects on iron deficiency over ferrous sulfate (a common treatment) in a 2009 study on children under six.9
• The probiotic’s various beneficial strains may help with digestive upset,10 IBS,11 and cavity prevention.12 And the larch fiber acts as a prebiotic to feed the good bacteria.13
• Bedtime Essentials contains ingredients that can promote relaxation and better sleep, such as L-theanine,14 GABA,15 and chamomile, among others.16

We’ll discuss Hiya’s effectiveness in more detail later in the “How does Hiya work?” section. Overall, Hiya’s offerings have decent scientific support and should be effective.

Cost

Hiya’s multivitamin and supplements are a bit more expensive than what you’ll find on the shelves of your local grocery store (such as competitors OLLY and SmartyPants). However, you do tend to get more nutrients and other ingredients from Hiya’s offerings than you would from those products, so the higher price may be more understandable.

Competitor First Day’s vitamins and supplements run a bit pricier than Hiya’s, but they also have the opportunity to take advantage of recurring delivery discounts. Hiya, on the other hand, only offers recurring deliveries, so there isn’t a discount for that.

We’ll delve deeper into Hiya’s costs under the “Hiya pricing details” section, but here’s a quick breakdown of Hiya’s multivitamin pricing versus some close competitors:

As you can see, Hiya’s multi isn’t quite as much as First Day’s, but they’re pretty close in price per serving. However, you can save 50% on your first order from Hiya using code INNERBODY at checkout, bringing the price down to only $15, or $0.50 per serving.

Convenience

Hiya can be a very convenient service up to a point. The company's purchasing model only allows you to buy recurring deliveries of its products — you can’t buy them one time just to try without having to cancel your future orders. If you like Hiya, then this works out perfectly, but if you aren’t a fan, then this is where the trouble starts.

When we tried to cancel our recurring deliveries, we found that Hiya doesn’t allow you to cancel from within the customer dashboard; you need to have email correspondence with a customer service representative and request cancellation. While we can understand a company wanting to keep its customers, we did find it frustrating to have to go back and forth five times explaining our want to cancel and rejecting offers to try and have us stick around. In comparison, First Day just lets you click a button in your customer dashboard.

We hope Hiya will consider taking a similar approach in the future, as the thought of needing to go through that again would make any of our testers a bit wary of signing up for the product in the future.

The products themselves are very easy to use, however, since they’re just chewable tablets. We also appreciate the easy-to-store design of the reusable vitamin bottles (and their childproof tops).

Taste

When it comes to kids' vitamins, taste is a pretty important aspect. If your child doesn’t enjoy the flavor of something, they’re likely going to refuse to eat it. While our testing didn’t include having a child taste Hiya, some of our testers were former picky kids — and they weren’t even fans of how most of these vitamins taste. The only one that stood out as tasty (and not “vitamin-y”) was Hiya’s probiotic, which is actually quite good for a chewable supplement.

All of Hiya’s tablets are vaguely fruity, though the iron supplement tastes a bit like chocolate. That one was the second best, followed by the lemony Bedtime Essentials supplement, with the multi-fruit-flavored multivitamin coming in last (the powdered vitamin sticks are a bit more tolerable, but the mixed berry flavor is quite strong and artificial).

In terms of the competition, our testers liked OLLY’s multivitamin gummy worms the best. Of course, they are gummies that contain 2g of added sugar, but they were far more palatable than Hiya’s tablets (save for the probiotic). First Day’s gummies were a close second; they’re not too sweet, and they taste very close to the actual fruit they’re flavored with.

It may be intentional that Hiya’s vitamins aren’t the most delicious things you’ll eat; they are vitamins, after all, not candy. But we feel they need to be at least a bit more enjoyable to get kids to want to take them regularly.

Founded in 2019, Hiya, or Hiya Health, is a company specializing in multivitamins and supplements for kids ages two and up. The founders wanted to create a kids' vitamin that wasn’t a gummy, stating, “Traditional children’s vitamins often cause more problems than they solve. So we made a better one.” Instead of gummies, Hiya uses chewable, fruit-flavored tablets.

Currently, the company offers five products:

• Kids Daily Multivitamin
• Kids Bedtime Essentials
• Kids Daily Iron+
• Kids Daily Probiotic
• Kids Daily Greens + Superfoods

The only product that isn’t a chewable tablet is the newest addition, Kids Daily Greens + Superfoods, which is a chocolate-flavored greens powder that should be mixed into cold or cool milk or a milk substitute.

One thing that sets Hiya’s multi apart from the rest is its particularly high amount of vitamins and minerals. Over ten of its nutrients give young kids (2-3) over 100% of their recommended Daily Values.

Later on in this review, we cover how Hiya’s products work and the safety of giving kids these large amounts of nutrients.

Hiya company standing

At the time of this review, Hiya has very good reviews on Trustpilot and the Better Business Bureau (BBB). Based on over one thousand reviews on each page, the company has a rating of around 4.8 out of 5 on both websites. On the BBB, Hiya is accredited, has an A+ rating, and has only received about 60 complaints within the last three years. Trustpilot is a similar story; the page is claimed, and only about 10% of all ratings are under 5 stars.

However, the Trustpilot page does note that Hiya may be using unsupported invitation methods to get reviews. This means that the company may offer incentives, like discounts, in order to get positive reviews.

The few complaints that exist across both pages are about the vitamins’ texture and taste, the company’s lack of clarity about recurring deliveries, and frustration with canceling future orders (which we also experienced). Overall, people have seemingly had positive experiences with Hiya, but it’s important to be aware of the potential difficulties with order management.

From our research and testing, we feel that Hiya’s multivitamin for kids is best suited for picky eaters ages four and up — kids whose ordinary diet lacks the quantity and/or variety to allow them to come close to consuming recommended amounts of key vitamins and minerals. Hiya’s multi aimed at children ages 2-3 contains vitamins in relatively high quantities that we would consider advisable only for the absolutely pickiest of eaters (and only if their pediatrician agreed).

But the rest of Hiya’s supplements can be for pretty much any child over the age of two. So, besides picky eaters, Hiya can be for:

• Kids who are iron deficient (Kids Daily Iron+)
• Children with stomach or gastrointestinal concerns (Kids Daily Probiotic)
• Kids who have trouble winding down at night (Kids Bedtime Essentials)
• Kids who don’t eat enough fruits and vegetables (Kids Daily Greens + Superfoods)

However, if your child is allergic to coconut or sunflower ingredients, then these products would be unsafe to take.

Additionally, if your child doesn’t need all that much additional nutritional support, then a less “intensive” kids’ multi like First Day’s Kids’ Daily Enrichment may be the better option.

Hiya’s multivitamin should be generally safe, especially for kids over four (more on that in a bit), and the company’s other supplements appear suitable for younger children, as well. However, it's always best to consult your family doctor or pediatrician before introducing any new supplements to your child.

All Hiya products — and the competitors mentioned in this review — are third-party tested for heavy metals and microbial contaminants. They’re also vegan, non-GMO, and free from common allergens like gluten, wheat, soy, fish, and dairy. However, some products contain coconut (Kids Daily Multivitamin, Bedtime Essentials, Kids Daily Iron+, and Daily Greens + Superfoods) and sunflower (Kids Daily Probiotic), to which some children may be allergic.

Let’s delve deeper into the safety of Hiya’s multivitamin.

The safety of Hiya’s multivitamin contents

Before going into detail on the safety of Hiya’s multivitamin, let’s first go over some important definitions:

• Daily Value: A reference amount “of nutrients to consume or not to exceed each day,” according to the FDA.17
• Percent Daily Value (%DV): How much of the Daily Value of a nutrient you’ll get from a serving of something.
• Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL): The maximum daily intake of a nutrient that is unlikely to result in adverse effects. Going over this amount may put your health at risk. As the FDA puts it, you should aim to “eat less than” the UL.5 17
• Fat-soluble vitamins: Vitamins that are more easily absorbed when you also eat dietary fat along with them. These vitamins are stored in your body’s liver, muscles, and fatty tissue. They include vitamins A, D, E, and K.18
• Water-soluble vitamins: These vitamins aren’t stored in the body, and any excess is excreted in the urine. Regular consumption is necessary to prevent deficiencies. These include vitamin C and all the B vitamins.18

Now, when compared to many other options on the market, the vitamin and mineral content in Hiya’s multivitamin is a fair bit higher than most. For kids over the age of four, this shouldn’t pose much of an issue, as only the vitamin D content goes over 100% of the recommended Daily Value, and vitamin B12 and biotin are the next highest at 83% each. But for younger kids (ages 2-3), the high nutrient content may be risky, particularly if they regularly eat a balanced diet. Because younger children are the most at risk in this scenario, they’re the main focus of this section.

Hiya’s multivitamin offers 100% or more DV of the following 11 nutrients for kids aged 2-3:

The following chart shows how the recommendations,2 3 ULs,4 and Hiya’s amounts compare.19 20 In the Hiya column, we’ve listed the dose and the %DV that amount fulfills for kids 2-3. Also, since some nutrients don’t have established ULs (marked with “N/A” in the chart below), it’s best not to go too far above the recommended intake unless a doctor says otherwise.

For the most part, Hiya’s multi doesn’t come close to the UL, but between taking the vitamin and eating certain foods, some of these nutrients could get pretty close to dangerous levels. For example, Hiya’s manganese content is only 0.5mg away from the UL. If your child regularly eats whole grains, rice, soy, or leafy vegetables, then they may get close to or surpass the UL if they also take Hiya’s multivitamin. Additionally, if your child is iron deficient, this can boost manganese absorption and increase the risk of toxicity.20

However, manganese toxicity is quite rare, overall, but it can lead to neurological symptoms like tremors, muscle spasms, tinnitus, trouble sleeping, headaches, and more. According to Mount Sinai, children should only take manganese under the supervision of a doctor.21

The other potentially risky nutrient amounts for young children in Hiya’s multivitamin are from folate, vitamin D, and vitamin A. The information below breaks down these risks:

Note: If your child experiences any of the symptoms mentioned above after taking any vitamin or supplement, it’s recommended that you reach out to a medical professional or get them medical attention — depending on symptom severity.

Of course, we’d be remiss not to mention how important these nutrients are for healthy child development. We aren’t trying to dissuade anyone from giving their children Hiya’s multivitamin; we simply feel it’s best to know the potential risks and get the okay from your family doctor or pediatrician beforehand. These high %DVs don’t make Hiya’s multi something to avoid — they just make it something to be a bit more cautious about.

Are Hiya’s other supplements safe?

Hiya’s other supplements — Bedtime Essentials, Kids Daily Iron+, Daily Greens + Superfoods, and Kids Daily Probiotic — should be generally safe for all intended age groups. In fact, certain ingredients make some Hiya supplements safer than many comparable ones on the market, particularly the iron and bedtime options. Here’s how:

In terms of the other two supplements, greens powders are simply various fruits and vegetables that have been freeze-dried and ground into a powder.31 And probiotics should be generally safe for healthy children, but they may not be safe for kids who are immunocompromised, critically ill, or who have a central line or port.32

Does Hiya contain heavy metals?

This is a bit of a complicated topic to cover, as Hiya does conduct heavy metal testing, and the company’s results indicate minuscule to undetectable levels. However, we aren’t fully sold on the testing method used by Hiya’s third-party lab: EPA 6010.

EPA 6010 is a hazardous waste test method “used to determine trace elements in aqueous solutions,” according to the method’s official documentation, and it appears to be mainly intended for testing things like groundwater (which is used as a frequent example).33 34 While this method may work just fine, we wish Hiya would consider having its vitamins tested using one designed for food, like AOAC Official Method 2015.01.35

Both methods use similar testing — inductively coupled plasma (ICP) spectrometry. However, EPA 6010 uses inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES), while AOAC 2015.01 uses inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS)

According to a couple of labs that specialize in this type of testing and the equipment required for it, “ICP-MS is the most sensitive elemental analysis technique and is used for trace and ultra-trace element analysis in a variety of fields, including environmental, food, medical, life science, materials science, and manufacturing.”36

And ICP-OES (used in the method employed by Hiya’s third-party lab) “is mainly used for samples with high total dissolved solids (TDS) or suspended solids and is, therefore, more robust for analyzing groundwater, wastewater, soil, and solid waste. It can be used for drinking water analysis as well. But in general, ICP-OES is used to measure contaminants for environmental safety assessment and elements with a higher regulatory limit.” It’s also considered the less expensive option of the two.37

Interestingly, Hiya states that it does use ICP-MS on its website page detailing third-party testing, but the official documentation for EPA 6010 notes that it’s ICP-OES. And the image Hiya includes on the page shows that the method is, indeed, EPA 6010.34

Note: Hiya included the purple circles on the image above, while we added the yellow highlights to point out the EPA 6010 method used.

The method used for mercury testing, EPA 7470, is different because EPA 6010 “is not recommended” for detecting it.34 38 EPA 7470 employs cold vapor atomic absorption, which is often used for detecting mercury in supplements and appears decently accurate.39 40 And EPA 3010, noted in the other columns, is the acid digestion necessary for completing EPA 6010 testing on solids.41

Again, this isn’t to say that Hiya’s vitamins are unsafe — the levels may be fine, as the reports state — but we do hope the company will consider a more sensitive test for heavy metals in the future, especially considering that its products are designed for young children.

The way Hiya works is due to the ingredients of its various offerings. Those include vitamins, minerals, probiotic strains, botanicals, fruits, vegetables, and more across the company’s five products.

The sections below go into more detail on each of Hiya’s currently available items, starting with the multivitamin.

How Hiya’s multivitamin works

Hiya contains vitamins A, C, D, E, K, multiple B vitamins, and various minerals. The list below covers how each of the vitamins helps support your child’s health and well-being:42

• Vitamin A: This vitamin supports the immune system, skin health, proper growth, and vision.
• B vitamins: These help the body use carbohydrates, fat, and protein, and they can assist cells in making new DNA.
• Vitamin C: An important vitamin that supports collagen formation, iron absorption, immune function, and protection of the brain’s neurotransmitters. It also fights oxidative stress, which can lead to chronic or degenerative conditions over time.43
• Vitamin D: A vitamin essential for bone strength, muscle support, and overall health.
• Vitamin E: An antioxidant vitamin that, like vitamin C, fights oxidative stress and, like vitamin A, also supports vision.
• Vitamin K: This vitamin is important for blood clotting and healing wounds, but it also promotes bone health.

Moving on from the vitamins in Hiya’s multi to the minerals, they include calcium, iodine, zinc, selenium, and manganese. Here’s how each of those minerals works to promote a healthy body:42

• Calcium: Like vitamins D and K, this mineral supports bone health and blood clotting. It also regulates heart and muscle functioning.
• Iodine: This mineral is essential for proper thyroid function and hormone production, and it assists in the growth and development of the body and brain.
• Zinc: Like iodine, zinc is important for supporting growth and development, but it also promotes better immune system functioning.
• Selenium: This essential mineral is an antioxidant that fights oxidative stress, supports thyroid function, and helps the immune system work properly.44
• Manganese: Not to be confused with magnesium, this trace mineral helps the body create connective tissue, bones, and hormones, and it assists in proper blood clotting. It’s also necessary for the brain and nerves to work as they should.21

Now that we’ve reviewed how Hiya’s multivitamin works, let’s examine what powers each of Hiya’s remaining products.

How other Hiya supplements work

These other Hiya supplements are a bit more complex than the multivitamin, so we’ve broken down some of the research behind their components below.

Hiya’s offerings can be pricier than most competing kids’ multivitamins and supplements, and the acceptability of this higher cost depends on the Hiya product.

For instance, we’re much more forgiving of the multivitamin’s price of $30 because it has such a high amount of nutrients, more than most competitors. However, $30 for the Kids Daily Iron+ (with carbonyl iron and vitamin C) feels like a bit much. Some comparable kids’ chewable carbonyl iron supplements we came across on the market — containing the same ingredients and triple the servings — cost about half of what Hiya charges.

For more details, here’s a quick breakdown of Hiya’s pricing:

• Multivitamin, Kids Daily Iron+, and Kids Probiotic: $30 per bottle
• Bedtime Essentials: $35 per bottle
• Kids’ Daily Greens + Superfoods: $54 per pouch

Unlike most competitors, there are no recurring delivery savings to be found with Hiya because that’s the only purchasing option available. Bulk orders can save you a bit over time, however, at the cost of paying more initially. The chart below details how that works out. Note: You can only purchase up to three pouches of the greens powder at this time.

We’re frankly a bit curious as to why the Bedtime Essentials costs more than the multivitamin and the probiotic. The latter is particularly surprising since probiotics tend to run on the expensive side. For instance, with recurring delivery discounts, First Day’s Kids’ Daily Enrichment multivitamin costs $30.60, and the Kids' Belly-Biotic is $41.65.

Again, the cost of the multi makes sense due to the high nutrient content, and greens powders are (similar to probiotics) often a bit pricey, anyway. So, really, the only one that stands out as being “too much” for what you get is Hiya’s Kids Daily Iron+.

Additionally, Hiya does not offer a guarantee or accept returns unless the item is unopened and in its original packaging. First Day, in comparison, has a 45-day money-back guarantee on its vitamins and supplements.

Our personal experience with Hiya was pretty standard, except when it came time to cancel our recurring deliveries. Navigating the website, ordering products, and receiving them was hassle-free. However, when we tried to cancel our recurring orders, we ran into frustration. At the time, Hiya only allows customers to cancel via email correspondence with a customer service representative.

Now, we understand that companies want to keep their customers, but having to go back and forth with a representative five times, repeatedly denying offers to entice us to stay, was rather frustrating. In comparison, First Day lets you click a button in your customer dashboard and fill out an optional survey if you have any feedback — but that’s it; your cancellation is complete. We hope to see Hiya move to a similar, more customer-friendly method in the future.

When it comes to the actual vitamins themselves, it’s worth noting that our testing team didn’t consist of any actual children. However, some of our testers are former picky eaters, and they were able to give insightful feedback about the taste of Hiya’s multivitamin and supplements. Overall, the consensus, even from the adults who weren’t formerly picky kids, was that Hiya might be a tough sell flavor-wise. All the tablets are vaguely fruity, with the iron having a slight chocolate taste. The best of the bunch were the probiotics, which are a bit minty or “cool” from the xylitol, a sugar alcohol.

On the topic of sugar alcohols, it’s important to note that the ones used by Hiya — xylitol and mannitol — may cause digestive upset or irritation in some people.53

Hiya is far from the only kids’ vitamin and supplement manufacturer on the market. Whether you have a younger child, a kid who isn’t too picky, or just aren’t keen on spending around $30+ per product, here are some details on a few close Hiya competitors.

First Day Kids’ Multivitamin and Belly-Biotic

First Day vitamin gummies take a subtle approach, only focusing on providing a select few nutrients at about a quarter of your child’s daily requirements. The following list details the vitamins and their amounts:

• Vitamin A: 130mcg (14%)
• Vitamin C: 20mg (22%)
• Vitamin D3: 10mcg (50%)
• Vitamin K: 25mcg (21%)
• Vitamin B1 or thiamine: 0.3mg (25%)
• Vitamin B2 or riboflavin: 0.333mg (26%)
• Vitamin B6: 0.38mg (22%)
• Folate: 80mcg (20%)
• Vitamin B12: 1.8mcg (75%)

According to Cleveland Clinic pediatrician Dr. Laura O’Connor, MD, some kids need supplemental vitamin D, but most get the nutrients they need from food, even if they’re picky eaters. Dr. O’Connor explains that multivitamins for kids are “like having an insurance policy. You don’t need it, but it’s a good idea.”54 So, your child may not need a fully-packed multivitamin like Hiya’s — they may just need a little bit of support like First Day offers. Of course, speaking with your family pediatrician first is ideal, just to make sure your child gets what they need.

If you decide to go with First Day, these vitamins and probiotics do cost a bit more than Hiya’s. Here’s the cost breakdown:

• Kids’ Daily Enrichment: $36 per bottle (or $30.60 with monthly delivery)
• Kids’ Belly-Biotic Probiotic: $46 per pouch (or $41.65 with monthly delivery)

However, unlike Hiya, First Day offers a 45-day money-back guarantee in the event you or your kids aren’t happy with the products.

SmartyPants Kids and Toddlers Multi & Omegas

SmartyPants is a brand you can easily find on supermarket shelves in stores like Whole Foods, Target, and Walmart, among others. Unlike Hiya, this brand divides its toddlers (ages 2-3) and kids (ages four and up) vitamins into two separate products, which we appreciate as an added safety measure for younger children.

These products take a sort of middle-of-the-road approach between Hiya and First Day; they offer over ten vitamins and minerals, but the %DVs can vary from very small amounts to 150% depending on the nutrient (and they both include additional omega-3 fatty acids from fish oil).

Again, as noted above, your kids may not need this much additional support, but SmartyPants can be a much less expensive option if you feel they do. At the time of this writing, the prices of these two products (each are a month’s worth) on the official SmartyPants Amazon store are as follows:

• Toddlers Multi & Omegas: $18.83 ($16.01 with subscription)
• Kids Multi & Omegas: $19.81 ($16.84 with subscription)

Additionally, SmartyPants vitamins are NSF-certified, meaning that they’re third-party tested and adhere to very strict standards.8 While the other products mentioned in this review are also third-party tested, only SmartyPants and OLLY are NSF-certified.

OLLY Kids Multi Gummy Worms

OLLY’s multivitamins are another easy-to-find multivitamin for kids that offers a good amount of vitamins and minerals at decently high (but not too high) concentrations. For kids 2-3, the highest concentration is found in biotin at 188% Daily Value. However, being a B vitamin, biotin is water soluble, and any excess will be excreted in the urine. According to experts, it’s “very difficult to overdose on biotin.”55

Our main reason for suggesting OLLY’s Kids Multi Gummy Worms as a Hiya alternative, though, is the lower price and higher number of servings than the other products mentioned in this review. For $17.99, a child between ages two and three would get 100 servings, and kids four and up would get 50. Especially if you have a younger child, these multivitamins can be a great way to save money over time.

If you are able to get 100 servings out of this vitamin, that’s a little over three months per container, making the cost per month about $6.00. In comparison, three months of Hiya will cost you about $90.