The short answer: taking the vitamin every day matters more than the time of day. Evening works just as well as morning if it's your family's calmest moment.
Morning or evening?
Either is fine. There's no recommendation for a time of day, so pick the moment that repeats the same way in your home every day. Many families choose breakfast, because it's usually eaten at home and at about the same time.
Evening works if mornings are rushed. Then tie the vitamin to the evening snack.
With food or without?
A meal is a good moment, because it comes around every day: breakfast, lunch or dinner.
What moment can you tie the vitamin to?
A habit forms most easily when something new is attached to something old. Here are four familiar moments:
|---|---|---|
| Moment | Where the jar sits | Why it works |
|---|
| Breakfast | On the kitchen table or a shelf next to the mugs | Eaten every day, usually at home |
|---|---|---|
| Dinner | Near the dinner table | The whole family is there |
| Evening snack | In the same cupboard as the snack things | A calm moment, no rush |
| Brushing teeth | On the bathroom shelf | Happens twice a day, but without food |
Brushing teeth is a good reminder, but there's no food then. If you choose it, your child can take the vitamin at the end of the evening snack and brush right after.
When the vitamin gets forgotten
It happens to everyone. Take the next dose at the usual time, not two at once. If the vitamin gets forgotten often, the moment is probably wrong. Try another one.
Where the jar sits matters. When the jar is in sight where the moment happens, nobody has to remember it separately.
Your child's own moment
A child remembers things more easily when they're their own. Let your child pick where the jar goes and take the vitamin from the jar themselves. On an evening routine chart, the vitamin can have its own square. Print one here: Morning and bedtime routine chart
More tips: Your child's own vitamin routine
In short
- Take the vitamin when you'll remember it every day.
- Tie it to a familiar moment and keep the jar in sight.
- If a dose gets forgotten, carry on as usual the next day.
Why Ayaka?
Ayaka is a strawberry-flavored multivitamin for children over 3, one chewable tablet a day. Your child decorates their own reusable jar with stickers and picks a spot for it. It becomes their own moment. A refill comes through the letterbox once a month, so the jar doesn't run empty. See Ayaka multivitamin
