Getting My Hands on Nordic Naturals Vegetarian Baby DHA

During one of our monthly well-baby check-ups, one of the "meds" that my son's pediatrician prescribed was fish oil. She said that this was important because it helps baby's brain develop, and helps with the development of the nervous system. Her preferred fish oil is made by Nordic Naturals, a trusted company that makes mostly fish oil products. Their products are quite pricey, but the fish oil that they get is devoid of heavy metals, unlike other fish oils in the market. They source their fish oil from Norwegian cod, if I am not mistaken.

Of course we wanted to give Munchkin the DHA that he needs, but we had one concern with the fish oil, even from Nordic Naturals: cod oil is not Kosher. So imagine my relief when I found out that Nordic Naturals offers vegetarian versions of some of their products, including their Baby DHA!

The thing is, while the regular Nordic Naturals Baby DHA is available in Metro Manila, their Vegetarian Baby DHA is pretty hard to come by. Not only here, but apparently, also in Dubai, as my mom and sister, who visited Dubai, only found the regular version. My options were to purchase from Galleon.ph, which would cost me double per bottle (NN Vegetarian Baby DHA price on eVitamins.com sells for USD per bottle), buy from a local online seller for double the price again (plus, I still have to wait as they don't have the item on hand), or buy online direct from Amazon or eVitamins at its original price, and then just have it shipped via air.

After days of deliberation, V and I decided on option 3. Buy direct from the US, and just have it shipped through Johnny Air Cargo.

So I went ahead and registered through the Johnny Air Cargo website. Registration was pretty easy, with some of their staff contacting me cor further instructions and details (like they needed a valid ID from me for véification). They also provided me with a shipping quotation, which was extremely helpful.

To maximise the shipping fee of Johnny Air, we got two bottles of NN Vegetarian Baby DHA, since Munchkin would probably finish a whole bottle in about a month. We also purchased for V some detox teas and remedies, such  as Milk Thistle tea, and Dandelion Root, which are quite inaccessible here. Purchase totaled about 75 USD for five items.

eVitamins took such a looong time, and it made me feel uneasy. I even began to think that I might've been scammed. Haha. Fortunately, after about 10 days, eVitamins reached out to me and informed me that they had to wait for one product to arrive, and that they have already shipped my order.

About a week later, JAC staff sent me a text message that the package was finally ready for pick-up at the Johnny Air Cargo branch in Megamall. Air shipping fee totaled 974.84 PHP. Not bad, considering it the package only 10 days to arrive here. We picked the package up in Megamall, but I think they can also deliver packages door-to-door for an additional fee.

Anyway, here's a photo of the rest of our eVitamins "haul" haha.

I'm very much relieved that Munchkin actually likes the NN Vegetarian Baby DHA, despite its strong fishy aroma. I did try to taste it prior to giving his first dose, and it just tasted like seaweeds, nothing horrible. Doc has since increased Munchkin's dosage to an mL per day, and it's a good thing we decided to get two bottles of it already. Hopefully when Munchkin graduates to the "Kiddy" DHA, the vegetarian version will be available here already. Crossing my fingers for that.