AIBU to put out sweets for children at a summer party?

I don't think Haribo do any of their vegetarian sweets in the mini bags do they? I've struggled to find non-chocolate vegetarian sweets in mini bags since my youngest went vegetarian so if you know of any options please let me know thanks.

My 7 year old would prefer chocolate to sweets (M&S do good multipacks of small bags of chocolate buttons) but I really wouldn’t care either way. We don’t really restrict anything and if DS wants to spent all afternoon eating chocolate buttons, so be it. He will soon realise that it doesn’t make him feel great!

Its a party , its summer , kids deserve a treat , everyone loved sweets as a child & tbh most adults do now so no your definitely not being unreasonable , go for it , enjoy the summer and enjoy your party x

There are a small number of children who can't eat (most) sweets for medical issues, but presumably you'd know if that applied?
If not, should be fine. If you're really concerned about some parents kicking off, have bowls ready in cupboards and check when they arrive. I'd never expect my hosts to modify what they want to do for my kids-if they had an allergy etc, I would always contact the host when accepting invitations.

Coconut sugar is just sugar, no better for you than branded bags of white sugar.

Honestly? I’m fucking sick of people practically forcing sweets down children’s throats these days. It’s shocking. Sports teams giving family size haribo bags to 8 year olds (one each), party bags at parties with enough sweets for 10 kids each, school giving sweets as prizes, sleepovers kids bring shopping bags full of sweets. And honestly kids are commonly fat and eating so so much sugar where we live. My heart sinks because when people put out bowls of sweets and free flow candy carts at events my kids also just shovel them in.

so I’d say YABU because sweets are not a treat anymore. They’re disgusting and abused and lazy.

Can you tell I feel fed up with sweet culture?

Well, no, but if she wants her guests to relax and socialise together I'm not sure she'd be keen to willfully introduce a hazard that means they can't.

I tend to fight shy of sweets, and favour biscuits, cakes, fruit and chocolate for treating kids.

A make your own sundae bowl that comes out after the mains have been eaten would be my go to.

I partly agree that children will eat decent food if that is expected, but also have to say I must have spent a fortune on hummus, cucumber sticks and blueberries that never got touched by children at parties.

I have my children and work with children as well as having lots of family and friends with children. In fact doing anything without children there is a rare event in my life.
Honestly at a party I'd let my 3 year old have some chocolate, but she doesn't have sweets, she is too young and it is too much of a choking risk.
For my wedding as we had from 2 to adult we did a sweetie cart, but we used all prepacked things in big kilner jars, but could easily be done with bowls etc. So there was one of different wrapped chocolate, one of sweets, we even had mini biscuits. We provided little paper bags for people to get there fill and 100% just as much for the adults as the kids!

I'd avoid any loose sweets, prime for a sticky, germy mess, no lolly pops (massive choking risk especially if they are playing), I'd avoid any hard boiled sweets for the same reason. They aren't going to sit their nicely and savour a sweet, they will eat and play, it's what they do 🤷‍♀️😊

Because I’m intelligent enough to understand they’ll do no harm in moderation.

No, not all foods have a place. Sweets are NOT food. Why have we normalised eating shite so much? Why have we normalised handing our kids a shit tone of e numbers and chemicals in the name of “balance” and having a “good time” ?!

out of absolutely every single food and dish in this world that is made up of incredibly tasty, natural nutritious ingredients why on earth would you hand your kids… sweets?

I think you’re clearly a lovely host who takes the kids into consideration and not just the adults which is GREAT but as a parent who has never allowed or will ever let my children to eat any form of sweets this would annoy me. Kids don’t need sweets, there is no nutritional value to them and that’s without mentioning the fact they are literal poison. There is no benefit what so ever to handing your child any form of sweets

there is no need to associate a nice time with UPFs and a tonne of sugar.
there is so many ideas you could do, food art with fruit and veggies for example. Home made ice cream. Cakes/brownies with real ingredients and not 100 colours and sprinkles on. Natural coconut sugar is delightful and tastes like caramel.

And I suppose the adult buffet will be full of healthy staple foods only?

Kids need to learn moderation and that all foods have their place.

Honestly if she puts out chopped veggies and cut fruit the children will be just as happy.

Children only start asking for junk when it’s put in front of them.

This British tradition of plying children with sugary crap is to make adults feel good about themselves. It’s not about making the kids happy.

Really depends on the age range of the children imo.

As parent of a 6yo - I’d thank you so much for not putting out sweets just on a buffet table. From experience, the problem is not so much the energy the kids get (though this is also a factor), its that it’s very hard for them to have the self control to eat anything else when sweets are sitting right in front of them. Then they have awful behaviour as they had a massive sugar high then it wears off. Totally give them something individual, but in an age appropriate quantity. Also you might think of non-food fun things, if they are up to 6 or so, other things like bubbles or sidewalk chalk are fun outdoor options that they can enjoy at a party.

Ice cream station is good as an alternative. Have squirty cream, a couple of different syrups like golden and strawberry, a couple of different sprinkles, marshmallows, smarties etc in different bowls. Serve up ice cream in little paper bowls and they can put what they like on top. It keeps them entertained for quite a while top

I always just get scared of choking - I'd probably put out little bags towards the end maybe
An adult is usually required to open the little bags so slightly more supervision

I think YABU to get sweets just for the kids.

I bloody love those natural confectionery co worms and Percy pigs 😂

To attract even more wasps? Yes why not.

i wouldn’t see an issue with it at all, I’d actually think it was a nice touch to think of the younger ones x

Oh I love a sweetie table at a party! I see plenty of adults going up for seconds too! I'd probably fill a few jars with different sweets like foam bananas, big strawberries, haribo, cables and lollies and then perhaps some of the multipack chocolate buttons that come in the little individual bags. I'd also put out some small tongs so people can help themselves. If that's a bit OTT I'd buy some of the multipack Haribos and chocolates and put them into a few baskets.

Yes sometimes all the artificial stuff isn't that great 🙁

That’s what I was just about to say! It’s not crack OP is offering them (though you’d think it was), it’s an occasional treat.