to give my toddler cake, chocolate sweets etc

[dappply]

My husband has just said he thinks i give my toddler too much sugary stuff and that he's not sure he should get it at all. I want to double check myself to make sure he hasn't got a point.

DS is nearly three. His diet i think is really good, for instance yesterday he had

breakfast - branflakes with raisins and sunflower seeds, natrual yoghurt and chopped up pear and blueberries. Diluted orange juice and water.

mid morning - couple of oat cakes, grapes and strawberries.

lunch - bowl of homemade lentil and veg soup, grated carrot, courgette, cheese on a piece of wholemeal toast.

dinner - courgette, pepper, onion and mushroom omlette with cheese and bread and butter. raspberries and natural yoghurt.

and that's pretty normal really.

this week treat wise he had a chuppa chup lolly last sunday, a quarter of a twix on wednesday, a chocolate biscuit at playgroup of friday and a quarter of a cupcake and a chuppa chup today. DH thinks this is too much sweet stuff in a week.

My attitude was that i didn't want to refuse him sweet stuff as a rule, so as not to make it forbidden fruit, just to make sure when he does have it that it's not much, and that it's after meals. and to make sure he's not getting loads of hidden sugar in his diet, like in cereal and stuff, and to homemake the vast majority of things.

Am i being unreasonable? i can't find any guidelines anywhere

Sounds great to me and wonderful that he eats such a variety of veg!

Only think I wouldn't give mine is the lolly, simply as they are supposed to be worse for teeth as they take a while to eat. Other than that, I doubt my two eat as well.

Ugh,why give him those horrible lollipops? That would be my only criticism,kids are sticky for days after those!

Stealth boast?

But - I wouldn't give lollies or juice tbh.

Also, don't think it sounds expensive. It's all stuff made from scratch, but not overly time consuming to make.

It IS impressive that a 3 yo will eat it (compared to a lot of others), but if that's what's been given from the outset and the child knows no different then not unusual.

Not a stealth boast imo.

Sounds like an excellent diet and I wish my 2 and a half year old would eat as much as that, But I wouldn't be giving lollipops for fear of choking.

Really not stealth boasting, was totally being genuine as DH had me worried that I was wrong. Just genuinely asking. He eats like that because I'm lucky, he's so far not been fussy, because that's what I eat and because I used to be veggie, so when it's just me and him and cooking for he gets my diet. He dies eat meat though, I cook it for DH and he eats fish too. And more varied veg than that.

He has chupa chops some days because the shop in the local park sells them at his eye level, he loves them and I didn't think they were a particularly big deal in moderation. I've just been thinking that a little but if sugary stuff a few times a week won't do him any harm in the big scheme of things. I'd rather that than deny him and make him think they are not normal. If he asks for more cake or chocolate I say no, and tell him that it'll make him feel sick
If he eats too much of the sweet stuff. Ok in little bits.

Sorry if anyone thinks I'm being boasty or something. Wasn't atall, I'm lucky not to have a fussy eater thus far.

I'm pleasantly surprised that people seem to think that's an unusually healthy diet as it's very similar to what my DS eats, except we also have meat. So today he's had porridge, natural yoghurt, a satsuma, grapes, a banana, chicken with potatoes, carrot and broccolli and he'll have spaghetti bolognese for dinner. In any given week the most he'll have in the way of sweet things (besides fruit) is a cup of juice at babygroup (which he absolutely loves) and a sweet yoghurt. Very occasionally he'll have a biscuit or a few chocolate buttons. I wouldn't give him a lolly - they're really bad for teeth.

Those chuppa chups are awful. I did a paediatric first aid course and was told they are the exact width of a child's windpipe, if they choked on one they'd have no chance. Not to mention the tooth decay.

Apart from that though it sounds like a great diet.

great diet OP. your DH is being unreasonable IMO. Some sweet things are ok. No one is a saint all the time.

And my DD's school serves cake, what seems daily for pudding

bollox can you eat like that for £15 a week. If true the OP has blueberries, pears, strawberries, raspberries and grapes in the house - that's a tenner's worth at least before you start.

battleship, every week I buy bananas, grapes, satsumas, and apples. Tesco usually has an offer on berries so I often buy two lots. They last quite a while. I spend about £70 a week on shopping, so it's not cheap but not ridiculously expensive either.

It doesn't look low fat to me, just not high fat.

There's cheese, eggs, dairy - and OP says her DS eats meat.

What it lacks is Junk! High fat, high sugar, high salt, highly processed foods which store up problems for later life.

I think the diet looks fine but then am not a paediatric dietician and nor, I suspect, is anyone else on this thread.

is this child a vegetarian?

your DS is eating more than me! - I'm doing Slimming World at the moment & eating plenty of veggie soups etc.

I refused to give mine lollipops when little, they make me cringe at the thought of them resting against their teeth and the horror of them falling over with one in their mouth. I witnessed a little tot get knocked over in a playground once and she passed out because it blocked her windpipe - scary moment!

It looks as though there is far too much fibre in his diet.

And I agree with everybody, else lollipops are a no no at this age. Far too dangerous and sugary

I think what he eats is absolutely fine and I
Wouldn't worry about the Lollys or anything as long as his teeth are getting brushed properly

no he's not veggie, just yesterday DH was away, and i generally don't cook meat if it's just me and DS as i used to be veggie, and it seems a waste as we wouldn't use up a packet. He gets various meat in his diet, fish, cottage pie, bolognaise, chicken, bacon, ham. And lots of pulses too as i cook with them by default due my veggie leanings.

Dunno why people think it's expensive! we spend about £150 a month in thesupermarket on our big shop and maybe another £20 ish a week topping up with bread milk and fruit and veg as we need it. Is that expensive for three? it's not utter budgeting, but i don't feel like i'm spending too much? we've got lots of berries in the house this week as we've just done our monthly shop and the supermarket had an offer on for three pots of berries for a fiver. Grapes are cheap though, fruit in general is pretty cheap at the fruit and veg shop where i usually get it. a fiver a week generally to get enough.

he's not low fat, he has full fat milk full fat yoghurt, full fat cheese, pesto, olive oil, advocado, eggs, nuts and seeds. He does tend to eat wholegrain as i don't buy white bread or rice. Although he does have white pasta as my DH thinks wholegrain pasta is the work of the devil. i've never heard that high fibre diets are't good for toddlers, is that right?

Hadn't really thought about the choking risk and teeth risk with chuppa chups. i'll maybe think about stopping him having them then. thanks for that!

Btw, don't really care what anyone else feeds their kids, i'm not trying to boast or judge and i know i'm very lucky that ds eats most things i give him. i was just having a wobble because DH was concerned at me, and the reaction i've got makes me feel better that i'm doing OK. i've just shown him the thread and he's apologised and also feels a bit vindicated on the chupa chups thing! So we're both alright! Thanks for your replies, i appreciate it!

ps - he doesn't have bran flakes everyday, i usually alternates between peanut butter on toast, porridge, weetabix, muesli or something else random that happens to be in the house.

High fibre is not suitable for toddlers no - it fills them up too quickly when they only have little tums that should be filled with other things than fibre.

I think you have a wonderful diet - one I would aspire to. DC have sweets every day here - today DD has had a bag of yogurt covered raisins and some white choc buttons. Yesterday she had a choc lollipop and a small bag of biscuits. I was denied sweets as a child and had MANY weight issues. I think it is better to be laid back about treats, as long as the main meals are healthy.

thats hardly any sweets at all at 3 he should be have at leats twice that a day

£150 plus £20 for two adults and a 3yo is a lot yes - probably what I spend each fortnight.
Sounds to me (based on your op) that you are trying to hard tbh - hence others have said "stealth boasting"