in worrying about how much junk food my toddler always seems to want?

[loveroflife]

Ds (2) is of a normal weight but is always wanting junk food. I don't give it to him, but that doesn't stop him wanting it.

Today, he threw a tantrum at a toddler group because I wouldn't let him have another digestive biscuit. He has one once a week at the same group. However, whatever group we go to he always hangs around the biscuit tin shouting and pointing at them and quite frankly it is becoming an issue.

I do try and hide the biscuits but that's not fair on others who want one!
One biscuit for him is never enough, but my theory is if I totally deprive him he will go beserk when he has them at friends etc.

He also throws tantrums in shops grabbing packets of crips and chocolate bars (even when in his buggy, damn those till point displays!) and it's a real battle to grab them off him and say no.

He also always makes a beeline for other children's snacks but ONLY if it is crisps, biscuits, crackers etc. He would never try and steal a grape or a piece of apple!

DH and I can't eat anything 'naughty' in front of him because he gets so upset and wants a crisp, piece of chocolate etc. We don't have junk food on display and make a point of eating fruit in front of him and sticking to healthy choices.

Yesterday, I met a friend and her ds for coffee and and ordered ds a sandwich - however, friend and I had cake and again he was shouting and pointing at it until I did on this occasion cave in (ashamed) and give him a bit because so many people were just staring at us in horror.

This is what he had today and is pretty typical of his diet.

Awake at 7am - Milk
8am - Small bowl of shreddies and fruit smoothie
10am - box of raisins
12pm - 3 Fishfingers and peas (ignored the peas) and half a slice of wholemeal bread
3pm - Cereal bar (low sugar)
6pm - Lasagna and veg (ignored veg) followed by plum fromage frais.

He will have some milk before bed at 7pm...

Am I doing anything wrong? Feeding him too much or little? He doesn't like fresh fruit and veg despite enjoying it when we started BLW'ing. I now have to give him his fruit via a smoothie every morning and sneak veg into spag bol etc.

Does anyone have any advice? We can't go ANYWHERE without it becoming a real issue....

raisins and a cereal bar (low sugar or no) aren't great snacks, sugar-wise, a piece of homemade cake would be better. His diet sounds quite low in calories, where's the fat?

I was strict with DD regarding treats until she turned 2, and then relaxed quite a bit, so she has chocolate or cake much more often, not daily but a couple of times a week. You can't eat things like cake or crisps in front of him without allowing him some, and it won't do him a jot of harm.

we make loads of savoury muffins for dd. we give them to her for normal food- less messy than sauce things.

it also means that if we have cake, we can give her a savoury muffin and she thinks it's the same.

they're basically cake mix but veg and cheese instead of the sugar.

it also might be worth making cheese biscuits too (no salt)

saw your last post - well, you probably shouldn't be having cake all the time either!

That's actually wrong CaptChaos. I have given him sweet stuff plenty of time and I do share. As I said I don't want to get into the habit of having to give him cake/crisps/chocolate EVERYTIME someone else (not just me, DH, friend, other children) are eating it in front of him.

My point is that he always wants more and more despite him having a bit etc -one bite/crisp etc is never enough.

I agree with the above postings. His typical diet does seem to have quite a lot of sugar in it already in the shreddies, smoothie, cereal bar, raisins and fromage frais. If you reduced some of that may be you could relax more about the odd biscuit. It's not a bad diet though. You could try breaking the biscuit in half. He's then happy that he's had 2 and you're happy he's not had more than usual. 2year olds are easily fooled!

but how often are you talking about? Do you go out with him daily where someone will be eating cakes or biscuits in front of him?

Rainbow sprinkles can be shaken over a fruit salad and thus make it enticing, or you could trotting him to help you to assemble a pizza or fruit salad. You could tuck into a plate of strawberries, grapes and mango slices while he has a print old plain biscuit and you go yum yum. A toy kitchen set and some plastic veg got DS very interested in veg and fruit and now he feeds his toys and I let him play with chopped red and yellow peppers and dip it in plain yoghurt with a inch of herbs in his high chair whilst I cook...you can rip pics of colorful veg out of mags and get him to make collages. I make sweet potato chips and roast veg sticks and he dips them in sauce. I let DS steal food off my plate and pretend to be shocked and giggly - but it's a plate of stir fried veg. Failing that, sugar free low salt ketchup on things makes them very exciting...

It is a bugger but they are muppets at this age for wanting what you eat so they will pick up on your food choices, good and bad.

Eating off brightly colored plates makes things look more interesting too. Green beans on an orange plate, a yellow bowl of strawberries...

Any other suggestions please for snacks I can give him as he won't eat any fresh fruit or veg?

DS has started to want 'bistits' and 'risps' a lot more too, since his little playmate is constantly walking around with a milkyway and a fruitshoot. So we've bought him some low sugar rich teas and those Goodies organic crisps you can get as a treat for when his friend is here, so he doesn't feel left out.

It's tough but you need to do what you think is right for his health. Make healthier substitutions so he's not constantly dealing with the fact he can't have what others are having, just sometimes.

DS loves choice grain crackers, I never thought of them as a bad food

Sorry about typos bloody phone has gone weird. Hopefully general gist got through.

"but how often are you talking about? Do you go out with him daily where someone will be eating cakes or biscuits in front of him?"

Well, daily I suppose he is exposed to them - crisps/chocolate on display in shops. We go to about four toddler groups a week - biscuits are there. Cakes on display in cafes, leisure centre (vending machines), other children have snacks at park etc, soft play, etc, it seems most places we go.

You may have tried this but I often do let my little boy (26 months) have 'another x' when he asks but say quite firmly 'that's your last one' and then have some toast, we'll do a puzzle... whatever just something to take his mind off more of whatever it is. It worked tonight when he had 2 jelly babies, whinged for more, I gave him 2 more and said they were his last, then he went back to his supper of toast, chicken, cheese, cucumber and olives (he has unusual tastes!).

I do Ella's smoothies, breadsticks, oatcakes, Organix gingerbread men, marmite rice cakes (and apples / pears / bananas, though only apples regularly as they're the only fruit she will consistently eat). I think smoothies are fine, though I don't give them daily. Make some hidden veg pasta sauce. Would he eat veg in cheese sauce? I also give her vitamins every day as she is fussy and veggie which is an awkward combo.

"My point is that he always wants more and more despite him having a bit etc -one bite/crisp etc is never enough."

Is one bite/crisp enough for you?

Unusual tastes for a 2 year old I should have said - I love olives but would have thought they were a bit strong tasting for him!

YANBU. If you have set a rule and you mean it then he will eventually get used to it. However I do think he has a load of sugar already in his diet, way more than I'd give dd who is also two.

I second all the diet advice ami gives above, fruit is high in sugar, he needs to eat veg, potatoes apparently have loads of good things in. Just keep serving veg on the side, you and your husband should also eat veg and he'll gradually realise he likes it. Dd only ate peas. For a year. Now she eats me out of house an home and there is nothing at all she will not try when she is hungry.

You cannot eat things in front of him which he wants and can't have though. That's mean. I have to admit my diet is better now I have to share with dd. I have also carefully created a myth around jacobs ceam crackers that they are biscuits so dd gets those or organix gingerbread men when out.

Im not doing it out of any meanness just that dd will not brush her yeeth properly and until she does so I am anal about the sugar in her diet. My 'D'M also banned any sweets and was then utterly controlling about any we did have whoch led to me even now having jo willpower whatsoever when it comes to sweeties.

Rice cakes - they think they're a treat

I am really curious as to what your diet is actually like. Do you eat fruit and veg regularly?

Make your own snacks. Then you know exactly what goes in them. Even hide veggies in, eg carrot muffins.
Sugar-free banana muffins. Easy

I think the biscuits are groups are fine (though I only ever had one group that dished out biscuits, I didn't know so many would), but he will have to learn that one biscuit is enough - make it more that it's about there being enough to go around rather than being bad for him. Distract with toys once he's had his. Displays and things - again, distraction, either with his own snacks or a toy. But a choc freddo isn't going to kill him, so allow every so often - as others have said, you don't want it to be forbidden fruit.

TBH - you can tell if he's piling on the pounds - a 2 year old should burn this kind of stuff off pretty easily.

dinner dd loves olives. she'll eat them over anything else

Well, daily I suppose he is exposed to them - crisps/chocolate on display in shops. We go to about four toddler groups a week - biscuits are there. Cakes on display in cafes, leisure centre (vending machines), other children have snacks at park etc, soft play, etc, it seems most places we go.

Different situations though.

If you are eating cake, or fruit or whatever then to stop him is unfair. In the same way a couple of biscuits at a toddler group isn't going to do any harm.

However, that doesn't mean that every time you walk past sweets or crisps you have to give them to him. That idea is daft. You say no and move on. Or offer an alternative. Of course sometimes you could also say yes and enjoy something nice together.

From your posts it does seem very much as if you are making food an issue and then you wonder why he wants things so much.

You can conceal veg in bolognaise sauce (grated carrots and courgettes and roast red peppers) and the cheese toastie can contain Trojan vegetables and shredded ham...cheese scones are easy and plain scones too, does he eat things with melted cheese on?

Roast carrots with a bit of honey are sweet and all toddlers I know are mad on blueberries. Pitta bread sticks dipped into home made tomato sauce? Stick a DVD on and have floor picnic with toys?

And a biscuit broken into four chunks is four biscuits to a two year old. Meanwhile you really hope he doesn't try to steal your grapes because they are SO YUMMY etc etc.

I agree with limiting his treat intake, it only makes sense as you don't want him getting used to eating crap. And he will just want more and more and more. He will get used to your rules but only if you stick to them rigidly. However if you are having a treat (cake in a cafe), it's only fair he does too. As long as you don't have masses of sweet treats at home, two biscuits is OK.

Meal times - I would suggest serving his vegetables first before the rest of the meal. So sit down with him and give him his peas/carrots etc while you chat about the day. Then serve everyone their tea/lunch and give him the rest of his meal.

Also things like raisins, fromage frais, cereal bars and fruit smoothie will contain a lot of sugars anyway, so it might be best to use these as rare treats - and not daily food items. Stick to oatcakes, rice cakes etc for snacks, natural yogurts with added bits and pieces or an apple/berries for pudding.