To not let DD have sweets, juice etc

[crazycatlady81]

Would I be seen as "weird" not to give my DD any (she is just a baby at the moment). I was allowed loads of sweets and unlimited fizzy drinks as a child and it didn't do me any harm (that I know of- I'm a healthy weight, have no fillings etc). I don't tend to drink anything bar water (and coffee now) and do not have a sweet tooth at all. It just doesn't sit right with me when I think about giving DD juice, chocolate bars, crisps etc. I think if she just never has fizzy juice (coke etc) then she won't bother with it? I am sure I will give her the occasional sweet treat eg chocolate bar, ice cream but not all the time and certainly not until she's older? My cousin has sent me a picture of her 6 month old eating some chocolate Easter egg and I just think- why

What age did you start giving your DC things like that?

She only drinks formula milk or water at the moment. No baby juice etc and I would be pissed off if someone eg. my mum gave her it whilst babysitting.

AIBU

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That's

My DS wouldn't so much as touch cake, chocolate, sweets, ice cream. Nothing.

I truly, truly wish he would / could try, but we are stuck to less than half a dozen things he can eat.

Don't give kids food issues. Let them eat what they want in moderation.

I think its a good idea to allow them at parties or around friends houses if they want them.
Mine don't get fizzy or squash generally and don't seem to be suffering for lack of it,nor going bonkers in over consuming it if they are in a situation where they do have it.
You'll find them appearing with sweets that have been handed out at school more times than you'd like though..

My DC don't have a lot of opportunity to eat sweets/juice etc because we don't keep it in the house. If you want to be healthy, then don't buy the crap in the first place. I have never and would never limit what they eat elsewhere because if doesn't matter - they eat well at home and can have "treat" food at parties, restaurants etc. If Granny wants to treat them to a cake, brilliant.

I think the biggest error you can make is making these foods something forbidden. Set a good example yourself in your home and your kids will follow.

I think it does also depend on if your dc is a reluctant drinker, my dd was a PITA to get her to drink, never liked milk even as a baby and would only take tiny sips of water. She was getting really constipated and had several UTIs so I would give her diluted apple juice and squash.

Had it not been an issue would have tried to stick to water and milk but seemed a bit pointless if dd was getting dehydrated!!

YANBU. It is pointless crap when they are babies. A 6m baby won't exactly have been craving chocolate, they have no reason to even be aware it exists. By the time they are going to parties/play dates it is different though!

I was a bit put out that my dd1's first introduction to biscuits and crisps was by a family member and childminder.

Be prepared to be called all the miserable bastards under the sun,op,the sort of subversive attitudes like yours that suggest you shouldn't give our children some of the worst products of a greedy and ruthless food industry is seen by some as a real threat...

I agree with others who say a complete ban is not a good idea.

I was not allowed sweets as a child and I used to pick up and eat spat out chewing gum or sweets that I found in the street. Totally gross, but that's how desperate I was to eat them.

My dcs are 9 and 5yo now. On a day to day basis, we don't have sweets/biscuits/juice in the house, but they get them elsewhere and of course we have treats in for birthdays/Christmas/Hallowe'en etc

That sounds really mean, but there is not a week goes by when they are not at a friend's house, or a party, or we have visitors who bring treats etc etc. They are certainly not deprived of them but understand that they are not part of the daily diet.

However, I didn't let them have sweets/juice etc as babies and toddlers. I tried to hold off the inevitable for as long as possible.

I don't think there's anything wrong with trying to limit it when they are little. I remember Easter when DD was about 15m and I got the piss ripped out of me on here for saying I didn't really want to give her any chocolate.

They will grow into it at some stage. It's like kids are just born knowing what chocolate and sweets are I guess it was once she hit 2 that a lot of the sweeter things entered her diet and we realised we were fighting a losing battle.

But as others say, just don't make anything forbidden. There's nothing wrong with odd treats. Just they are treats. Keep meals and snacks as healthy as they'll eat (obviously toddlers can be a law unto themselves when it comes food!) and try to teach them that chocolate and ice cream isn't something you can have every day.

Treats can be nice too. Good bribery Actually, DD(3) eats reasonably healthily and doesn't have biscuits and sweets as part of her daily diet but I do love taking her to a cafe every now and again and letting her choose any piece of cake she wants, the excitement is quite adorable...

I don't give ds sweets and juice and ask others that look after him not to give them to him although he wouldn't be banned from them at a party. He has cakes and biscuits but I think sweets, juice and fizzy drinks are best avoided if possible due to potential tooth damage. He has sn so it is harder than is usual to brush his teeth and to get him to cooperate at dentists. I hate the thought of him being in preventable pain with his teeth and him not being able to tell me.

I think you have to be really unbudging when it comes to 'well meaning' friends,relatives and caregivers,or else you won't be taken seriously.
You will need to be able to stand your ground.

My DD2 had only water or milk until she was 3; wasn't allowed fizzy of any kind until 7 and rarely had sweets.

She has just turned 8. She first had lemonade a month or so ago and now demands it all the time. She has never had coke and knows not to ask. DH buys her sweets almost every day. I tell him to stop but he just keeps coming home with them. She has already had a few fillings (DD1 is 29 and has no fillings) so I've told him that he can take her to the dentist next time and explain why she's having so many sweets

My DS 2.5 only drinks water or milk, he's had squash about 3 times at parties but never asks for it as he wouldn't get it at home.

He also doesn't eat sweets or chocolate. He's not weird in any way and it's not difficult at all as he's not used to having that stuff so doesn't ask for it :)

I try to limit them. DD is nearly 20 months and up until now she has only been allowed milk or water as a drink. I've just started giving her a small beaker of orange juice (she's been full of cold and thought the bit C would do her some good) every now and again.

I allow her the odd chocolate treat and don't worry because she eats a good varied balanced diet with plenty of fruit and veg. I'm waiting for a fussy phase to arrive and trying to fill her full of good foods in the mean time

I don't buy sweets/crisps/fizzy but if dd is offered it somewhere else, I don't stop her from having it. At home she eats a lot of fruit and veg, but if she goes to her nans then she might have more kinky food. It doesn't bother me.

I don't think it's too hard to understand that we don't have those things at home. They aren't banned so they aren't going to be something she obsesses over.

Wtf?!?! Kinky??!! I typed junky!!

WorraLiberty is right, I think - teaching her moderation is much better than banning sweets and sugar.

Forbidden fruit is often far more tempting - my mum was very controlling about food, especially sweets, and when I left home, I went bonkers, eating whatever I wanted, as much as I wanted. Having not learned to moderate my own appetite, and having learned a rather dysfunctional relationship with food, I am now very, very overweight, and find it nigh impossible to lose weight, or to teach myself that sweets and luxury foods aren't the best treats or the best go-to,option when I am unhappy.

DS thought dried fruit was sweeties until he went to school. He'd never heard of McDonald's before then either. You can (and imo should) not give them sweets & fizzy drinks at that age but once they go to school you lose a lot of control and it goes downhill.

Although DS does still request less of these than his peers so maybe it did some long term good.

My son is 3.5 and has a treat sized piece of chocolate every day. We are keen that chocolate Etx doesn't become this magic elixir that is denied to him and he goes crazy for when he sees it.
That said he spits out any drink that's not milk or water and has once licked a gummy sweet and pronounced it yucky. So we look like we're fierce parents controlling sweets but not at all!
K

It's not necessary as babies but as they get older and more social

My DC are 3 and 4 and I certainly have no intention of introducing fizzy drinks to them. They do like a good fruit shoot though and they are very convenient drinks bottles and I wouldn't prevent them from drinking fizzy drinks if it was given to them probably. They generally prefer milk to drink anyway.

DS2 isn't particularly interested in cakes or biscuits or sweets. DS1 is unable to control himself if there are sweet things in the vicinity. I don't buy them chocolate or sweets, but they get the odd bag of haribo at parties and they're allowed them. My DM buys them obscene amounts of sweets at any holiday opportunity. I do tend to confiscate that, because it's just far too much, and it is very slowly doled out or eaten by me or DH.

I don't think banning outright is good or effective. Anyone I've met whose parents ban sweets go straight for them at every opportunity.

I think everything in moderation.

My 2yo has the occasional drink of squash and ice cream etc... Once a week probably. Same with 8yo. It's a nice treat, everyone likes s treat once in s while! They're not overweight and they have good teeth.

A friend of mine from school wasn't allowed sweets. She used to gorge on junk in the canteen at school. I don't think banning things is healthy or worthwhile.

My parents banned sweets when we were small. Had to give up on outright ban when we moved back near doting grandparents when I was 8, but sweets stayed as a weekend only thing for years.

I like sweets, and chocolate. But I can quite happily do without them - we still have some nice chocolates left from Christmas for example. Both my siblings eat no sweet stuff at all now.

So no, it isn't true "banning sweets will INEVITABLY lead to sugar addiction". Maybe it will, maybe it won't - but not having a lot of sugary crap around for toddlers just seems like common sense.

It is all about balance, imo, slightlyglitterstained. Of course small children don't need lots of sugary crap, but demonising sugar isn't the answer either.

I don't think it was my mum's controlling attitude towards sweets per se, that led to me developing a disordered relationship with food - it's the fact that, because she controlled food so tightly, I never learned to moderate my own appetite, or make my own sensible decisions.

Obviously no-one expects a toddler to be making those decisions - at that age, my dses got sweets sometimes, but we tried not to build them up as a big treat - they were a part of normal life (in a sensibly small proportion). As they got older we tried to teach them to listen to their own bodies, and to understand what makes up a sensibly balanced diet.

It hasn't worked perfectly - ds3 (17) is a fizzy drink addict, and as he earns his own money from a part time job, and is way too old for me to be policing what he buys, he can and does buy more fizzy drink than I am comfortable with.

But his older brothers (19 and 21), who are at university, are pretty good at eating sensibly - they buy raw ingredients and cook from scratch, and I am optimistic that ds3 will eat better as he grows up and matures.

For the PFB, I think you limit for as long as you can and then take as sensible approach as possible once they reach the preschool and party age. As others have said, extremist blanket bans are likely to cause long term issues that will outweigh any positives of the 'perfect' diet.

Bear in mind that second and subsequent DC will generally get all the treat type stuff a lot earlier than the PFB. Ds1 was not given any chocolate until he was over 2.5. DS2 could identify the purple cadburys wrapper by the age of 14m