Smarties biscuits at 7:30am? AIBU or is MIL?

[IUseAnyName]

So staying at pil with 5yr old and 1yr old.
They live 4hrs away so we stay very rarely, although they come to visit us once a month for a week or so.
So they see gp often.
I'm in bed enjoying a cup of tea, dc were playing in bedroom next door. They went down stairs with gm and have just come back up all excited because they both have a smarties biscuit in each hand!

Okay okay, I am ready to be told that IABU due to them being away and it being a one off, and me still being in bed with a brew!.... but at the same time why does it enter someone's head to give kids biscuits at 7:30, before breakfast!
My dm did a similar thing not long ago, giving them both rice pudding for breakfast!

I sometimes give mine rice pudding for a 'treat' breakfast

It's 7g sugar per 100g, so about the same as cornflakes! Though they eat more of that than they do cereal obviously. Biscuits is a step too far for me but I'd live and let live at grandparents house (while inwardly sighing!)

I'd expect my mil to cook my dcs a full English or smoked kippers,tomatoes and mushrooms . Fgs what are these slovenly mils up to nowadays .

7g in ambrosia rice pudding, that's all we but when I dont have leftover rice to bother making it (when I add date syrup instead but I'm sure ends up with more sugar than a bought one)

From your post you see GPs a week a month at yours, plus the odd stay at theirs. I think this is a lot of time and would try and ensure the GPs understand whatever dietary preferences you have for your kids. I would also get them to read recent news articles in sugar content in foods and impact on young kids teeth. Agree with previous posters saying treat does not equal sugar! Personally I'd have been unhappy with a 1yr old eating smarties/ biscuits or anything like that and would've taken it off them. I think a 5yr old is old enough to understand about different foods and what our body needs. I'd have suggested they had one and explained there would be no other sugary stuff for remainder of day.

I think she was a bit U not to bring you one as well. A nice cookie in bed with a cup of tea? Yum.

DS gets one plain biscuit with his milk every morning in our bed. Quite often he doesn't even bother eating it, but when he wakes at 5.30am and his breakfast at nursery isn't till 8 he needs something to tide him over.

I would have asked where mine was as well! As long as it is a very occasional thing it does no harm. I have fond memories of Christmas when we were allowed to mainline selection boxes for breakfast...

Every single morning of my life until I was about 16 our routine would be to wake up and to have "dip" with my parents. My DF would make cups of coffee for himself and DM and bring them up to bed and we would each sit on their bed and get to pick two biscuits to dip in their coffee whilst we had a morning chat for 15 minutes. So every single morning started with two custard cream/bourbon/ginger nut/cow biscuits (malted milk). This was in the 70s/80s.

I am still alive, perfectly healthy and a size eight. My siblings likewise and also both size 8/10 with no food issues.

Chill and enjoy your lie in.

YABU,lucky grandbabies.My Mum always said that spoiling your grand children was in the Job description

I have to admit that also applies to me as the Auntie and great Auntie.

When ever I took any of my nephews or nieces out both my brothers and sister in laws all knew that they're children would be coming back home having been spoiled rotten by me,the same applies for my Nephews and Nieces that are parents themselves now,they know if I've babysat that they're LO's will be coming home having had a wonderful time and will more than likely be carrying pressies me and DH will have bought them.

just for the record, rice pudding is a fairly standard breakfast food in many parts of the world, in fact I think it was originally a breakfast here too. It's not different to cornflakes with milk and sugar, or cocopops, is it

I could live with this - although I'd be clenching a bit inside.

What I wouldn't be happy about is there was a constant drip drip sugar intake throughout the day. So sweets being doled out every hour. Or the biscuits taking 4 hours to be eaten little by little as they're so big.

The only thing I would say absolutely no to is juice.

I also would want to make sure that treats were eating the biscuits etc but also included things like going to the park with granny or reading a new book with her etc.

Your 5 year old is old enough to be taught to choose his 'treats' - my mil would have fed them sweets and crap all day long if the kids were willing to go along with it. The rule was generally one 'treat' a day although we were not completely rigid about it. As they preferred a packet of sweets to biscuits they would have declined an early morning biscuit. I tried to make them responsible for their own decisions. I liked that they made the most of their treats by having something they really enjoyed rather than just accepting any sugar'y thing that got offered to them even if it wasn't their favourite.

My kids are all adults now and they still roughly stick to the one treat a day rule.

Wouldn't bother me at all.

Mine ate a packet of monster munches before breakfast this morning. I wouldn't let them every day but at the weekend I'm ok with it.

My MIL would never, ever let my dd's have a biscuit before breakfast. She is extremely health conscious so they don't get the treats there like they would at my mum's house.

Rice Pudfing has less sugar than coco pops or cornflakes plus sugar, I think!
Mmmmmmm, Greek 'rizogolo' for breakfast.

I'm sure a biscuit won't do much harm in place of his organic quinoa and mung beans breakfast. No wonder so many kids have eating disorder when having an ocassional biscuit for breakfast is seen as bad and forbidden.

My Grandma used to take me out for chocolate cake and milkshake for breakfast.

Rice pudding is pretty decent really, milk, rice and a little sugar or honey depending on how its made. Good and filling too, particularly if its home made with a lovely skin on top.

I think many of us are completely confused about food to the extent that we don't really know whether we are coming or going. How can it be ok to say yes to biscuits but the only thing that gets an absolute no is fruit juice?

She sounds fab :)
My nana used to give literally a fruitbowl full of opal fruits when I visited her (every six months or so)
Ive still got all my own teeth

I do t want the DC drinking fruit juice - they only drink water or milk.

At the moment they are 1 and 2 so it's reasonably easy to enforce but I do want to try and keep going. When/if they do have juice, then it will only be with meals as saliva is going then and it's less of an issue to tooth enamel

DH is a dentist and it is the number of sugary intakes a day that causes the biggest issues. When he speaks to parents about tooth decay issues, the biggest culprits are normally sugary drinks (including no or lo sugar drinks - as they are actually pretty acidic) drunk throughout the course of the day. Closely followed by constant snacking on "healthy" sugary snacks such as raisins and dried fruit etc.

Therefore, if you have children drinking 8 glasses of juice a day or eating a box of raisins or other sweets spread out over a long period - that is much worse for their teeth than one biscuit eaten in one go

I agree with his approach and it's the approach that other dentists with children we know take as well as it works

I think the real issue is that a lot of people are actually fairly unclear on dental health issues and the impact on multiple sugar intakes - and didn't realise that 6 glasses of juice (fresh or diluted etc) on a daily basis is going to have a much bigger impact on teeth than one large biscuit eaten in one go

Here's the BDA statement on sugary drinks www.bda.uk.com/improvinghealth/healthprofessionals/policy_statement_-_sugary_drinks_consumption

There's also a petition on Change started by the head of the BDA, Mick Armstrong, regarding the issue too (and sugar generally) if anyone wants to sign it!

Sorry - these are very long posts but I get quite cross when people (and it happens quite a lot in real life) point out that we let the DC eat a biscuit but ooooohhhhh, they're not allowed juice....think you're both a bit confused. Er.....we're not

When I was little and stayed in my grandparents house on holidays my granny would leave a glass of milk and 2 homemade fairy buns with that thin white icing and a cherry on top (or sprinkles) on my bedside table and I would eat them as soon as I woke. Then I would go down the very steep stairs and she would 'cook' me one-sided-toast under her grill with butter and jam. I LOVED staying with them!

What a love memory Ghosts That's warmed my cockles.

*lovely

I'm sure my dad spends his time deliberately sourcing the most enormous bakery biscuits to give to my children, some of them are as big as their heads! My inner twitchiness gives way to reason though, it's only once in a while and they love it.