AIBU one year olds having happy meals

[Crazypetlady]

Somebody on my Facebook posted that their one year old was having their first happy meal. Which I suppose is not great for a one year old but I don't know the circumstances and I'm a new parent so not my place to judge. I haven't been in her position.
Just wondering would you give a baby that age a happy meal?
And AIBU for finding it a bit odd? I hadn't really considered them eating them before.

[ChinchillaFur]

I only see the obsessive anti-McDonalds attitude on Mumsnet. I've never seen it in RL and have friends all over the UK.

Most people seem to grasp that it's a quick, easy stop for lunch if you're out for the day or shopping or travelling; and that's it's not a weekly thing. It's quite useful when you're abroad and in the middle of nowhere - you know exactly what you're going to get!

My DD quite likes a chicken nugget happy meal and probably had one first at age 1-2. She ate 2 chicken nuggets and about 5 chips. She only drinks water (her choice). She loves the fruit bags.

Equally, she likes to go for a jacket potato cheese and beans, or a toastie, or beans on toast or maybe a Toby carvery.

Surely there are far bigger things to worry about if these kids are getting a healthy balanced diet the rest of the time?

[megletthesecond]

Mine didn't have them until 4/5yrs. But I don't think it would hurt a 1 yr old to have one occasionally.

[SteamPunkGoth]

It's a treat.
Daily for anyone regardless of age would be wrong.
My ds loves going to McDonald's. We go very rarely & he loves to have a coke with his.
He doesn't actually drink the coke though.
He probably had his 1st happy meal (minus coke!) at 1 as he has 2 older siblings.
An occasional treat is fine.
It comes to something when people can't do something so innocent as a McDonald's without being judged.

[TheDowagerCuntess]

It is the same the world over, but they source the actual ingredients (beef, eggs, cheese, potatoes, etc) locally.

So realistically, there is going to be huge variability in quality depending on which country you're in.

[Eminybob]

I agree , I don't think of McDonalds as a treat, I do enjoy one every now and then but it's for speed and convenience. If I wanted a burger as a treat I'd go to a nice pub or somewhere and have a proper burger with real cheese and other toppings, and with real chips. I do love a burger.

[BitchBags]

I'm probably going to get flamed but I couldn't care less!
DS had his first maccy d's at 10 months. He had fish fingers, water melon and a bottle of water. We were on our way home and had been stuck in traffic for an hour and all of us were hungry.
I had a woman making PA comments sat at the next table saying out loud how awful it was that a baby was eating such crap.

How is fish fingers, fruit and a bottle of water much different to a normal twice a week 'freezer dinner' at home?

[FartemisOwl]

I didn't let mine eat junk at one, but she has an occasional happy meal now. As long as they eat healthily most of the time, the odd bag of fries isn't going to make a lot of difference. To be fair, it's the only form of junk DD likes. Isn't fussed about sweets etc, so Im not worried. It does sound a bit odd that they're proud enough about it to post it on FB though.

[BrandNewAndImproved]

The fries are not salt free, McDonald's have 14 different ingredients in their fries and then shake salt on them once they're cooked. If you ask for them salt free it only means you don't get the last shake of salt that's already in them anyway.

McDonald's bought their suppliers and named it 100% so they can legally say it's 100% beef in their beef burgers, 100% chicken breast ect ect.

I love a dirty McDonald's but I don't kid myself. My dd was weaned on wotsits Im not a puritan but McDonald's is pretty shit.

[LittleLionMansMummy]

So at what age do Happy Meals become more acceptable? Or don't they?

[ThursdayLastWeek]

I really want a macdonalds breakfast now.

[KaraokeQueenOfTheNorth]

It's odd to post about it on facebook, like it is some kind of milestone or achievement.

My youngest had a happy meal at about 1yr old - her biggest brother was 8 and we had gone after swimming, I didn't buy her a meal at first but she pinched some of DS's chips and he ended up sharing them with her and then being sad when she ate them all! So I bought her a meal, chips nuggets and milk. She only ate one nugget and a few more chips so DS finished hers off and everyone was happy! (Except me. Their coffee sucks)

[LimitedSedition]

www.snopes.com/business/market/allbeef.asp

Just for reference about the beef.

[ghostyslovesheep]

actually it's not the same around the world

www.foodnetwork.co.uk/article/crazy-meals-mcdonalds-menus-around-world.html#slide-0

when I lived in Germany you could get beer at Macdonalds 24 hours a day

OP it's no big deal - it's food

[CrumpetHead]

I've posted on my fb about my 1 year old having his first happy meal, I hope it's not me pahaha.

It's very rare that I would feed him something like this, he eats a well balanced diet usually, I don't see the big deal

[Eminybob]

I saw a fb status and picture the other day of a 9 month old eating a Kit Kat. I judged.

[Eminybob]

(Silently of course )

[TheDowagerCuntess]

I had a woman making PA comments sat at the next table saying out loud how awful it was that a baby was eating such crap.

Gotta love somebody actually at McDonald's tutting at someone else at McDonald's, consuming the exact same food.

[Oysterbabe]

I wouldn't do it but meh, up to them innit.
I'm not a fan of McDonald's, I just don't think the food is very nice. I definitely wouldn't consider it a treat! It's something to have at motorway services when you have pretty much no other option.

[TheDowagerCuntess]

Why, just why does FB need to know your kid is having its first Happy Meal, out of interest, CrumpetHead?

No judgment on actually doing it, but why post about it on Facebook?!

[LaurieMarlow]

McDonalds are very keen to tell you where they get their beef. Less interested in communicating the origins of their chicken. Here's why ...

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1278495/The-unappetising-truth-McDonalds-chicken-meals.html

Apologies for the DF link, first thing that came up.

All of their food is processed beyond belief. It's not really about age for me, I want my children to eat real food - so no McDonalds. YANBU.

[CrumpetHead]

It as a cute pic, I wanted to share it TheDowagerCuntess

[NicoleWatterson]

It's a sometimes food, not a treat. But a food you have occasionally when you don't have the time or money for something better.
Mine love it, mostly down to the indestructible toys and ketchup pumps.
They aren't like they were, it's clean and with a good choice. As a sometimes food it's great

As for the salt on the chips when mine were under 5 they'd eat 2/3 chips id eat the rest so it was never an issue.

[noblegiraffe]

McDonald's bought their suppliers and named it 100% so they can legally say it's 100% beef in their beef burgers, 100% chicken breast ect ect.

This is obviously horseshit.

[ghostyslovesheep]

but surely no one goes into a fast food place expecting 100% organic free range goodness it's cheap food - made cheaply

it's full of salty fatty loveliness that cures hang overs - it's shit food but it is as addictive as crack - which is why you don't have it every day

[anothernumberone]

I have brought my 3 children to McDonalds over the years and definitely at 1. We never used Ella's kitchen or whatever the jar equivalent so I get to judge people who do that while they judge my McDonalds food. They have also had fizzy drinks which are truely shit.