To ask how much sugar your 3 year old eats?

[Myfriendanxiety]

I know this is Mumsnet and there will be people that say their 3 year old only eats avocado and quinoa- but I’m after some real opinions please.

My 3 year old has just said his tooth hurts when he was eating lunch. I’m now in mass panic he could have tooth decay so am worrying about his diet!

He drinks weakly diluted squash, only eats sweets at a birthday party so rarely, doesn’t really eat chocolate- maybe once a fortnight. He does eat a lot of fruit (apples, grapes, strawberries, blueberries) and he has a small glass (maybe 50ml) of orange juice with breakfast.

He does eat biscuits (maybe 2/3 custard creams most days) which I will cut out and usually has one small yogurt every day which I buy the lowest sugar one available. 3/4 times a week he has an ice lolly after dinner which is possibly too much so I will cut that down too.

Can anyone let me know diets for their 3 year olds along with any suggestions of lower sugar treats than custard creams and ice lollies I would much appreciate it!

That doesn't sound like much sugar at all. I would chill out, it sounds super controlled already. Leave the kid some treats!

It doesn’t sound much... but I’ve maybe under estimated.

I’ve just done a count up of the things he has had today (he was allowed 3 marshmallows because he completed his sticker chart) and he is on 37g of sugar already!!! I’m horrified as the WHO guidelines are 12.5-25g per day!

Today he has had:
Small glass of orange juice
Cereal
2 custard creams
A soreen mini apple loaf
A yogurt
Sandwich, cucumber, carrot sticks
Crisps

I didn’t think this was bad but adding up the sugar in it all is very scary!

Yes to be fair pretty much everything on that list has sugar in it. None of those things are ‘bad’ but when added up over a day it is a lot.

What kind of cereal is it?
I’d cut the juice out and have just for weekends.
The custard creams and apple loaf - could these be swapped for a piece of cheese, actual apple maybe with some peanut butter?

There are quite a lot of sugar/refined carbs today. Does he eat much protein?

what is the cereal?
maybe try full fat greek yogurt - less sweet

It's a lot of processed food really.

What about snacks like cubes of cheese or boiled eggs?

The cereal is Rice Crispies multigrain shapes, it’s the only ones he will eat. I compared it to a box of plain shreddies though and that had a similar amount so I don’t think they are that high as cereal goes.

I forgot to add to the list that he has also had an apple, some grapes and some cheese already. He sandwich was ham (home cooked gammon joint).

I was surprised it added up to so much as this is a fairly typical day.

I will definitely cut the orange juice to weekends only and the marshmallows are obviously only a treat so he wouldn’t usually have had those.

also for teeth limiting sugary snacks to pudding or straight after a meal is best. so my 6yo gets a chewy sweet for focusing well on school work in the morning but that's given for lunch pudding, and if we're baking it's as pudding too.

The type of cereal and yoghurt make a difference. My 3yo dd only has plain yoghurt and cereal like muesli or plain porridge, with fresh fruit. And I wouldn't let her have a soreen loaf and biscuits in the same day.

But my dd can't handle sugar well, her behaviour becomes atrocious and she's generally horrid to everyone if she has too much. Chocolate is the absolute worst, one mini egg a day is about the limit!

Mine is five now and we are doing the snack lunch box thing atm due to “I’m hungry!” and at that age I used to do it too-you could try that?
DD gets 5 snacks as she is five. One fruit, one protein (eg cheese string) one savoury (eg crisp), one fat (shredded unsweetened coconut or almond butter are good alternatives to sweet foods and both quite sweet. DD likes olives now and nuts but at 3 probably did not), one sweet (the mini haribo packets). When it’s gone it’s gone.
I’m quite vigilant about sugar as FIL has T2 diabetes and make no apologies to DD for this. I have seen how devastating this condition is.
You could encourage snacks like cooked meat/cheese/hummus/hard boiled eggs? IMO three biscuits is too much you are right to cut them out.

PS full fat plain yoghurt blended with blueberries if you have a blender SO DELICIOUS and a great colour that appeals

It would be the juice, fruit (acid and sugar) and biscuits probably. I would cut out juice altogether and try to limit fruit to treats while increasing vegetables - eg replace berries with carrots and bell peppers and add more cheese / natural yoghurt / milk. The menu you posted does have a lot of sugar - would stop the soreen loaf too

I have a three and two year old.

Cut the juice out. For ice lollies I occasionally freeze weakly diluted sugar free squash (these have sweeteners so not ideal either granted).

For low-ish sugar snacks I chop up cashew nuts for the three year old (only give a few at a time and supervise in case of choking), low sugar yoghurt, cheese and crackers, pita bread with dips, popcorn.

Mine eat fruit by the bucket load too and to be honest I don't worry about the effect on their teeth, just make sure they brush them properly. Sounds like you have it fairly limited anyway - could he have gotten something stuck in his tooth?

I also make smoothies but pack in veg and flaxseeds etc. and just a little fruit for sweetness. It's a novelty for them and they consume things they never would in whole form.

I’m hoping his just had something stuck in his tooth rather than a real tooth ache, I will see if he mentions it again.

He visits the dentist every 3 months but won’t open his mouth so has never had a thorough check up. His next appointment was meant to be last week but was cancelled.

I will try freezing diluted squash as an alternative to the ice lolly and today he certainly won’t be getting one after dinner now I know how much sugar he has already had without me realising!

I will try and limit to either biscuit or the soreen loaf per day rather than both. The change for life app lists the soreen as a good choice which is why I’ve always given them.

Cereal he definitely won’t change. He is very particular (possible ASD/sensory issues being investigated) but I will try the Greek yogurt and fruit idea rather than his usual frontage frais. He won’t eat nuts at all.

I also have a 1 year old who I clearly need to consider the diet of too as she eats fairly similar to DS, just smaller portions!

Sounds ok to me.

Not sure if I'm in the quinoa brigade but I avoid packaged processed stuff where possible. Homemade lollies, greek yog with fruit on top instead of flavoured ones, homemade cake (or dates etc at a push). More because I'm a skinflint than for health!

DD prob has too much salt tho, she loves oatcakes and marmite.

For anyone interested this is how it breaks down:

Orange juice 7g
Cereal 4.5g
Custard creams 2 @ 3.4g each
Soreen apple loaf 5.3g
Yogurt 4.8g
Marshmallows 3 @ 3g each

The quantity is almost of not consequence. It's the frequency. More than at standard mealtimes and you're likely to see decay.

Have a google of the Stephan curve. It explains it very well.

Mine have a heck of a lot more sugar than that

@Smellbellina I did think I was quite strict so was surprised at how it all added up!

I try to stick to below 20% sugar in anything I give my DD, so she's still eating baby biscottis and stuff as the sugar content is generally lower. The soreen mini loafs are relatively low though I think.

You be not even counted the sugar in the bread, whole fruit etc. I'm 100% not the quinoa brigade, I'm also not a fan of the change 4 life swap sugar to full of fake crap alternatives but that is a shit tonne of sugary carby non filling snack foods on the whole.

My dentist has said he's not worried about fruit/dried fruit but more about added sugar. We call a soreen "a little cake" and make it into a treat. Otherwise raisins are a good snack, plain Greek yogurt, cheese and crackers. I also freeze a frube and call it ice-cream although there is quite a lot of sugar in those.

@raspberryk could you please let me know the diet of one of your children so I can get some ideas.

I do appreciate biscuits, apple loaf and marshmallows contain added sugar- but I’m not sure it can be described as a “shit tonne” of sugar!

Part of my problem may be DS is a snacker. Now we are home all the time this is getting worse so is something I will try to crack down on. He has just requested his afternoon snack so has been given bread sticks, cheese, cucumber and carrot sticks and some ham (to share with DD). That will be it until dinner time which is spag Bol (which I know will contain sugar because of the tomatoes but it’s homemade).