AIBU to give my children a treat everyday?

[Flossyknicks]

I’m wondering what other parents do when it comes to giving their children treats. They are 8 and 4 and will have a biscuit like a digestive or a custard cream, or a Mr Kipling Angel Slice, every day. At the weekends, it might be two treats.

YABU one treat a day is too much
YANBU one treat a day is ok

It’s perfectly normal and totally fine to eat a biscuit or a small cake as part of a healthy balanced diet. If you’re thinking of it as a treat and really questioning if a digestive is ok for an 8YO and a 4YO then honestly I think you need to look at your own relationship with food.

Oh I quite like a digestive biscuit!!! Would rather an Angel Slice right enough !!

What do I need to look at? From my post, what do you think my relationship food could look like? Genuinely interested.

Small kids? They're 8 and 4 years not months. The only time I was this precious about sugar was with my PFB under the age of 2. By the time the third child was 8 months he was on bourbon biscuits lol.
Most kids aged 4-8 have WAY more sweet stuff than a paltry biscuit a day!

One custard cream a week?

🫡 😄

Ha ha. When does it become a treat, if there's chocolate on.it?

You let your kids have treats every week?!

Mine have a single chocolate button once a year, on their birthday.

That’s not a treat on our house it’s just food. Everything in moderation and balance. What you’re talking about is of your children should have sugar free days? When you said treat I thought you meant a toy or a day out- it’s not that healthy to refer to sweet foods in that way and be quite so restrictive in my opinion.

Please don’t worry, OP. I’m sure your kids are fine. Look at the whole picture of your care and feeding of your children and stop beating yourself with nettles about biscuits 💐
(Mum of 3 boys, 12,10 and 10, big biscuit fans, stupidly tall and rangey without an ounce of fat on them)

We do what my grandparents did (and my DPIL) and have tea time at which everyone has a slice of cake, or about three biscuits or a flapjack or whatever is in the house. DC are busy, sporty and healthy (DS1 is now 6’ with a 28” waist…I’m trying to put some weight on him!). We’ve always been ‘all things in moderation’ (and for the smartarse teen ‘all legal things in moderation’. They don’t yet have any hang ups about food.

Just as it should be!!

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

OP you need to be aware as the kids get older they are more likely to push the boundaries ans be eating all sorts of stuff the average MNer would judge to be 'highly toxic'.
One biscuit as others have said is not a treat by any stretch of the imagination.

Mine have a treat every day sometimes two. I’ve thrown loads of seasonal treats out like Halloween sweets as I think it’s too much.

Every Year? Outrageous 😂

We just try to do a balanced diet if all different types of food each day. That will include sweet items like biscuits or cakes but I don't really frame them as a treat. Some days we might not have any, other days they may have more.

Rightly or wrongly a 'treat' in our house is something like a Mr Whippy or some donuts if we're at the seaside. A treat is not something we have regularly and is just a different type of food that I suppose we wouldn't usually have 'access' to.

As long as it is not one these, every day.

Of course not, a little daily sweet treat will cause no harm at all especially if they brush their teeth well.

Life is short and often hard work, even for little one's without any real responsibility. Nothing wrong with allowing them a little sugary pick me up!

Normalising all food and drinks is best. It’s a snack.

I am completely hooked on Diet Coke and I do believe it was because I was never ever allowed fizzy drinks as a child. In fact until I was 18, moved out, and could buy it for myself!

As a mum of adult children can I just say please don’t get too het up about these things.

I spent quite a lot of time stressing over haribos and biscuits/cakes … then they get to 10/11 and are making their own to and from school and start buying shite every day. Prob went more mad for it as I’d limited it.

Then they hit 15/16 and start necking vodka at parties and smoking/vaping.

I wish I’d been more chilled … they’re both a healthy weight now, very few fillings and eat a mostly balanced diet.

The replies are exactly as I expected.

Poor kids. Mines already had a mini magnum today, shoot me.

We do every single day, and more on the weekends. As a result my kids aren’t the ones stuffing their faces at parties because it’s not something held over them. Yesterday my ds turned down a mini magnum because he was full. And then later on went to snack on fruit. I don’t think many kids would do that.

Yep. My kids have ‘a treat’ as you call them twice a day. We call them ‘dessert’ or ‘pudding’ after lunch and dinner.

I think my standards are different to many others on this thread 🤣

We don't restrict 'treats' really at all. I certainly don't keep track of how many biscuits my kids eat each day. They know what's healthy and what isn't. Mine are older than yours now but even when we were younger I really tried to not make food about what you can eat and what you should restrict. Appreciate that approach isn't for everyone.

I can often tell the kids whose 'treats' are heavily restricted as they go absolutely wild at the fact we have always had sweets and biscuits in easily accessible areas. They aren't kept out of the way. Like stuffing them into their pockets wild, or putting a handful in their bag for later!

A biscuit a day is hardly a big deal!