To not want my 2-year-old to go trick or treating?

[MunchkinGrower]

Strangers houses. Begging. Sweets and chocolate. Anyone else not massively keen on this for their toddlers? Mine doesn't even know what sweets and chocolate are yet!

my youngest dd is almost 27 and "trickle treating" was her favourite day of the Year as a child
but i agree 2 is too young,
you can hold off for as long as you can op, all that sugar!

Actually from a safety point of view i do worry about about the road. I walk behind my kids to keep an eye (far enough to not be embarrassing!!) Bc even though they walk to school alone they have a tendency to get excited by spotting a pumpkin on the other side of the road and forget to check for cars!

I took my 6 year old and then my two year old came along and enjoyed it. None of the kids I saw were begging. That's not what happens on Hallowe'en. The kids usually say a joke, poem or song and then the people give them fruit or sweets or crisps. It's just fun but you do not have to do it.

I honestly cannot get over the misery of some of these replies 😂
I can’t fathom the idea the trick or treating is begging!

I agree the roads are definitely the biggest risk. I was driving home last night at about 6 and there were small kids dressed in black popping out from behind parked cars, big groups of older kids roaming in packs in the road. Its great fun and lovely but I drove through the residential streets at about 2mph.

Why do people consider it begging? I decorated so kids would know I had sweets, surely that invitation means no begging.

Of course its not begging. Its a community game!!
I decorate my house bc I love dressing up as a skeleton to hand out sweets to local kids. From the cute little ones to the awkward teens who pretend to be scary but then end with Happy Halloween. Love it!!

It depends on the atmosphere. In our area it is friendly and I love seeing the little ones. They generally don’t go quite as far and the older primary kids tend to still go with a parent so the atmosphere is nice and not feral. The kids are all polite and I had some lovely chats last night while my husband took mine out.

In fact most of his life he has never eaten sweets apart from some as Christmas treats

Gosh, you must be so proud. You have done a fantastic job as a parent.

I think my favourite whilst we were out last night was a house with 2 teen girls dressed in monster onesies standing out the front, dancing to music with massive washing uo bowls full of sweets they were handing out to everyone ❤️
The same 2 kids knocked at ours later on too.

I never did it as a kid because it just wasn't as much of a thing.

We didn't bother when our lad was a baby or toddler either, we put a pumpkin in the window and handed stuff out, but we didn't see the point going when he was really young.

However, by the Halloween when he was 4, we'd moved back to my village and as he was getting quite into looking at all the decorated houses and things so we decided to give it a go... It was really nice and we've done it the last 3 years we've gone out trick or treating with him. We usually meet some of his friends, our local pub does a family friendly Halloween party so we stop by there in between.

We only stop by houses that have decorated/put a pumpkin out etc. They're expecting it and have literally gone out and bought stuff especially, it's hardly "begging" it's a bit of fun. Lots of houses here go all out and answer the door dressed up.

We don't take our DC trick or treating. They are 8 and 6 and have never done it. As pp have said it's not compulsory. Ours go to a local community Halloween party every year instead so they get to experience the costumes/decorations/sweets.

DS just 18 - birthday on 31/10. Never done it!

So dont then🙄

Not sure why people who don’t allow their children sugar or to partake in popular child events always need so much validation.
You’re not better for banning trick or treating, it’s not begging, someone isn’t a worse parent for taking their children.
Everyone makes their own choices, not sure why that’s so hard.

I’m with you. I can’t stand it. Luckily I used to say to mine you can either go trick-or-treating. I’ll give you £10. You can buy exactly what you want. They’re happy with the £10.

all that said it was years ago and people really do make an effort for Halloween now so I think I’d have no problem with them now going but just to the houses are decorated

where is going back? 15 years hardly anybody bothered and it was literally just knocking on doors of random houses
so I think with the rule of just houses at a decorated if they wanted to go now, I think I’d take them

All year, we teach our children not to take sweets of strangers.

Halloween, we take children to strangers houses for sweets.

Makes no sense.

My girls have both loved it over the years. They are too old now but are always volunteering to take little ones round however at 2 your dc has no real understanding of it so no harm in missing out

Totally up to you and not compulsory.

Lots of kids don't participate for religious reasons so she won't be the only one.

Re begging though, if it makes any difference, I really enjoy trick or treaters coming to my house, especially the little ones or people with really cool costumes. We were racing to get to the door first last night and everyone came to see what supply or non spooky creature was on the doorstep!

they go to decorated houses, the household are expecting them

Do we? I don’t think I’ve ever told my children “don’t take sweets from strangers”.
It’s an urban myth that the streets are lined with men trying to lure children away with a mix up.
If you spend all year enforcing this fear in your children you just have anxiety issues.

It’s not the law you don’t have to. I think it’s sweet and harmless but you do you.

Keep perpetuating the misery OP

So, don’t then…?
You only knock on the houses with pumpkins outside where the owner is waiting to give out sweets.

I was never allowed to go trick or treating as a child. I go now with my kids and enjoy the yearly chat of ‘Mummy, this year I want to go as….’.

It didn’t cross my mind to go trick or treating with a child too young to know about it. I view it as something to endure because the children want to do it.