Let them eat cake ?

[Montypig]

DD is 5, tall for her age, active, average weight for her height and build.

She has always been a really good eater - happy to try new things and food has never been a battle ground. For pudding, we usually have fruit or yoghurt with homemade cake perhaps twice a week.

However, since this term at school, she has become really focused on sweet puddings. She has a hot meal at school every day and it always has a pretty standard school dinner pudding therefore at lunchtime.

Supper is becoming a bit of an issue, she gets all teary at the idea of not having something "sugary" and I end up being cross.

Am I being unreasonable - should a 5 year old have full on pudding at each meal ? Snacks are always requested to be sugary, but she usually fails on her bid !

I have 2 other small boys, one 2 ( who is TERRIBLE at the table so I dont want to set myself up for the future !) and one who is weaning, so there isnt much time for making alternatives.

Any ideas ? Either whether I am being unfair or ideas for alternatives ?

Thanks

Can you just make sure what she has in the evening is low cal? Ie yoghurt, sugar free jelly. If she wants sugar on things use sweetener. Not ideal I know. How come she always has dessert at school? Do you pay for the dinners, is it an option to ask that she doesn't have dessert? Better still can you swap to packed lunches so you can decide what she eats? If she has to have school lunches are there healthier options?

Good point on the low calorie puds - its also that its becoming a bit of an issue really - a slight "obsession" on her part with having something sweet.

The school lunches are generally really good quality and good balanced meals so I dont really want to change that, but I do want to get a feel for whether I am being a bit super harsh !

Thanks for your ideas

I don't think you're being harsh. My dd is 4 and quite solid but her father my exH and his mother are clinically obese. I worked very hard at making her see fruit as a treat, and a lot of the time that works but they fill her with sweets and icecream which is all good in moderation but it does mean she goes through a phase of wanting sweeter things when she comes back home after a visit. Overall though, like your daughter she's a good eater, so I don't worry too much.

ooohhh that would make me ggggrrrrr enormously ! Its like introducing coco pops which was one of my personal favourites ( I work on the "if they dont know it exists theory !)

Thanks - appreciate it

It does make me a bit grr sometimes, but I may as well try and stop the tides. Not really got any useful advice, I tend to just try and compensate by giving her yoghurt and fruit and saying no (a lot- it's like a slightly cross broken record). Trying to get her involved in something active at mo. Tried Ballet, which, although good for her posture isn't really what I was after so am thinking about trying to get her into football or something like that. Trouble is, if she likes it, I can kiss goodbye to saturday afternoons and sunday mornings :(. She's a bit obsessed with what she looks like at the moment, exH treats her like little princess and buys her sparkley outfits etc (not my taste but then I'm not 4), so whenever she comes back she's slightly challenging when I try to put her in practical clothes for nursery (whole other topic tbh) - my point is I am desperate to avoid her thinking I am concerned about her weight so I talk in terms of eating healthy to make her big and strong , rather than what she looks like; so far she's buying it but I'm not sure how long that will continue.

No advice OP, but just to say that my 4.6yo Reception DC1 (DD) is the same. Obsessed with sweet things now after school!

I think it might be because they are so tired? In my DD's case it is definitely an addiction of sorts.

She also has school dinners with sweet puddings and I am that school can get away with giving them sweet things yet I try not to.