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Original poster

When is the right time to give them chocolate?

11 replies

PetitMew · 03/12/2010 13:15

I'm putting my foot down for as long as I can with our son on chocolates and sweets but sometimes there are days where something like a bit of chocolate cake is fine, like a birthday or at Christmas time. But I wondered when is an okay time to let your child have chocolate? When did you let yours have sweets and do you regret letting them or do they respect that sweeties aren't something you just binge on all day long?

OP posts:

ppeatfruit · 03/12/2010 14:02

It seems you have the right attitude you can't BAN anything it just makes them keener to try.When DD1 was 4ish she had pocket money and we went to the sweet shop once a week.

ppeatfruit · 03/12/2010 14:10

She was allowed to eat one sweet (she had a £1 to spend!) at the shop and the rest after the next meal. She's very healthy with lovely teeth now and she doesn't eat sweets only plain choc occ.

Meglet · 03/12/2010 14:15

DS is 4yo and he doesn't have sweets, only the occasional bit of chocolate. I let him eat what he wants at birthday parties, and he goes to plenty of them.

I eat choc several times a day but not in front of the dc's. But I am capable of brushing my teeth properly (without a tantrum) and I go to the gym so I'm allowed .

UptoapointLordCopper · 03/12/2010 20:38

Can't remember with DS1, but DS2 had chocolate at about 1yo. Didn't seem fair not to give him any when DS1 has them after meals. We always only do sweets/chocolate after meals. My dentist says that's OK.

happysunshinedays · 03/12/2010 21:09

I never gave my dd 1 sweets or choc at home but never didn't make an issue of it out and about either. If at a toddler group with cake etc she would be allowed whatever. Actually I still don't give her crap at home. I don't even have biscuits in the house as I have no will power. When she wants a snack she expects fruit and that's what she gets.

Original poster

PetitMew · 04/12/2010 22:55

I wouldn't ban them completely but one thing my mom wished she didn't do was let me just eat a packet of chocolate biscuits. Though was not the concern of weight gain (I still eat a stupid amount of stuff yet I'm underweight) but more a worry of diabetes. I'm much healthier now and rarely have any sort of sweets or chocolatey snacks, we only have soda drinks if they are on offer or as a "special" thing.

OP posts:

Sisqinanamook · 04/12/2010 23:05

My DS was 2.6 before I allowed him any sort of sweet stuff, really thought he wouldn't miss what he'd never had. He's now 4.1 and loves white chocolate and jelly tots only, it makes for really boring easters and trick or treating is a nightmare as he looks at treats and informs them he doesn't like them, do they have anything else? He doesn't like icing or jam so cake (birthday) is out. He loves fruit so that's what he has for snacks and treats.

My DD got hold of an opened pack of bourbon biscuits on the sly at 11mo and went wild, now at 17mo she's a chocoholic who lives for her weekly fix

I think that sweets and chocolate are fine from an early age (maybe not 11mo!) so long as they are given in moderation and with dental thoughts in mind!!

fridayschild · 05/12/2010 08:47

I was always very strict about sweets. I think DS1 got them when he started going to other kids' birthday parties from school or nursery, so about aged 4. This meant DS2 got them at the same time, aged 3.

They are 6 and 7 now, and when people give us loads of sweets, or they get them from the school fair, they are allowed some, and the rest go into the sweetie tin at home. When the boys get to pick something from the sweetie tin, they are really good at only taking one or two. Obviously when they get a party bag full of sugary stuff they wolf it down.

DS1 did go through a stage of sneaking down and raiding the sweetie tin in the morning. We agreed that this was because in principle he was allowed sweets but in practice I never thought the time was right to give him one. Now they get a sweet each day at the weekend. Generally after a meal when the pudding has been fruit. If they forget I only "remember" on one of the two days.

My tip would be to make sure you have the treat with you in your bag. Then when it is sweet time, you can hand out a fun sized mars bar instead of buying an enormous one from the shop. I am not great at remembering this myself I have to say, but when it works it's good.

I know I won't be able to keep this up for ever, but I think if I hold the line as long as I can, each week is a bonus!

mousymouse · 05/12/2010 09:00

dh and I are both chocoholics so it would be mean not to give the dc occasional chocolate. but we insist that something "proper" needs to be eaten first and that any sweet are only given in small amounts and not daily. a bit difficult at the moment with the advent calendars and christmas parties around.
we take good dental care and ds*s teeth are beautiful. dd has not yet had any sweets, but will have a small cake for her birthday.

hhg · 06/12/2010 11:50

My MIL used to give my niece a chocolate lolly aged 6 months, when she wouldn't eat her dinner as a substitute. Madness in my opinion :)

BornToFolk · 06/12/2010 12:02

I think DS started to have the occasional bit of chocolate around a year old, when he got some bits for Christmas.

He's been at nursery since a year old and has had chocolate and sweets there from the other kids for birthdays and things.

We don't buy him a lot (although chocolate buttons were a v useful potty training tool!) and he usually has it after meals.

We rarely buy biscuits or cakes but do bake quite often.

He's 3 now and we talk about how sweeties and chocolate are not for everyday and how they are bad for you if you eat too many. But in general, we try to be fairly relaxed about things. He's asked Father Christmas for a packet of Smarties and I fully intend to let him eat the lot on Christmas morning!

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