No sugar until a year? Did you stick to this?

[mylittlefreya]

Apparently the recommendations are to give nothing with sugar in except the natural sugars in fruit until a year. I have just started weaning my baby girl, and I love baking. Should I really not let her have any of it until she is at least 1? Will it be that damaging?

I guess if I am to do it the 'right' way I should stop eating sugar in anything myself. Eek. Did any of you manage to do this?

Haha I did. I remember giving my DD1 her first chocolate button on her birthday, and joyfully saying "It's her first ever taste of chocolate! Imagine!" Then I saw my mum exchanging a guilty look with my sister. And my husband.

no
my kids loved chocolate, and ice cream, and more chocolate............... or was that me?
i think little tastes are not a problem. obvioulsy you wouldnt be giviong her a massive slice of cake for her dinner. so should be fine.

its like not putting salt in babies food. but if you give them something from your plate, then it probly has some salt added to it. shoud be fine.

No, did I Hell!

Think very carefully about which of the 'should's you are going to be able to do.

a piece of cake is nutritionally pretty crappy - but that is a risk I will take, and did take, when ds2 was about 10 months old.

think this is easier to do with an only child, gets harder as you have more children ime.
never heard of that 'rule' tbh

I did do this - ds didn't have added sugar stuff till he was a couple of years old, but I don't think it is the most important health recommendation. I think the most important thing is that your dd has plenty of home cooked food prepared with fresh fruit and veg and good ingredients, and that she learns that your family enjoy preparing and eating good food together.

I think the tastes that a child develops from eating things like home made cakes and biscuits, and the tastes they develop from eating sugary confectionery, plasticy cakes etc are quite different.

There are a few nice cookbooks which have healthier style baking recipes for young children in, if you are interested? Optimum Nutrition for Babies and Young Chuldren is a lovely one.

My dd is 21 months and the only bad thing she eats is the occasional biscuit.

She doesn't even know what chocolate is

Thanks for yor input.

What I really want to avoid is thinking that biscuits, etc, are 'bad' - I think there is the start of problems. The advice came from the NHS book that everyone should be given after birth - I think it's called 'Birth to Five'.

I'll look for that book, FrannyandZooey. It sounds helpful.

Oh MLF rereading your post I actually did give up sugar myself for quite a while for the reasons you mention - if I wasn't going to be giving it to him, &c

I found it was a great way to eat and I didn't actually miss the sugary stuff while I wasn't eating it. I hate that sugar / crave cycle you get when you do eat a lot of it.

I was wondering about giving my 7 month old some rhubarb which you just cannot eat without sugar. I figure cooking it with sugar will only make it as sugary as naturally sugary fruit like bananas. What do you all think? Seems a shame not to be introduced to a new fruit just for fear of a bit of sugar.

I am sketchy but I think there is a difference in the way the processed sugar and the naturally occurring sugar affects the body.

You could try mixing a small amount of rhubarb with something that is already sweet like banana, raisins, or orange juice

or you could just throw caution to the wind and make free with the demerara

from babycentre:

'Don't forget that you shouldn't be adding sugar to any of your baby's foods, unless it is sour fruit, such as plums or rhubarb.'

I am sure if you use it sparingly it will be fine. Alternatively cook it in fresh fruit juice e.g. apple, orange

lol lordvenger, same thing happened in our house. apparently both DH and my mother had been feeding her chocolate on the sly. DH described her first time as 'like a scene from Trainspotting'. apparently her little eyes rolled back in her head with the ecstasy of it all.

to the OP, i think Home Baking Does Not Count, i'm more concerned about freaky trans-fats in processed cakes than a wee bit of sugar in a fairy cake. what i have done, however, is started making them in mini trays and freezing them.