cheerios?

[cocococo]

DS 15 months is not mad on healthy snacks no matter how many raw veggies or bits of cheese I offer him, his mouth stays firmly closed. If I offer a few raisins or some dry cheerios, or c&g biscuits they'll disappear in seconds! I don't give him snacks often, only if he hasn't eaten much lunch and he's running around using up lots of energy.

I was thinking the cheerios were a good thing to offer due to all the added vitamins but when I tasted them today, realised there were a lot sweeter than I thought they would be. So read teh label and what a surprise loads of different types of sugar listed very high up on the list of ingredients list! Any advice on healthy snacks or whether a few cheerios is going to make his teeth fall out!

Personally, I think that as long as he's not obese a bit of sweet stuff won't hurt him. Children need energy - I know the doctor who treats child anorexics is a strong believer in chocolate! And breakfast cereal isn't poison even if it does have some sugar in it. I give my ds the c&g biscuits too but when I run out or want him to have non-sugary snack I give him plain bread (he's very fond of Hovis & french sticks) which he really likes, or fingers of toast with hummus or taramasalata or cream or goats cheese. I think raisins are great - my ds isn't that keen. He thinks breadsticks are Ok but dislikes rice cakes, and frankly, who can blame him?

I know they're 'processed' but my ds1 would happily eat cheese strings (individually wrapped snack type) but not chunks of cheese I cut up for him. I figured at least they were full of calcium and better than a lollipop...

I think Cheerios are OK - for some reason I've not got a packet in my cupboard to check but I thought there's less sugar in them than a lot of other snacks or cereals. Even cornflakes have sugar (9% apparently). I have to think Cheerios are OK - DS1 ate lots of them and his teeth haven't fallen out yet (he's 3 1/2).

Both mine loved cheese breadsticks, Cheerios and raisins (64% sugar!) but would never ever eat ordinary fruit, snack cheese etc. Of cours, they love chocolate (they don't get it very often) and crisps (ditto) and when we're going round Tescos, DS2 gets a wholemeal french baton to munch on. That's the one thing I've had success with, healthy eating wise: my 2 eat wholemeal multigrain bread ful of fibre rather than plain, refined, bland white bread.

Word of warning on cheerios, those damn things get everywhere. Just when you think you've cleared them all away there's another one. They fall out of books, off clothes or is it just me being taken over by the cheerio monster?

have you tried dreid fruit like pears or apricots ? both mine loved them. Also for some unknown reason they rave about water biscuits - I think just because they see me eating them

Grapes. The sluglet would happily live off the things. I've seen her rooting around in her grandparent's fruit bowl for a scabby old one rather than eat what's put in front of her. Mind you this is the child who tries to eat bananas with the skins on.

Megg, I have a fantastic photo of DS1 and 2 sitting in amongst a heap of Cheerios after DS2 helped himself to the large packet from the cupboard. Took ages to clear up.

What about oatcakes - my v. fussy ds loves them with cream cheese. Also apricots, babybels and grapes.

I want to second Slug's grapes proposal. DS chuckles with glee when they appear.

One word of warning about grapes - check your child has actually swallowed them if they appear to have eaten them. I've lost count of the number of warm, wet, slightly squashed grapes I've been handed after they've been held in one or other of my sons' mouths for a long time. I've also trodden on a fair few - not pleasant!

Fortunately not a chance of that with my DS - he did lick a satsuma segment and then try and feed me the other day. When I refused DH said I was being soft and ate it himself.

Grapes tend to reappear in DD's nappy in all too recognizable a state.....

I believe they're also considered a big choking risk by the Yanks (whole grapes). I still offer them, though; and apple and anything else not sugary or very salty. Bread+butter is a fave snack in our house. Did popcorn last night.

I can't believe you rarely give snax, cocococo, my 13month old eats 6 meals a day (all of them large), plus her milk. And she's barely 19 lbs. I always thought toddlers & young children needed lots of snacks to grow properly. Their tummies are too small to get all the food in that they need in just 3 meals. Neither can I go more than a couple of hours without a snack, most days.

But for the salt, I would rate most crisps or even Hula Hoops as healthier for tots than Cheerios, personally. Tots need the fat; they don't need so much sugar.

bread is also our standard snack. I tend to give dried fruit only with meals as it is so sugary and sticky - fresh fruit is probably better for teeth.

Another fave for my DS is a bowl of frozen peas just warmed through.

I second the bread, often plain but sometimes spread with Marmite, cream or goats cheese, hummus. D.s (1 yr) would also live off bananas and most other fruit, breadsticks, crackers, loves croissant and basically anything he can pick up in his fingers! Does everyone else let their toddlers eat with their fingers at this age? I must admit, our d.s eats most things (including pasta, baked beans, vegetables!) with his fingers - one hell of a mess but he has fun and it keeps him quiet for 10 mins!!

Thanks everyone loads of great advice and ideas. DS is a complete bread junkie too and loves marmite! Homemade fruit bread is his absolute favourite - forgot about these. He hasn't realised grapes are food yet and rolls them around like a football! DS likes to eat with his fingers if it's a snack but likes dinner from a spoon - though he's rather partial to eating yogurt as finger food - you can imagine the mess that makes........

Zebra - DS eats very well at meal times and drinks plenty during the day, but if I give him lots of snacks he tends not to eat at mealtimes which is why I tend not to offer too many snacks. I'm not depriving him - he's very 'well covered!'

I'm a bit surprised you think crisps are healthier than cheerios - I would have thought the saturated fat would be a bit of an issue?

Aren't cheerios fortified with vitamins? I give them to ds for a snack in preference to a biscuit. I'd rather he had a healthier snack but he doesn't get sweets and rarely crisps (crisps v salty which is also bad surely?) and he has his 5 portions of fruit/veg with meals.

Forgot to say try Shreddies - they are much less less sweet.

Yes, I let ds eat whatever he will with his fingers, though he's often keener to play with it (squishing holes in it, putting it in and out of the bowl) than eat it, so I spoon feed as well when he'll let me. He's also making some very endearing attempts to scoop food up on his own spoon now. But it is all VERY messy and I sometimes need to take several deep breaths to stop myself losing it....

Dd loves shreddies - I call them biscuits ! (psychological conditioning, hoping I can get away with giving them instead of jaffa cakes etc whist she lives in blissfull ignorance!! She also loves Baby Organix mini bread sticks with sundried tomato and basil flavouring- quite often seem to be on 2 for 1 in tesco which is good!

You can get supermarket own brand 'Shreddies' too which are cheaper. Also Tesco do a good Hot Oat Cereal which is exactly the same as Ready Brek but cheaper.

Yes! Cheerios do get everywhere. I'm forever finding them in the most unexpected places!

A great cry of glee in our house from my DP is "Yipee I've killed another Cheerio" as he treads on one...regarding the sugar content, I am diabetic and the ratio of sugar to "starchy" carbohydrate in them is good, even the honey nut ones. We love them!

dh and i recently watched "monsters inc." i thought one of the funniest moments was when sully lured boo into the bedroom (how sordid that sounds, lol!) by laying a trail of cheerios... v. funny to parents of an ex cheerios addict!

we made him go cold turkey a couple of weeks ago and he is now on a shreddies rehabilitation program.