Should we give nearly 8 month old DS pudding if he doesn't eat all his main?

[Pennypops]

My view is yes, given that he eats most of his 1st course most of the time, is a good eater generally and what have you. My dh says no because it just encourages him to hold out for a nice yoghurt or fruit and it will encourage bad habits.

I think if we make a big deal out of insisting he finishes everything it will make problems where there are none.

Please settle this disagreement with your wisdom!

Why is an 8mth old getting a 'pudding' anyway? I always gave my DS1 one dish, and plan to do the same with DS2.

Mix it up a bit. At that age, they don't need courses, and if they get a mouthful of fruit followed by a bit of brocolli, so what
I frequently hid large amounts of veggies in fruit yoghurts, and would put a raspberry on top of a spoon full of couscous to get my DS1 to eat it.

[boak emoticon] sorry Bergen - I draw the line at feeding my DS food which makes me want to heave - brocolli yoghurt comes under that description

I know, mean isn't it?
Well ,it worked at the time......

....and it's left no lasting/worrying food habits.

My Dds both mixed broccoli with yoghurt by themselves

Anna - that will be why the French have cheese and then dessert, rather than the English way round, then.

I can't claim that my record on anything to do with eating is sound - DS is highly idiosyncratic in his enthusiasm to eat anything at all - but having never been consistently offered pudding DS has never asked for it or expected it or tried to short-cut any other food to get to it, and isn't that bothered by it. He'll eat it if it's there and he's still hungry and it's something he likes.

Penny - tell your DH that if YOU use food as a reward or any other kind of manipulative factor, your child will very quickly do exactly the same thing, which is to be avoided at all costs.

this is one of those threads where the first reply says all that needs to be said tbh

Except then I wpouldn't have learned that the French order of dinner is based on an actual theory

c'est vrai

I agree with Blu. No need to create an expectation for a pud at all.

All put far more succinctly than I could! I ended up going on about brocolli yoghurt instead(!)

Also - if your child knows that every meal is going to be starter - main course - dessert (or just main course - dessert) he/she will learn to moderate his appetite in the earlier course in the expectation that there will be (a) later course(s).

I like the idea that children know that they are going to be offered pudding when eating their main course (though if they are full they don't have to eat it).

Do most people have desert on a regular basis?

We almost never do. I just don't buy yogurts etc - usually have some ice cream in the freezer, and might have some if we fancy it, but mostly we forget.

Here in France people definitely have dessert on a regular basis. It might be considered child abuse not to give children a dessert

In England - well, my parents do and if I go out to someone else's house I am always offered a dessert - but that doesn't count as a normal meal.

We have fallen into a dreadful habit of fruit puree as dessert. And the boy definitely eats his main course to suit the fact that desset will come. At 8 months though I would say definitely no dessert, just various savoury things/ sweet things at different points.

Why is that a dreadful habit? Am I missing something here? Yoghurt,fruit, milky puddings like rice pudding are all really good things to eat. If you donn't normally have puddings as a family,then I'd guess you won't feed your children them, but I don't see why they are so bad.

It's not a bad thing to have a pudding, and yes, they need not be unhealthy, but why run the risk with a very small child that they will start refusing all their veg and savoury because they prefer all the sweet stuff?
As adults we may expect a pud, but babies aren't born with an inate need for one.

But we seldom have something sweet after a meal in my house - or my parents' for that matter - so I never bothered in the first place.

I don't see yoghurt and fruit as a "treat" anyway - they are healthy options. If a child was holding out for ice cream or chocolate pudding or whatever that would be a different thing. But at 8mo this is all irrelevant anyway.

Well I don't know about that,BT, a little yoghurt is not going to fill anyone up on it's own. My kids eat pretty much anything I give them. I do know it's a bad idea to start offering alternative meals if you child doesn't like the first course, but that is a whole other issue. 8 month old babies will I imagine just have a go at anything they are offered.

I don't see pudding as bad - that's not why we don't have it. It's because we don't have time to prepare anything, and we're not in the habit. I would definitley have pudding if we had guests.