When did you first give your baby chocolate?

[Mamatastic]

Hi, I have an 8mth old DS who is fed homecooked meals, fresh fruit, veg, cheese, plain rice cakes, water etc (as well as still being breastfed approx 4x day) and I plan to keep offering healthy and nutritious food. He is a bit hit and miss with food right now as he is going through a 'phase' of not eating from the spoon but he seems to be still interested in finger foods. Anyhoo, I have no plans to feed him chocolate or sweet things like biscuits yet but why do other people assume that they can do this? Tonight my inlaws were over for dinner and we were having those little Celebrations sweets with our coffee and DS was playing with them, putting them in his mouth as he does with everything (wrapper still on!). MIL kept saying 'awww you can't have one as your mummy won't let you' as if it was a bad thing. She then said to me that he will be gorging on chocolate once he tastes it as it has been forbidden- Christ sake he is only 8 months! They inlaws gave him a teabiscuit the other day too, which OK isn't that bad but I'd rather he didn't start getting used to snacks like that. As he is going through a difficult eating phase just now anyway I said the other day that I would rather he didn't get any snacks from them so he can get hungry for his meals, at least they respected that but it was a roundabout way on my part to stop them feeding him biccies!

DS will get chocolate and cake and all that yummy stuff in the future but now I am wondering when all those things are introduced? And do they even need to be introduced at all as a baby? I just know though that I'll always get the line 'awww you can't have that as mummy has you on a special diet, blah blah' or that I'm being cruel in some way.

My son didnt start having chocolate etc until he was about 2 years. I figured he wouldnt miss what he'd never had. People thought i was a bit fanatical i think "he cant have that its full of sugar!" He had quite a plain diet rice cakes, crackers,fruit etc. He's nearly 3 now and has the occasional sweet or chocolate button but doesnt go mad on them. Id say stick to your guns, theres plenty of time for him to have all the sweet stuff when he's older!

In our house the rule is age 1 (year) at the absolute earliest.

May I just add that in practice this means perhaps one chocolate button from my excited mother on the 1st birthday, then perhaps the odd chocolate button (from equally persistent relatives) on odd occasions over the following 2 years. Sweets imo are a different issue - dd1 didn't have those until at least 3 iirc, and then it was the odd thing in a party bag which I ate myself censored quite heavily.

dd2 got an Easter Egg this year (around 7 months) from my ils. For some bizarre reason it is still in the cupboard, we haven't got round to eating it on her behalf yet!

i think my ds2 was about 11 months and had been eating 'normal' food for a couple of months before i let him try chocolate(he may have had a tiny bit of choc.button before then but nothing major).

it sounds like you have a very good attitude to your ds's diet.remember the older generation would have weaned earlier,and may have done stupid things like put rusks in the bottle of a 6 week old,so just be firm and bear in mind you are doing whats best for your ds.

Ds is nearly 11 months. I personally don't like giving chocolate and things now as don't think there's a need. In a few years when it can be a treat that he'll understand then fine.
However, he had some chocolate buttons over easter and probably has some when he's out with dp as he loves to try him on things he shouldn't
I can't see every now and again doing any harm.

My DD3 has only recently had some chocolate for the first time - she's 21 months.

I would avoid it until at least one personally, what they don't have they don't miss.

Sorry to go on, I am a huge chocolate lover and on an average day will have about 3-4 bars . This I seriously believe is because my mum would hide all the crisps and chocs and ration us and now I'm an adult I can do what I like IYSWIM. Maybe that's just me though!

pfb was well over 1 before he had any chocolate, dd had it at about 7 months or so (some buttons i think). It's more difficult for second one I think not to have any because you feel mean giving one and not the other and I don't think chocolate is so bad anyway. neither have sweets though.

My DS was 9 months when he had his first chocolate. It was Christmas, and we were all scoffing it!

I let him have a bit of chocolate every weekend now (he's 15 months), as I think it's good for the soul.

However, that was my decision, and not forced on me by well-meaning friends or relatives.

I think doting relatives just get a massive kick from seeing the pleasure that sweets give kids, but should perhaps work a bit harder to button their lips sometimes.

(Hi Diva ).

Those of you who have mentioned dc2 are right imo. dd1 is very generous and kind towards her little sister and if we didn't watch out would let her have all kinds of treats - food or inappropriate toys.

Dd2 in turn sets up loud squawking if she thinks that dd1 has something she might like. e.g. if they both have yoghurts for pudding and dd1 starts hers first, dd2 abandons her main meal and kicks up a real fuss. I can't see us lasting much longer with no chocolate (unless we let dd1 have it in secret!)

I found it very easy with ds, my first, to avoid any sweets or chocolate for ages and ages
he would have been at least 2 when he first tried it
he is now very keen but does not tend to gorge IMO
I personally would do the same again (if it could ever be so easy with a second child) as I think he really ate a good diet when he was younger and it at least delayed him from getting a taste for very sweet things - if he does go mad for them when he is older, he has had those few years of a very healthy diet anyway
I think many children go through phases of eating less healthily and then come back to it when older

I would ask your mum to support you in giving your baby a healthy diet - there's no possible way he can be feeling that he is missing out - he doesn't know or care what chocolate is

DD1 - managed to avoid for ages (18m ish maybe? And have to say I blame the Grandparents, they are very prone to over-indulge in this area, but that's another thread...)

DD2 - MUCH younger, annoyingly. She wants whatever dd1 wants, and it has been difficult to palm her off with a box of raisins or somesuch for quite some time now

But they both eat a balanced diet I am really happy with, so I don't feel too bad about it (try not to, anyway)

My DD is nearly 3 and has only in the last couple of months started having chocolate. As another poster mentioned they don't miss what they've never had and imo you should make the most of their ignorance whilst you can.

DD now has the odd square of 70% cocoa plain chocolate, usually with meals or as a snack with fruit. She's quite happy with that, she loves her chocolate but if she's not hungry or doesn't fancy it she'll leave it, we don't have the gorging oneself just because it's chocolate thing, iyswim.

I decided to introduce the good quality stuff in the hope that when she's older and inundated with tons of Kinder shite her (hopefully) finely tuned palate will spurn it. Also, plain chocolate it contains more iron than milk chocolate, so my "no empty calories" criterium is satisfied.

My DD had nothing with any added sugar in at all until her 2nd birthday - her first taste was her birthday cake It's very different with a 2nd though - DS is 9 months old and I chucked a few Cheerios on his plate a few days ago He's still had no sweets or choc though and I wouldn't consider giving him any until he actively asked for it - I'm not sure how I'll handle it when he inevitably sees his sister eat some. I kept DD away from it to try and discourage her from developing a sweet tooth but that's proved utterly pointless Besides, I've heard many times that all babies are prone to a sweet tooth because amniotic fluid is sweet (and breastmilk is pretty sweet, too). Not sure how much truth there is in that but it makes sense!

I agree with whoever said that grandparents like to treat their grandkids. They just can't see that it would do any harm.

As for when to give choc - there's absolutely no need to give it at all before your child is aware of it. It's only when they ask for it that it becomes an issue.

Finally - why on earth would you give chocolate to a baby when you could eat it yourself?