Am I being too strict about sweet/sugary foods for my DD?

[BabyfoodNc]

I’m just wondering if I’m being too strict with foods and wondering what age other babies/toddlers are given the below foods for the first time?

Chocolate
Cake / biscuits (as in normal adult versions)
Ice cream
Yoghurt with added sugar
Fruit juice / squash

Thank you!

Cake - well we had birthday cake at parties and once in reception it felt like there was a party most weekends.

mine tried chocolate aged about 18 months and didn’t actually like it.

ice cream probably about 18 months (and didn’t like it - too cold)

fruit Juice quite early. Squash about age 13.

DD1 I remember making a big thing of her having her first tiny piece of chocolate cake for her first birthday. DD2, DD1 shoved some chocolate buttons in her mouth when she was about 5 months old…

Tbh after that I’ve never been that bothered about it. I do try to avoid UPF versions of those things but as long as they’re eating mostly nourishing stuff, I don’t really care. I couldn’t tell you when either had those things, other than the choc cake, as it didn’t really register with me I guess.

Given as a serving or as a taste on a fingertip or off an adults plate?
If I eat it they ate some esp yoghurt and ice cream, juice in the summer etc. but I’m talking tiny taste samples not meal worthy.
chocolate from tiny again just sampling.

Dd got her first taste of a baked food at her first birthday party. The birthday cake is a monumental tradition.

It didn’t become a free for all at that point. Still only on special occasions until she was 2-3.

we didn’t use fruit juice until she was 3 and even that was actually water with a splash of juice. The reason for that was a family history of bad teeth that dd inherited.

The strictness didn’t last forever. in primary school age we pretty much let her self regulate on sugar and it worked just fine. We would have mounds of candy from Easter or Christmas that would just sit around until the next holiday. Knowing she could take some when we she wanted kept it from being taboo.

Dont believe what you read on here OP that if you restrict unhealthy foods your child will have a succession of eating disorders, see food as taboo or exciting or get hugely overweight

All the stats and research show that generally speaking humans are not great at self regulation, that is why we have large numbers as overweight, children are less good at self regulation becasue of their age and impulses. Similarly, the research shows that generally kids follow the models they're given as children, so a family with a poor diet, will usually have children who have a poor diet and will grow up to make unhealthy choices

There are always outliers. This entire thread will likely be full of them, children that can magically ignore chocolate when offered and posters who were bought up on 3 square meals and no snacks and so have developed eating disorders. The research doesnt support that.

So be cautious is my advice.

How old is your daughter OP?

My son is still under 2 and hasn't had any of those things yet.

I just don't see the point at this stage really - he doesn't have older siblings so doesn't really come across them. He loves exploring the healthy foods we give him so why would we introduce added sugar when there's no reason to? It's really not good for them and can overload their little bodies at such a young age.

I can understand it a bit more if there are older children around and they are watching them enjoy these things and grabbing it etc. It's harder to prevent it then!

But for eldest/ only children like mine, there's plenty of time to enjoy it when he's older. We will be much less restrictive once he's in school and going to birthday parties etc. I can't see us ever letting him have totally unrestricted access to all the sugary foods he wants, but when he shows an interest he'll have what he wants in moderation like everything else.

Thanks all. She is going to be 2 next week. She had some cake at her first birthday party, and then nursery give her yoghurt with added sugar () but apart from that, she has never had any of the above.

I was made to feel like a bit of an odd one out this summer on play dates - she wouldn’t even try the ice cream, yet she was the only one, the other toddlers were merrily slurping away! And then one of her pals at nursery had a birthday recently so there was some cake; when I picked her up, one of the staff members seemed really surprised that she had ‘refused’ to try it!

Oh and this morning I went to a playgroup and some mums were giving their little ones the adult biscuits, it was that which prompted me to start the thread actually as I just wouldn’t even consider having done that! It made me wonder if I was being ridiculously strict! But maybe I am not?!

Chocolate- didn’t really have it until they were 2-3 and were given it at Christmas/easter etc.

Cake/biscuits- I used to make low sugar home made cakes as snacks and give plain biscuits like rich tea when they were toddlers

Ice cream - not until they were at least 2

Yoghurt- around 9 months (I probably would stick to natural yogurt if I had a baby now though, petit filous etc were seen as more acceptable when mine were babies!)

Fruit juice - gave my eldest squash at about 12m because she really would not drink anything apart from milk, my second had mostly water/milk until primary school kind of age. Never struggled to get her to drink plain water.

I have a 2 year old
Chocolate - tried around 2.5 but wouldn’t get more than 3 or 4 buttons in one go and rarely.

Cake / biscuits (as in normal adult versions) might have a (very plain) biscuit if other kids are having them, or a bite of mine if I have them (rarely) in-front of them from about 2 as well or on a special occasion like birthday cake, but still would only give a couple of bites until much older

Ice cream - tried around 12m on holiday, but just a few licks of parents.

Yoghurt with added sugar - still no unless it’s given by someone else, for example I wouldn’t make a fuss on a play date if other kids are having it and my dc wants it. But I would offer dc something else first probably and I would never buy it myself

Fruit juice / squash - around 18m when it was really hot and I was struggling to get water in. Not part of normal routine though, they don’t get it now

basically 2 for everything because I could get away with it all before then. Around 2 dc notice what everyone else wants and they want it too. I don’t want to create a food issue by restricting things, so they get a little bit but I try not to make it a habit. And I wish other people weren’t feeding them these things, but it’s more important to me that my dc can socialise than worrying about a biscuit I guess.

We are pretty relaxed. DD is 4 now but thinking back:
chocolate- a small taste from 1, more from 2
cake/biscuits- cake at birthday parties from 1, things like party rings from 2.5ish
Ice cream- she is dairy free so it’s vegan version or ice lollies but certainly from 2 for ice cream, lollies maybe 3 as just harder to handle
Yogurt- again dairy free versions but from 1, however she didn’t eat much fortified with calcium and that was one of the few things she did so maybe would have waited longer otherwise
Fruit juice- diluted from 1 in small very occasional quantities, undiluted from 3ish when out for a meal etc
Squash- from just under 1, would have waited longer but she was unwell and not drinking so it was anything to get her to drink.

I didn’t give mine chocolate or ice cream until they were nearly in school. Any time we were around it I just gave them fruit or homemade stuff I’d got with me. I still say no to gummy sweets etc from school birthdays and after Halloween they’re allowed a piece each night with dinner until they forget to ask - usually after about a fortnight. They also still have plain yoghurt, I often put fruit in it but they’ll it it without.

they’re 9, 7 and 3 now and still haven’t been to McDonalds. A lot of it is to do with personality though, they’re all pretty laid back - I imagine I may have had to make different decisions if they’d been more vocal.

I honestly think the longer you can keep it out of their diet the better. Why on earth give chocolate and ice cream to a 1-year-old?

No real idea on the ages for most of those (mine are now 7&4)

Chocolate - some time after 1 I’d guess
Cake - first birthday
ice cream - umm shortly after their first birthdays I’d guess, as they are late spring babies so probably the summer after they turned 1.
yoghurt with sugar - no idea. Never at home. But I wouldn’t quibble at them having it somewhere else
Squash - same as yoghurt. They happily drink water so I’m not spending money on squash.

But I’m not sure that age at first taste really tells you much tbh. I firmly agree with @likelysuspectpost so even though my children had cake and ice cream at one, I’m definitely on the stricter end with their regular day to day diets, based on other MN threads I’ve read.

Somewhere around 18months for a first try. Not ‘routine’ until about 2.5. I was never particularly strict or indulgent, never used it as a reward or as something limited, and now they are older (one at secondary) they are pretty balanced and don’t see sugary treats as exciting. They’ll take it or leave it.
One has a friend whose parents were particularly militant about no sugar and you can guess where they now spend their first pocket money with their first taste of freedom - sweetshops, it’s a thrill probably.

Little bits of everything from around the age of one if I remember rightly. Obviously all in moderation and not fizzy drinks. He was born in 1977 though so a different time. But he's very far from a sugar junkie and actually hates cake.

I tried to avoid all the things you've listed, some with more success than others. It's incredibly difficult to avoid as other family members and parents at nursery often don't feel the same and give dc stuff I wouldn't myself. First tastes of stuff like this was usually from a family member and younger than I'd hoped for.

I try to offer good versions of most of them.

So -

1. Montezuma dark chocolate (but then they get loads of cheap Easter eggs etc. DC will happily eat any chocolate).
2. No squash (but DC is given it at other people's houses). I don't buy it. I do allow them fruit juice once or twice a day. Luckily they like water.
3. They fortunately like vanilla ice cream best and that's easy to find without additives. I make lollies from blended fruit. Sometimes banana nice-cream. Other types of ice-cream are a treat or holiday thing.
4. Cake - only usually homemade, I don't buy it.
5. Biscuits - DC does frequently have biscuits. One every day in the lunchbox.
6. Yoghurt with sugar - I only buy Greek style yoghurt but a neighbour gave DC Peppa Pig yoghurt and now they pester me to buy more.

I think the longer you can keep the junk away the better!