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70 replies

AnnMumsnet · 09/12/2013 11:32

We've been asked by the team at Organix to find out your views on food at Christmas.

Are you the sort of parent who allows your children to have more foodie treats at Christmas-time or do you attempt to spread out/avoid the scoffing of selection boxes? What about offering healthy alternatives? Any tips you can share on managing this? What sort of foods have you found work well as healthy alternatives?

If you have a child aged 3 or under, how (if at all) would you adapt your Christmas dinner for them? Do you have any general food tips for Christmas with a little one?

What's your favourite memory of your DCs first Christmas meal?

Everyone who adds a comment to this thread will be entered into a prize draw where one winner will get a £50 Love2Shop voucher.

Thanks,
MNHQ

OP posts:
SolomanDaisy · 09/12/2013 12:33

Why would we be adapting Christmas dinner for under threes? For under ones, yes, but at 2.5 DS can just eat a normal Christmas dinner. Although we don't use salt, so I guess some people would need to adapt that.

Christmas dinner was one of the first times he had solid food and he still loves the vegetables he had for that meal!

CMOTDibbler · 09/12/2013 12:53

Ds is 7 and enjoys sampling all the seasonal treats. He likes choc, but is perfectly able to leave it alone - theres a tin of Heroes open on the dining table at the moment but he's had one in 4 days.

We never adapted food for him - his first christmas, he was 6 months old and ate exactly the same as everyone else. Lovely pic of him in a highchair waving a yorkie at the camera Smile

itsnothingoriginal · 09/12/2013 14:33

My kids absolutely love Christmas dinner - my DS is a very picky eater but last year said 'Mummy, I love getting presents but my Christmas dinner is almost as good!' - high praise indeed.

We have never adapted food for the kids other than cutting up meat smaller. We don't use much salt in cooking so not really a problem for the kids to eat what we eat. There are lots of low salt gravy/stock products around now which helps.

We let go at Christmas with regards to treats and chocolate - its only one day. They do tend to self-regulate though - they know when enough is enough!

MadMonkeys · 09/12/2013 18:50

I have a 1yo and 3yo - I will give them the same Christmas dinner as the rest of the family, except I will cook some plain pasta for DD1 as she doesn't like potatoes, and I will do a dairy free alternative for pudding as DD2 is dairy free.

They will have a few foodie treats but not huge amounts - it ceases to be a treat if you stuff yourself!

WaitingForPeterWimsey · 09/12/2013 19:08

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Steffanoid · 09/12/2013 19:27

This is our first Christmas with our little boy and we're starting weaning so there'll be a lot of mess fun times at Christmas dinner for us, I think there will be treats too Wink

nemno · 09/12/2013 20:01

No adapting needed in our house.

The children pretty much do polish off the stocking chocolate very early in the morning, isn't that what it's for?

StillNoFuckingEyeDeer · 09/12/2013 20:37

No adapting of Christmas dinner for DD1 (2.10). We let her have a bit of everything in moderation, so maybe a bit of chocolate in the morning or whatever - it's Christmas after all!

We're planning to give DD2 her first meal to play with at Christmas.

I wasn't planning on getting selection boxes or anything, because there will be plenty of chocolates an backs around. We will ensure there's loads of fruit around or easy snacking.

manfalou · 09/12/2013 20:47

Christmas is for having treats so yes of course Ds can have chocolates and biscuits! He does not eat vegetables of any kind but will have the same as everyone else for christmas dinner, same as every dinner, if he doesn't eat it, he doesn't eat it.

janeyh31 · 09/12/2013 20:52

We all.have christmas dinner in our house. Some years it goes down better than others as they can be far to excited to enjoy. I think treats are part of Christmas and it not like it happens all the time so will allow.my girls to have treats at Christmas

Theimpossiblegirl · 09/12/2013 20:52

Christmas dinner is just a roast with extra trimmings. I would happily let a toddler eat any of it, but for under ones I would probably do an adapted version, cutting out the high salt items.

My children are older and I think the fact they have always had what everyone else at the table is eating has made them non-faddy eaters, willing to try most things.

starlight36 · 09/12/2013 20:55

Our DD gets more treats than usual at Christmas - just like her parents! We try not to go overboard and do limit the amount she has each day.

We don't cook with salt so we don't need to adapt our Christmas dinner. The issue in past years has been trying to time the Dinner with her usual mealtimes (and when she was younger her nap times).

ChutesTooNarrow · 09/12/2013 21:13

The only adaptation I'll be making to Christmas dinner for baby dd is hoiking a roast potato and Yorkshire pudding out of the oven five minutes before the others so I can cut up and cool them down.

HootyMcOwlface · 09/12/2013 21:32

My 1year old is fine with most foods so he can have the same as us. I'll do a low salt gravy and let him have a bit. He'll probably get dark meat e.g. thigh as he doesn't cope well with breast meat. I'll also be offering his usual snacks if the timings go awry and he's hungry before its ready.

I'm really looking forward to it Smile

sharond101 · 09/12/2013 21:51

DS is 19mo so will have as we do on Christmas Day. I am sure he will get the odd extra treat too as will we all. Last year he had a few spoons of homemade sticky toffee pudding which was really naughty as he was only 7mo.

Maiyakat · 09/12/2013 21:57

DD has a special diet so can't eat most of the normal Christmas treats. I will let her have a few more of her treats in the Christmas spirit though!

My sister once had rice crispies for Christmas dinner (we were at Grandma's, where you can get away with such things!)

KateOxford · 09/12/2013 22:10

My son is 3 and he will be allowed more treats at Christmas but we do try to limit them and thus make sure he realises they are treats. He will have a few chocolate santas and coins in his stocking but loose not a whole packet. Some more will be kept and he can have them on other days as a treat. Chocolate is a treat to him so even having one or two and he will be pleased. He will have the same Christmas dinner as us although I doubt he will eat all of the veg ! He gets overwhelmed by too much on his plate and so we will dish out a small portion for him and cool it down before putting it in front of him. We don't have a chocolate advent calendar but have a home made one with a few chocolates on certain days. I would have bought one of the organix selection boxes as I loved the idea but the snacks are the same as we have every day, it would be great to see some special festive ones.

missorinoco · 09/12/2013 22:46

Are you the sort of parent who allows your children to have more foodie treats at Christmas-time or do you attempt to spread out/avoid the scoffing of selection boxes? What about offering healthy alternatives? Any tips you can share on managing this? What sort of foods have you found work well as healthy alternatives?

More treats are eaten over the Xmas period, as there are more around in the house, but the selection box lasts for weeks, as I get to dole out when they can eat what. Healthy alternatives - DC: "Mum,can I have a chocolate?" Me: "How about a carrot instead?" Or not.

I am happy for them to have their treats, just not all at once. Healthy food continues as usual. Fruit with meals, if you are too full for your meal you are too full for your chocolates, etc.

If you have a child aged 3 or under, how (if at all) would you adapt your Christmas dinner for them? Do you have any general food tips for Christmas with a little one?
Be realistic. My DC would never eat a Brussels sprout,so I will offer it, but not force it. Carrots and peas on the other hand, are usually eaten so are non negotiable.

My tip is be realistic. If you have little ones, and especially if you have more than one little one, your Xmas dinner will pass in a haze of childhood excitement, and you won't even taste the two types of stuffing you thought it necessary to make, if you remember to take them out of the oven where they are keeping warm whilst you changed a nappy/adjudicated a fight/hid in the loo with a glass of wine.

My other tip is that if you are usually strict with food and rules, if you relax them for a day your toddler DC will think world order as he knows it has departed. DC1 didn't get over the stress of being allowed to eat his chocolate from his stocking before breakfast, and ran around checking what other rules were still in existence.

What's your favourite memory of your DCs first Christmas meal?
Hahaha. DH and I naively thought we would have a relaxed family meal together, three courses, before Xmas, and before going to relatives. Infant DS cutting teeth had other plans. By the turkey we cut our losses and ate the pudding several hours later when he was in bed.

gretagrape · 10/12/2013 07:34

My son will be 9mo on Christmas Day and will have almost the same dinner as us - the only difference will be that he'll have some homemade stock instead of gravy as he has various food allergies. Don't see the need to adapt anything really - it's just a roast dinner, although he might have some fruit instead of joining us for Christmas pud!

Cherryjellybean · 10/12/2013 09:11

My daughter was breastfed her first Christmas dinner, then I think she was asleep the next one, so no memories there!
This Christmas we will be offering her a smaller version of our meal, she will only want the potatoes I think!

Dd will be allowed more treats than normal, as adults will be eating them. But selection boxes etc will be put in the cupboard and given to her very slowly. We leave lots of fruit around to try encourage healthy snacking.

telsa · 10/12/2013 09:42

No adaptation needed. What is wrong with lovely vegetables, good meat, a little stuffing, bread sauce. Yum. Can't wait!

ShatnersBassoon · 10/12/2013 10:17

Our kids love Christmas dinner, although one won't eat sprouts (even when we tell him it will make him do tremendous guffs).

Of course they get loads more treats at Christmas, but they'll still have plenty of nutritious food so I don't bother trying to monitor or control what they're scoffing.

Cies · 10/12/2013 10:33

We definitely relax with regards to treats, and this begins now in Advent with a chocolate from the calendar allowed before breakfast!

Ds is 4 and his favourite Christmas treat is marzipan, which he is welcome to as far ad I'm concerned Grin

We don't adapt the meal except to cut it up smaller for them. As we're at Granny's it's all v salty, but I figure for a couple of days there's no problem.

PenguinSalute · 10/12/2013 10:42

Now that DS is nearly 2 we don't plan to
adapt the meal at all. Cut it up into bits the right size for him to jab easily with his fork, but that's it. He loved his first Xmas dinner and is a fiend for homemade Yorkies when his dad does a roast, so I have high hopes for this year! We kind of plan to let him go a bit more wild with the treats as well, it's one day, or at most 2, and he's a very active boy so I don't really see the issue!

SantaIKnowHimIKnowHim · 10/12/2013 11:16

We don't have under three's anymore as they're older children now (6 and 10.)
We never adapted the Christmas meal though, as we had no need to. We don't use any salt in cooking, so didn't need to adapt there.
They just had what we had - turkey, roast potatoes and all your veg such as sprouts, broccoli, carrots etc! The only thing you could say we adapted is that I didn't give them gravy when they were toddlers as that's salty.
So they had a full Christmas dinner without the gravy. Smile
I'm definitely more relaxed when it comes to chocolate over the festive season, such as the advent calendars and the selection boxes.
I don't let them loose on them though, as they'd end up eating the lot in one go and make themselves feel sick Grin
We'd spread them out and have one thing out of them a day, something like that.
They're really active kids, forever playing sport and running about and it's not something they eat loads of usually so more chocolate over the Christmas period I don't really have a problem with.