OK, I've thought about this every which way, and still don't think it's a good idea to give sweets and chocolates to an under-one

[welliemum]

Have seen few AIBU threads recently on the topic and there's a pattern here. The OP in these threads is complaining because their mum or MIL is giving the baby sweets or chocs.

Lots of people then say, yes, YABU, because

• a few sweets won't harm the baby
• grandparents love to give babies treats
• babies love sweet stuff

... and I agree with all of that.

BUT - there's one problem with giving babies even a little bit of sweet stuff, and that's the question of teaching their taste buds about sweetness.

"In the wild" - neolithic times which is as far as we've physically evolved - the sweetest food available would have been fruit. So it's easy to see why babies would have a sweet tooth and would want sweet things whenever available.

But now we've worked out how to purify the sugar in plants to make food which is intensely sweet, a sweetness never found in natural food. And it's available all day every day.

And (the real issue for me), this stuff is far sweeter than the natural sweetness of fruit. If you eat a slice of choccy cake and then a plum, the plum will taste quite tart.

So I do worry that giving babies sweet stuff will reset their taste buds to the sweeter end of the spectrum. I've definitely noticed with my 2 that they went off fruit for a bit after encountering biscuits.

It means you can't just let babies eat whever they want nowadays - they won't naturally eat a healthy diet because they're "wired" to go for sweet stuff and the sweet stuff we have isn't good for them in huge quantities.

I know there's a lot of luck involved here, but dd2 has just turned 1 and she really enjoys eating fruit and sweet potato, and I can't help wondering if part of that's because it tastes sweet to her as it's pretty much the sweetest food she knows.

Sorry, very long winded and boring, but I was just wondering if anyone else felt the same, ie that this is an area where "everything in moderation" doesn't necessarily work.

Anyone?

(I'm specifying under-ones by the way, because I think this only works while they're too young to notice what other children eat. After that, IMO, it's cruel to withold things that they see others eating.)

We ate lovely food at home when I was a child and it was enjoyed as a social event and a pleasure.

I was a picky child which must have been frustrating, then went mad for junk food in my student days which must have been annoying - but have come full circle now and love good food in the same way my parents do.

Am preparing myself for the long haul with the dd's.... although have been very lucky so far that they really eat anything.

No UCM, you're absolutely right to care about what your children eat.

This worldwide obesity epidemic is really scary and of course it's complicated and there's no quick fix, but I think one of the absolute basic things we should do for our children is start them off well where food is concerned.

I was a horrendously picky eater too as a child. No veg at all except fried mushrooms, only meat with no fat at all and no tubey bits or connective tissue of any kind. No pasta, no eggs, no butter or cream, no stew, no custard (all staples of a seventies childhood!)
I am still a bit fussy (no eggs or pasta or seafood) but I eat vegetables aplenty.
I don't think my parents made me fussy. I just was!

Don't be hard on yourself, UCM.

When my brother and I were growing up, we had a weetabix with jam on as a special treat!

Didn't do us any harm.

Aloha, no veg, I went ballistic at the sight of a pea.

me too. I seriously thought peas were an adult conspiracy against children. I mean, they said they liked them, but that was clearly impossible as they were revolting, so it just had to be some horrible trick that parents played on their children

I really like them now.

Goood grief my mother hated us having sugar as she was diabetic and thought that sugar was the work of the devil.

Cue no coke, lemonade etc, until special occasions.

The only thing she left to me was good teeth and a prediliction for sweet food, which is why I am bloody fat

I hated the taste of iceberg lettuce.

I still don't understand how I could have hated the taste of something which basically tastes of water.

My poor parents.

I want my children to have a balanced diet as mine isn't very good even now. DH eats anything and I mean that. I will come home with some fancy meat/veg and he will eat it.

Oh, they used to put peas in the mashed potato, apparently in the belief that we wouldn't spot a whole lot of little bright green things mixed up with the potato.

Mine love peas which I find really funny.

Look, I am trying something different to what I did the first time around. It may not work, but hey, I am aiming for the moon and may only hit the cloud over scunthorpe

Look, I am trying something different to what I did the first time around. It may not work, but hey, I am aiming for the moon and may only hit the cloud over scunthorpe

Aloha, re your msg 23:06:29 , does this mean you are warming to the evolutionist tract??

I've always been an evolutionist

I'm a Dawkins girl.

I think enjoying cooking helps a lot.

When you cook your own stuff you get interested in using good quality ingredients, and you get a taste for natural flavours, so eventually you don't actually like processed food, and then it's easy to eat well.

The other big thing (related to the OP) is that we don't add lots of salt or sugar to food we cook, so our tastebuds have adjusted quite a lot. I find take-way type food unbearably sweet or salty (or both!) now.

Definitely for me, getting interested in cooking has made a big difference to what I eat.

OK smartypants MT, what does that actually mean?

Also what on earth is a 'Dawkins' girl?

Welliemum, I can't go back to eating processed stuff. You are right. I make my own bread, pastry, cakes etc. I also now use fresh pasta as well.

I AM TURNING INTO MOONDOG.aRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGHHHHHHHHHHH

UCM what are you going to do when your dcs start going to parties? Or if every other cild in a group has an ice cream or a chocolate biscuit?

I don't think giving sweets to under ones makes that much difference to pickiness and fussiness over food, I think it is the context in which it is given. So, a child who is part of a family which generally has a good, varied diet with lots of fruit, vegetables, complex carbs etc and sweet stuff occasionally will generally eat pretty well whenever he/she was introduced to sweet food.

It is very very difficult to stop older babies wanting to share what their older siblings are having. Mine don't tend to have much chocolate and very rarely have sweets, but when they've been to parties and come back with stuff (which they share, they don't get to keep it to themselves!) it is extremely difficult to not include the baby. And as I've just said, if their general diet is good I really don't think it's going to do much harm. I'm not sure you can 're-set' tastebuds. You might be able to 're-set' preferences but I don't think very occasional sugary stuff will do this.

Of course, when my DD is older and goes to parties etc, she will have some crap. But I just want to start off on the right foot.

Twill be a good experiment.

daisymoo, the "resetting" is a real thing, I didn't make it up in the bath, I promise!

Whether it truly has an impact on a baby's life is anyone's guess however. They can't tell you how things taste and by the time they can, it's all different.

Agree about the problem of older sibs though, that's tricky.

My dd was all organic, home made, no salt or sugar, vegetarian,wholemeal, no sweets, or chocolate, home made frozen yoghurt til she was gone 3 (much to the irriatation of my family and friends. My ds had his first chocolate when he was 9 months old - it was a malteeser he found under the table at a party! They are now 11 and 6, both enjoy lots of good food and a little junk, both bursting with health and energy. Moderation in all things, say I!

I agree with you in theory, but what about if you are eating some chocolate or cake or a biscuit and your baby comes and asks for some? Do you say no? I by no means sit there scoffing cakes etc all day but do have them as part of a generally healthy diet and let dd do the same. I don't give her her own slice of cake nor do i offer her mine, but if she sees it and wants some I'll let her have a mouthful or two. She doesn't regularly have puddings after her meals as dh and i don't, but if she does want something else after her main it is always fruit or sometimes a yoghurt, same if she wants a snack between meals.
She still loves her fruit despite having the odd mouthful of cake or bit of chocolate. My thinking is that she will want it more if i don't let her try it, but i don't encourage her to eat lots of sweets either.

i was adamant about not giving my baby sugar.....i was adamant about a lot before i became a parent! i still haven't, he's 9 mths, but now i can't eat it in front of him, cos he wants anything i eat. (he's totally uninterested in "special meals" for him). at a party recently he took something i wasnt sure about off the floor and ate it.....and i let him.
thats about it though!

god who cares? More important things etc.