"But she should be having puddings....."

[LoveBeingAMummy]

Says my mum.........

So how many of you give you LOs puddings all the time??
And do you count fruit as a pud??

Sometimes I give DD (9.5mo) a banana or yogurt afterwards but I stopped giving her anything typically classed as pudding ages ago as she didn't really eat it. Very occasionally she'll have a suck of ice cream or a bit of homemade cake but she drops more than she eats.

DD has yogurt or some such. I made the mistake of giving her custard and she eyed me with a 'do you really think I'm now going to eat anything else' look. Took a day or two to tempt her off and back onto veg, fruit etc..

How old is LO?

Mine never has room for pudding (so far). Fruit or yogurt is all she's getting though for as long as possible.

Fruit and/or yogurt usually, unless DH and and I are having a 'proper' pudding, which we rarely do. DS is 2 now, but have been doing this since started weaning.

my little one has never wanted a pudding. I just gave him extra fruit between meals.

He is now 3 and still doesnt touch puddings.. I cant see it does him any harm.. in fact I am happier to see him eat fruit in between meals

I don't do sponge/crumble/pie type puddings.

I do serve a lot of milk puddings, yogurts, custard, rice pudding etc. LaTrucha's post made me . The first time dd2 had custard (about 10 months) she kicked off big time when she had finished and dh thought there was something wrong with her...she soon "recovered" when offered a second helping. (but relapsed again once she had scoffed that too)

She doesn't drink a lot of milk in the day, and has mainly finger foods for main course, so if she hasn't eaten a huge amount then I offer the mik puddings, maybe 5-6 days a week.

p.s. my dd2 is 15 months. We stuck to fruit mainly until 9-10 months. I try and use natural yoghurt with fruit puree, and if very organised make my own sugar free rice pudding (sweetened with orange juice)

Am another one for just fruit as pud

Do it as long as you can...my 3yr old DS ALWAYS wants custard/chocolate mousse/jelly as pudding.

I usually offer two courses but I count fruit and yoghurt as pudding so often dd3 has main course plus banana or peach, She's not too keen on apples anymore unfortunately

no. We don't eat puddings!

tbh though meals are a variety of courses. Start with green veg, then other colours, then protien, then carbs to fill. fruit, yoghurt and biscuits offered in between meals!

mmmm I love rice pudding - onepiece could you share your recipe? Thanks!!

I never gave my dcs pudding when small. We rarely have pudding in this house although dh and I will have a coffee and a biccie, often out of sight of the kids. Shocking but they get enough .

Another vote for fruit or yoghurt, usually yoghurt at lunch time and fruit at tea time. At tea time today ds only had fruit, rejected my lovely chicken casserole and mash for a satsuma and half a pear.... ho hum!

i always offer pudding to my 7mo - either chunks of fruit (BLW style) or fruit puree mixed with natural yoghurt. i really want him to like fruit as DH and i don't really like it, and because he is largely BLW eating the same as us so gets lots of veggies i consciously want him to eat and enjoy fruit so pudding at lunch and tea seems best to way to make eating fruit normal for him iyswim.

ds (nearly 18 months) goes to a childminder since he was 10 months old. I never worried about puddings per se, gave him fruit, bananas, satsumas and a bit later strawberries, grapes and other fruit as part of experimenting with new tastes, and now he eats and enjoys fruit regularly and in large quantities! We've also offered him yogurt and fromage frais regularly. He has other sweet things but I wouldn't think in terms of giving him pudding as a separate course in a meal.

So long as he's getting a variety of nutritious food that's the important thing, and fruit is healthier than a lot of traditional puddings.

Thanks ladies. She's 7.5 months and loves fruit and yogurt. She has occassionally had a baby pud.

Mine always get puddings. I started giving them when dd wasn't eating well and I wanted to make sure she was getting enough calories. It's usually just yohurt or fruit & custard. They need a relatively high fat diet as toddlers (that's my excuse, anyway). Typically, my mum criticised me for always giving a pud so you can't win really .

I normally give a couple of different kinds of fruits, or yoghurt. Sometimes if DS (mostly BLWed) is tired at the end of the day, I'll do more of a spoonfed meal ending in rice pudding. It's mega easy to use Tesco Pudding Rice (next to tinned rice pudding in the shop)- you just put some with whole milk on the hob for 5-10mins (instructions on packet) and it's totally yummy to mix with mashed banana (so it naturally sweetens it, and cools it down quickly too).

fruit counts here

fruit and yog is still the standard pud after lunch and tea here and my guys are 5, 2 and about to start weaning.

i did fruit/yog from almost the beginning with my first 2, who knows what i'll do with mo 3!

Mainly fruit here too, with the occasional yoghurt and no traditional-type puddings. DD (just 2) started having the occasional lick of ice cream or taste of cake about 6 months ago, but that is a definite treat and not a regular part of a meal.

It actually annoyed me that all the brands of baby food in jars had puddings. Why would I want to get my 7 month-old baby in the habit of eating chocolate pudding packed with sugar? Even if it is organic.

Caz10 the recipe I use cooks the rice pudding on the hob - rather than in the oven which takes about 2-3 hours. I use approx 1 pint of milk (full cream, formula works as well for anyone wanting their los to have formula rather than cows' milk.) Stir it into 2oz/50g of pudding rice. Add a bit of nutmeg and fresh orange juice. Bring to the boil and simmer for about 30 minutes (much like cooking plain rice really)

Be careful to use a very big saucepan as it boils over v easily.

ds has never had a "pudding", but we've been giving fruit after every meal recently. It seems, though, that now he'll eat less and less savoury, but still have room for fruit after. Dread to think what he'd be like if we'd let him taste chocolate!

OPOL - if you get flaked rice you can cook it in less than 10 mins, it's a lot easier.

Thanks MrsJamin for the tip, but I will need to look for an alternative brand as that Tesco one may contain gluten and dh is a coeliac. However as you say, 10 minutes is a lot easier.

My sister always said that my three children knew pudding was coming (ie: rice pudding, custard and fruit, sponge cake, jelly) and even if the pudding was nutricious it meant they didn't really bother to finish the more boring main course, pasta, mashed potato, rice. She said that her children ate their main course without any problems because they knew there was only fruit or plain yoghurt afterwards. She may have been right. However, I think her memories were rosy tinted. Her first child was a terrible fusspot. But her third child never messed with his food, and ate everything on his plate (starch, veg, protein). But this child then had tooth decay from juice at bedtime so you can't win. To recap, boringly, I think puddings are good in moderation. No chocolate mousses, angel whips trifle, but lots of nursery stodge. They make meal more of a social occasion and a bit of sugar helps digestion.. Just don't show pudding until maincourse is out of way.