Kids and Sweets- Healthy Mom Wants to Know If Its Realistic to Hold off on Sugar

I did not give my kids any sugary stuff until they got it elsewhere (grandma, playgroups, etc) and I don't stock it in the house - mostly because I WANT TO EAT IT!!!! I don't think that sugar is the antichrist, but my kids don't get dessert every day, don't expect it and don't really crave it. I have a 6 & 3 yr old. They get candy from parties & goody bags, etc. we put it in a bucket and give it out as rewards (one piece of candy) for doing household jobs one time a day. I really don't mind when my kids get sugar, and it is part of parties and celebrations, but I'm not going to give it to them, I let the Easter Bunny do that!

First off, you're the mom, so do what you think is best. My personal opinion is that it's better to expose children to a little sugar when they're young and their bodies can easily handle it, so that by the time they're teenagers they aren't obsessing or longing for it because it's always been denied them. I think that by teaching them from an early age to balance healthy and sweet and to make their own decisions and control their own diet, they will be far better prepared to make those choices as adults.

i think that sweets here and there in moderation is fine. as long as they are getting LOTS of the healthy stuff and the sweets aren't replacing the nutrition that the healthy stuff provides. my daughter has the worst sweet tooth in the world, so i really have to watch her intake, but she also will plow through a plate of veggies and has a lot of whole grains in her diet. so knowing that, a treat here and there is better than an uncontrollable binge down the road. good luck!

Real, lasting satisfaction, as you know, comes from things that are wholesome. If you work towards a majority of healthy eating at home, your kids will be blessed. Thankfully the human body functions as a democracy. That means if the majority of what they are getting is healthy, then grandma offering a cookie shouldn't be devistating. And even if grandma watches them for a week straight and serves macaroni and cheese every meal, the worst they will be slotted for is getting crabby and sick, not cancer.

So, in support of the awesome job you are doing, some good books to read are Kids Are What They Eat by Betty Kamen (another of hers that is AWESOME is New Facts About Fiber).

Getting kids to eat healthy is a test of creativity, yet those who have the guts and determination to be hopeful and creative get the blessings. Junkfood can really blind people from the goodness of wholefoods, so keep doing the great job of keeping on your toes!

Hi Heidi:
I have to agree with Michelle on this one. The earlier you begin teaching your children healthy eating habits, the better. I had to giggle,when you spoke of sitting and sharing that popsicle with your your daughter. You know...That (pardon the pun) SWEET MOMENT you had together wouldn't have been half as enjoyable,had she been use to eating things like that,on a daily basis. Theres nothing wrong with treating yourselves once in a while. Heck, thats why they call it a (TREAT) right? They make great natural juice popsicles.Orange juice,or grape-juice.My grandkids ask me to make them slushes,with real juice. They love it. Keep up the good work Heidi,your children will adore you for it by the time they reach middle school.I know my grandaughter has a few friends, that have a terrible time with their weight and putting up with ridicule because of their unhealthy eating habits.I wish you and yours the very best.

Gosh! This is a tough one and near to my heart. I had to respond to you. I said the same to myself and husband about McDonald's. He laughed at me when I'd never take my kids there. He even thought I was depriving them. Now that was easy for a while, but the convenience and the toys in the happy meal and the low price, the jungle gym and social aspects drew me and my kids in. My kids are now 11 and almost 13. It's taken me this long to re-educate them into the values of eating right. They'd be hard pressed to go there now. Not too long ago, my son had a horrid addition to sugar. He'd even hold out and say he's full on the real food just to an hour later pull out the ice cream or some other confectionary. Yes, I had it in the house.

So what's the big deal? A little sugar?
Have you noticed the increase in diabetes and over weight children? So what? Well, what I've discovered since I've been brave enough to look is that processed foods of any kind, especially sugar are literally killing us as a society. This is one reason health experts are telling us our children's generation will be the first not to outlive their parents. Eating refined sugar weakens our immune systems and promotes yeast overgrowth. Our immune systems is what protects from any disease.

I have found the best way to reverse this trend of eating processed foods and sugars in my household is to be a role model for it. Eating more sugar causes me to want more sugar, so I am on a kick to see if I can be without it for 3 months. My kids are watching me and decided to take it on for themselves. Better would have been to avoid it in the first place and stand my ground. I wasn't ready to do that when I first had my kids because I was addicted too. I knew it was right but didn't take it on for myself till now. If you can be the example, that will be the best way to have it for your kids. What's really cool is I have discovered a way to literally eliminate the cravings for the sweets. It's so strange when it happens. Only took about a week through nutritional cleansing. At 12, my son did it and accomplished the same. Totally amazing and weird at the same time! I could finally walk past a cookie and say, "Oh, there's a cookie." vs. "Oh, that's my cookie!"

My best to you in your choices as parent.

Here's my number if you wish to talk, or want to know specifically how I did it.

###-###-####
Happy D.

Not unrealistic at all!! I took Dr. Sears advice early on from The Baby Book and then from The Healthiest Kid in the Neighborhood book - here is the deal. We as parents are our kids nutrionist and we tame their kids taste buds from day 1. In other words, give them salt, sugar, processed foods and that is what they will crave. In fact, they'll have full on tantrums to get the sugar (it is addictive). I do not believe in withholding ALL sweets. I do believe in NO SODA! Not for me, not for the kids ( I will admit, I sneak a coke here and there when I have spicy food, but that is it and I rarely finish a can ) My kids 3 & 5 know that soda is junk food and have no desire to even taste it. Now back to sweets. My kids have always had the Birthday party treats, I've never been one to say at a gathering, "No! You can't have that". Everything in moderation. I stock in my home, healthy foods and healthy treats. The kids know what grow foods are and they know what junk food is. Why? Because I started young with taming their taste buds. I think I read from ages 0-3 or 4 is the most important time to teach them healthy eating habits. So basically, it is our job to teach our kids how to make the right choices. Does that mean they are bad if they choose to drink fruit punch at a party rather than the water? No way, but if they know it is just a treat and that having too much isn't good for them, then I've given them the tools they need to hopefully be able to live in a world that has a fast food restaurant on every corner, serves 64oz sodas w/a meal, where childhood obesity and diabetes are at an all time high, etc..

Want your daughter to enjoy a popsicle? Pour 100% fruit juice (we love Naked, all natural, Might Mango) in to popsicle molds.

Get The Healthiest Kid in the Neighborhood by Dr. Sears, it is a quick read and you'll be so informed.

*** Anyone reading this who doesn't believe this is possible, please read the above mentioned book! Your kids will thank you!! ***

Hope this helps!
M.

Keeping your kids sugar-free is possible if that is what you want to do. I don't think it is unrealistic at all. My mom raised me and my 6 siblings that way. We never had refined sugar in the house, we had honey and I think raw sugar, but I don't remember how we used that. There is a difference between "natural" sugars (like in fruits) and "refined" sugars. Basically, anything that is "refined" is not good for your body. I started reading up on a lot of these nutritional things when my kids came along, and I'm still learning.
When my first baby was born, I was determined that he would have no sugar for the first year. Then he turned a year old and I couldn't bear the thought of putting that "poison" into his precious little body (poison is a strong word, but the more I have learned about it, the more I feel that way about sugar and other processed or artificial foods). I figured his first taste of sugar would be at his first birthday celebration. But I couldn't do it, so I took my favorite carrot cake recipe, and altered it. I used whole wheat flour instead of refined flour, and honey instead of sugar. And we made home-made ice cream, sweetened with honey instead of sugar. That has been our family birthday menu ever since then. It took me a few birthdays before it tasted good to me (the frosting was the hardest part for me to get used to), but now I think it is delicious. And my son is crazy about that birthday cake.
My oldest is nearly 3 1/2 now and has a 2 year old little brother. We do our best to keep them away from anything refined (especially sugar), processed or artificial (like preservatives). Those kinds of foods are not in their daily diet. Once in a while, like at a family party, and there are lots of cookies around, if they ask, they may have one cookie (I know there is sugar and possibly other contraband ingredients in there, but "once in a while" is not going to do any lasting damamge). It is a lot more work, and more expensive, to live this way, but I think their precious little bodies are worth it. Whenever we go somewhere, like Sunday School, where a snack will be offered, we bring our own snack and I politely ask the teacher to offer my child the snack I provided. Sometimes they forget, and it's no big deal. My oldest went to preschool for a short time and that was tough to keep him away from all of that. There was constantly something going on where junk food was involved (I still can't figure out why they would have that kind of stuff around a class of 2 1/2 - 3 year olds). He would come home after lunch time and be unable to sleep for his nap (I'm guessing the sugar may have had something to do with that). Now that he is not in preschool any longer, we have no trouble with naps.
My boys have lots of fruit. Those are their "sweets." They love all kinds of fruit. When I was potty-training my oldest, I thought I would give in to M&M's for rewards (every mom I know told me they were the "golden ticket" with potty training), but I couldn't do it, so I found some juice-sweetened natural peanut butter cookies. It worked! They were a perfect reward for him.
If you want to share a popsicle with your little one and have wonderful moments like that, without the sugar, you can make your own juice popsicles (you can buy little popsicle molds so you can make your own). Or you can have the "real thing" as an occassional treat. I do like to eat junk food, but I never eat it around my kids. I know that crud is not good for me either, but I figure is is even worse for my kids, whose little bodies are still growing and developing. I know as they get older, I will probably have to get rid of it completely, and I am working toward that. But I don't think it is awful as an occassional treat, as long as your primary diet is healthy.

Heidi,

It is not unrealistic to keep sweets from your daughter. My son, now 2, didn't really have sweets until very recently. And even now, he rarely gets it. We figured that he didn't know what sweets were, so why should we introduce them to him? He thought blueberries and grapes were practically candy (we call it baby candy!).

You do need to remember to that withholding sweets altogether can backfire too. If you withhold something so strictly, they will want it even more when they get older. They may even hide it and sneak it. So that is why we decided to start giving our son "healthy" sweets. Organic lolypops, cookies, etc. And he only gets some once a week or so.

Good luck and enjoy those sweet moments on the porch with your daughter!

Stay on the wagon, you're doing fine! I feel the same way. My husband is even more serious about it, he has a nutrition background and thinks we can hide all bad foods from her at least until she is school age. I see nothing wrong with occasional treats. And the popsicle you and your daughter had was definitely a treat, and a special moment (it's not like you are having a daily popsicle with her all summer or anything).
We are often asked by relatives (who know very well how my hubby feels about this stuff) at family gatherings "can't she have a cupcake?" and then the inevitable "aaaw mommy and daddy won't let you...." with sorrowful looks like we are depriving our 1 year old of something she NEEDS. Meanwhile our daughter is showing NO interest in the cupcakes anyway and would rather munch on a saltine.

Honestly, we don't plan to avoid forever, but why start the bad habits and the sugar cravings so early, when they don't even know enough to ask for it yet? I figure, soon it will be unavoidable as she experiences new foods at playdates parties and sees advertisements for treats that look interesting. But since we control what she eats at this stage, why go there already? And then, just keep your house stocked with the good stuff, and the bad stuff can be indulged when you are out to eat or at a party or special outing (or to break up the tedium and beat the heat on an extra hot summer day :)

You can keep it up. Our daughter had a cupcake on her b-day, and special cookies her godmother made on her baptism... that's about it so far. You're 8 month old will not be spoiled by this one popsicle. Stick to your guns, and don't let the guilt get to you when you allow a small treat here and there, you are doing better than SO many other families in America.

I think you mean "sweets" and not "sweats." Sweets are foods with a high sugar content. Sweats are comfortable clothing or what you get after heavy exercise.

My philosophy is "everything in moderation." I didn't really introduce sweets to my son until he was around two. If you make a food totally forbidden, a child will crave it more and do what he can to get it. But if you give sweets in moderation, then your child will view them as a treat. At home my son gets a sweet dessert (a cookie or a small pack of Gummi Bears) only when he eats his whole (healthy) dinner. Every once in a while we'll go out for ice cream. Overall, we have a healthy diet. But we figure that a small amount of sweets is okay as long as we all eat a lot of fruits and veggies daily.

As your child gets older, she will start going to friends' houses and birthday parties where sweets will be served. If your daughter eats sweets in moderation at home, she will do the same at places that you cannot control. If you totally ban sweets, she will eat all she can when you are not around.

Our son didn't really drink any sodas until he was about 4 or 5. He still likes plain mineral water, which is common in Germany, or fruit juice with mineral water. When we go out to eat, he always orders an "Apfelschoerle," which is apple juice and mineral water. The only time he drinks soda is at birthday parties.

Good luck. I'm sure you will strike the right balance in keeping a healthy diet and the amount of sweets your daughter will eat.

They aren't unrealistic goals..because really there is no reason to have to do such things. My daughter is almost three and she still has no idea what a candy is or soda. She still has ice cream, cookies, brownies, fruit snacks and so forth..they are all just made with no sugar. You would be amazed if you just looked around the supermarket that most of everything with sugar has an alternative which doesnt have added sugar. Popsicles are great just buy the sugar free ones..etc. Even juices, apple sauce etc I buy without sugar added, pancake syrup, and so forth. She enjoys everything all the other kids do, just without the side effects. Most of the people in my family including myself are all over weight and prone to Diabetes..so needless to say I want to keep my daughter as well as myself from that.so just buy no sugar added items and life wont be much different, especially cause she dont know any better. Good luck.

Your goals are not unrealistic at all and should be followed. Not so much for weight, but life style patterns. We have so many obese kids, childhood diabetes is on the rise, autism from preservatives and ingredients we can't pronounce... You didn't ruin your goals with one popcylce, just resume feeding healthy choices. They don't know syrup is supposed to go on pancakes unless you tell them.... My son is 16m and has never had processed foods, sugar, unhealthy fats... They have plenty natural sugars in fruits and vegs.

I completely understand your dilemma. While I am only about to have my first child myself, I have several nieces and nephews, and am constantly trying to keep them away from sweets and keep them healthy and set the right dietary example. I have the same goals of not introducing mine to junk food (I am almost 100% vegan) until they are much older.

I would suggest this: from now on, don't have the junk around the house. Have healthy treats, such as fresh fruits or celery with peanut butter around to satisfy your own sweet tooth, but to also set the example for your child. Baby will see what you eat and drink and follow your example.

One thing to remember, though, is to not have sugary foods and fun treats be on the "never" list. Human nature is to want even more what you are told you can't have. Keep those foods to "a limit", but not always "off limits".

My hubby and I, for ourselves, will not keep junk around the house, but will take a nice long walk, get a frozen yogurt, and walk back. We appreciate the treat so much more because we make an event out of it and we ddon't have it all the time. This is something we have instituted in our house when the nieces and nephews are around, too, and it is working with them. We plan on using this with our own children as well, also.

Obviously a little bit now and then will not do permanent damage, so your few popsicle licks is not all that big of a deal, considering her age. I think if you work on instituting your initial goal from here on out you will be ok.

Sorry so long, but I wanted to give a detailed response. Have a great day and good luck!

A.

Dear Heidi, Your daughter can smell as well if not better than yourself. If you are eating something she will probably want it. What's not realistic is to expect her to have a diet far superior than yourself. If you find eliminating sugar intirely from your diet not a reasonalble thing to do, then perhaps it is too rigid a plan for you to try to keep her on. Eating healthy most of the time is a very good goal to achieve. Trying to do things perfectly is often more irritating than productive.
PS:Don't sweat not spelling sweet right, it's another of those perfectionistic things that aren't worth worring about.

I doubt she'll remember it if you only gave it to her once. So she won't want it all the time. I would go back to trying to stay away from giving her sweets until she's older. My daughter is 2 now and she didn't have any sweets besides fruit until she was almost 2 and even now it is only occasional. She's never tried soda, we tell her it's only for mommy's and daddy's and she wouldn't like it. I would stick to your same way of thinking about trying to be healthy, just don't get discouraged if you slip up a bit... no ones perfect.

I would change your unrealistic goals now. Since there is sugar in almost everything (even fruit), you can't go without sugar completely. You can always buy sugar free popcicles (where the sugar comes from the fruit.)
We don't give our kids a lot of sugar, but to not give them any would be completely ludicrous! Have fun with your little one, and enjoy a little sugar from time to time! :)

Try to find a balance. A popcycle is not a horrible treat. And a little sugar now and then isn't going to damage your child. Try not to take the health thing to extremes- my mom tried to be a health freak and witheld sugar my whole life, no cookies, no mainstream cereals, no soda, no chips, the whole works.
I now have been battling anorexia/bullimia for 16 years and I do believe my mother enforcing such unrealistic eating habits on me has played a role. The eating disorder has effected my health in horrible ways, I've been hospitalized, rehabbed, medicated, as well as having liver, kidney, stomach, and heart problems,,,etc, etc... and still am struggling daily. When you put too much focus on perfect eating habbits mixed with this societies ideals of a woman' body, you are destined for disaster.
There is always a healthy medium. Try not to fuss over losing 7 pounds, that is miniscule, your daughter may develope an unhealthy obsession with weight from observing it's importance to you.

Kudos to you for taking on stand on a healthy diet for your precious daughter! Not only is it realistic to hold off on sugar, you are doing your daughter a tremendous favor that she will reap the benefits of for her entire life. Sugar is poison for the body and children's tastes are set within the first five years of life, according to the results of a recent study on this topic. What they eat during this time ends up being the kinds of foods they crave as adults, the study found. Sharing one popsicle at 8 months old is certainly not going to ruin her. But if you did that every day, then she would wind up craving sweets because she would have been taught and trained that it's a normal, necessary part of a daily diet. You are so smart to have started her on the right track so early. She will thank you for it some day!!

Keep up the great work!!

Other than a few treats that we have at home (organic home made popsicles, organic fruit strips, organic cookies, etc.) we leave the "junk food" out of our house. We let that be a treat to have when they are visiting friends or relatives or when we are on vacation.

I totally think it is okay to give them sweets once in awhile. Like right now we have Spiderman fruit snacks in our house because they were on sale for $1 a box. I usually don't buy these. So if DS who is 3 eats his dinner like a big boy, he gets a bag or two of these as a treat.

And about once a month we do a family icecream run where we walk to Target and each get a scoop of icecream.

But at age 8 months, we really limited the amount of sweets our kids ate. A few bites or licks here and there is okay. And some watered down juice was about all they got. Once they turned 1, we got a little more lenient, but we still limit the amount of sweets and junk food they get. I would say that compared to the junk that I see their friends eat, my kids get about 1/4 of that.

Good for you for keeping your kids healthy.

As for going all vegetarian, it's definitely a good idea to eat more fruits and veggies. But do your homework on the downfalls of vegetarianism. There are a few proteins and other nutrients that you need from dairy and meat, etc. Right now I consider our family to be semi vegetarian and semi meat eaters. We eat red meat about twice a week, poultry twice a week, soy twice a week, and all veggie once or twice a week. I usually cook a large dinner and then we eat the left overs for lunch the next day. As I am sure you have heard many times before, variety is best. Even at 8 months you can incorporate a variety of foods into your daughters diet. For both my kids we alternated between organic jar foods and just steaming the foods that we were eating for meals for them. And since we are a mixed race family (German, Irish, Norwegian, English, Japanese, Korean, Cambodian, and Black) we always have a variety of things to eat. I.e. my 3 yo son is now eating nori (Japanese seaweed strips) as a snack. And both of my kids (age 3 and 1) LOVE to eat sushi. I will go bankrupt if I take them to eat Japanese food as much as they would like.

Have fun introducing all the flavors of food to your little girl. And don't worry about giving her a little sweet every so often. Trust me by the time she is 2 she will be nagging you for it ALL the time! They learn really fast that the other kids around them are getting the junk food. So take advantage of the fact that right now she is too young to no otherwise and will eat anything you put in front of her.

Yes, it's absolutely realistic. My husband and I decided to not feed our two sons soda or sugar and it's worked brilliantly. The trick was to just not have it in the house and politely decline when we were asked if the boys could have it. They were both in grade school before getting their first taste of sugar foods (cake, candy, etc.). In fact, it was at their after school day care where they got candy for the first time. When I asked if non-candy options were available for snack time, the entire staff looked at me like I was from another galaxy. Go figure.

My sons are now 10 and 14 and they refuse soda for milk, water and, occasionally, juice (just another sugar drink according to most dentists). As for candy, that's harder to control now that they're older, but they know to eat it in moderation. I'm proud to say my kids prefer to snack on fruits and vegetables.

So, yes, it can be done. And, no, my husband and I are not health nuts or vegetarians or even rabid on the subject. It's just what we do, so our boys will be healthier than us. And, yes, we've gotten a lot of flack over the years for our choices. But, I'll tell you, the day I saw a five-year-old friend of my son ask for Coke for breakfast with a mouth full of rotting teeth, I knew we had made the right choice.

Kids want the healthy food. My sons actually take extra fruit and veggies to school each day because their friends ASK for it. I'm talking about carrots, bananas, pears, apples, oranges, the basics.

Good luck to you!

We didn't give our DD any sugar for two years. Now, 5 y/o, she doesn't like candy, chocolate, sodas, cookies, cake. She does occasionally have a popsicle, vanilla ice cream or a marshmallow but it's not that often. Keep with the plan, you'll be happy you did.
Good luck.
M.

WOW, how terrible, YOU shared a Popsicle with your kid, what a dilemma and crossroad you have come to......

It is absolutely worth holding off on sugar!!!! I had the same goals as you do when I had my kids (now 4 and 5 1/2). It gets harder every year to keep them eating really healthy. I let them go to birthday parties and eat cake, pizza and candy from the pinata and gift bags. Christmas again is a huge sugar fest as well as Halloween and Easter. The trick is to let them fill up on candy the day of the holiday then get in the habit of disposing the candy that very night so they never see or hear of it again. My kids know there will be none the next day so there is never any whining or difficult times decause I have been very consistent.

I buy all organic and give my kids supplements. The most vital is fish oil for brain development Nordic Naturals from Mother's or Henry's has strawberry chewables. I now have them on Juice Plus and Zrii as well.

It is becoming very obvious now that my son is going to Kindergarten that he is different than other kids. Even at my daughter's age I notice differences between her and her peers. My kids are more able to focus, their thinking abitilies are more advanced, their behavior overall is better, they make good choices and appear more intelligent, certainly on their ability to communicate, vocabulary,etc

It is absolutely worth your effort!! Also, remember the good fats. I gave my children avocado with breast milk as one of their first foods, on a DAILY basis. I continued to give them avacado daily until they were about 2 1/2 and now still keep them eating as much as possible as well as other healthy fats such as olive oil.

CHANGE THOSE VERY, VERY, VERY UNREALISTIC GOALS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The best diet is healty and balanced, and treats should be a realistic part of that. Obviously, sweets should be limited, but if you try to totally eliminate them I guarantee that the kids will find ways (behind your back) to eat them. And that ususally results in overeating them. Also, human nature is such that if we are told we can't have something, that's the one thing we want and obsess about. So chill out, and just teach your kids good, healthy, eating habits, and how to make good, life-long food choices. About me -- I'm a mother of two young adults, definitely not OCD about food/snacks, and my 25 yr old son, would rather have a salad for an afternoon snack than chips or cookies (I guess I did something right). Good luck.

We all grow so much when we have children. It is quite normal, and a delite to hear how you realize your changes and have put your baby and the joys of life in front of stressing yourself out over sometimes unreasonable resolutions.
Babies are angels that teach us with their mere presence, the moments that should not be passed by to savor and enjoy. It is the simple things of our short lives that really mean things in your heart. We cannot take money with us, and we cannot stay beautiful forever our whole lives from when we were in our youth, and prime.
Yes, our bodies are our tempels, and we should treat them carefully and nicely and healthy. A popsicle will not hurt anything. Sugar is a treat, and a treat is a pleasure, and what better way to share a precious, simple moment than with your baby, on the floor, with a treat. It's all a gift!

Wendy

Don't get to upset at yourself. A lot of your best thought out plans will be tested when they give you that sweet little smile. I don't think you should hold off all sugar...think of Halloween, what will your child do if they can't trick or treat? Will they feel left out when classmates bring treats to celebrate a birthday? Just watch how much sugar your child gets. There is nothing wrong with you wanting healthy kids and if you still want to stick to the "no sugar" rule good for you! I know with my 3, I couldn't. I just watch how much they get. Instead of buying bottled juice I buy the frozen concentrate and dilute it. If you make koolade, use 1/2 the recommended sugar. Do what feels right to you and try not to feel guilty.

Heidi,

I was once in your place and actually spent the first couple years of my daughters life trying everything from special recipes to everything I could think of. What I learned was that teaching them moderation worked better for us. Teach that there is a time and a place for sweets otherwise when they get older they may obsess(sp?) over it when they see their friends having it.
My big thing right now is excluding EVERYTHING that has High Fructose Corn Syrup as a sweetner. This is really bad stuff and you can look up testing that has been done online, so check into it. It is cheap so companies use it. Don't have this in your home (check your bread for it also).
Allow your family the occasional joy of real sweet.

Evelyn

There are so many schools of thought on this. We hardly ever fed sugar, processed foods and junk foods until our sons hit preschool, just as a common sense thing--it's not healthy. Then we tried to limit as much as possible. I am a believer that if you NEVER have it in your home, it is the "forbidden fruit". However, I've seen it go both ways, so it's probably more of an inborne trait. Some kids just love sweets, whether they had it in their home or not, and others could easily pass it over. You can buy 100% fruit juice popsicles or easily make your own. Cuisinart watermelon or cantaloupe and make popsicles out of it---mmmmmmm!! Shop stores like Trader Joes and Henry's, Whole Foods, etc. Their are so many natural and organic snacks you can find there.

Hi,
I wanted the same thing for my son. Not the whole vegetarian thing but I wanted him to stay away from sweets, sodas, and read meat. For a while I was able to do it, he never got a taste of anything sweet. Then the grandparents started taking him out to dinner and giving him little bites of icecream and things like that. At first I was angry and told them to knock it off and follow the plans I had.

Then the next time I took him to the doctor his physician gave him a lolli pop. I must have had a horrified look on my face because the doctor started explaining that letting him have a small amount of sweets every now and then wasnt going to hurt anything. The most important thing is for you to never give him the sweets.

After I had the little chit chat with the doc I started thinking that maybe he had some good points. So now when I take my son to the doctors or to get his hair cut and they offer him a lollipop I let him have it.

Don't set unrealistic goals and try to keep all sugar out of the house; just try to keep the sugary treats to a minimum. There are lots of healthy alternative sweeties available for baby that are made by Gerber and Beechnut and if you're going to have popsicles and ice cream, go for the lite versions or even sugar free. Our family has tried them and everyone loved them; we didn't really notice a difference. And as long as your brushing your baby's teeth and gums daily, a little nibble of whatever you're eating every now and then is not going to create a health problem for your baby. Our toddler sees us eating and drinking different things and is always curious for a taste and I really don't see the harm in it as long as we keep it in moderation. Good luck!

Hi Heidi! Let's see....I have an almost 2-year old little boy who eats an almost entirely organic diet. When he was little, I bought the "Super Baby Food" book and made his food....the first time he had sugar was at his birthday party (although I would NOT have kicked myself over a popsicle!!).....I struggle the OTHER way.....I'm a yoga teacher and I know a fair amount about nutrition, but I don't want my son to be that kid at birthday parties carrying around a bag of carrots, y'know? So what I've come to is that we have a really healthy diet in our home, but at parties and on special occasions treats are good..as many have said, you don't want those things to be "forbidden fruit".....so far he's not had any meat (I'm a vegetarian, but daddy isn't.....but we do eat fish which he loves, and I'm careful he gets enough protein)....one thing I WILL take issue with is "lite" or "sugar-free" or "diet" treats for kids.....babies and toddlers really and truly should not have aspartame, saccharin or splenda...it kills me when I see a parent giving a child a diet coke....definitely, if it's a choice between that and sugar, sugar is better! For whatever it's worth, I have a really easy, awesome kid.....so far we really haven't had any issue with tantrums or aggression (biting, hitting, etc) that so many kids go through at this stage.....he's talking a lot, and has always been early with motor coordination (walked at 9 months, and is now obsessed with skateboarding).....there's no doubt in my mind that his temperament is related to his diet. Anyway, those are just my thoughts.

I'm a mom of 3 kids ages 14, 4, and 5 months. I never set out to give my kids all healthy foods, and my kids are fine. Wish I had introduced veggies to my son earlier as now he won't touch them. With my 6 mo old I will do better. My 14 year old eats sweets and a lot of fruits and veggies. My 4 year old I didn't give sweets to him till he was 1 yr. He got his b-day cake and after a few bites he got down from his high chair and proceeded to run back and forth between the couch and table for a good five minutes. A little sugar buzz. I think sodas should be kept away from kids (even though my 14 yr old gives my 4 yr old some of her soda. At Halloween I limited them to a certain amount of candy a day. Sometimes by Easter I would throw away the halloween candy (which was a lot)and put the easter candy in a bag. I did hear you should introduce them to fresh fruits around 6 months. I found a mesh feeder that you can put fruit and veggies into and you don't have to worry about them choking on the seeds. Try that. They're going to get sweets from school and friends houses so trying to keep it away from them won't work. Limiting it is probably more realistic but introduce them to a variety of fruits and veggies at a young age.

Hope this helps.

Good on you for sticking to this.

One person you may want to introduce to your daughter in a few years' time is the Candy Sprite. He becomes a parent's invaluable friend around friend's birthdays/Halloween etc.

The Candy Sprite is related to the Tooth Fairy but tends to leave presents rather than money in return for the candy. Our son is nearly 7 years old and will still donate large quantities of candy to the Candy Sprite's cause!

Enjoy

I'm late in responding to this, but I wanted to say GOOD JOB on wanting to teach your daughter healthy habits. I was just at a birthday party and watched a mother feed her 8 month old an entire cupcake, then give her sips of soda. With my daughters, I try to stick to a healthy diet of fresh organic fruits and veggies, small amounts of organic meats, organic dairy, and lots of water. They each tasted sugar for the first time on their first birthday. We don't keep soda in the house, and the only time my oldest is allowed it is on airplanes. For a long time, when we were grocery shopping and my kids would ask for Lucky Charms or Trix or whatever sugary cereal was placed at their eye level with toys in the box, I'd tell them that those cereals are for kids whose parents don't love them. In a way I'm kidding, but in a way I'm not. Who would purposely feed their children junk when there are healthy things available? I'm not a food nazi, more a food fascist. People have thought we were vegetarians, or health nuts, and are surprised to find out we're neither. My girls can have Halloween candy - we even leave it out for them, but they lose interest in it after a day or two, and then a week later I toss it out and they never ask for it. They both like sweets, but they know it's a once in awhile kind of treat. My oldest craves grapes, tofu, and sushi. My youngest wants bananas, oatmeal, chicken, and hummus. These are their comfort foods. So much different than the way I was raised, when I had to ask for milk instead of soda at dinner. I've seen too many kids with rotted teeth carrying around cans of soda, too many adults eating Fruity Pebbles and Snickers bars, too many cases of obesity, early on-set puberty, and diabetes to think that having a laissez faire attitude regarding their diet is okay. My kids know what junk food is, know that McDonalds and Burger King and all the other fast food places are not for them, and actually like eating healthy foods. We took them to a McDonalds once - they hated it. My oldest was invited to a party at Chuck E. Cheese, took one bite of the pizza and wouldn't eat it because it didn't taste good. Our main challenge - french fries. After reading about a link to deep fried foods in childhood and breast and other kinds of cancers as adults, we cut them out of our diet. Unfortunately, we all love them. But we have them only occasionally, right before we have big chocolate sundaes with whipped cream. Moderation, leaning heavily toward healthy. Your daughter is lucky to have a mother who cares so much about her diet!

hee hee my son thought yogurt was 'candy'! lol I gave in with him because grama and grandpa used to give him all kinds of stuff I didn't like! (he's 6 now) and now he is really addicted... with my dd (she's 3 now) we were living on our own so we have stuff to a 'special occasion only' mentality with candy and stuff. Now she asks for (begs) fruits, she'll eat fruit instead of sugars.. It's amazing... So now we are trying to slowly retrain my ds (6) wish I would've just stuck to my gut with that one.... saved him a lot of problems later I think! Anyway, good luck You can do it!

Heidi!

I had the same plans! Myself, I am a healthy eater and even sometimes called a health nut...but, I was going to be so careful to make sure my son didn't end up one of those kids in school that was 'plump'. Then I woke up to the reality that my denying him foods could 'cause huge sneaking food issues or bad eating habits.

My son is now two years old and he gets to eat ice cream for desert, but not a gigantic serving and only for desert. And, to keep myself in check, I don't eat a bigger serving than I give him...helps me keep off the pounds most weeks. :) I mean to be honest, I have fond summer memeories of chasing the Ice Cream truck down the street and eating fudge bars with my Little Sis on the porch...

I agree with several posters...it's all about moderation. My Mom taught me and my sister to stop eating when we were full and that sweets were a 'special treat'...like lollipops, candy bars and so forth. But, we could always eat fruit if we wanted it or granola, juice bars and fruit snacks. Things that were healthy and naturally sweet and good.

It is hard in our world with all the drive-through windows and Super Sized meals, but if you teach your child to eat healthy and choose for herself, it will hopefully be the road map to a succesful eater. I think I'm trying to lead by example, so I try to serve things for dinner that we both can enjoy. Like baked chicken, homemade french fries that I bake and not fry...there are a lot of great cookbooks with recipe ideas, it's just a matter of finding your groove. And, for me sharing dinners is easier on the budget and it kind of cuts out the feeling like I'm depriving him of something and keeps my healthy too.

At any rate, the best thing to do is go with your gut! Do whatever works best for you, and just roll with it.

Good luck!