Raising a Sugarless Baby?

Hi J.,
I think moderation is the key. You should also avoid artificial sweeteners, they are more harmful than sugar. I have had friends who never allowed their children sugar, and once they got older they had more of a problem. If you focus on a healthy lifestyle with an occasional treat, that is what the children will become used to. It is not that big of a deal if you allow them to have it sometimes, but withholding it only makes them want it more when they get older. The goal is to get them to eat healthy when you are not around.

Hi J.- I too worry about my baby eating sugar! I was diagnosis with Diabetes when I was 20 years old- and am now 27-I gave birth to my first baby last March, he's currently 15 months. His grandparents of course do not understand that he shouldn’t be eating sweets; it’s hard to control what others do so I try not to spend too much time correcting other people’s behavior and enforce my family rules at home. Instead of feeding my son ice-cream I make fruit smoothies at home- As a diabetic, it’s hard to control what I eat, especially now that I am a mom on the go…I never have time for me so of course I eat whatever is quick and easy- However with my son, it’s completely different, I try my best to feed him the best that I can- I give him veggies, fruits and meats etc. My son likes eating off our plates and this is the hard part because the majority of the time we eat junk and he eats healthy so he knows the difference between the two (and that is our fault- so my advice to you is to start correcting your diet first then enforce your babies!) You will be an awesome mom! Good luck!

we do make our own baby food and i'll tell you about some online resources i have found helpful for limiting sugar and knowing what is in the food that goes in my son's tummy....

wholesomebabyfood.com
and also the forums on mothering.com have message boards dedicated to nutrition/health. there are probably lots of moms on there that will be able to help you in your situation.

I have the smae views as you. I was raised with very little sugar...usually only if my older brothers would sneak my some ice cream once in a great while. However, my mom never bought soda, candies, cookies ect. It was never in the house and I find as an adult...I may indulge in a piece of chocolate once in a while...but I do not have a sweet tooth. I don't have the urge to eat sugary food.
I hope to do the same with my son. I make my own baby food. Mixing fruit with plain organic yogurt. Giving him a lot of veggie purees. Also...I wasn't able to breastfeed for long so I had to search high and low for an organic formula that didn't have sugar in it...can you believe that most formulas actually add processed sugar. The one I use has lactose..which is a sugar that is naturally found in milk.
I completely understand how hard it is to stay away from the sugar with all the processed foods now days. Anyhow, I think that if you keep the following in mind you will see that with a little research it really becomes second nature. I follow these guidelines (1 being my first choice when reading lables)
1)No Sugar
2)No added sugar
3)No processed sugar
4)Organic Sugar
5)STAY AWAY FROM CORN SYRUP AND ESPECIALLY HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP

The natural sugars and organic sugars are much more easily digested and metabolized than all the processed stuff.
Hope this helps.

Health and Happiness,
L.

Well, first you have to realize like you said earlier that sugar is in everything it seem like. What I have done with my son is to let him think that other things are desserts or snacks for him. Instead of a cookie or ice-cream he thinks applesause or yogurt is a treat. I know that still has sugar in it, but at least he will want other things instead of candy. My son has never had candy and only had a few cookies in his life. He didn't even like the cookies when he did get them. I pack his lunches to make sure he eats what I want him to eat. I give him carrots for the natural sugars that he should have in his diets. And we talk about what things are good to eat and what are not. He's only 23 months, but eventually he will catch on to what we are saying. My husband is Hypoglycimic and needs sugar all the time. We keep his "stash" in a locked box under the bed, and he only grabs it when the baby is in bed, unless it's an emergency of course. I think that teaching and talking about the sugarless life is the best way to go. Be patient because you will be tested sooner or later.

Hi J. -

My son is 2 1/2 years old and I've gone way out of my way to keep sugar out of his diet. One of the things I've discovered is that sugar is actually okay if it is kept in moderation and as natural as possible (no cane sugar). You're right that almost everything seems to have sugar in it, but shopping at places like Whole Foods, Sunflower Market and Wild Oats makes options easier. The less processed the food, the better. I also avoid giving my son juice unless it is diluted. You can train them to like water!

My son attends a Montessori school three times per week and they do occasionally give him snacks that have some sugar in it. I allow it, knowing that the majority of my little boy's diet is controlled here at home and he's mostly getting high-quality foods. Moderation is really important.

That said, I am into holistic healing and have found a wonderful doctor here in town named Dr. Randall Robirds. I highly recommend him!

Good luck to you and your family! - L.

I read through the other responses, and they covered it pretty well. I would add that sugar is not the enemy. Processed, unhealthy sugars are. Instead of trying to ban sugar generally, try banning high fructose corn syrup. It's everywhere, even in the less expensive brands of whole wheat bread. If you can cut just that one ingredient, your family will be living a much healthier life. I agree with the woman who said moderation is key. There is a huge difference between your child asking for a cookie for a snack and asking for an apple. However, unless your child turns out to be diabetic, there is nothing wrong with allowing occasional unhealthy sugary treats. If you make them the forbidden fruit, your child will relish them to the exclusion of all else when they're available. You can certianly keep those things out of a baby's diet pretty easily, but some strategies to get your toddler choosing healthier foods on his/her own are preferable to banning foods. The best way is to make them less of a big deal. "Yup, cookies are yummy sometimes, but Mommy LOVES these juicy grapes!" or "Nah, I don't want chips, I want those crunchy carrot sticks!" It's also helpful to remember that food should not be used as a reward. Dessert for good behavior seems like a good motivator, but it makes dinner seem like a chore on the way to that no-sugar added fruit pop.

The food choices you make are a huge influence on your children. If you're healthy, chances are they will be too.

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I have been cured of many of my allergies and with the freedom from each and every one, my immune system gets stronger. I go to Dr. David Karaba in Fullerton. ###-###-#### and think the world of him.

By ridding yourself of your allergens before the baby is born, your baby may be born free of them. The technique is non invasive.

Here is the description from the book I was referring to:

Say Goodbye to Illness (3rd Edition)
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Click to enlarge

Say Good-bye to illness, 3rd Edition:
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In this 3rd edition of Say Good-bye to Illness, Dr. Nambudripad, the developer of Nambudripad’s Allergy Elimination Techniques (NAET®), xposes the truth behind the many health problems plaguing people today. In her book, Dr. Nambudripad gives a new definition for allergies and a deeper understanding of how our bodies relate to or retreat from the millions of natural and artificial substances around us.

Patients are encouraged to read “Say good-bye To Illness” prior to starting NAET® treatments with their practitioner. This book will give you some understanding about allergies, allergy related diseases, and how a non-invasive, easy to follow, holistic treatment can give you freedom to live comfortably again. Many case histories of managing various health problems are given in this book. Young infants from day five to older patients as old as 94 have been treated with NAET® with excellent results. Many so-called incurable problems have been traced to food or environmental allergies and treated with great success.

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HI, well first let me start out by saying, if diabetes runs in your side of the family, you need to be really careful during the pregancy. eat 5-7 small meals a day instead of 3 large meals. I was a diabetic during all 3 of my pregnancies and breakfast would consists of 1 tbsp of Peanut Butter and 1/2 English Muffin. That's all i could have for Breakfast. Lunch and dinner was better, but morning snack, afternoon snack and bedtime snack was pretty similar. Now, i am not a diabetic, however, it does run in my family and it is EXTREMELY hard to not deal with sugar. My dad doesn't use sugar but the sugar substitute, however, now doctors are saying is works the same way as sugar. you just need to limit it in your household. Like I buy cheerios, cornflakes, etc... (non sugar cereals) and my kids are NOT allowed to put sugar on them. Snacks are crackers or string cheese. I don't buy soda, etc.... It becomes more of a lifestyle change instead of an illness. As far as daycare -- when my kids were in daycare, they ate what she fed them. NOW, I run a daycare and sweets are limited. (For example: if it is someone's birthday, then I will make a cake). Other than that, no sweets are given. In the summertime, I make sugar free icees. The kids can't tell the difference. I hope that helps you and good luck in your pregnancy.

Tammy/B. Family daycare/Lic#: 334816143
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Openings for under 2 as of May 1, 2007

Congratulations on your new baby ( invetro that is).
Whn my son was born we had thrush for 18 months. Unfortunatelty the Dr didn't recognize it, but Le Leche Legue did. We suffered till he was 18 months. I had it on my breasts and he had it all the way through his digestive system. It was horrible. So we gave up on sugar beacuse I still wanted to nurse him. I ended up baking him carrot and carob cakes for his B-day and any other special days. I sent foods for him at his daycare and never let anyone just give him whatever they felt like giving him.
Unfortunatly his dad did notunderstand what was going on and refused to follow the diet so when he was with his dad he would give him soda in a bottle( not the breast milk that I had expressed for him). So my son had the thrush for another 6 months. He eventually grew out of it an I ended up giving in to the easy life, but now his blood sugar levels are extremly high and he is being tested for diabetes. I can't help but wonder if that is part of the reason that his body could not digest it when he was small.
Good Luck.
A.

Hi J.!

i'm raising sugarless kids too. not for diabetic reasons, but just for general health reasons (we avoid white sugar, white flour & processed foods). my oldest is 3 1/2 and was sick for the first time a couple of weeks ago. she caught her first cold, up until then she had never been sick. i believe her diet has played a huge part in that. so, it is possible, but it does take some work.

i do make my own baby food. that's really a lot easier than you would think. you'll need some kind of blender or food processer. (i'm using a magic bullet and it works great) you can make it in batches and then freeze it in ice cube trays.

neither of my girls went to daycare so i don't have any experience there, but i'm sure there must be some out there that have a no sweets policy. maybe you could find a private daycare run by a mom with who s on the same page as you with the sweets.

for birthday parties, we just avoid focusing on the cake. and that goes for deserts at dinner too. we dont eat desert in our home, but every time we have dinner at my mother in law's she has desert. my daughter will ask me "mommy what's that?" and i'll just say something like "that's pie (or whatever), we don't eat that. would you like some grapes?" (or whatever food you have that is ok to eat). she's 3 1/2 and that's still working. on her birthday i make her cake myself with a recipe i approve of.

the hardest part for me has been the pressure from my family. their view is that a little wouldn't hurt. and i would agree, that's probably true, but why introduce something bad into her diet when i dont have to? right now she has no idea what candy or any of that bad stuff is so she can see it and not even care about it. she gets upset with me if i don't have broccoli. LOL! so i've stood my ground and i have very healthy children for it.

i'm currently looking for a preschool that meets my needs. if i don't find one, i may homeschool for preschool. i think that the older she gets without having sugary stuff, the easier it will be when it's introduced outside of my control to keep it to a minimum and in moderation.

i know it seems like a huge impossible task, but just take it a day at a time and it might be easier than you think. :)

Good luck! and feel free to message me if you have any other questions. :)

Hi J.,
Congrats on the pregnancy. Well, my little one is now 18 months. So far we have managed her sugar to a minimum. My husband LOVES sweets and is battling the bulge right now due to all of the sweets he likes to eat. If it is in the house he will find it and eat it without moderation.

As for baby, she has had a few cupcakes with daycare birthdays and did eat a piece of birthday cake for her own birthday. She drinks juice undiluted (Prune & Apple) to help with some relief.

She only knows what she has been introduced to. If she sees a cupcake she wants it. She does not know anything about hard candy, chocolate, slurpees, etc. Many places ask before they give or offer her candy. The doctors office of all places has a bucket of candy and they ask, but I just say no thank you. I will keep things this way for as long as I can.

As for myself, I don't care much for sweets, UNLESS it is good stuff. I can pass a Hershey's, but would die for some Belguim chocolate.

Keep ut those thoughts and everything will be fine.

First off- Congratulations on your pregnancy! It is great to hear that you are being so thoughtful about your future concerns. The great thing is that you live in the Bay Area and you do have access to many resources and people that will support your healthy food choices. I am sure that you will be able to find day care by you that serves whole foods and honor your food requests. My daughter is in a program in Pleasanton and they have a "No sweets rule" for b-day parties celebrated in her class.

My daughter is not much into sweets - we just never make a big deal about it and she can walk away from these goodies after a few bites.

We made our own baby food - based on suggestions from the book Super Baby Food - but also started things off by exclusively nursing (no formula). You baby will also learn from you and what you have in your home and what you serve. Since we had our daughter we really made a great effort to make healthy choices around eating.

For b-day parties, I usually let her enjoy the cake as it is symbolic to the celebration and a fun way to join in. I then check the goodie bags for candy and if need be take some of it out. I have friends who ask their child to gather all the Easter and Halloween candy and then a "fairy" changes it into a toy the next day. I plan on doing this come October!

I think a big part of healthy eating is about attitude and balance. Our friends have grown children who have not bought into the fast food and junk food craze and their daughter eats healthy foods as a young adult.

It is possible!!

Hi J.,
Congrats on your new path toward family life.
We are raising our daughter (now 3 1/2 yrs) on a diet that excludes most refined sugars. We do happen to be vegetarian, so we snack on a lot of nuts and fruits, and for dense proteins at meals eat lentils, beans, tofu or tempeh, and sometimes eggs or cheese We generally have only whole grains (excluding some restaurant meals) and I bake with whole grains, using for example ripe bananas or butternut squash and a small amount of sweetener (1/4 cup maple syrup per recipe), ground flax, whole wheat flour, for making muffins or a cake.
Our daughter loves dates, dried or fresh mango, and most other fruits. She eats vegetables very well also. When we first started giving her solids beyond cereals, we steered more towards vegetables for many months, having read that babies naturally appreciate sweets and do not need to acquire a taste for them. Our guiding principle has been to develop her palette of taste buds around the wide range of non-sugary items for as long as reasonable, then introduce her to moderation once it becomes too difficult to control her exposure to sugar. Also we put a lot of time and effort into making her food attractive and appealing to her.
For day care, we bring all of her food and snacks, and the teachers know to give her her own snacks even when there is a birthday. It was made easy for a while when there was another child who could not eat gluten and so also had a special diet. My daughter eats her food well at school - the teachers think her diet is great and they do not give her cookies, canned fruit, or suckers, or anything like that. They do give her fresh fruit or cheese snacks when those are made available to the children, but otherwise she always has her own food.
Kids birthday parties are the one exception we started allowing sometime between the age of 2 and 3, when her awareness level meant that distracting her completely from the business of cake would have meant leaving before the singing. Our strategy there is to have a family piece of cake that we share, and we try to avoid giving her the icing.
This all may sound extreme, but our daughter's temperament seems to be very good and we believe this may be in part due to her diet. Also, for her birthday (3 yrs) this year, we actually did buy cupcakes instead of healthy muffins, and although we had the baker make them with low sugar (and using only honey), he went ahead and put white chocolate shavings on the frosting. I noticed that my daughter tried 1 shaving then didn't touch the rest of the cupcake, but ate her more familiar dates and nuts.
My husband and I both love sweets, but we generally don't keep them in the house, and do not eat them in her presence. I have no qualms about the double standard, because just like alcohol, there is an age appropriate in my mind to having these extras in the diet.
I applaud your thinking ahead about the issue, as that's a great way to be prepared when the time comes. Also, I should mention that our two families (mine and my husband's) are being very supportive and are only giving her the foods they know are consistent with our choices.
Best wishes,
T. S.

Diabetes also runs in my family. My child is only 20 months old, but we do try to keep sugar intake to a bare minimum. We did make our own baby food using the Magic Bullet and Cuisine Art.
What I have observed with my son is a desire to eat what we eat. In other words, if you maintain a healthy food "routine" your child will most likely mimic that. So YES, I do feel he will pick the right foods when he goes to school, etc. I would however make his lunches for a while instead of allowing him to buy them. He needs to be at an age where he can really understand the reasoning behind why he/she has to limit the sugar intake before he/she can really be held responsible for making those decisions.
I wish you and your family well.
-L.

I have been working with young children as a preschool teacher for 7 years. You are most likely going to have to prepare everything yourself, as you said sugar is everywhere and it is nearly impossible to get anything prepared anywhere with zero sugar. I have had a few situations where parents have wanted their child to have a zero sugar diet. At the same time, I think it is important to point out the body's need for sugar, as it is necessary in body and brain function.

Many people are born with a "sweet tooth." Soon after birth, babies show a preference for sweet solutions (such as breast milk). Most adults also naturally seek and enjoy sweets. Many parents worry about their kids eating sugar, candy, and desserts. A common misconception is that eating sugar is harmful or shows a lack of self-control. As long as they are eaten in moderation, sweets are not bad. The body and brain needs sugar to function.

Sugar is naturally present in most foods except meat. Lactose is the type of sugar found in milk, fructose is the sugar in fruits, and maltose is the sugar in grain products. Sucrose, the sugar refined from sugar cane and sugar beets, has no greater adverse effect on body function than any of the other sugars. Any food where sucrose, fructose, glucose, corn syrup, honey, or other sugars are listed as the first ingredient on the packaging can be defined as sweets. You are just going to have a difficult time avoiding sugar, right down to your breast milk.

I feel, from experience, there is a somewhat of a backlash when parents are closely monitoring everything a child eats. The children who are strictly kept from sugar CRAVE it to the point it leads to misbehaviors, such as sneaking, lying, and bindging on candy when the opportunity arises. These may be issues you are likely to encounter as your sugarless child gets older. The more of an issue you make of things with kids, the more of an issue it becomes.

Hi J. K,
I have a diabetic child and a husband with diabetes. Your child has a 1% chance of getting diabetes. Now if you or your husband has diabetes either Juvenille or adult set then it goes up to 10 %. Don't knock out sugar completely just buuy the good sugar items. Not the high fructose that is found in most products these days. My other child has been negative since birth for diabetes. He doesnot have the antiboties for getting diabetes, That he gets checked every year. My daughter got it at 2 1/2 years old because of a long illness. So don't worry. M. P

hi,I understand your concerns...I have alot of the same worrys.our christina is 9 months old now..and my mom is so bad when shes taking care of her..I walked in the other day to the baby sucking on a red lolly pop with candy all over her face..I nearly hit the roof!! my mother is always trying to give this child sweets..she was giving her cookies when she was 5 months old...I keep saying to my mom,'' what part of childhood diabetes dont you understand''!!!to make it worse,christina was a very early eater.cause she got teeth so young,she was eating scrambled eggs by 4 months old.shes obsessed with food..this child like everything.me and my cousin are good with giveing her healthy stuff,luckily christina loves yogurt and jello. the only prob I have is she loves choc milk..I give her some once in a while,it doesnt upset her stomach and the way I see it,its a dairy product,at least its not candy.but we really have a challenge with our girl.shes been on stage 3 babyfoods since she was 7 months old and always eats what we are eating now...shes like 9 months going on 10 years at times...my advice is just do your best..there are alot of low sugar snacks out there..most babies love yogurt and sugarfree jello is a good snack,and there are alot of baby finger foods out there..we buy them for tina and she loves them.and gramn crackers are pretty good as well..and give them fruit from a young age as well..if you dont have junk food in the house all the time,they wont get in the habit of eating it.kids are going to get sugar at times..birthday partys..holiday partys at school and daycare..as long as its in moderation things should be ok.

J.,

I remember when I was pregnant. My husband and I were in the grocery store and we saw a mom put a pacifier into her baby's mouth because she was starting to fuss a little. We both adamantly said to each other that we weren't going to be "pacifier parents." That we thought crying was a healthy and necessary thing for people, etc...

A few months later, there I was giving my colicky son a pacifier in the drug store while I was attempting to buy diapers with one hand and hold him with the other. Point being, I think the ideas we have before we become mom's are wonderful and to be paid attention to, but the reality of parenting is SO very different when it actually happens--something pregnant mom's don't usually want to hear and something mom's don't really talk about.

I, too, tried to be a totally non-sugar mom. It worked for about a year. At my son's 1st birthday with all of his relatives lovingly watching as he tried to blow out the candles on his birthday cake, there we were, trying to explain to everyone why we weren't letting him have a piece. Although everyone was very loving and supportive, there we were, feeling uptight, rigid and unrealistic.

The reality is that there's going to be sugar all around your kid forever. You can absolutely do your very best to remove it from your house and limit it when you're out. But with our son who is now 4 1/2, common sense has shown us that the more we try to keep it forbidden fruit, the more he wants it. One of the keys is to give your child lots of protein so that their bodies crave less sugar. But other than that, we've found that life happens, sugar happens and little bits here and there make for a realistic life with happy parents and a happy kid.

Oh and the other thing is this: You said you and your husband both have a sweet tooth. I think the apple doesn't fall far from the tree and your kid may follow your tendencies. I've learned that most of the time, the issues my child is having are actually issues about me that I have the opportunity to work through. This is the gift our children bring us.

I'm not personally trying to raise a sugarless baby, but I do make sure to limit the amount and kind of sugar my Bug gets. Like, anything corn syrup is off-limits but the less processed kinds of cane sugar are okay every once in a while. Things that are usually listed as evaporated cane juice. I also use raw agave nectar sometimes because it's got a much lower glycemic impact. However, it's not cheap so it mostly goes into things like tea or items that might otherwise use a lot of sugar. Other than that, just read labels, educate yourself about sugar and make your choices. I wish you the best of luck.

There are tons of alternatives that are healthy. First educating yourself on what the hidden sugars are on a food label is important. Start shopping at Henry's & ask lots of questions! Stevia is an excellent alternative - comes in liquid & powder for cooking/baking. As for going to parties & restaurants, it's important to remeber that many things cannot be avoided, so, it's important to teach your chils that once in a while is okay (when she gets older of course). Our diets are evolving to a healthier one, it's taken time as you can't learn & implement everything in one day. It's best to learn what the best alternatives are! Good Luck!