Sugar Free Cake

Honestly, your child won't really even eat the cake. We bought a "smash cake" specifically for my daughter. My daughter took one little bite and hated it. She wasn't used to cake, since she NEVER had it. Up until that point she had fruit, veggies, some meat, and goldfish crackers!

Your child will play with it, get it on his face, roll it around his tongue (if he even really tastes it) and you'll take a bunch of pictures. Why should everyone at the party suffer through eating a "sugar free" cake because of your son? I understand the principle of keeping children healthy and providing excellent nutritian, but this is a BIRTHDAY. It happend once a year! Your hubby can't budge?

Good luck--and enjoy a great first b-day with your son!

Could you imagaine how nasty a sugar free cake would taste?
Just tell him it sugar free, he'll never know. Does he realize how much sugar is in the juice's and fruits that we feed to our kids? At least sugar is a natural product.

Check the book, "What to expect from your toddler". It has reciepes for cakes that take natural sweeteners like honey and dates. Please do not look for a cake with splenda. You and your baby will be sick, sick, sick!

I would tell your husband that actually a sugar free cake would be worse for your son nutritionally, than a cake with regular sugar. Children of any age should not eat sugar substitutes such as splenda and nutrasweet. Even they will tell you their proudcts are not meant for children, and never has either company done studies on the long term affects of sucralose or aspartame in children. I am not a health nut per se, but I have on occasion accidently bought something I meant for my children to eat, only to find out it has splenda in it! I actually will return it to the grocery and tell them why, they always have refunded my $. They are kids and I think "natural" foods are always the best. Things like salt and sugar, should always be monitored and only eaten once in a while.

I would also tell your husband that it is not likely your one year old will actually eat much of the cake, so does it really matter in the long run, what it is made of?! I say go for a traditional cake, with sugar, butter, chocolate and eggs. A little bit won't hurt anyone! Good luck.

I am pretty sure that your hubby is looking out for your little guy's best interests health-wise, but I am SO AGAINST any of the artificial sweeteners out there. (And it sounds impossible to simply not add any kind of sweetener to a birthday cake.) Artificial sweeteners were created in "laboratories," and I am convinced that there are just not enough studies performed on the long-term effects on these. In my opinion, there is so much un-natural junk that we put in our bodies...possibly a reason for so many illnesses in our day and time! Sugar is natural, and there are plenty of foods out there that we consume, whether we are aware of it or not, that add so much sugar. I read on some of the previous posts that most little ones don't eat much of their first birthday cakes anyway, so maybe you'll be fine after all, if your hubby is worried about sugar intake. I'm not a health nut, but I stay away from artificial sweeteners - for both myself and my kiddos! P.S. Your little guy can't stay away from sugar for the rest of his life...think about Valentine's Day, Halloween, ice cream trips, Grandma and Grandpa's house, Kool-Aid stands, parties at school, etc. I think it's a quantity (watch your sugar intake) vs. quality (eating the fake, lab-made stuff)! HAVE A GREAT FIRST BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION!