Sweet question

[carron81]

Hi

I mentioned on here a while back about not giving my daughter (15 months now)sweets as I didn't think there was any need for them in her diet as she gets enough natural sugars out of the fruit she eats and i spend a lot of time preparing nice meals and she eats anything and has always been a good eater. so i dont see the point in giving her sweets.

i do give her a couple of buttons, jelly, sponge cake or wee things every now and again as a treat but not on a daily basis. i also give her mixy up juice every now and again but i also save the juice from my fruit batches and freeze that so one day she'll get diluted just other days just water then other days cubes from my frozen batches

but, everyone has something to say about it . which is annying because i dont turn round to them and say i think its wrong you give your 1 year old sugar in their custard or sweets at 11 in the morning. i just let them do their thing but folk seem to think i'm crule for not giving her sweets!!! and i'm made to feel bad about it

now someone said to my boyfriend that if you dont intruoduce sweets at an early age they'll binge on it when they do get it and they could end up not being able to tolerate sweets!!! or something along those lines. which i think is a load of rubbish

now my daughter has had a dodgy belly for a few days. (putting it down to teething as she has had a cold also). she's on a basic diet till her nappys are normal and she's back to just having one dirty a day but still a bit dodgy. then yesterday she got a hold of 1 small thorntons peice of millionair shortbread and ate it. then had a really runny nappy at night and he's putting it all down to her not having much sweets in her diet from a young age and now thinnks that we shoul'dve been giving her sweets all along becaue of what this family member said.

i'm really annoyed at folk putting these silly ideas in his head. has anyone

[ummmm]

There are no nutrisional benefits in sweets.

I didn't give my daughter any until she started school. She like sweets now but can't eat many as they make her feel sick very quickly.

[chelle7272]

You stick to your guns, you're right she doesn't need sweets, and it won't make her intolerant later that IS rubbish. Rich food can upset anyone's stomach, especially when you're not 100% well anyway.

[pericat]

Hi carron - I can just give you my experience. I have three kids now 19, 16, 12. When my eldest was a baby iwas very strict about what he ate. I got criticised by both sides of the debate. He is now a terribly fussy eater and always has been. I wish I had mixed his diet a bit more with some sweet things not necessarily sweets. I was more laid back with the other two and my 16 year old loves her food and is a joy to feed and my 12 year old is a little fussier but likes the right things. She also doesn't drink anything but milk and water. I guess what I'm saying is do what you think is right - I didn't give my eldest sweet things following a bit of bullying from my mother. You seem to be giving your child a varied diet. They don't need sweets - sweet things like chocolate are fine as far as I am concerned.

[ummmm]

Excuse my spelling :-/

[4getmenot]

whats wrong with a few sweets like you are doing. I cant see the harm. Obviously you are giving them to her in moderation as long as she is getting fruit and balanced meals etc. My blokes sisters little girl gets given about 3 cakes for afters and I have to sit there and try and keep my opinions to myself. Its hard

[carron81]

agree with ummmm, there is no nutritional benefits

she has a very good diet. i make up all her food myself and she gets jars occasionally. i have an extra freezer just for all her batches of food she has a mixture of fish, chicken, beef, pasta , rice and veggi meals and also puddings such as semolina and fruit, mixed fruit. so i have a rough idea how much sugar/salt is in her diet and where all her nutrients are coming from

i do give her pettie felous a few times a week but i normally take some of the froze fruit batches i've made and mix it in with that. so even if she is getting something with a bit of sugar in it i try and health it up a bit

my boyfriend was a hyper kid and had to avoid certain drinks. it runs in the family so thats why i also like to stay away from sweets. i don't eat many sweets or crisps so i dont see why my 15 month old should eat more sweet things than me in a week

i want to try and avoid the sweet isle in the shop for as long as possible.

[carron81]

goodness 4get me not. that would've been a difficult one to stay quiet

i was at my cousins the other day and we'd had soup for lunch then her 2 year old went away and came back with a candy cane in between meals. we then had our main course whilst she ate her candy. i was like (to myself) no wonder she's not eating her main. Then after that she got a pack of cola bottles!!!!! ate them and still had no main course. while my wee one sat and ate her soup herself then she had her main meal and ate that herself no probs

[4getmenot]

she's a large girl for her age too

[annie0000]

They are talking rubbish, you are right, she doesn't need sweets. My kids never had any when they were little - they got the odd bit of chocolate, they had muffins and pancakes and jam and other sweet food, so I wasn't avoiding all sweet foods. They are now 8 and 9 and although I am more free with what they can have, tbh they are really not that interested. Yes they like chocolate and biscuits, but prefer crisps and when they do choose to have some sweets, they usually don't bother to finish them, and would never really ask for any when we are out. I think they like the thought of them rather than the reality! This year is the first that they have eaten all their easter eggs, but I always have to throw away their halloween hoard as it never gets eaten! They probably eat a lot less sweets than some of their friends, but I don't feel they miss out.

As you say, sweet things are a treat to have when you have eaten the rest of your meal.

It has also had no effect on whether they are fussy eaters or not. My eldest was terrible, youngest was great, now they are both moderately fussy but with different foods.

My eldest also cannot have anything with blackcurrant in as it sends him loopy!! I am sure that has nothing to do with not having sweets. They also have perfect teeth with no decay as well.

You stick to your guns, I am sure that your wee one will make good choices for herself as she gets older. When I let my two choose something to have as a treat when we are in the supermarket, they will either choosecrisps or popcorn or if it is something sweet, it will usually be pancakes or chocolate - and that is with totally free choice.