View Full Version : how much chocolate does your toddler have?
lizzymcfizzy
07-06-2009, 21:26
I am a chocoholic but try not to eat lots in front of my toddler. She ends up having it about once a week but not every week. sometimes it goes about 2, 3 weeks before she gets any but she will get icecream or other treats.
Actually she gets a milkshake or an icecream almost every time we go grocery shopping. we rarely have dessert. She gets a cream bikkie almost every 3 days :o
I'm just wondering if this is too much? I don't give it as a reward, just a treat.
how often does your toddler get chocolate or treats?
Opinionated
07-06-2009, 21:27
Easter, and occasionly some milo in their milk.
NonnyMouse
07-06-2009, 21:30
Until age 2 DD got no "treats" in the form of lollies, ice cream, fizzy, chocolate etc. After that, she would get them only at parties, or on the odd occasion we had dessert (which was usually a fruit concoction anyway and this relatively healthy). I used to just tell her lollies were for "big girls", and she accepted this just fine.
Our treats were other things like grapes, or homemade muffins etc.
JabberJaw
07-06-2009, 21:31
None! I am mean! She has a bikkie every now and then though, older kids have dessert each night, she will too when she is bigger.
ladybugblue84
07-06-2009, 21:35
I'm a shocker with my DD. If I am eating something in front of her I tend to always give her a bit. I'm really going to knuckle down on both of our junk food intake & save all of my naughty treats until she has gone to bed.
no chocolate...at 3.5 years and 21 months.
pinkishbunny
07-06-2009, 21:38
My two are 6 and 3.5, My 6 year old has chocolate quick each morning.. (the only way I can get milk into him) They both have nutella, here and there, Most day's.....& Chocolate Bars its normally A milky way.
Sunnygal
07-06-2009, 21:44
I don't have a ban on any food :o If we are shopping and they have been good, they get a treat of their choice, I keep treats in the house, I usually eat them when they aren't around but if they are I share :p
bubbasmum
07-06-2009, 21:47
Ds has it probably a few times a week. Im a naughty mum...
chocolate can take more than 72 hours to metabolise until they're about 5ish. So no chocolate for the bub till then. I'm going to be a mean mum.
Why is a few times a week 'naughty'? I don't know that there is a 'correct' frequency or amount of chocolate in a child's diet. Ok, so 2 mars bars a day is excessive, but at the other end it's hard to work out isn't it?
My ds had issues with sleep and hyperactivity around easter if he ate more than one chocolate egg/day, but he loves the stuff! Lots of his chocolate eggs 'disappeared' (in mummy & daddy's tummy's). We try not to give him heaps, but he has choc bits at mum's maybe 10 - 20 and maybe a few times a week. Other than that no chocolate.
But he gets yoghurt or baby custard most days.
I find this whole choosing correct foods for toddlers thing extremely difficult. Lots of people want to stack more and more guilt on parents and yet they don't understand how difficult it is to work out what's right. Like saying 'chocolate should be a sometimes food', what is sometimes in exact terms of frequency and amount??
Bell & Bug
07-06-2009, 22:59
My DD will get one of the small freddo frogs every now and then, especially if she is a good girl. She is good at sharing though so between me, her and daddy she will probably only have a few small bites out of the small freddo.
I honestly dont see such a huge issue with giving her a small treat of chocolate, as long as she is getting a proper diet there is absolutely nothing wrong with a little treat here and there.
Some people seem to think its the work of the devil giving children chocolate and lollies, but in moderation its OK.
lizzymcfizzy
07-06-2009, 23:11
chocolate can take more than 72 hours to metabolise until they're about 5ish. So no chocolate for the bub till then. I'm going to be a mean mum.
i don't understand, can you explain the metabolising thing?
MrsMiggins
07-06-2009, 23:15
My DD would eat nothing but, given half the chance!
My kids would probably have it several times a week, as treats & rewards, but I limit the quantity. Easter, parties etc it's a different matter!
Bunnyhugs
07-06-2009, 23:18
My DS gets chocolate every day, several times a day at nanny's house LOL and VERY rarely at home. When we go to nanny's, we usually stay at least one night. He gets his chocolate and lolly fix there and then I don't have to worry about him nagging me for it at home :D
He knows it's a treat and a 'sometimes' food. He generally doesn't get any junk at home because I just don't buy it. My mum always tells him to ask me if it's ok to have some, so I'm still in control of his intake.
Goodness, none. He had a lolly on his second birthday because I didn't see him get it, but that's the first and only time. He had a taste of chocolate at Easter. And by a taste, literally a smidge.
About once or twice a week he gets a milk arrowroot biscuit and that's it.
I don't think it's mean, I don't think my toddler needs sweets for quite some time yet.
Opinionated
07-06-2009, 23:30
chocolate can take more than 72 hours to metabolise until they're about 5ish. So no chocolate for the bub till then. I'm going to be a mean mum.
Chocolate is digested at the same rate as any food in the body:confused:
Bell & Bug
07-06-2009, 23:38
Chocolate is digested at the same rate as any food in the body:confused:
:iagree:
ETA: After doing some research I cant seem to find anything about it taking any longer to metabolize in any ones bodies, infact some stuff actually suggests it can fasten a persons metabolism.
Thermolicious
07-06-2009, 23:40
A treat? we prefer to call that type of food sometimes food :)
DS1 at 21mths hasnt had any, IMO it's empty calories, he would rather have fruit and yogurt :)
mum of 3
08-06-2009, 00:29
i dont ban any foods as long as everything is eaten in moderation our kids eat rice chocolate its yummmmmy and they are alowed to eat bickies and lollies when i can find ones that my dd's can eat as long as they arent eating heaps of it why not they are only children after all and whats a child hood with out treats
Goodness, none. He had a lolly on his second birthday because I didn't see him get it, but that's the first and only time. He had a taste of chocolate at Easter. And by a taste, literally a smidge.
About once or twice a week he gets a milk arrowroot biscuit and that's it.
I don't think it's mean, I don't think my toddler needs sweets for quite some time yet.
Im with you on the none! I let my son have a small slice of his cake for his first and I might put a smidgion of chocolate on my finger once in a while but thats it.
However I was wondering, what is your and others opinons on milk arrowroot? I normally give my son that as a snack in the afternoon...Is that a bad treat? If you think so, any suggestions on what a yummy small snack would be... Other than fruit and veg.
I should add my DS got some cake on his birthday - parties Itend to relax but not to the etxent of chocolate or lollies :o
Umm, snacks - fruit, dried fruit, cheese, zucchini slice, saos or plain corn thins or rice cakes with toppings (avocado, butter and marmite, almond paste), vegie sticks and homemade dip, cooked cold pasta.
Ew cooked cold pasta as a snack? weird lol
Thank you for the list! I will deffenetly buy some saos at shopping this week. He LOVES cheese:barf: but gets consitpated alot so I try to keep it at a minumum lol.
Thanks again!!
If you serve it cut in fingers with fingers of ripe pear then that should balance out the binding effect of the cheese.
Yes ew to cold cooked pasta but kids do love it, little weirdos!
Bell & Bug
08-06-2009, 00:55
However I was wondering, what is your and others opinons on milk arrowroot? I normally give my son that as a snack in the afternoon...Is that a bad treat? If you think so, any suggestions on what a yummy small snack would be... Other than fruit and veg.
Milk arrowroot is perfectly fine, honestly. Infact its good for their digestion because of the arrowroot. I give it to my DD to snack on too :)
SmileyBJ
08-06-2009, 07:28
Ds (10.5motnhs) has never tasted chocolate, lollies, icecream, hot chips etc & don't intend for him to for a very long time..
NonnyMouse
08-06-2009, 11:19
I had to comment on the "what's a childhood without treats" thing, because I came up against this from my parents when I asked them nt to give DD chocolate.
Back then no one really realised the effect all the sugar and fat has on kids, thier moods, their teeth, and their health. They gave dummies dipped in sugar. Red cordial was given frequently. Heck... I was even given free range on nanas bowl of "coffee sugar" as a treat back then. Now we know better.
To suggest a child is being deprived... well you could use the same logic to say what's a childhood without corporal punishment, cause that was a big part of many people's childhood until recently.
Just because it's always been done, doesn't mean it's right. I prefer not to teach my child the dubious "joys" of getting their tastebuds used to the extreme and unnatural sweetness of choc and lollies. Same goes for salty and fatty foods. I don't think they're evil, and if a parent wants to give their kid sweets then that's their business, but I do think they get in the way of developing a palate that enjoys the more subtle flavours naturally present in food.
BabelFish
08-06-2009, 11:33
Don't have a toddler yet but when I do she won't be getting any chocolate, lollies, ice cream etc. Treats are what you say they are - so her `treats' will be things like mango, yoghurt etc. She has this stuff anyway and loves it. Children only see these things as being special because we make them out to be. They would think vegemite on toast was `special' if that's what they were told.
I'm not going to have a blanket ban on foods like this - that's unrealistic - and at parties etc I don't have a problem with those kinds of foods in moderation after a certain age. But they have absolutely no value whatsoever, and there are plenty of delicious, yummy things (just as yummy as chocolate and lollies) that aren't going to be so bad for them.
I don't think it's `mean' either. It's just setting up good eating practices for your kids. Like I said, everything in moderation has always been my motto - I feel that if you ban things outright, your kids will just want them more to some degree. But certainly I feel strongly that these kinds of things will never, ever be a regular part of my childrens' diets, and nor should they be.
I also bake a lot, so it helps to know exactly what's going into the things that we eat - biscuits, cakes etc. These are all home made with whole ingredients and no nasties. And it's MUCH cheaper!
EDIT: I'm also reluctant to `reward' good behaviour with food. That sets up a pattern of emotional attachment to food that can be unhealthy and lead to eating issues later in life. Every now and again, I don't see it as a problem, but good behaviour can be rewarded by plenty of things other than food. I have had a problem with `comfort eating' my whole adult life, I don't want my kids to have the same problem.
Bell & Bug
08-06-2009, 12:38
Hmm i wouldn't say my DD has chocolate as part of her regular diet, like she HAS to have chocolate x amount of times a day or what ever.
Besides children are always going to prefer the sweeter tastes than anything else, its a survival instinct. Most poisonous plants and stuff out there is bitter and for a child to have a palate that prefers sweet stuff they are less likely to eat the poisonous stuff.
Some people seem to think we feed our children chocolate as if it were food, but we aren't.
NibbleCurlynBub
08-06-2009, 12:41
I'm a chocoholic too but mine is hiddenin a drawer of the fridge that they haven't discovered yet!
So none, excepting easter when my parents buy for them.
Milktini
08-06-2009, 12:50
My partner has bad teeth, so I am extra paranoid about ruining DS's so tend to avoid sweets DS is only 16 months and he NEVER got treats before 1 years old, he will barely get chocolate and has never had lollies, but he gets honey or nutella on bread occaisionally, and gets A bikkie A couple of times A week.
Thanks for that BabyDesigner, I thought they were ok Maybe I will just get something else because I dont eat arrowroot, so maybe something we both enjoy :yelclap:
SmileyBJ, I forgot to meantion as well that we dont give our son hot chips etc either! We wont be buying take away food either when he is old enough to understand. People know how touchy we are on junk food with Morgan so they always ask before giving him things, normally its a no lol
Im glad to see im not the only one out there. I believe that they are only children and we are shaping the way they will grow up. I dont want my son thinking he 'needs' junk food, I want him to turn to fruit salads etc instead.
BabelFish
08-06-2009, 14:19
Children may well gravitate to sweeter things naturally - but that doesn't mean those things need to be chocolate, lollies, soft drink or ice cream. There's plenty of sweet things that aren't full of needless fat, sugar and other nasties.
One time out of interest I conducted a little `study' of my own into the sorts of things that are put into chocolate etc, and how much of our daily fat intake they took up (I was trying to lose some weight brought on by my unfortunate propensity for comfort eating).
Let's just say, the results horrified me! So it was easy for me to cut them out of my diet after that. Not completely, but almost completely. I know a lot of children who prefer fruit to lollies, prefer yoghurt to ice cream, and almost never eat chocolate. They aren't remotely deprived, very happy, and that's because those things weren't introduced to them as a matter of course.
My DD much prefers vegetables to sweet foods, because that's how they were introduced to her. Given a choice between steamed broccoli and tinned peaches, she'll eat them both, but she'll go for the broccoli first (I know this because I tested her).
I don't think that children should grow up never eating chocolate, or lollies, or ice cream etc. Those things are yummy! But they will never, ever be a normal part of my childrens' diet so long as they live under my roof and I determine what they eat. It's entirely unnecessary and if you don't want your kids to eat those sorts of foods, don't give them to them. They're little kids and easily influenced. If you tell them mango yoghurt is delicious and a special treat, they'll believe you.
At the end of the day, it's up to parents to decide what they think is suitable, healthy and right for their children. Some parents feel that some chocolate is ok, some don't. A little bit of chocolate isn't going to hurt anyone. As children can't decide for themselves, it's up to us to make healthy choices for them. And `healthy choices' means different things to different people. I'm sure there are pretty broad boundaries and haven't we all been told as adults that some dark chocolate and a glass of red wine a night isn't actually all that bad after all?? :D
Thanks for that BabyDesigner, I thought they were ok Maybe I will just get something else because I dont eat arrowroot, so maybe something we both enjoy :yelclap:
SmileyBJ, I forgot to meantion as well that we dont give our son hot chips etc either! We wont be buying take away food either when he is old enough to understand. People know how touchy we are on junk food with Morgan so they always ask before giving him things, normally its a no lol
Im glad to see im not the only one out there. I believe that they are only children and we are shaping the way they will grow up. I dont want my son thinking he 'needs' junk food, I want him to turn to fruit salads etc instead.
If my DH is anything to go on that's exactly what will happen! He grew up not really being able to have junk food and he never went nuts for it, or over indulged or anything like that. We always ate healthy meals but were allowed to eat our fair share of junk food and I have far less self control than what DH does. I just don't buy junk food and I'm fine without it, but if it's in front of me I can't help but eat it.
So the 'everything in moderation so they don't go nuts on it when they're older' thing doesn't really make sense to me. If we're out with friends and they have bought certain foods for the kids to share then my DD's can have some too but I don't make a big deal out of it. They aren't treats...it's just another type of food. DD1 is old enough to understand the difference between healthy and unhealthy food and she even encourages DD2 to eat healthy and tells her why we need healthy food for.
DD1 gets just as excited about having fruit salad as she does a piece of fairy bread. I won't make my kids be the only one's that don't get to eat the same as their friends at parties etc. (especially when they have food allergies so if there's something they can eat that everyone else can have, that's pretty special in itself) but we simply don't have junk food in the house.
ETA - Just wanted to clarify that I do NOT care how other people choose to raise their children in regards to food but it does seem that if you don't offer them 'treat' foods on a semi regular basis that you are depriving them. It took my own mother a long time to let go of the fact that just visiting nanny and poppy is a treat in itself...they don't need to feed DD1 lollies for her to have a memorable time.
Chesby I so agree with you!!! DD1 just loves summer when she gets to have ice-cream. Which just happens to be soy yoghurt with blueberries, strawberries, or mango mixed through it. She knows it's her special ice-cream (having life threatening food allergies makes us need to stress things like that - not all ice-cream is E safe ice-cream) but she doesn't care that it's not loaded with sugar, fats and colours....it's ice-cream and it's delicious!
BabelFish
08-06-2009, 14:25
I agree with you DoubleAce. If you're out and eating a shopping centre food hall etc, the choices that you most often make for your kids are the ones they're going to think are normal, and the ones they'll go for. People assume that children naturally are inclined to eat junk, but they're not. They're naturally inclined to eat the foods that they are given the most of.
I think if you ban things completely, forever, from your children then especially when they get older they will want to try them more. If you make a big deal out of it (i.e. forbidding them from eating the same things as other kids at parties, to use your example). But if you just don't give them those choices and offer them something else just as yummy if they ask, that's not the same thing as `forbidden fruit' iykwim. Children are more likely to make the choices they are taught to make - healthy or not. If you don't have unhealthy choices in your house, then they won't be given the opportunity to make them, and when they're out, they'll choose what's familiar more often than not.
Deserama
08-06-2009, 14:49
Junk foods are 'sometimes' food in our house...and usually a weekend deal :)
peanutbutter&jelly
08-06-2009, 14:55
No chocolate, except one tiny dairy free piece at easter. And not from me :banghead:
Treats... haha, my DS thinks sultanas are the best damn thing in the world. He occasionally gets sugar free, dairy free biccies frm the health food section - my mum boys them for him specifically, he gets 2 <20c sized biccies maybe once a fortnight, or less often. But other than that, he loves fruit. He was neevr a fruit boy till he started refusing meals either :no:
lizzymcfizzy
09-06-2009, 09:51
I should add my DS got some cake on his birthday - parties Itend to relax but not to the etxent of chocolate or lollies :o
Umm, snacks - fruit, dried fruit, cheese, zucchini slice, saos or plain corn thins or rice cakes with toppings (avocado, butter and marmite, almond paste), vegie sticks and homemade dip, cooked cold pasta.
mine loves cold cooked pasta too! and the rice cakes. She used to eat cold cooked veggies too but will now only eat them at dinner time. Other snacks you can try are muslie bars, I buy a bit of the heinz 'little kids' snack food from time to time, baked beans, raw mushrooms (sounds gross but they love it), savoury muffins, yoghurt, I can't think at the moment but I'm sure there is more.
What an interesting thread this has become. My DD is generally a very healthy eater and I agree with alot of the comments made about sugar and enjoying fruit instead of lollies.
Before DD was close to 2 years old I was SOOO strict. She only got a tiny bit of chocolate for the first time when she was around 22 months. But since she turned 2 I have slackened off completely and given her more junk that she needs.
I think its time to ramp it up a bit and stop being lazy and go back to the healthier snacks before it becomes a habit.
thanks guys!
SorenLorensen
09-06-2009, 10:09
easter and other 'special' occasions.
i dont like chocolate so its not something i really buy or ave in the house.
workin'mumof2
09-06-2009, 10:11
chocolate can take more than 72 hours to metabolise until they're about 5ish. So no chocolate for the bub till then. I'm going to be a mean mum.
:confused: really.
seth cant have normal chocolate but i do give him his own treats on birthdays and special outings but other then that no chocolate at all as he gets hyper. so why would i..
ruby has had a taste of seths choc but thats it.
i have it occasionly myself now.
snacks, they have fruit or even vegies (ruby loves cooked,cold vegies on her sore gums at the moment. also i have alot of gluten free snacks so they share that.)
BabelFish
09-06-2009, 10:15
DD's new favourite thing I introduced to her the other day is baby corn stalks. Man, I put two in front of her (steamed) turned around for a second, and then they were gone! I thought she must have dropped them and the dogs eaten them, but nope. Dogs were outside, the corn was in her belly! She had another four pieces before I decided she should stop :laughing:
lizzymcfizzy
09-06-2009, 11:24
lol thats cute. i've been meaning to try the baby corn on my DD
We've been getting into eggs lately, cooked in the microwave in a little poacher thingi. she can't get enough of them!
BabelFish
09-06-2009, 11:40
You know they also like hard boiled mashed eggs as well - gives them something to mush their fingers in!
I tried french toast on DD ages ago, and she absolutely loved that, too! Mmmmmm, eggs....... :D
My son is 18 months and has had chocolate once. He liked it but wasn't overly fussed. I don't give him treats or anything like that. I mean at his age a treat is fruit lol. I do let him lick the bowl if I've baked something from scratch that has no raw egg in it. He loves my vegan cake batter so he gets a spoon with that once in a blue moon otherwise nothing really. He loves sultanas and boost juice so they are his 'treats'.
~Temet Nosce~
09-06-2009, 13:10
DD had a bit of chocolate around easter, and when me or dp are eating lollies or chocolate or whatever she will have just a tiny bit, literally ony a tiny bite, thats all she needs to keep her happy.
Otherwise, nothing at all, maybe an arrowroot biscuit every now and then (once again, when I have one with my coffee. She doesn't want anything like that usually, only when I have it)
Oh and she had a freddo frog when she got her flushot a few weeks ago, and she has had some cordial today just so she can keep fluids up as she wasn't too keen on drinking plain water (shes sick).
benzjewlz
09-06-2009, 13:18
i dont ban any foods as long as everything is eaten in moderation our kids eat rice chocolate its yummmmmy and they are alowed to eat bickies and lollies when i can find ones that my dd's can eat as long as they arent eating heaps of it why not they are only children after all and whats a child hood with out treats
:iagree::iagree::iagree:
LilMissnBoo
09-06-2009, 13:36
DD had her first taste of chocolate at Easter, and she loved it! She hasn't had it since.
She has a bickkie every day, very low in sugar and salt. And she has home made cake at her Nan's or when I bake.
I eat chocolate every day, but I eat it once she is having a nap or is in bed for the night!
melbryan
09-06-2009, 13:49
We are not big chocolate eaters but my kids do love it like me. But since Ds3 was diagnosed a diabetic at Easter no more. They can eat it when we are out but that is it. Diet chocolate sucks.
Sometimes foods here too...
A couple of days ago with DS 29mths and DD 15mths we were flying home, as we sat down on the plane the flight attendant gave my DS a full size Bounty choc bar and my DD a full size Mars bar. I couldn't believe this, she said it was to keep them happy and quiet for take off!! My kids very rarely get a small fun size choc....but DS knew exactley what he had been given so I made the decision not to take it off him and provoke an all out tantrum on a plane with about 100 other passengers....but seriously I don't think this was the right thing for a flight attendant to do??
BabelFish
09-06-2009, 16:20
That's a bit rich - jeez! I'd complain about that - hello allergies, intolerances etc??? Not really fair on you that you had to let him have something you weren't really happy about to ward off a tantrum, and what if he was allergic and you HAD to take it off him???
lizzymcfizzy
09-06-2009, 16:21
ohy my god she should have asked you before giving babies big chocolate bars!!! were they full of energy and overstimulated half an hour later??? stupid woman!! I would have complained to the airline.
that has made ME really angry!! lol
BabelFish
09-06-2009, 16:22
Yep I agree - you really should complain. That's a terrible thing to do - and the airline should be made aware of it so it doesn't happen to anyone else.
JabberJaw
09-06-2009, 16:36
Sometimes foods here too...
A couple of days ago with DS 29mths and DD 15mths we were flying home, as we sat down on the plane the flight attendant gave my DS a full size Bounty choc bar and my DD a full size Mars bar. I couldn't believe this, she said it was to keep them happy and quiet for take off!! My kids very rarely get a small fun size choc....but DS knew exactley what he had been given so I made the decision not to take it off him and provoke an all out tantrum on a plane with about 100 other passengers....but seriously I don't think this was the right thing for a flight attendant to do??
Wow, my kids have only ever got Lolly pops, to suck on to help with their ears. I always greatfully accepted. My 12 yr old DD fly's north 4-5 times a year to see her nanna and gets lolly pops still (although she look about 16!!)
Dunno about the chokkie bars, and full sized ones i guess it would be ok for my older DD but my 5 and 6 yr old would go spastic hyper! Which on a plane would not be so good.
My son (who is two) never has chocolate, lollies or cake because he plain doesn't like sweets. At birthday parties he will insist on having a piece of cake served up to him, then he will push it around the plate saying "mmm... yummy yummy" but will not actually eat it. However, give this kid veggie sticks, dip or pretty well anything savoury and he will devour it - he loves fetta cheese.
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