Toddlers vs sugar

I was restricted stuff as a kid and now struggle with binge eating. Just be wary that sometimes it can actually have a negative effect rather than positive.

@Sarah what age?

And I’m sorry you suffer from this. I find my self binge eating in seasons.

Been there done that my MIL is the same giving chips and cookies sugar just trash food i can't stand it. I allow it for holidays or special occasions but not everyday. She's always bringing bags of junk over and when she leaves i throw it out.It became an issue my kids would point to it multiple times a day asking for it. Go into full tantrums over me saying no they'd refuse to eat options I'd offer so I just don't keep it around. As for advice on how to handle it your significant other needs to get on board with a limit maybe cut down to 1x a week or wherever you can compromise if you don't want her having it. P.S I'm sorry I throw food out when people are going hungry please don't come for me.

@Old Lady💃 what age was I restricted stuff? As long as I can remember.

The first 1000 days are the foundations for their lifelong health. I would be upset too if anyone tried to give my LO sugar or salt.

Occasional treats are a good thing, but I think if she’s getting offered juice and treats everyday it could definitely become a problem. Especially the juice, i find juice is like crack to kids

A child under 2 shouldn’t really be getting refined sugars at all. There is absolutely no health or wellbeing benefit to them by giving it and using it as a “treat” is basically the parents telling themselves that as the child knows no different so isn’t going to grow up with anything wrong with them by not getting sugar before 2. Childhood tooth decay, obesity, heart disease in later life is atrocious in the UK and it’s well evidenced about the importance of the first 2000 days of life in terms of nutrition. It’s your child, if you feel strongly about it then tell your family to stop doing it. My son got nothing like that and he eats so well. I will offer him small pieces of chocolate at weekends because he’s almost 3 but he isn’t that fussed by it. My friends children are super fussy and all got stuff like party rings, Freddos etc as babies. Some toddlers are just picky and that’s ok and it often can’t be helped. But if you can avoid junk then they will be better off x

I've only just warmed up since around Christmas to giving my toddler a little sugar here and there, she's 2 now and I still give her baby/toddler snacks like organixs and fruit but a few times a week she can have biscuits and some other little bits here and there, I've just learned that sweet stuff in moderation won't get abused xx

As long as you aren’t giving them a lot and often, I haven’t seen much impact personally. Both my 2.5yr old and 8yo prefer savory foods over sweet foods, and natural “sugars” (fresh fruits, 100% all natural juice, potatoes, corn, dairy products, etc) over candies/cookies/ice cream. Growing up I didn’t personally give them candy or cookies/biscuits as treats, but I also didn’t restrict them from having them (if a class had a b day party with cupcakes they get one too and such) and I’ve noticed if you don’t treat it as something “special” they don’t view it as such either and it helps with their relationship with foods, but if you’re TOO restrictive that can also cause issues. It’s hard out here being a parent!!!

Your little one will be fine it’s okay in moderation buuuuut it’s your call and your MIL needs to respect your wishes!

I completely restrict it. Ive had to set boundaries with people and they don’t like it but it’s my child. Why do they feel the need to decide for our kids? There is no health benefit to refined sugar. I only restrict it now because she doesn’t care at all about sweets. I know one day she will start to notice and will want sweets, specially when she starts school and ill be more open to it, but for now I do restrict it. She is 2 years old. Btw, the ones who have been trying to shove sweets to my daugher (since she was a baby) either have diabetes, have eating issues, have kids with diabetes, or are “professionals” that claim to be sugar free to supposedly help kids 0-5 thrive

We avoided added sugar for my son until age 2 with few exceptions. He’s over 3 now but he will still eat plain oatmeal, for example, and plain yogurt, but he also likes ice cream and other sugary things. I think making sure they are introduced to a very wide variety of food in the early years is considered best practice. Along with just treating sugar like no big deal. That being said I would 100% be annoyed in your situation for sure!

My husbands family r similar, always give sweets, chocolate and biscuits.. personally I give my kid fruit snacks over chocolate but give it to her in moderation, juice tho is an absolute no go, seen too many kids point blank refuse water completely unless there’s juice in it so am VERY strict when it comes to juice or flavoured water, don’t want to create an issue when my toddler is about to turn 2 and still drinks only water

I am anti juice cause I've seen too many kids who refuse to drink ANY water and they ONLY drink juice. I introduced it watered down at 3.

@DC💙🩷💜 arghhhh that’s so so annoying! And down right disrespectful how she/our mils disregarded our LO’s health! Get that junk out the house!!! It’s not good for anyone so not even worth giving it away! Thank you with the boundary. 1x pw sounds like a really good compromise 🙏 ty

A little bit in moderation is fine. Restricting it too much can cause them to binge eat it further down the line. On the other hand, I was fed sweets and biscuits after every meal and for every snack as a kid and I now have a sugar addiction I just can't kick 🙃. There's a happy medium i think. My little one is only 8 months old currently and I don't plan on completely restricting junk food, but it will just be an occasional 'treat'.

It may just be my greedy child, but he’s 18 months old and I make a lot of his meals myself without sugar. Sometimes he has a bit of squash but he will still drink water. He will eat chocolate but still eat the healthy snacks I make. His family love to give him freezer food and treats but he still eats food that I make. I wouldn’t worry too much. Sometimes I pack him snacks and a lunch if he’s going somewhere just to put my mind at ease! Toddlers do become picky, unfortunately we can’t always help what other people give them, annoyingly! Xx

Absolutely not! If you feed them that at that age, they will have trouble eating things outside of that. It is very difficult to get toddlers to eat right and doing that you’re pretty much setting yourself up for failure. If I was you I would literally tell them she’s not allowed to eat without my consent and if she does that you’re not coming back.

Our little one gets homemade coconut milk and cups of water daily. Once in a while I squeeze oranges to give her an OJ or I'll make her an apple juice. But that's not an everyday thing. We do vake sweets prob every 2 weeks or so and we do give her a piece. It might be a cookie or a pudding dish it might be a piece of cake or a cupcake. She does get fruit every single day. She also eats peas and green beans pretty regularly. Sweet peas are actually part of her daily snack 🤣. Tofu is a daily breakfast item 🤣. She's two and i don't want her to have a negative relationship with food or think that certain foods are "bad". She didn't get any sugar that was processed until after her 1st birthday.

They have their whooole lives to eat junk food and sugar and all that crap, when they grow up if they want to. You need to be firm with your MIL. Your baby, your rules! Simple as that. Also, water is just fine to drink, no need to be giving them juices and all those “flavoured waters”. Maybe I’m just too traditional but my grandmother raised and I was only allowed 1 can of coke a week, which was on Saturdays (couldn’t even finish the entire can) and for the afternoon snack she’d allowed me to have like a chocolate croissant or something sweet like that. She was also very mindful of sugar cause she had diabetes and so does my dad

In moderation it's fine and everyday is not moderation. Push back on mil and tell her to cut it out. Processed sugars are highly addicting and ruin the good bacteria in the gut, which result in people over eating. There is nothing positive to be gained from over eating junk

I have taken a can of Coca-Cola out of my MIL's hand and threw it, full, into a garbage can when I caught her giving it to my son. Don't give up. You're the mother.

I’m super cut throat when it comes to my LO so the first time someone betrays my trust when it comes to him is the last because the next time they will not be allowed near my child regardless of who it is. It could be my own mother, idc. I 10000% agree that sugar is absolutely terrible for anyone, let alone a child. They do have their whole adult years to explore whatever they want, it’s our job to care for their brain development and nutrition. Sugar is more addictive than cocaine, don’t believe me then I wanna see the pro sugar “in moderation” peeps try to avoid it for 1 whole day. Try 2 days. See if it doesn’t drive you fucking nuts and you start tweaking. lol ok but seriously it’s time to be stern with your MIL and SO. This is concerning behavior even if it wasn’t about the sugar. You’re being betrayed, defied and disrespected 😔

@Sarah I feel the same. My parents were super strict on it and now as an adult I go wild because I can x

My daughter has a biscuit with me when I drink my tea and she has the occasional sweet treat bought by family members x

Sugar is addictive - toddler or not! Saying this with full acknowledgement that I’m addicted to sugar… probably a bigger discussion to have with your SO

We are a no refined sugar household. We do not buy any foods with added refined sugar and do not cook with sugar. Exceptions are birthdays, holidays, parties - our 2yo is offered an age appropriate amount of a sweet treat. Absolutely no juice though. We make fruit and veggie smoothies instead.

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with honey, but we use raw local honey so it’s the good stuff. We try and avoid processed sugars etc for our children, we don’t offer chocolate or sweets, however I don’t think you can escape it. My daughter goes to nursery where they do occasionally have chocolate in their puddings, or if we’re out and get food at a cafe she’ll have processed foods there. My son is only 10 months so he hasn’t had the chance to try as many things yet. We only give water, coconut water, milk, kefir, or smoothies to drink. It’s your child, set the rules. If they can’t respect the boundary then there should be a consequence. I don’t think it’ll drastically change their tastebuds, but I think once they have a taste for something and they like it it’s natural to want more so I’m not surprised they’re asking for juice if they see it!

There are studies that show that it does in fact change their brains and taste buds. Honey has very little nutritional value, it’s just calories and sugar. Even medicinally, elderberry syrup surpasses it by A LOT. If you want to sweeten things maybe you can try opting for date sugar or plain dates.

@GMF THIS!! 1000%