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Sugar alcohol (xylitol, sorbitol, etc). It's an artificial sweetener that is actually good for you. Studies have shown that it can prevent or even reverse tooth decay to some degree.

When looking for foods made with it, be sure to check the label to make sure it doesn't also contain aspartame or another sweetener in it--I don't think other sweeteners are as bad as some people think (the whole idea that they cause cancer is bunk)--but what companies like to do is add a little sugar alcohol, which is expensive, with a lot of another cheaper sweetener. So make sure it's either the only sweetener or that it's first on the list (indicating most of the sweetener game from that).

Some of my favorite sweets with alcohol sweetener are Breyers Carb Smart ice creams, especially the vanilla with chocolate shell bars (though they're all good). I also get caramels from my grocery store but can't remember the name. Ask for the diabetic candy if you aren't sure where to start looking. If you're okay with your kids having gum, xylitol gums are excellent for promoting dental health.

You can buy xylitol in some stores and use it in recipes, but it can be hard to find. I usually use Stevia instead, since it's so easy to substitute for real sugar.

To cut down on carbs, are there any special savory treats they enjoy? Bacon is a hit around here (the precooked stuff is easy to heat up in the microwave). Slim Jim's. Pork rinds. I wouldn't want them to fill up on those things exclusively either, but they're tasty enough that they can help transition away from the pancakes. A sweet but better alternative might be stuff like apples with peanut butter or bananas dipped in chocolate.

Maybe you could try a switch witch sort of thing with the candy they already have? They could exchange 10 pieces for a small toy or a dollar or whatever.

So breakfasts are usually in the car:

- Toasted buttered bagel (cinnamon raisin)
- Plain frozen mini pancakes or homemade banana pancakes with turkey sausage links. No syrup.
- Homemade banana bread or blueberry bran muffin 1-2 times with turkey sausage links.
- Dry cereal in a pinch.
- Spinach smoothie with yogurt and fruit

On weekends we really try to do eggs and sausage or bacon and avoid anything super sugary, plus fresh fruit.

After school is dinner time for us, but on the weekends we do snack once mid morning and once mid afternoon and it alternates between sweet and salty. So if there’s cookie after church service (must have each week), then it will be pretzels and string cheese in the afternoon.

My caveat to this is I am pretty liberal about dessert. My kids get ice cream or some cookies a few times a week, but it’s asymmetrical warfare. They never know when or if I’ll offer it and it’s never routine (aside from the post church fresh baked cookies they always have and fro-yo after haircuts). Basically I limit regular daily sugar so I can offer it to them when I want to give them a fun treat.

I’d suggest slowly removing the unwanted items from the house. Also eating healthy foods around them may help.

The PP offer great points!

I don’t know the ages but maybe talking with them about healthy foods may help!?

Fruits, homemade granola, whole grain waffles/pancakes, smoothies with veggies and yogurt, foods that you dip things with can also be pleasing.... hummus, carrots, green peppers etc...

All the junk should be removed! Cookies can be replaced with healthy ones and mini muffins with chia, fruit and minimal choc.

Hope that helps!

We don't do super well with this but for first breakfast (DS eats again at daycare) he has a handful of plain cheerios and cut up strawberries or blueberries. Official breakfast, lunch, and two small snacks are at daycare and healthy. Dinner here is a usually milk, turkey, triscuts, orange slices, and part of a whole foods fig bar or similar. He does get 1-2 hershey kisses or similar a day. This kid loves chocolate. He goes in the pantry and gets his own snacks on the weekends so we just make sure he has 5-6 decent choices (cheddar bunnies, chickpea crisps, etc) and that makes it easy.

@Mrs Panda: What is the behavior that you are trying to correct, is it the demanding of sugary treats or is it the aftermath of the sugar crash?

I view the demanding tactics as an opportunity to teach my kid that we don't always get what we want, even in situations where everyone else is having it. It's not easy, but I don't purposely rid my home of treats, I try to teach my child that he can have them at certain times and that being part of a family means you don't demand things in that way.

We went through stages of this - mostly with DD1 (though maybe its just that DD2 isnt there yet). We have basically made the big distinction between natural sugar and added sugar.

For breakfasts we rely on low sugar cereal, pancakes, waffles, biscuits with no sugar added jam and then eggs and other proteins. Syrup is limited and must be earned. We dont give syrup on the weekends.

For treats, we generally treated fruit as a treat and dessert. This worked until she was 2 or so and she started getting exposure to fruit snacks, cookies, cupcakes, pop tarts and all that more regularly at school. We caved a bought fruit snacks once...they over ran my sweet daughters life. Everything revolved around her getting that sugar buzz. Nope...not in my house.

Now - treats are fruit or homemade baked goods with controlled amounts of added sugar. Maybe once or twice a month we have something like cake or cupcake. We do have ice cream from time to time - but its very small amounts (3-4 bites).

I also discovered that the kids LOVE berries with whipped cream - I try to make it or at least get the low sugar variety. In the summer I fill an ice cream cone with cut up sugar and top with a small amount of whipped cream...they go bonkers for it...

As others have mentioned - I keep the sugar in check so I can offer splurges/treats from time to time without feeling bad.

I agree with removing stuff you don't want them to eat slowly. I recently moved the kids snacks to a lower cabinet that they can open, and since I don't want them wanting to eat stuff I don't want to to eat, I just stopped buying crap! I feel like it's the same philosophy as adults. Whenever DH and I need a re-set on eating better, we just don't buy stuff we shouldn't eat. When you can't reach for the ice-cream, and the only thing in the fridge is celery, you eat the celery, lol!

@Mrs Panda: Great job! One thing that has also helped us is training their eyes to what they see in the kitchen. We have a walk in pantry that is always closed with a child lock on it so they can't get in there themselves and keep the more acceptable snacks like pretzels or peanut butter crackers and dried fruit on the shelves that would be eye level to them if they walked in with me. We keep treats up high and behind other boxes and bins so they are not visible. Cereal is also kept on a slightly higher shelf, although I don't have a problem with them eating it as a snack - its just the potential mess of grabbing a box.

I don't really keep food out on our kitchen counters EXCEPT for our 2-tier fruit basket and a jar of peanut butter. One tier holds fruit and the other holds our bread. So they always see tangerines and apples and bananas out, its colorful, it draws their eye, and they ask for it. I would say 7 nights a week, someone is asking me for something out of the fruit basket. DS1 will also often ask for a PBJ because he sees the bread and PB out. I can quickly add a smear of all-fruit spread from the fridge and hand it to him.

We have a garage fridge that we stow all the kid stuff like pouches, ice cream, frozen waffles, and juice in. They can't get in the garage themselves, so that stuff is out of sight as well. But if we didn't have that option, I would definitely hide everything in the crisper drawer or something. I also remove the frozen pancakes and waffles from the box (mostly as a space-saving method), but it disguises the contents pretty well. What they CAN see in the fridge is a jug of milk, a giant bag of baby carrots, cucumbers, berries/grapes, and string cheese, so that's what they will ask for.

We do fruit snacks sometimes, but I would say about 50 percent of the time, I don't give them their own pouch. I will like in a public situation where I need to keep them quiet or something, but if its just at home as a treat, I open 1 bag and give them out one at a time. Literally, like "one for you....one for you.....one for you...." and we go back and forth as each person chews and swallows. And then when its gone, its gone! With ice cream, we usually give them an ice cream cone with enough ice cream just to fill the base of the cone - so like 3 tablespoons or something - and top it with some sprinkles. Or we do fro-yo and I control the portion. If its a cookie or cake, we try to do small portions (which is harder with like a giant birthday cake in front of you), but we usually opt for cake with whipped cream as frosting and fresh fruit inside (also less mess). If we're doing real cupcakes, I try to go for the mini ones. Same with cookies.

Oh, another reason we don't feel bad dumping all their candy after they've had like 1-2 pieces is that they get vitamin gummies every night. They get like a multi, probiotic, omega, and an immune C gummy. Based on the dosage, they end up eating like 5-6 gummies every night before bath so THERE'S YOUR TREAT KIDS. Its definitely got sugar in it, but at least I can justify that its got vitamins.

@Mrs Panda: Well poo! French toast might be another good way to "trick" them into getting some additional protein in there with the egg!

Ooh...and what about freezing a banana and giving that to them for an afternoon snack? Or mashing a frozen banana and having banana "ice cream"?

@Mrs Panda: When you do pancakes and waffles, are the homemade or the frozen kind?

My girls suddenly this year developed a thing for muffins---I think because kids at their school eat them. But most muffins are basically cake and I don't love giving that to them in the morning. So I started making homemade ones, where I control the ingredients a little more. My husband (who never cooks or bakes!) just helped the kids make pumpkin muffins on Sunday to have a quick-to-grab breakfast. We usually cut the sugar quite a bit, but add in tiny mini chocolate chips so it still seems like a "treat", but is less sugary overall. If you want a healthier mix, try the Kodiac Cakes muffin mixes.

For pancakes and waffles, will they accept healthier homemade version? My kids will eat almost anything if it's in mini form. Neither of them will eat a full size pancake or waffle, but will eat even a healthy version (like almond flour, or with butternut squash puree added) if I make them mini.

Otherwise, I think you have to slowly phase it out. We were just on vacation, where the kids got to eat all kinds of junk, and my youngest especially had some major tantrums once we got home, demanding ice cream and cookies and candy. I had to hide all the ice cream and treats so I can open the freezer and say, "We don't have any". A few days of "not having any" reset her expectations.

Since my kids are going to be 3 and 5 soon, I've loosened up on the sugar stuff a little, but like you, I also don't want it to be a several-times-a-day habit. And when you think of a muffin for breakfast, animal crackers for a snack, something like mac n cheese or pizza for lunch, and then chicken nuggets for dinner, you suddenly have a whole day that really lacks nutrition. While I let my kids eat everything I just listed, to try to split it into days where the rest of the offering are more healthy. So if I allow mac n cheese for dinner, then it's going to be on a day where they had eggs and fruit for breakfast, and chicken/rice/broccoli for lunch with some carrot sticks and guac for a snack.

@irene: the food pyramid or Myplate idea is a good one! I think my old enough would "get" a visual representation of healthy foods if we talked about what she ate all day. I may try that!

@irene: Any specific book titles you can recommend?

I also agree with out of sight out of mind theory. If my two year old sees it, he’ll want it, demand for it, cry, etc. He never asks for it if he doesn’t see it. My five year old is odd bc she doesn’t like candy or cake.

With holiday treats, we pick one or two. And then we throw it out. I used to keep it but I always ended up throwing it out the next holiday. Or for Halloween, we donated it to a dentist who sent it to the troops.

My kids are carb fiends and breakfast is a struggle. I don't have time to make eggs or much of anything in the morning so I rely on my freezer. I will regularly batch cook french toast so that they get the protein from the egg. I also started buying the kodiak pancake mix. It's more expensive but also packs a protein punch when made with egg and whole milk instead of water. The sugar count is low. My older one likes syrup but we try to limit that. Thankfully, my little doesn't eat syrup. We did get in the habit of offering treats after dinner but we're taking something super small like a few chocolate chips.

My DD is also a sugar fiend and breakfast is the hardest meal. She likes sugary cereal and I buy the lowest sugar versions I can find but I still think it’s too much. So lately I’ve been mixing it half-and half with plain cereal (for example, the Cascadian Farms version of Fruit Loops has 7g sugar per serving, and I mix it in equal partions with the unflavored Os that have 1g. She doesn’t notice and it cuts down on the overall sugar content). We also have her dip pancakes/waffles/French toast in a little dish of syrup instead of pouring it on top, so we can control the portion more easily. If she eats it too fast and doesn’t have enough for her whole pancake, tough. I’ve also been encouraging her to dip her pancakes in applesauce instead of syrup.

We only keep plain (usually homemade) yogurt in our house so DD isn’t really used to the sweetened ones, but the half-and-half trick would work for yogurt too if you buy it in the big tubs rather than individual cups. Or add a bit of jam or honey to plain yogurt — it’s still better than the store bought sweetened ones.

For a healthy snack, we have silicone freezer pop molds and blend up plain unsweetened yogurt with whatever fruit she wants to make pops. She feels like she’s getting away with something because she eats a lot of them, but I don’t restrict them (our pop molds are really small — like 2 or 3 tablespoons per pop).

While I know DD eats less sugar on a daily basis than most kids, I’m always looking for ways to cut it more because we do sabotage it with bakery treats or gelato more often than we should...

@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: yes, daycare, school, or vacations where parents allow more treats, or other caregivers like grandparents is where they find out about these foods. Like...I had never in my life made Mac n Cheese at home for kids because I think it's a completely nutrition less meal. especially the boxed powder kind, but I also hadn't ever made the home made version. But my oldest daughter has friends who eat mac n cheese in their lunch almost every day, or chicken nuggets....so she started requesting those things, too. I do talk about how those things are not "every day" food items for us, but that's a hard line to walk because she's 4.5 and is very literal and is likely to go right to her friend the next day and tell her that mac n cheese is not an every day meal. Same with my 2.5 year old--we'd never given her pancakes in her daycare breakfast, but several of the other kids have frozen waffles or pancakes daily, so she started begging for them. My daughter also learned about Pirate's booty from her friends at school, and about Trader Joe's kettle corn, and unfortunately for me, our babysitter is a littler more liberal with treats than I'd like--like they are always celebrating someone's birthday, or going to Ben and Jerry's "free cone day" or celebrating a holiday with all the other sitters in our building, and these celebrations always involve treats I wouldn't be giving my kids otherwise.

When we recently visited my in-laws, my MIL was giving my kids ice cream daily, so when I got home, we had a few days where I had to deal with tantrums over the fact that we are not having ice cream every night at home.

Having said all that, those are boundaries I'm comfortable setting. Good food habits are important to me, so I'm okay with comforting them during a tantrum and holding the boundary that we aren't having various forms of treats several times a day. But my husband often gives in really easily when I'm not around. ha! So I often feel like I "lose" as often as I "win". Like my 2.5 year old has been begging for frozen pancakes because her daycare classmates get them--guess who came home with TWO boxes of Trader Joe mini pancakes?--my husband. Sigh.

@Anagram and @Mrs. Lemon-Lime: I have a child that is a problem eater...not picky, but medically diagnosed as problem because of a mechanical problem that has manifested into a psychological problem. For a while, he ate only 5 foods, no deviations and it was very strict in terms of the brands.

I find it very difficult to explain to other parents what we're dealing with, especially when they are trying to feed their child healthy options. I get it, I really do, but I am not lazy, I am not stupid, I have a child with a unique problem that eats chicken nuggets, boxed mac and cheese (although he'll also accept a homemade version with a hidden egg stirred in) and that was pretty much it for a few years. We're just now getting to the point where he's eating new foods, but when he comes home and tells me that other kids criticize his lunch choices, I know where that comes from and I wish parents would instead talk about how people eat different things and not label things good or bad. It's very difficult at this age because kids are literal, as Anagram wrote.