Hellobee Boards Topic: How closely do you read food labels for your toddler?

Hellobee Boards Topic: How closely do you read food labels for your toddler? https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Fri, 29 May 2026 21:00:55 +0000 Corduroy on "How closely do you read food labels for your toddler?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-closely-do-you-read-food-labels-for-your-toddler#post-1481133 Sat, 08 Mar 2014 22:05:33 +0000 Corduroy 1481133@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I read labels most of the time. The biggest surprise to me was all the ingredients in Pedialyte and Gerber's Replenish. LO will have to get pretty sick before I give her one of those. Baby Boy Mom on "How closely do you read food labels for your toddler?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-closely-do-you-read-food-labels-for-your-toddler#post-1481082 Sat, 08 Mar 2014 21:16:19 +0000 Baby Boy Mom 1481082@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I read the ingredient list very carefully both because of allergies and wanting to avoid dyes, preservatives, added sugar, hydrogenated oils. Mrs. M on "How closely do you read food labels for your toddler?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-closely-do-you-read-food-labels-for-your-toddler#post-1481043 Sat, 08 Mar 2014 20:47:32 +0000 Mrs. M 1481043@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I always read them before buying. T.H.O.U. on "How closely do you read food labels for your toddler?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-closely-do-you-read-food-labels-for-your-toddler#post-1481017 Sat, 08 Mar 2014 20:29:00 +0000 T.H.O.U. 1481017@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @septca: I know what you mean about the dye, why! I remember first researching this when I was taking prenatals and thought why do they have to dye these pink! Who cares what color they are! pinkcupcake on "How closely do you read food labels for your toddler?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-closely-do-you-read-food-labels-for-your-toddler#post-1480930 Sat, 08 Mar 2014 19:28:03 +0000 pinkcupcake 1480930@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I definitely try to avoid processed foods as much as possible but it's not always possible. I read labels mostly for artificial flavors and colors. I also pay attention to the type of packaging - for example, I try to avoid cans as much as possible. looch on "How closely do you read food labels for your toddler?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-closely-do-you-read-food-labels-for-your-toddler#post-1468643 Wed, 05 Mar 2014 08:20:13 +0000 looch 1468643@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I always look for the grams of protein, we do not have any allergies. lamariniere on "How closely do you read food labels for your toddler?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-closely-do-you-read-food-labels-for-your-toddler#post-1468640 Wed, 05 Mar 2014 08:18:56 +0000 lamariniere 1468640@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I always read, but he eats what we eat, so I don't often buy special prepackaged kid food. I also home make the vast majority of our food. mrsjazz on "How closely do you read food labels for your toddler?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-closely-do-you-read-food-labels-for-your-toddler#post-1468547 Wed, 05 Mar 2014 05:54:30 +0000 mrsjazz 1468547@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I read labels for all our food, I've read the labels for years since my doctor diagnosed me with IBS. I'm usually surprised by the amount of sodium and by the first ingredient. I bought Dr. Praeger's Spinach Littles, I was surprised by the lack of nutritional value so I don't buy them anymore. Arden on "How closely do you read food labels for your toddler?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-closely-do-you-read-food-labels-for-your-toddler#post-1468506 Wed, 05 Mar 2014 01:58:11 +0000 Arden 1468506@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Very carefully, yes. Imagine my surprise when after feeding Vi canned kidney beans for over a week, I read the label and found sugar as the third ingredient! Plain beans, really?! I was so annoyed. sarac on "How closely do you read food labels for your toddler?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-closely-do-you-read-food-labels-for-your-toddler#post-1468460 Wed, 05 Mar 2014 00:26:52 +0000 sarac 1468460@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Carefully. I try to avoid added sugar, mostly. Adira on "How closely do you read food labels for your toddler?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-closely-do-you-read-food-labels-for-your-toddler#post-1467165 Tue, 04 Mar 2014 15:47:48 +0000 Adira 1467165@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I read every ingredient because Xander's allergic to milk! septca on "How closely do you read food labels for your toddler?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-closely-do-you-read-food-labels-for-your-toddler#post-1467149 Tue, 04 Mar 2014 15:44:32 +0000 septca 1467149@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I try, but I also make almost all of DD's food. She does eat a fair number of pouches, but only certain brands and combinations... As far as added ingredients, I stay away from red dye 40 because DD had a really bad digestive reaction to red Tylenol last time she was sick (I usually buy the dye-free, but they were out - lesson learned!). It's annoying because red dye 40 seems to be in EVERYTHING (why?!?!?). matador84 on "How closely do you read food labels for your toddler?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-closely-do-you-read-food-labels-for-your-toddler#post-1467053 Tue, 04 Mar 2014 15:15:46 +0000 matador84 1467053@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I look at how much sugar per serving and sodium. I usually look to see if there is HFCS also. I could do better but I also woh and cooking fresh is minimum unfortunately. Mommy Finger on "How closely do you read food labels for your toddler?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-closely-do-you-read-food-labels-for-your-toddler#post-1466912 Tue, 04 Mar 2014 14:36:56 +0000 Mommy Finger 1466912@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I try to be careful. I agree on the pouches but figure that at least he's eating a little veggies with his applesauce. :) I really try not to purchase processed foods but it is inevitable. I do stay away from HFCS. brownie on "How closely do you read food labels for your toddler?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-closely-do-you-read-food-labels-for-your-toddler#post-1466678 Tue, 04 Mar 2014 13:51:22 +0000 brownie 1466678@https://boards.hellobee.com/ There are fruit juice sweetened cranberries and cherries and blueberries at whole foods that we like. But we scrutinize every ingredient because he is intolerant to soy. I also believe he is reactive to sugar. Freckles on "How closely do you read food labels for your toddler?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-closely-do-you-read-food-labels-for-your-toddler#post-1466666 Tue, 04 Mar 2014 13:49:30 +0000 Freckles 1466666@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I've always looked at labels, but with LO I always look at sugar, sodium and fibre. regberadaisy on "How closely do you read food labels for your toddler?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-closely-do-you-read-food-labels-for-your-toddler#post-1466645 Tue, 04 Mar 2014 13:45:52 +0000 regberadaisy 1466645@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @mediagirl: LOL I still vividly remember your horror at the ingredients of Gerber organic! Andrea on "How closely do you read food labels for your toddler?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-closely-do-you-read-food-labels-for-your-toddler#post-1466638 Tue, 04 Mar 2014 13:44:53 +0000 Andrea 1466638@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Very carefully. We have a dairy, egg, and nut allergy. mediagirl on "How closely do you read food labels for your toddler?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-closely-do-you-read-food-labels-for-your-toddler#post-1466625 Tue, 04 Mar 2014 13:40:44 +0000 mediagirl 1466625@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I don't read them very well. I mostly just make sure there is no high fructose corn syrup in things. I was a lot more thorough when she was younger and eating baby food. Fronkinzankinsbride on "How closely do you read food labels for your toddler?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-closely-do-you-read-food-labels-for-your-toddler#post-1466623 Tue, 04 Mar 2014 13:40:10 +0000 Fronkinzankinsbride 1466623@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I read the labels to everything all the time. I don't even know why I do it, its like a compulsive thing I do. It makes grocery shopping trips much longer. 2PeasinaPod on "How closely do you read food labels for your toddler?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-closely-do-you-read-food-labels-for-your-toddler#post-1466621 Tue, 04 Mar 2014 13:39:05 +0000 2PeasinaPod 1466621@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I read every label since LO has an egg allergy. It's definitely made me more aware of the other things that are in our foods, but I'm mainly looking for the egg products! Bao on "How closely do you read food labels for your toddler?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-closely-do-you-read-food-labels-for-your-toddler#post-1466614 Tue, 04 Mar 2014 13:37:16 +0000 Bao 1466614@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I try to as much as possible but I don't exhaust myself over it. jedeve on "How closely do you read food labels for your toddler?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-closely-do-you-read-food-labels-for-your-toddler#post-1466612 Tue, 04 Mar 2014 13:36:40 +0000 jedeve 1466612@https://boards.hellobee.com/ We don't do too much packaged goods. But I totally agree on the pouches. They are loaded with sugar - they are basically flavored applesauce. Not that that is bad in and of itself, but it is hard to make sure he's getting a serving of veggies and not just fruit. I was also surprised to learn that puffs had no fiber. T.H.O.U. on "How closely do you read food labels for your toddler?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-closely-do-you-read-food-labels-for-your-toddler#post-1466600 Tue, 04 Mar 2014 13:33:54 +0000 T.H.O.U. 1466600@https://boards.hellobee.com/ We are a dual WOH house, so making things from scratch doesn't often happen for us that often. We are lucky to get a homemade dinner on the table 4 nights a week. However, we do try to read the food labels on the pre-packaged or processed food we give her. I'm really surprised at some of things that have a lot of empty calories, added sugar, artificial coloring, etc. Again, not to say that any of these things are terrible and should never be fed to a child, but personally, we just try to stay informed about what she is eating and then make choices from there. - Craisins (added sugar, the less sugar ones have artificial sweeteners. We opt for just raisins or prunes) - Pouches (specifically the ones that are marketed as veggies but really the first ingredient is apples. I can just buy regular applesauce). - Packaged Meats (lots of sodium)