Hellobee Boards

Nope. She's only ten months though...

My son is almost 3, he has eaten cake at birthday parties and occasionally he will have a few bites of a chocolate muffin. He won't eat ice cream or popsicles, although, I would be okay with ones made from fruit puree and yogurt.

I don't want to make anything off limits to him, honestly, because I had a bad relationship with things that were forbidden.

We love dessert here! Although I've never given him his own dish of ice cream or piece of cake, we share bites with him. We don't do any juice drinks though.

He's also had 2 dum dum lollipops.

Yes, my almost 3 year old gets treats all the time, almost daily if not daily, and he definitely knows what they are. I wish I could echo what some of the other ladies have said, but sweets are part of our lives! If I want to have dessert every night, I don't feel like I can keep my son from doing so as well -- only if he has eaten well, of course!

Not regularly but she's had froyo and a few times a week she'll have honest juice (not very sweet). She's 16 months.

B seems to have treats more often especially since he's in preschool and some parents bring cupcakes and juice for their child's snack day (bleh). My parents always seem to give him a treat when he's with them too.

I don't go out if my way to give my almost 16 month old treats, but I don't avoid them like the plague either. I firmly believe in everything in moderation and not making foods 'forbidden'. She has a small cup of diluted Nudie juice every morning (made solely from fresh fruit, no additives, no preservatives, no added sugar etc). When I have a morning pastry a couple of mornings per week (I bake a lot), I will give her bites of my cinnamon roll or blueberry muffin. When I bake oatmeal raisin cookies, she sometimes gets bites of those too.

To be honest, she doesn't like or want a lot of sweets. She won't try ice cream, most cookies, or any pastries other than my cinnamon rolls and blueberry muffins. She'll ask for a bite, I'll break off a piece for her, she pokes it, maybe puts it to her mouth and then puts it down and doesn't want it. I'm ok with that.

ETA re the juice: I don't really consider it a treat, especially as she eats loads of healthy foods (including lots of real fruit) the rest of the day and drinks loads of water. Ideally, she'd drink a cup of milk first thing in the morning, but that's still a work in progress, so for now, it's a little hit of vitamin C when she wakes up. I only included it above since it seems so many people look at it as a huge treat that should be avoided at all costs, whereas I honestly don't really feel that way. LO is on the skinny side though, I'd maybe feel differently if she weren't.

She definitely knows what a treat is and yes, she gets them.

Not often since we aren't' big sweets people, but she will get an Honest Kids juice here and there, bites of ice cream or froyo, bite of a donut, etc. The only thing I say NO WAY to are chocolate and caffeine, for obvious reasons.

I had a friend growing up - and her parents made a HUGE huge huge deal about only having healthy foods in the house. when she came to my house, she binged on junk food and then once we could all drive in high school, it continued to include fast food, lol. so yeah....we don't make cookies/candy etc staples, but once in awhile she can have a bit.

if im nibbling on something like a cookie and he's around and comes up to me and wants a little piece, I give it to him. no harm in my book. he doesn't get a lot and really doesn't seem to know the difference between sweets and healthy food at 15 months. all in moderation.
he doesn't get juice though.

@sorrycharlie: Yes, exactly this. We don't do 'forbidden foods'. We just model moderation in everything, even sugary dessert stuff. So, if we go out to dinner and we all get soft serve for dessert, she gets a tiny toddler sized version. If I make cookies, she gets a small one. If I'm eating candy, she gets a piece.

This works because none of us eat these things especially often. We don't keep many sweet things in the house, and when we do eat them, we eat them in small amounts. If she's awake, she gets to share a proportional amount. I don't want to fetishize any foods for just that reason.

@sorrycharlie: oh, sounds like my childhood!

Well, Sadie's only 8 months, so no! But, when she's a little older, we'll definitely do treats. I don't see anything wrong with treats in moderation.

@sarac: I like this!

We use moderation. I need a daily treat for myself, sometimes I share with him, sometimes not. He has to eat the healthier stuff before he gets offered the fun stuff. I use it in animal training terms- if you do it every day, it isn't enrichment, it becomes habit.

He gets more when we are visiting family, I let the grandmas spoil him, I don't fight it- to me it's a grandma's job to spoil and give treats. If he saw them every day or most days, we would have limits, but since he doesn't, I don't worry about it.

As for age- we've always shared what we are eating with him since he started solids. He got a taste of frosting at 5ish months, a taste of ice cream or a paleta (popcicle) when we get it (monthly if even that, my husband is diabetic, so he has the occasional splurge night and we really try to make the most of it).