Sugar free items...

I've been meaning to ask this question for awhile! Do you give your LO's sugar free things-like Crystal Light? Or sugar free JELLO or pudding? I ask because we drink Crystal Light in the summer and my inlaws drink it a lot as well-lemonade and iced tea. The boys love it. I made SF pudding the other night and gave the boys some with strawberries. It was a hit. Is it something in moderation? Or something to avoid because of aspertame? Can you tell I am clueless? I am not too concerned about their sugar intake, but I guess if I can give them SF pudding vs ice cream, etc.. I would rather that.

 

I know some people who refuse to because of the aspertame. I give them sugar free things, however.

 

I don't give anything with artificial sweeteners, especially aspartame.

 

I don't know about effects of aspartame or anything but if I'm getting canned fruit I try to find "no sugar added" and stay away from artificial sweeteners. Then I drain and rinse it. My girls do get sweet stuff occasionally but I try to give it in very limited quantities. I don't know if I've ever given them anything with it or not, but I don't think Splenda contains aspartame.

 

I will give them sugar free stuff, usually it is a dessert, so it is not something they have daily.

 

I have given small amounts of sugar free jello or pudding. They just had some sugar free pudding today, in fact. We don't do it very often though, maybe once every week or two. I haven't given any sugar free drinks because they only drink milk and water so far.

 

We do sugar free pudding and oatmeal. We also do no sugar added applesauce. But that's about it. They don't get much sugar. They don't get juice either.

 

I'm diabetic so my kids have grown up with "sugar free" items and sugar substitutes such as Splenda and Equal and they haven't grown a third head or 15th toe or anything...

 

:rotflmbo:

Thanks for that!

 

I avoid artificial sweeteners in my diet as much as possible! Unless you're diabetic, real sugar is probably far less damaging to your overall health than the artificial stuff.

 

nope, nothing like that for my guys. i don't eat it, and i don't give it to my guys (i'm totally neurotic about what i eat, though, so i'm not a good person to ask!).

, jl

 

i don't give them anything sugar-free. i also didn't drink/eat anything sugar-free while i was pregnant and when i was nursing/pumping. i'm just too paranoid.
i give them dessert for lunch or dinner (once a day, like a cookie, or they split a pudding cup).

p.s. we only do water and milk here (i'm a huge water person, and push it on everybody lol)

 

i give my kids sugar free pudding, applesauce, and canned fruit. i give them the pudding a couple times a week since they don't drink a lot of milk. i even add a little more milk than the package calls for. that's all i can think of that's sugar free that i give them.

tanya

 

My uncle is an ER doctor and has a very strong opposition to artificial sweeteners, claiming they are as bad for your body as formaldehyde. I don't know if that's true, but I try to stick to more natural ingredients whenever possible. I'm sure it's not too bad in moderation.

 

I don't think that sugar is inherently evil if its eaten in moderation. Actually my kids get almost no sugar unless its a little bit of cake at a party or something because I just don't really see the point of giving it to them, if they're full, why give them something else? But, that said, I certainly don't think there's anything wrong with giving your kids some pudding or a cookie. Kids have such high metabolisms that some extra calories here and there isn't going hurt.
As far as artificial sweeteners go, I think of it like this: Why do I (in the long run) not want my kids to have sweets? The answer for me is that I don't want them develop a habit of eating them and becoming overweight kids, I would rather them have well established dietary habits of eating healthy foods. So then I really don't see the point of giving them artificial sweeteners since they're STILL SWEETS. They don't know the difference, all they know is that its sweet and I would still be instilling the habit of eating sweets.
I don't judge what anybody else gives their kids because I know that the day is probably coming that they beg MERCILESSLY for junk food and if they are eating it to the point that I think it will push their calorie intake WAY over the edge then I probably would look at Splenda products.
Hope my preachy speech helps - haha! Sorry for the tone, but I feel pretty strongly about this

 

I've been thinking about this topic too. I have given them Splenda a few times, although I believe that's a sugar derivative.

I'm no fan of aspartame or saccharin, until there are more long term studies.

I know many people say they don't give their kids sugar, but there ton's of sugar in things like Puffs, those baby cookie things, yogurt melts, cheerios. You name it.

 

The only thing I've given SF was a popsicle here or there...They only eat half of it usually and then its on the ground...lol...I buy them for myself, but whenever they see me with one they *have* to have one too! It's usually, I'd say, once a week or less.

 

I don't give sugar free items. My deserts are usually yogurt, fruit, etc. If I do "sweets" I just use the stuff full of sugar. I don't drink diet drinks or buy artificially sweetened things so I guess I just feed them what I would eat.

 

I totally agree! I myself do eat/drink a few sugar free items like diet coke, etc , which I probably shoundn't be doing but I refuse to give it to the boys. We were at a playdate a few months ago and there was juice there so I gave them some(they rarely even get juice!), come to find out it was Crytal Lite, I felt so guilty the rest of the day!
I do try to avoid regular sugar as much as possible as well. I buy things like no added sugar applesauce but I read the label to make sure there is no aspertame in it and such. Mind you, they have had ice cream, cookies, etc so I'm not totally restricting sweets, but it's a nice occasional treat!

 

Thanks ladies! The SF stuff isn't something we have every day, even every week. I just happened to make some pudding and let them try some. Same thing with Crystal Light. FWIW-I was at the pedi today with Annabella and I asked him about it. He said "in moderation" but their weights, etc are perfectly fine so there is no real reason for them to be having SF items. It's more of a, "Hey-mom's having that, I want some" kinda thing-which is basically all it is!

I try to limit sweets for them. The unfortunate part is *I* have the sweet tooth. But thank goodness they *LOVE* their fruit and that luckily is their "dessert" on a regular basis. I wish I was brought up that way!

 

I don't choose things for them with artificial sweetener, but sometimes it just happens. Recently at the in-laws a cousin gave the kids a mini sip (the "juice" in a plastic bag). When rolled my eyes about the food colouring and sugar MIL said "Oh, it has sweetener so it's okay." I don't really agree with that statement, but I didn't say anything. I just quietly dumped the rest of it in the garden when my boys were bored with it
I'm not sure about in the States, but our unsweetened applesauce doesn't have artificial sweetener. The boys and I eat tons of it.

 

I try to avoid giving them anything with an artificial sweetener. I'm not over the top, they've had some occasionally, but I'll give them something with real sugar versus artificial sweetener. I do try to avoid HFCS and sugar where I can (ie. no sugar added applesauce versus the regular kind that has HFCS).

 

I avoid aspertame (sp?) at all costs, but splenda is ok.

 

Ah I thought I posted in this thread the other day. . .

Yes, my children get artificial sweeteners. Dad and auntie are both diabetic (and both grandfathers and miscellaneous family members with type 2, a few have type 1).

Aspartame breaks down into an amino acid (phenylanine) and a few other things, yes, including formaldehyde (which is why people with phenylketonuria shouldn't use aspartame but use sucralose -splenda or saccharine - sweet n low instead). I understand the concern about giving children artificial anything, but like PP said, they don't have three heads or anything. In fact, my two are growing and developing normally.

And a good side note, sugar free syrup isn't sticky!