chocolate birthday cake? ok for them to eat?

our boys are coming up on their 1st birthday and my mother in law is going all out...i mean ALL OUT. i'm basically a polite bystander...she's very nice and loves the boys, but she's soooooo excited about this birthday that i'm really not able to give much input...one of my boys, xavier, is just like me..looks like me, doesn't sleep, loves the camera, needs a constant audience...AND...hates loud noises! logan is my quiet one...loves to 'read' books and wants to be held ALL THE TIME.

so....all of the family is coming to the party...30 people...including 8 kids under the age of 7, another set of twins (2 years old) and countless members of my husbands family (WHO ARE THE LOUDEST PEOPLE ON THE PLANET)...so i'm stressed.

she thinks the boys are gonna be happy little boys and enjoy the 8 hour party because it's their birthday, but i know better...they won't want the stimulation of such a loud environment and will probably only be happy for about 2 hours, if that....AND...(now i get to the point of this post)...she wants them to have chocolate cake for pictures....

so is chocolate ok for them? i haven't found anything in the baby books about it.

 

My SIL had chocolate cake for my nephew's first birthday & it wasn't a problem. It's probably not something I would feed them on a regular basis but for that one day, I think it would be fine. As for the over stimulation, your right, they will probably be a bit cranky & tired by the end. I would probably try to find a couple of times during the day when I could sneak off with one or both of them to the bedroom for a bit of quiet time. I hope you enjoy the party!

 

Chocolate cake on one day won't hurt them. Since your MIL is planning a long party, I agree with Tina to find a spot for quiet time for them, especially if you know they are not going to sleep. Enjoy the party!

 

At the supermarket, I found Bledina chocolate dessert jars for babies starting 6 months. So I guess chocolate is OK. Hope it will be a great party on this special occasion.

 

Ditto this. The only children/people I've know who had a problem with chocolate were those with a milk allergy (and even then chocolate cake can be ok as it doesn't have to have milk in, just cocoa powder). I'd think that the reason it's not mentioned in the baby books is because it's not something most people are thinking of feeding their baby on a regular basis, if at all.
Maybe you can use the excuse of needing to let them nap to sneak off for down time (and perhaps ask that people limit the noise as much as possible during that time).

Hope you have a great party!

 

I'm not sure about the choclate thing, I would test it a few days before if you are concerned. I do notice a difference with breastfeeding if I have a lot of choclate to eat they tend to have a hard time sleeping and my one son will wake up in the middle of the night ready to rock and roll. My boys are the same age and we are having a party too in two weeks same amout of people too. I plan on sticking to their nap schedule. They wake up around 11/11:30 from their first nap and the party starts at 11:30 figued we would do lunch and cake. Then put them down for a nap around 2:30/3:00 and who ever wants to stay after they wake up from their nap can do so.I couldn't imagine them being able to tolerate 8 hours of awake time plus all the stimulation. Everything I have read about planning the 1st birthday party says to stick to thier nap schedule.

 

Wow! 8 hours is a lonnnnnng time!! As for the cake...we are doing chocolate bc I want them messy I have given them a tiny amount of chocolate pudding to see if there were any reactions and there wasn't. I would stick the nap schedule though! We are doing our party next Sunday (sniff, sniff..totally not ready!) at a pizza house from 3-5pm. They can get both their naps in and eat some supper and cake and go home and get a bath and go to bed I think its nice she is going all out for her grandbabies but maybe ahead of time lay down some rules like about the quiet place in case they get cranky! Have fun!

 

i have had chocolate cake at pretty much ALL 1st birthdays so i don't see an issue with it unless they have an intolerance to it (like my 7 year old, she can't eat but one thing of any kind of chocolate a day or her tummy revolts on her) or they have an allergy to something IN the cake like wheat or gluten or whatever...the 8 hour party thing, even i would be cranky before that was up..what is up with that??? ok, she's going all out, but i think you need to step in and say "um, my babies and i will be there for part of it, but not all of it, you guys can have a grand old time without us"...if she convinced you to have it at your house...wow...just wow...i'd say cut it down to 3 hours, tops!

 

I feel like I could have been the one that posted this. ha! We just had our LOS first birthday party yesterday. My MIL is the same way. She feels like her way is always the best way. There were about 30 people here, most were DHs family and 7 kids (two were twins). The party was from 3-5. Right after the second nap. The boys did great for most of the party but around 4:30 they started to getting REALLY cranky. By 5 when people were starting to leave (mainly bc of the meltdowns the boys were having) they came up to the boys to say "bye" and my LOs would scream at them. I felt so sorry for my kiddos! I took them back to their room and rocked them in the silent, dark room until everyone had left. They had just had too much excitement for one day. I had yellow cupcakes with chocolate icing. One of the boys threw up 3 times that night before bed time. It was awful. Again I felt so bad for him. All in all it was a good day but I am SO glad the party was only 2 hours. My advice is to do what you feel is best for YOUR children. If you feel like they dont need chocolate cake do yellow. It will still be fun to watch them eat it and you MIL can get over it. Have fun and enjoy the big day.