Do you give your kids candy?

Within the last week I've had a couple of people offer my girls candy and I have politely said, "no thank you, they don't eat candy." All of them have looked at me like I had horns growing out of my head. So, do you give your kids candy? I allow my girls to eat ice cream and occasionally we'll have cake or M&M's or pie. But hard candy, with the exception of suckers, they have not had. Especially tootsie rolls and taffy and things like that--which is what was being offered. One teenager (and knowing she doesn't have a clue) even said, "they're three and you don't give them candy?" Uhh, no, I don't. Am I just being silly?

 

I let my almost 4 year old have sugar free chocolate (the tiny hershey bars). He usually gets 2 per day if he is good. Otherwise, no candy. He is really, really, really nuts if he has sugar. I avoid it at all costs! (Red food coloring is evil too!)

Donna

 

Nope, mine haven't ever had hard candy, and I don't anticipate it happening anytime soon. :good: I'm not sure they'd even like it. ardon: They don't like cake or chocolate. But I am going to avoid it until I can.

 

No my kids do not eat candy. If they discovered it and ask for it, I would let them have some but they really dont know what it is. The man at the coffee store always gives them a sucker and they walk out of the store sucking on the wrapping paper until I take it away. They just hand it right over. They are probably thinking, "What the heck is this paper thing on a stick?" LOL I wish I told him from the beginning they dont eat suckers! Now I just go through the motions each time!

N does not like any sugar but S does so he does eat cookies or donuts occasionally.

 

Last Halloween was the first time WE ever really gave them any, and then it wasn't a lot. We have to watch what they get from Grandma. They don't need it. It is a treat IF they do get any. I wasn't too happy when I brought them in for a hair cut where grandma had gotten their hair cut before and they immediately ran in and raided the drawer behind the counter and got suckers. Things that make you go hmm...

 

Yeah, well. Put me on the bad mommy list because we eat a ton of candy. Probably why my oldest had 5 cavities! :blush: :huh: <_<
I try to limit it. They do not get it every day. But I don't care if they have some pieces now and then. I am cautious of choking hazards with the littlest ones, but otherwise I don't mind...as long as they share with me.

 

We eat candy at Halloween time, Christmas time and Easter. All the times we receive candy.

 

I'm glad I'm not alone. The girls haven't ever had candy either. They have had cake, icecream, pie and cookies, but never candy. I guess thats probably because Dh and I don't eat much candy.

 

No, I really try not to. The only things they have had candywise is M&M's (PT'ing), half of a mini kitkat or mini hershey bar when at my mom's PT'ing and choc covered pretzels. The only hard candy they have ever had is about 4 lollipops each in the last month because of Halloween they had dum dums and tootsie pop but I don't intend to make it a habit.

 

I just started letting mine have a little more. It's hard to avoid with the two big sisters running around. I still keep it to an absolute minimum for all four girls.

 

We've had some this Halloween. They are limited and required to eat a decent dinner first.

I don't want to make it SO taboo that they are DYING for it. I want it to be a treat and treated like a treat, not a rite of passage.

 

Mine have never had hard candy and they are 5. ocassional chocolate or treats but that's it

 

My little ones, no -- I see no need to start candy when they don't even know what it is.

Nadia, yes -- she's allowed one or two pieces a day from her Halloween stash right now. (DH and I have polished off most of it, LOL.) But, even she doesn't eat hard candy except for lollipops -- she mostly likes M&M's and gummy things. And, she didn't start eating candy until she was 3 or so.

And, we don't buy candy for the house -- it's a very occasional treat, mostly Halloween and Easter only.

 

No candy here either. They have had pieces of cookie here and there, cake on their bdays, licks of our ice cream and that sort of thing. They like everything they have tried, but don't make a big fuss over it. They went trick-or-treating and we figured we would let them try a few different things. They haven't even asked...but they have had hours of fun dumping it all out and telling us all about every piece as they put it back in. They have even been bringing me the pieces that end up opened and telling me they are 'all yucky'!

My parents used sugar treats/candy as a bribe for absolutely everything, and I ended up with tons of cavities as a kid. I'm sure I'll get to the point of using it as a bribe too...I just hope it is when they are old enough that I can imagine them getting a shot and a tooth drilled!

 

mine will eat chocolates or other sweets (cookies, cake etc) but I do not give them hard candies, lollipops etc...we weeded that stuff out of their halloween candy but DD found it and knew what a lollipop was (to my surprise) but I won't let her eat it...

 

I just recently started letting my 5 year old eat hard candy even then it makes me nervous. I would never let my 3 year old eat hard candy, taffy or anything like that. I let them have m&m or cookies though.

 

No, not really. They discovered lollipops when they got their haircuts this past month. So they've had a couple of those. But other than that they don't really know what candy is. They think their flinstones sour chewy vitamins are candy. ardon: They do get the occasional cookie or sweet treat if they ask for it, but they aren't big into sweets.

 

My kids think organic dried fruit is candy. They love it. Great for special treats and when they have earned BIG rewards. I also had my daughter believing that fozen pees were ice cream for the longest time. She still loves forzen pees!

Also, I don't really let my kids have artifical colors or flavors, they are on a natural and mostly organic diet. So when people offer them something I really don't want them to have, all I have to say is Food Allergies thanks anyway (and not totally lying, we have dealt with them I just use the excuse on a wider range). Gets me out of being the "weird" mom that wont give her kids soda or nerds.

By they way, great trick for soda- just a little juice mixed with mineral water. My kids don't know the difference and love their soda treats.

 

I don't have a rule against candy, but we don't have it in the house except at Halloween. They had their first chocolate candy at Easter when they were about 16 months old, and wow, they were in heaven. So I did let them have it fairly early, and if it happens to be sitting on the table at grandma's house, I'll let them have a piece. But it winds up being fairly rare.

We were going to let them have one piece of their Halloween candy every day after dinner, but they only remembered to ask for it the first two days. Since then, it's just sat on top of the fridge. I'm sure they would be asking for it if they could see it, but it seems to be out of sight, out of mind.

Our huge exception at the moment is that we're using M&Ms for potty training. So they wind up eating anywhere from 4 to 12 M&Ms a day, but hopefully that won't last forever...

 

There was a parade this year & hard candy was getting tossed....before I knew it, both kids had some. So what I did was pop the candy in my mouth & crunch on it so it broke into tiny pieces & let them have the smaller ones. It's a really hard one for me b/c they have a cousin who just turned 3 who is constantly allowed to eat whatever she wants & she's trying to be nice and share, but she'll give my kids things I would never dream of giving them when I'm not looking. It drives me crazy!!! And then if she does have some sweets that I know of, how do you just make the other 2 sit & watch her eat?

So yes, they've had candy. I rarely buy it......dd had little Reese's for PT & I got a little for the movie yesterday. But that's about it. I'm usually more concerned about the choking hazards & seems like most candy is chokeable.

 

Mine won't eat cake and I have one who won't even eat ice cream. Even if I wanted these girls to eat candy I don't think they would. I'm sure eventually they will though at some point. But I'm not going to want them to have their Xmas stockings filled with candy or anything like that.

 

QUOTE(~* dfaut *~ @ Nov 8 2008, 06:28 PM) [snapback]1062584[/snapback]
We've had some this Halloween. They are limited and required to eat a decent dinner first.

I don't want to make it SO taboo that they are DYING for it. I want it to be a treat and treated like a treat, not a rite of passage.


This is how I feel about it. I think that if you keep it from them when they are old enough they will rebelle and go crazy!!!! I would rather give as a treat on occassoin so they learn that it is ok to have in moderation.

 

Yes, mine do have candy. They love M&M's and have enjoyed trying some of their halloween candy. I would say they *maybe* have 1 piece a day, somedays nothing though. And they love mints. So yes, they have had hard candy as well. Everything in moderation is fine by me!

 

Evan and James don't seem interested in candy. Dried fruit and cookies are "candy" to them! I know in a few years they'll probably want chocolate bars for breakfast so I'm enjoying it while it lasts!

 

wow - i consider myself to be a healthy mom - i don't let my kids eat a lot of junk and they don't get juice. but i do let them have candy almost every day. i'm in the school of don't restrict it so much they go nuts when they do finally have access to it. they get one chocolate kiss or a gummy worm or a swedish fish most nights after dinner. ds LOVES cake and chocolate, and scarfs it on the odd occasion he's allowed it (birthday parties, usually). dd likes the idea of it, but never really eats it. she doesn't even like cookies most of the time. but they both love lollipops (they only items from their halloween stash they have wanted, and they are allowed one a day as their after dinner treat) and most days they will choose a gummy over any chocolate or anything else. the one thing they both do love is ice cream - they get that probably once a week, maybe 1/2 cup portion. my one big rule is no processed junk - i don't mind them having a homemade cookie, but would never allow them oreos or the like.

 

I'm always shocked by small kiddos walking around with suckers-like so young they are still not steady on their feet! I've seen it at the mall many times. We've gotten suckers twice-once for haircuts and once after shots. They were offered and in hand before I could intervene. The girls had a few supervised licks and then wanted to wrap them up for later. The suckers were forgotten and tossed out. We do give occaisional M&M's for potty training and some small bits of chocolate on rare occaisions. I don't want chocolate/candy to be the forbidden fruit, but hard candy is not allowed until much older due to choking hazards.

 

rare occasions....they get dum dum lollipops, and m&m's...that is about all they have had. no reason, but i don't want them wanting it all the time.

 

I'd say up until a couple of months ago, I was super strict. Now, I have allowed some cookies every now and then. They are kind of my "emergency" snack if we are in a restaurant or shopping.

I let them try a few mini m&ms from Halloween and they went nuts. Okay, so no more of that! Or.....smart mommy, good for bribing/rewarding later. I like the potty training idea for those mini ones. They are super tiny!

I have let them have Dums Dums before, but after a couple of licks, they don't want them. So, that idea was a bust for us.

I let them have ice cream rarely if we are out to eat, but generally they don't make it long enough to get that.

Mine believe that a saltine cracker is a cookie.