My friend asked me to post this because she does not have internet at home...
She has a 1 year old (14 months) who loves dum-dums (suckers, lollipops) and will chew/suck on them until their halfway gone and then throw them away. (She's teething right now of course.)
Now, my friend grew up with sweets being readily available so now she doesn't crave sweets. Whereas, her cousin was always denied sweets and therefore craves sugary things a lot (then and now.)

What have you done or what do you do about sweets? Do you put limits on how much?

By Amecmom on Tuesday, January 18, 2005 - 10:51 pm:

My son has a lollipop 3 or 4 times a week. He has no soda or other candy. He had no candy until he was 2 however.

By Hlgmom on Tuesday, January 18, 2005 - 10:53 pm:

No candy here- also 14 months
She occasionally will have abite of a cookie.
Sometimes animal carackers
One seems rather early for candy IMO

By Tink on Wednesday, January 19, 2005 - 12:07 am:

I think it seems a little young for lollipops and it could be a choking hazard.

I wasn't allowed sweets growing up and I have a terrible sweet tooth now. My ds is rewarded for positive behaviors with small pieces of candy so we always have it in the house. My kids may have a piece every day or two but none of them have a problem with always wanting candy. They always forget about Halloween or Christmas candy before it's all eaten. I think the fact that they could have it makes it less appealing. JMHExperience

By Palmbchprincess on Wednesday, January 19, 2005 - 12:14 am:

My kids will get a lollipop a couple times a week, or another small candy, but certainly not at that age. I'd say they were 18 months the first time they got any candy, and 2 before they were allowed it on a normal basis.

By Trina~moderator on Wednesday, January 19, 2005 - 06:49 am:

We usually don't have candy in the house but it's not forbidden. Not a regular thing either but a treat every now and then. Allowed but limited. I didn't give them any candy until they were 2 or 3. DS will have a few Hershey Kisses every now and then but doesn't have a sweet tooth. DD will indulge at every opportunity. LOL!

It was the same when I was growing up - allowed but limited. Except for chocolate, I can do without candy.

By Colette on Wednesday, January 19, 2005 - 07:07 am:

I don't remember exactly how old mine were when I allowed candy, probably around 2-3, but extremely limited. I used to get really irritated when the pediatrician I went to would offer the kids lollipops when they were under 2.

Ditto Trina as far as growing up w/sweets.

By Eve on Wednesday, January 19, 2005 - 09:12 am:

I don't stress about candy at all. If we go to the bank, I let DD take a lollipop. If we go to the movies, yes, we get some treats; soda included. She has mostly healthy snacks, so I don't mind a few treats mixed in there.

I grew up pretty poor, so I didn't have candy, soda and chocolate. It was allowed, we just didn't have it too often. Candy is not on my top 5 list of things I worry about with my DD.

By Kaye on Wednesday, January 19, 2005 - 09:24 am:

I don't stess about candy in my house. If we have it and they want to eat it, whatever. I just tossed out halloween candy yesterday, so obviously it isn't a big thing. Now in general though I don't buy it. It is a treat, I probably wouldn't make a habit of letting them have candy several times a week. I also don't let them drink juice that often or fuit chewies, etc. We try to stay low on sugar (but they do have poptarts for breakfast..lol). My kids did have lollipops that young, thanks to my grandmother. It isn't a big deal. Don't let her walk around with them, make sure she drinks a sip of water after and she will be fine.

By Missmudd on Wednesday, January 19, 2005 - 10:32 am:

My big concern would be her teeth, it sounds like it is more than 1 a day and you are just letting all that sugar sit on those soft little baby teeth. I would see if you could find sugar free kind. I think we are all predisposed to being a sweet eater or not a sweet eater so availablity only plays in if they eat too much of it and get fat.

By Trina~moderator on Wednesday, January 19, 2005 - 10:53 am:

Missmudd, "sugar free" items contain artificial sweeteners, which is another issue, especially when kids are concerned.

By Missmudd on Wednesday, January 19, 2005 - 11:07 am:

True, but I think that the risk of side effects from nutrasweet which is a maybe, maybe not vrs rotten teeth which is almost a sure thing with sugar sitting on your teeth, I would personally go w/ the sugarfree suckers. That is only imo tho.

By Insaneusmcwife on Wednesday, January 19, 2005 - 11:55 am:

I think mine were 2 before they were allowed candy. Specially suckers because of the choking hazard. Now we have candy around the house and its not really a big deal. They occasionally have a peice or two but thats about it.

By Melanie on Wednesday, January 19, 2005 - 12:06 pm:

Our kids get a "special thing" after school and after lunch on weekends. It could be a couple of cookies or a lollipop or even a cup of hot chocolate. It's not something I have stressed about-this pattern just sort of developed in our family. Now they only ask for one "special thing" each day. Works for us!

By Ginny~moderator on Wednesday, January 19, 2005 - 06:05 pm:

I would be very concerned about the choking hazard and about the damage that sugar lurking in the mouth poses for her teeth. It is no fun for a 3 year old (which is coming) to have cavities.

At age 14 months, her child should be chewing on teething biscuits, biscotti, or some sort of semi-hard cracker or cookie made for that purpose, not candy - in my opinion.

I allowed very little candy, and almost never lollipops except for the one with the soft paper handles (I was worried about the dangers from the hard stick in the mouth, having had one child scratch his soft palate and spend hours in the ER late one night because it hurt so very much). Most of the time treats for my children were fruit, popcorn, and once a month I bought a 5 pound box of "hurt" pretzels from a nearby small candy factory, and they could have a small bowl of pretzels a couple of times a week. I didn't then and don't now see any great reason for children to have a lot of sugar in their diets, and I think most pediatricians will agree. There are a lot of kids who get very hyper with sugar.

Now personally, I am a chocoholic, and have a basket of candy on my desk (but keep my special chocolates hidden away). I don't think there is a day when I don't have some dark chocolate and would feel deprived if I didn't. So I do understand having a sweet tooth. But I think it is a very bad idea to be giving young children much candy. I think it should be a special treat and not an everyday thing.

By My2cuties on Wednesday, January 19, 2005 - 06:38 pm:

my 19 month old dd and 3 year old dd get a sucker only when we go through the drive thru at the bank, electric, water co., etc. and they are given and that usually only adds up to about 3 times a month at most. I don't really worry about it though it is not that much of a big deal to them, they like rings and bracelets as treats much better.

By Karen~moderator on Wednesday, January 19, 2005 - 07:24 pm:

At her age, I'd also be concerned about the choking hazard.

However, I personally did not forbid sweets. In fact, mine were allowed dessert each night.

I *did* encourage drinking water rather than soda or Koolaid. Juice is high in sugar, when they were young I cut it with water.

Jules wouldn't allow Madison to have ANY sweets at all for the first 3 years. Now the child is a sugar fiend. I personally believe everything in moderation is the way to go. But that's JMHO.......

By Unschoolmom on Thursday, January 20, 2005 - 07:27 am:

We usually have something sweet around the house and there are no limits. I've found that as long as the fruit basket is full the candy often gets ignored.

My son did have a time where he couldn't get enough chocolate so I made sure we were always stocked and he could get at it. Now he'll take some on occasion and toss it out when he's had enough. I'm still amazed when my kids stop mid-cookie and say they're full. As a kid I would have eaten the whole thing anyway because sweets were special or treats.