how often does your child get candy? and do you serve 'dessert' after dinner every night?

[Anonymous]

DS gets one sweet treat a day. It's usually small--a square of chocolate, a fruit roll-up, one scoop of ice cream.

I don't think it's the healthiest, but I also think that it's not terribly unhealthy either. Because we don't drink fruit juice, I actually think that our sugar consumption is relatively low. I've noticed that unlike other children, DS, who is 4, is very, very good at controlling his sweet consumption. He can choose a piece of chocolate and keep it next to his dinner plate so that he can "save" it for dessert. He also always asks first if he can have a piece of candy. Some of this behavior, of course, is just him, but I hope that some of this self-control also comes from the knowledge that sweets are OK in moderation.

As for Halloween/Easter candy--we keep it in a cabinet and he is allowed to have one piece of that or one of the sweets mentioned above. He usually forgets about the holiday candy within a few weeks, though.

[Anonymous]

We don't dessert after dinner but they get some type of treat at least once every weekend. If there is no birthday party, then we will go out for ice cream, maybe order dessert at a restaurant, get a doughnut, get a treat at Starbucks, or maybe make cookies/brownies at home.

[Anonymous]

Candy is pretty rare, and they rarely get large goody bags filled with candy (that may change once they get older though).

Desserts and sweets - we don't do regular desserts, but we do treats at least a few times a week. Sometimes we have some ice cream, or a cookie, etc. We eat tons of fruit too. I don't want to set up the expectation of dessert after every meal, so we do treats at random instead. Sometimes it's after meals, and sometimes it's as a special snack.

I'm also not anti-sugar or overly restrictive (like my parents were - ugh).

Your kids can probably understand simple explanations as to why too much sugar isn't a good thing, but it's ok to have as a treat once in a while.

[Anonymous]

Yes they have dessert every night. Two small cookies and milk or a popsicle or similar.

[Anonymous]

I got so sick of the protests, and also the "exactly how many peas do I need to eat to get dessert" mentality, that I have now made dessert a once a week event in our house.

Saturdays are "special dessert night". It's usually something small, like one cookie, or a small bowl of icecream. But I'm SO much happier now that the dinner discussion isn't always about how much real food they need to eat before they get dessert. It has cut the "food battles" way down in our house, and they now routinely eat things like veggies just because it is part of the meal, and not solely to get to the "reward" of dessert.

[Anonymous]

Almost every night. DS (6) always asks for it, but DD (4) almost never does so I don't give it to her. They also get cookies during the day, but a healthy, low-sugar variety.

[Anonymous]

PP's who give cookies once a week as a special treat...what kind of cookies do you offer? Now I'm suddenly feeling guilty that I give cookies each day.

[Anonymous]

We do dessert twice a week, and it has to be earned through consistent good behavior at dinner time. Usually a cookie or Popsicle. We do have a lot of candy in the house, usually leftover from a holiday. I'll allow a bit of it on the weekends, but we'll never make a dent in the stockpile.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP's who give cookies once a week as a special treat...what kind of cookies do you offer? Now I'm suddenly feeling guilty that I give cookies each day.

Oh dont feel guilty! Its not like you are providing a hot fudge Sunday every night! Kids are kids, let them have some fun things to enjoy bc I know no one on this board does soda every day Which Im not saying is ok, but I remember as a kid we did not have to beg for a treat. I think its sad that some people are so restrictive...yes there are health benefits to consider but come on. Some people on here take it to the extreme. "Milk or water thats it kiddo"...Im not that kind of person.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Almost every day. Ranges from candy to ice cream to fruit to cookies or cake or pie (I'm a baker). We love dessert in this house.

Same here. My mom also was a baker, and we always had sweets in the house. We aren't overweight. However, if they didn't eat their dinner, no sweets, and if they don't ask for a sweet, we don't offer. But the know where the cookies are.
I will say my children also love fruit and are just as happy with a bowl of fruit as a chocolate chip cookie.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We don't do "dessert" because I don't want to instill the habit of automatically expecting something sweet after dinner. The meal is the meal. We do give ice cream once or twice a week just as an afternoon snack/treat, and sometimes a cookie or brownie if we eat out.

This is our general strategy. Our DD is 4, so it's difficult enough to get her to try new types of foods without filling up on garbage. Fortunately, we live close to my parents, so she gets to spend a lot of time with them. Unfortunately, my mother seems to think she has a moral obligation to lard DD up with sweets and other garbage, practically giving her a shopping bag full of candy every holiday. Every time we go out to eat with them, she orders a giant dessert, then insists that DD take it home to go.

It's incredibly fucking irritating, and I'm starting to think there's a lot of passive-aggressive bullshit going on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We do dessert twice a week, and it has to be earned through consistent good behavior at dinner time. Usually a cookie or Popsicle. We do have a lot of candy in the house, usually leftover from a holiday. I'll allow a bit of it on the weekends, but we'll never make a dent in the stockpile.

There's always the garbage can.

[Anonymous]

Only have candy when it comes into the house from something like easter/halloween/etc. The kids are allowed a bit after dinner (if they eat well) for a week or so - and then honestly, they forget about it. They get chocolate popsicles made with splenda about 1-2x/week if they ask (we don't offer.)

[Anonymous]

My daughter gets a very small portion of sweets several days a week, after dinner. By "very small portion" i mean 10 M&M's. (and I will actually count them out.) or part of a cookie, or a mini ice-cream sandwich. The other day I rewarded her for good behavior (doing grownup stuff with me) with ice cream at a diner - we shared it. I'm trying to teach my daughter that it's good to eat mostly good things, but that sweets can be enjoyed in moderation.

[Anonymous]

I grew up eating desert every night and contine the tradition. Often we have tea, hot chocolate or, for me, a glass of desert wine. The kids have a 2-3 candies or ice cream or baked good (love apple pie in the fall). If they misbehave, they lose desert for the night. For me the family tradition and time together outweighs the sugar. The kids play sports, almost never drink soda, and otherwise have a healthy diet. It is nice to have a treat and relax together every evening.