13:09 here. OP, I would just say this to your in-laws:

My nephew choked on popcorn when he was 2.5 and aspirated some. Ended up in the hospital. We also cut up his grapes still for this reason. It's just a personal thing and out of everything that we don't make a big deal out of not having popcorn is the one thing I do feel strongly about.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why can't he have popcorn?

Not OP but popcorn carries a choking risk in kids under 4. It's right up there with grapes and hot dogs. We don't feed it to our toddler either.

I think that these items are fine to eat in the company of adults at home. I wouldn't hand my 3-year old a bag of popcorn to eat while I'm driving her around, but I'll let her eat it with me at home. Same with grapes and hot dogs. My kids have eaten these things since at least age 2.

Most people have NO idea that popcorn is a choking hazard. (See above, OP.)

Have you actually told your IL's about this? Maybe bring an article citing the popcorn risk or something.

Popcorn is a choking hazard. I would explain to them why you do not want your child to have it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/25/health/25choke.html?_r=0

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why can't he have popcorn?

Not OP but popcorn carries a choking risk in kids under 4. It's right up there with grapes and hot dogs. We don't feed it to our toddler either.

oP Here. Was coming back to post this. My nephew choked on popcorn when he was 2.5 and aspirated some. Ended up in the hospital. We also cut up his grapes still for this reason. It's just a personal thing and out of everything that we don't make a big deal out of not having popcorn is the one thing I do feel strongly about.

NP here. Popcorn is the food most often choked on by kids. It can also be hard to remove from the airway if the kid does choke on it. However, I still let my kids have it from the time they were preschoolers and I just told them to eat it slowly and a little bit at a time. Nobody has ever choked on it.

Anonymous wrote:Why can't he have popcorn?

Not OP but popcorn carries a choking risk in kids under 4. It's right up there with grapes and hot dogs. We don't feed it to our toddler either.

Considering your different parenting styles it sounds as if you shouldn't leave your son alone with him until he is older. He is only a year or two from being out of the toddler-stage so it is not a long-term issue.

Another alternative is to give them a bag of Pirate Booty and say you prefer that instead of popcorn.

Piling on to ask why popcorn is a problem.

I guess I'm missing what the problem is. My 3 yr old has popcorn pretty regularly. So did my son when he was 3. I'm guessing this in your first/only?

Popcorn is a whole grain. What's the big deal?

Now, I'd be mad if you fed it to my dog. . .

Agree that you should just tell them about things that he shouldn't eat, but don't know why popcorn would be on that list for a 3 year old.

Why can't he have popcorn?

If it's important to you that the 3yo not eat certain things, then give them the list. I give my 3yo popcorn all the time.

My in-laws are wonderful but are also of the mind set of "if it was ok for my kids growing up, it's ok for yours". MIL gets offended if she feels you are telling her her way is wrong. I know when they watch DS ( about once a month), he watches more TV and eats more junk than I would prefer. BUt it isn't a hill I want to die on and I'm appreciative that they babysit. Anyways, they babysat saturday and last night DS asked for popcorn. I said he couldn't have popcorn because he was too little and he responded with "well Grammy gave me some!!" So I asked him if he had popcorn at Grammy's and he said They had it while watching a movie. Now I know 3 year olds like to tell stories but I don't know where else he would have had popcorn and he's never asked for it before. DH and I are going away for a couple of Days and they are watching him. I'm trying to figure out a polite way to go over foods DS absolutely cannot have without offending her.