any mums of kids just obsessed with sweet stuff??? Need help!

[*Becky*]

i think to expect H to be able to wait till the end of lunch to have his treat is expecting a bit too much.

really??

I normally let DS have it first and then he is satisfied and can eat his food.

See H would then have what he wanted and walk off - I am sure of it.

Yes the PT thing is less than ideal but seriously I was/am desperate about it and after the doctor said what he thought I just decided to go with it....he never asks for them except if he has done his poo on the potty and I am just so relieved abut it I can handle that.

[Shiv52]

Quote from: koe2moe on Today at 07:03:48 PM
i think to expect H to be able to wait till the end of lunch to have his treat is expecting a bit too much.
really??

I don't think its too much.  M often gets to pick a treat at tesco but knows it will be after we've had dinner or whatever.  Sometimes she gets it right away if we've just had lunch or whatever but otherwise she knows we bring it home and have it later. 

[shivi]

hugs Becky xxx

Have to say Oscar was a very, very picky eater until over 4 yrs. It was only when he saw Emma wolfing down dinners without help or batting an eyelid and also going to their PL school where they eat a portion of veg with each meal (and everyone must, and everyone somehow does) that he got better. May have been just the right time for his as well though.

these days, my kids have a quick bowl of cereal or toast with pb before they leave for school. Brekkie in school is at 9.30 and is usually sandwiches with protein and veg (must be both on top - the kids pick the toppings themselves), then a veggie soup and a main course, then a fruit and yoghurt snack, then a sandwich and fruit snack. This is 9.30am, 12 noon, 2.30pm, 4.30pm. So in the evening I do a small tea (sometimes they miss that last 4.30pm snack if I collect them early enough) like a bowl of soup or a small-ish "dinner" again with some raw veggies and a "treat". But our treat varies- it can be a chocolate wafer bar, a mini muffin home cooked, a fruit bar like a humzinger, ice cream or whatever....but its how we end our day - everyday - these days. Oh and in the summer they love a "spritzer" - carbonated water with apple juice and ice cubes LOL. They're not allowed juice usually so this is one of their faves. And in raspberry and strawberry season where you can buy them on every corner, this is also one of their faves.

Snacks - yep - I just put it down in front of them and let them get on with it - they also have these little table tray thingies and they eat their at-home brekkie from these everyday and lots of snacks there at the weekend or on hols....

Oscar went through many the mad craze for chocolate at H's age - we just got rid of it when he was at his worst.....

And yes, I have to agree, I teach 3-4 yr old this year. Most are 3.5 right now. Most would go for the sweetest thing in their lunchbox given the choice.....

S x

ps. I don't think the concept of waiting till after lunch/when we get home/after dinner is too difficult either. Ok, the more stubborn spiriteds (Emma is a LOT more stubborn than Oscar ever was) will have a song and dance about it but generally speaking we have no issues with this either...

S x

[skatty]

My dd called frozen berries ice cream at 3, she still thinks they are a treat now! Another healthy treat is to blend some frozen berries with banana, makes a lovely "icecream".

[*Becky*]

thanks lovelies......things do seem to get eaten at nursery even if they are not his faves although he managed to 'drop' all his strawberries on Friday and then later told me they were flying saucers...yi yi yi...

shiv - that makes me feel better hearing about O at this age.

[shivi]

From age 2 to 4, Oscar literally lived on peanut butter, plain chicken and ham, potatoes, bread, plain cereals, milk, pasta, bananas, apples, raisins.....

any veggies were hidden in pasta sauces or it was raw cucumber....that was it. Literally x

Today he had beetroot puree (a PL thing with apples added in for taste LOL), tomatoes, almonds, mixed salad to name but a few "untouchables" from around 18 mths ago LOL!

s x

[*Becky*]

any veggies were hidden in pasta sauces

yes - that is what we do. I do offer whole veg but he just says 'yuck' and will not touch it. I thought it might help with M now as she is having different things but still no...

[shivi]

Give it a while....it was when Emma was more 16-18 mths and eating by herself that it really started to rub off on Oscar. He was just shocked. And of course, going to the PL preschool was really timed in tune with the calming of his taste buds.

I do wonder sometimes if he were still at my place would he still be having the same PB sandwich, apples and raisins with a fromage frais every SINGLE day in his lunchbox LOL!

S x

[*Kara*]

Quote from: *Becky* on Today at 07:57:01 AM
The girl was just as happy to eat the apple and orange as she was the chocolate bar and that is where DS is so different and both DH and i commented on it

TBH I think at 3 that is a bit weird!   And would think your DS is more 'normal' than the little girl.   At 3YO M totally would know and prefer a bar of chocolate over an orange

I am 33 and would eat the chocolate bar before the orange  

No advice Becky as my LO is only 15 months, but loads of hugs!

[15milner]

I am being super cautious about calling anything like that a 'treat'.  I think it may have been when I was little.  It is amazing what we are subconciously 'training' our children and it worries me.

I am now dealing with my relationship with food, through hypnotherapy and a lot of it is going back to the words / habits set down when i was little.
for instance  - we were allowed to choose a treat at the end of the weekly shopping trip as a reward for doing the shopping - it is something that I am working to stop doing - it's not been easy.  I have associations between shopping and reward KWIM?

Yes, saying something is a sometime food I understand.  but I am not using the word treat with my children - the word treat in its use to me - a reward, something linked to an activity whether postitive or negative, something that has to be earnt.  I treat myself if I've had a bad day / good day / to celebrate / feeling emotionally drained / particularly stressed.

Yes, we have sweet stuff in the house, but DS2 will choose fruit over cake, biscuits etc. 

I would choose chocolate bisucuit over fruit hand over fist.

Alex

[Love, laughter, & PJs]

Interesting discussion.  We do the "sometimes food" thing.  It's only recently that Austin has started shouting things like "I want chocolate!!"  I seriously almost fell over when he said it since he really hasn't had much in his life.  But I guess it doesn't take much!  My strategy is also to keep it out of the house.   It's just not here.  When it is here and he knows it (he and DH bought a couple of little cakes at the store the other day and then he came home for lunch) I don't fuss trying to make him eat other stuff first.  It just becomes a battle it's not worth fighting.  I actually think I posted on that a while back and that was the advice I got!  Since it's so rare, I just let him eat the cake and if he eats nothing else, so be it.  Every once in a while I want to eat cake for dinner too!!

[Lemonthyme]

Hmm.  It is something worth thinking through. 

One thing which worries me is those baby snacks which look like crisps.  Ok, they're salt free or really low salt but aren't they like "training crisps"?  But then aren't I doing the same thing?  I make no added sugar cakes, muffins, jelly etc.  Am I just "training" him to have these foods?

[*Kara*]

Interesting theory LT - I give DD Baby Mum-Mums as a snack, not a treat per se.

[We Three]

 I too have a policy that I never use the word "treat" or "goodies" or anything like that. For m ein my eating disordered mind, that attaches emotions to food...making the "goodie" so much more desirable.  I also never use food to reward, punish or celebrate...ever. We got out for ice cream in the summer, but because it's summer and it would be fun! My mom used to use food/treats to celebrate all the time. Good report card? Brownies. First day of school celebration? Cinnamon rolls. It seemed that food always had some emotion connected to it...and I feel it really impacted the way I see food (junk in particular).
 So for us...food is fuel, food is energy, food is yummy, food helps us grow, food is fun...some foods we eat every day, some foods we eat sometimes. We try to eat the rainbow every day...lots of colors! DD knows that white and beige aren't in the rainbow...so those are best to have just sometimes.
 There are places that she connects with sometimes foods...like a farm we visit where they have apple cider donuts. She has one every time we go...which is fine with me.  She never asks for them at any other time.  We visit a carnival she knows she can get popcorn. When we go to the bouncy hiuse place she knows she can get an ice-cream.  These things aren't available to her at home.  She literally just doesn't ask.
 But, this is how I began my journey with her...she has never known different. Maybe you could get to a place where you have times/events....like he can share a muffin with you while grocery shopping (for instance)...and then when he asks for treats, you could say "Let's wait until grocery day when we have our muffin!"