Do you think...

[xrachx]

your a better parent if you dont give your child any kind of sugar, or sweet foodstuffs?

just thought i would ask as it seem to "insinute" in other posts.
i dont feel it makes me a better parent for me letting mine have stuff like that but i cant say the other way around as i have been quite liberal with choices when it comes to feeding and stuff and i havent not let them have it so couldnt say from the other side..does that make sense?

 

[muppetmummy]

I think there's a big difference in giving the odd biscuit or piece of chocolate as a treat once they're around one, and giving them junk everyday. I think some parents can be lazy and give their kids sweets to keep them quiet.
I've given Logan an odd biscuit a couple times but I'd rather he didn't get chocolate atm because I think he's still a bit young.
I think someone is a bad parent if they're feeding their kid junk all day everyday, but a treat now and then is ok

 

[valentine]

your a better parent if you dont give your child any kind of sugar, or sweet foodstuffs?

No, but I do think its my right to make the choice not to feed DD those kinds of foods, until she is old enough to decide what she wants to eat herself.

In answer to your question in your other post, I do eat crap myself. But I don't really see the comparision, I don't eat it in front of her. While DD is still so young and has so much growing and developing to do, I'd much rather she got her nutrition from non sweet/sugary food/juice/cereal.

That doesn't make me better, any more than it doesn't make me better for any of the choices I make, we're all different and what works for one family, won't work for another and I respect that.

Valentine Xxx

 

[xrachx]

i have known a few friends in the past feed their babies/kids some right crap even i wouldnt touch and have though...how can they? like heavily proccessed ready meal type things, some people think if its food its ok.

 

[xrachx]

your a better parent if you dont give your child any kind of sugar, or sweet foodstuffs?

That doesn't make me better, any more than it doesn't make me better for any of the choices I make, we're all different and what works for one family, won't work for another and I respect that.

Valentine Xxx

i totally agree with that, its right we are all different and all have different parenting ideas and choices to make, and as long as you believe in the choices you are making then they are the right ones.x

 

[Manda&Thomas]

no way because i give Thomas some things with sugar in only thing i refuse to give him are sweets like erm jelly babies,
saying that at xmas he had a suck on a candy cane and has licked a gobstopper lol i just think hes still too young for sweets like those.
he isnt a fan of chocolate really much like me and arron so he doesnt have it very often but he does have it sometimes when other people are eating it he will have a bit.
If you eat it i dont see why your kids shouldnt within reason
i make sure i brush his teeth as decay runs strongly in my family nothing we can do about it even if we ate no sugary food we would still get it one of those things
xx

 

[xrachx]

do you know what, the ony thing that bothers me with food is, i am super paranoid about choking and sometimes even cut his stuff up so small he has probs picking it up lol, i cant help it though as i choked quite badly on a murry mint when i was younger, i dont even like my 17yr old having Werthers..lol, when he has them im like...crunch them up straight away!

 

[Sherlock]

I'll link to my reply to your post from another thread below. I explain myself there about why I don't give my son sugary foods.

As to do I think it makes me a better parent, no I don't. I don't feel I am one up on anyone else. Its just my personal choice and my OH's also. And people who look after Galen respect it also. Like Valentine said its personal choice and while my son is still small I don't wish him to eat those kinds of foods as they are not nutritionally needed.

I have issues with ethics, animal welfare and mass produce farming methods, chemicals, fertilizers etc. I don't do cheap Tesco chicken nor do I buy KFC because of the animal welfare issues. I don't buy cod as its overfished so I try to find alternatives. I don't eat meat meals more than a few times a week. I make lots of meals using only veggies or stock from a carcass. I try to buy local veggies and fruit in season. I don't like buying fruit flown from New Zealand and so will pass over it on the shelf. I do buy fruit for son out of season shipped in but always check where its from etc. I rear my own chickens for meat and eggs, have reared pigs for their meat also in the past.

My reasons are varied and I shall try to bring up my son to be ethically aware of the food he eats and where it comes from. Same as I shall try to teach him to not be energy wasteful, to recycle, to try to not be swallowed up by consumerism and so on. I don't do it to be one up on anyone. I do it because its important to me and because I don't wish my life to be based round the latest computer game or fashion item. I am far from perfect and I am far from a green living person as I make waste and so on. But I have reasons for doing things and they are important to me.

We are not well off and don't spend in other areas. We don't take holidays (although with baby now we plan to go camping in the summer). The last big trip I went on was in 2004 to spend time in Australia as my OH was still living there. We had a very low key wedding and honeymoon and did it all for less than £500. We don't drink alcohol or smoke.

Those are personal reasons and so the not giving sugary foods is not the only part of my life and it has far more reaching roots in many other areas I

Too much info and way off track, but sugar is one tiny part of a big picture for me. You asked

My reply from elsewhere

viewtopic.php?f=55&t=108727&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=14

 

[zebrastripes]

I don't think giving a child a few sweets makes one a bad parent.
I think stuffing a child with lots of sweets, making it hyper and possibly damaging its health is irresponsible
But I very much doubt anyone on here does that. Most people have enough sense not to.

 

[xrachx]

I don't think giving a child a few sweets makes one a bad parent.
I think stuffing a child with lots of sweets, making it hyper and possibly damaging its health is irresponsible
But I very much doubt anyone on here does that. Most people have enough sense not to.

yer me too, i think by the sounds of it everyones lo's here has really good varied diets, i make all our meals from scratch and made all of Glenns meals myself when we were weaning, i tried him on jars but he would just gag, weird..they know what they like these junior pf's!

 

[Jade&Evie]

I do.

Anyone who could handle my darling daughter in a full blown tantrum without using the chocolate buttons I would class as a better parent than me because I certainly can't!

 

[beanie]

no, but I do think that people *think* people judge them because they parent differently to them. I don't like to give my children lots of sweets and chocolates, so I don't. If others do then that's for them.

 

[kalia]

I want to be the best parent I can be. So do I think I'm a better parent for not feeding certain things to DD, using cloth nappies, slings, expressing for a ridiculously long time so she can have breast milk.........? yes. But by that I mean better than I would feel if I didn't do these things and I completely respect that other people have different views and that they feel that their way is better. I feel I am a better parent in comparison to the parent I would feel if I acted differently as I would just be disappointed in myself. I do not feel that I am a better parent than any other parent.

Does that make sense? I don't think I'm better than anyone else! We all choose to do the things that we think make us the best possible parents that we can be, not the best compared to others.

Those of you who give your children sugar will probably think that something I do that I haven't even thought about is wrong. It's also possible that if I made a post and you reacted by being surprised that I would do such a thing that I would change my mind about it. Does that make sense? For example, my mum thinks I should be blending food and pouring it down DD's throat because she chews away at food then spits it out. Many of you may feel that I am starving my daughter by not doing this (I know someone with a baby at work thinks I should be very worried) but I'm OK with this and figure she will do things in her own time.

Sometimes I am taken by surprise because there are things that are very clear to OH and I about how we want to do them and I forget that that isn't the only way My friend was round with her 5 month daughter and I made carrot smush and it wasn't working - she had to tell me to put more water in I don't think my friend (or any of the rest of my friends, there aren't that many people that wait until 6 months to wean) are wrong to wean early but I knew if wasn't right for us. So I have been taken aback recently when people have mentioned giving sweets to babies but it's just because I hadn't even considered allowing it. And as I said in the last thread, after so long (from her 20 weeks scan when I was pregnant until 7 and a half months old) of not knowing whether she would have long term problems with her kidneys or whether they would decrease in size naturally, giving her antibiotics for months, it just seems wrong to give her stuff (salt in particular) that could be damaging to her precious little body. If we hadn't gone through that maybe we wouldn't be so worried about her eating things that it is advised not to give babies (salt and sugar mostly).

 

[Steelgoddess]

I agree with Valentine that the child should be of age to be able to make that choice. I wouldn't give Hayden anything unless he asked for it...

I would not deprive him and tell him no to any food otherwise I know he would be more likely to go out and eat it anyway or worse, develop issues with food.

i think its also important to remember that habits that are adapted in early life are taken into adulthood...

 

[debecca]

No, I don't think doing anything makes you a bad parent.

Every child has their own parents (natural or adopted) and those parents do whatever they think is best for themselves and for their child. Granted, certain decisions earlier on in life have consequences later, but for most of us it's just a case of muddling through as best we can.

I love my daughter so much. I want what's best for her. I know that's not a mouthful of my orange squash and a tiny bit of my digestive biscuit but I do it anyway because she smacks her lips together at me in a SQUEEEEEEZY manner.

We're all fab parents. Big up the PF massiiiiiive!

 

[kalia]

Scrap everything I have said - I just let my daughter eat a bit of magazine and surely sugar is better for her than ink!?!
I didn't mean for her to eat it but I knew she was shredding it so I should have kept a closer eye on her.

 

[siany]

I feel I am a better parent in comparison to the parent I would feel if I acted differently as I would just be disappointed in myself. I do not feel that I am a better parent than any other parent.

This is such a good point. Its about making choices that allows you to feel you are doing the best job you can as a parent.
My sister and I have babies who are four months apart in age. We have both made different choices but both have healthy happy children. I have never questioned her choices, as long as I am happy with my own that is good enough for me. I know I will have to very careful with Lottie as I have always equated food with love (this has been a theme through out my life), so I know I would have a tendency to spoil her with "goodies".