How do you stop the Grandparents feeding your baby rubbish!?

[Lisamj]

Hi All,

My parents are very much 'sugar/biscuit/choc/ice cream' treat orientated when it comes to their other grandkids - which is basically the exact opposite of how DH and I eat and want Sam to eat.

At the end of the day Sam is our son and will eat what we provide for him for the forseeable, but can anyone advise the best way to ensure it stays that way while in the care of my parents, who feed the other grandkids the above mentioned rubbish. As an example, when round theirs last week, SIL and her 3 year old were there too, and at 11 in the morning my mum got a screwball icecream and gave it the LO! The excuse? "Her throats hurting" Sometimes they don't even realise they do it....eg, when giving Sam some plain sweet potato the other day, my mum said to me "Ahhh, can't you put a bit of butter in it"! So although what we say goes, I'm concerned that they will feed him these things without even realising how rubbish it is. My mum is going to be having Sam one day a week when I go back to work, hence my concern. I will provide the days food for him of course, but can see the SIL coming round and all the cakes etc coming out of the cupboards.

I don't want to end up sounding like a mean mummy, but I don't want this sort of rubbish to be anything like a staple part of Sam's diet (he wouldn't have it at all if I had my way, but I appreciate it's not always going to so easy). He will be allowed things like, say, biscuits, but I would give him the Nairns organic oat berry biscuits, not the chocolate digestive my parents have. For anyone who has ever been in a similar situation, how do you stay in control, without sounding like a control freak iykwim?

It's kind of difficult to explain so I'm sorry if I have rambled. Thanks for any advice.

Lisa xx

 

[mum's the word]

My advice would be to start as you mean to go on (I didn't confront the issue with Liam's grandparents when he was small and it got out of control).
As harsh as it sounds it's even worth upsetting them slightly to ensure they get the message, as you said it is up to YOU what you feed your child.
I suppose grandparents do deserve to have fun with their grandchildren, but there has to be certain boundaries, you could set a certain day/occasion where treats are acceptable.
It may be an idea to present them with facts about diet and nutrition which prove that high fat/sugar intake in infants leads to health problems and can mean they don't want to eat vegetables and fruit once they're used to eating crap!
I think it's a generation thing as it is such a common cause of conflict between parents and grandparents, I had really big problems trying to get through to my in laws who thought a 2 year old eating a giant chocolate muffin for lunch was funny .
Emphasise that your concerns are for your baby, not that they are 'bad' for offering treats. Do ensure that they don't start being sneaky and hiding facts from you about what they are offering.
Maybe your SIL's 3 year old would like to make some fruit kebabs with you in front of your parents with a yoghurt and honey dip or something similar, this will show them you can still offer tasty treats, have fun making them without 'depriving' the kids?

Good luck, I know exactly what it's like!

 

[CoreysMummy]

Supply the food he can have, and stipulate that that is the only food he is to have...

Guess im lucky (in a loose way) that Corey is allergic to milk, and EVERY bloodu thing has milk init, so I supply the food... and my mum is very reluctant to give him anything else incase it has milk init. And Im not OVER fussy about what he eats.. gotta have treats!

 

[Hazel]

I fear I'm going to have these problems soon. My MIL and SIL keep "joking" about chocolate buttons . I'm just going to have to lay the law down from the beginning and not care what people think. Luckily my DH has the same way of thinking when it comes to junk food so at least I have back up.

 

[Lisamj]

Thanks for your help. It seems I'm not alone !

L x

 

[beanie]

Tell them, and if you don't feel you can trust them perhaps say to them if they can't do as you ask you don't feel as if you can leave him with them