How do you handle junk food?

[Pink Petals]

Thus far, I haven't allowed LO any junk food at all and I intend not to for a while.

I am just curious as to what the best practices are regarding junk food. I know we cannot avoid it 100% forever and if we tried, perhaps it would have the opposite effect long term, so what should we do?

Do you have junk food rules or how do you plan to handle junk food?

 

[Sarah125]

The only junk food Sophie has had so far is a spoonful of McDonald's ice cream which was given fairly recently.

Whilst weaning I didn't want her having any junk food as I wanted her to get used to healthy tastes first.

I don't really consider her to be weaning now so from now on I don't mind giving her the occasional piece of junk food. Her next piece of junk food will probably be a slice of her birthday cake. It will be homemade though so I won't be classing it as total junk.

Me and my OH have decided that for us the healthiest way to deal with junk food and sweets etc is for her to be allowed them when we have them which will be on the odd occasion. We don't want to deny it completely as then it might seem more tempting to her. We also don't want to use it as a treat or a reward.

As long as her diet is nutritious and varied on the whole I don't have a problem with the occasionally piece of 'junk'. Everything in moderation and all that

I think you just have to find what works for you. It's a hard one though as older people always want to "spoil them with sweeties and chocolate"

 

[MindUtopia]

We don't buy junk food or have it around the house generally. But after about a year, I don't mind if she occasionally has something I wouldn't normally offer her. She had a small piece of cake on her birthday, and has had a little bit of cake or a biscuit (like the real kind, with sugar) at friend's birthdays. We went to a food festival and my husband and I had ice cream, so she got to have a few licks. And once at a family picnic, we offered her some crisps and onion dip. For us, it's for special occasions - birthdays or family parties, special days out, etc. and not just a regular part of what we eat at home. I know some people don't give their children ice cream or cake or crisps or anything at all, but I tend to think that it's better to teach how to incorporate it into an otherwise healthy diet as they are going to encounter less healthy foods out in the real world. But for now, it's just very limited and not just because it's there or when she wants it. Also, I think timing is important. I wouldn't have wanted her to have any of that as a baby, but as a toddler now, I'm more comfortable with it, in moderation.

 

[felix555]

We had no junk at all before 1 but now at 14 months my lo will occasionally have a bite of cake / a crisp / a biscuit or some chips when we're out.