When did you start giving your little ones salt and/or sugar?

Wot she said All very true. I'm a firm advocate of "if you don't want your kid to have something, don't have it in your house"... we do have cakes, and the children have them, but I make them, so if they're a treat for me, they're also a treat for the kids. I'm not a great sweet-eater, don't have crisps around and don't impulse-buy at the check-out (DD and I had a bit of an altercation today when she wanted to get a big lollipop as I was paying). Such things are only treats if they remain unusual and occasional... if you're having sweets and fizz every day, it's not a treat, it's a part of your normal diet. But maybe I'm just mean... I blame it on my parents - my brother and I were only allowed fizzy drinks (we could choose a 2l bottle each) at Christmas and on our birthday... never had a fast-food burger at all, ever, when out and about with my parents (to this day, actually) and always had to finish what was on our plates - I only got to have a say when I was about 10!

Girl88 raises a good point, one I have been thinking about as my LO gets older and more on to it. As parents its not really good enough to just tell our LO's they can't have things, we need to be role models and that includes modelling good eating related behaviours. I used to be able to eat a piece of cake and feed my wee guy broccoli pieces off the same plate, now I end up hiding around the corner, really I think I'm going to have to give up the junk (along with the swear words) at least until he is safely tucked up in bed. You do have to think really carefully, especially with a small baby, if they drink for example chocolate milk not only are they having chemical flavouring and colouring (which has been suggested to have real affects on their brain and learning) but because they are not eating huge amounts of anything at that age, any junk they consume is at the expense of something nutritious, so they are missing out. I'd like to think that I would never routinely buy that sort of thing for my kids no matter how old they get, but especially not now when they are going through such an important period developmentally. Its funny the grandparent thing, my mum is really hung up on the fact that I won't give my wee guy icecream, as though its depriving him of the greatest thing in life and even my MIL, who should know better given that she battled with my husbands food sensitivities and finally identified certain additive and ingredients that made him wildly hyperactive, well before the research was there to back her up, and yet I still suspect, (as I have seen her do it with other grandkids) that she won't be adverse to the idea of buying him an icecream behind my back. Its silly really, since he thinks unsweetened yoghurt with fresh blueberries or watermelon is the greatest treat in the world and is delighted with that, why would you go out of your way to convince him something junky is better?

My youngest DD is now 22 yrs old, and I hardly gave her any sweet things. No fillings and problems with her teeth, they are actually perfect. I made a few mistakes with my eldest DD, we all live and learn. As for salt I really cannot say!!!! but we do need it, especially over here.

i was pretty good about not giving "bad" foods to my son... i just always wanted him to have healthy stuff... i never have juice or candy or any of that at home (just didnt keep it in the house) but he would still get it from other places which i was okay with because it was in moderation... like for a party they were having at nursery (he has been going since he was 8 months) or if we were out with friends and they brought along cookies as a snack for their kids and offered my son one... he is 4 and i just now started letting him drink soda, but not often... im not against sweets or salt they are going to eat it i think the important thing is to have a healthy balance and only do junk in moderation... at 1 yr i would say its fine to start introducing it a little bit, if you deprive them of it entirely once they do get a hold of it they might only want sweets from there on out... i would say a little birthday cake is fine, just not everyday. also i agree with everyone about the in laws... mine just want to put my son in a sugar comma and dont want him to eat healthy. it was very frustrating for me.

In my defense, she has always showed a LOT of interest in whatever we are eating and snatches it out of our hands, which is why we had to start solids a little early. I feel mean if I don't share. Feels like I am depriving her. :( <em>edited by Girl 88 on 15/10/2011</em>

My LO has been sharing icecreams, chocolates, cookies, cake batter, cakes, choco milk, etc. with me since she was about five monts old. She's 7 months old now and recognizes icecream tubs and choco milk boxes, and knows something yummy is being eaten when she hears the crackle of food wrappers. Reading all this is making me feel like an idiot :\:

It must be something to do with the generation gap (and the lack of memory cells my parents seem to have). Apparently my son likes the froth off the top of Guinness.

I don't know what the deal is with the older generation in WANTING to give sugar and salt to babies. I have put it down to the fact that they enjoy seeing a baby eat - I tried so hard to educate the grandma that at 10m DD would eat a cake with as much enthusiasm as she would a chicken drumstick ... I think there's a lot to be said for the combination of wanting to treat the grandchild and the "it never did you any harm" notion. Still, at least they're not like my dad, who seems to want to let the kids try wine at any opportunity (this is one for the "'fess up mummies!" thread!)... let my son sip some red wine when he was 18 months old, thinking that he'd wrinkle his nose, but no... he licked his lips and asked for more!

I don't know what the deal is with the older generation in WANTING to give sugar and salt to babies. I have put it down to the fact that they enjoy seeing a baby eat - I tried so hard to educate the grandma that at 10m DD would eat a cake with as much enthusiasm as she would a chicken drumstick ...

DD had sugar around 11m - she didn't need it but she reached out when we were having cake and I felt like a hypocrite to say "oh you can eat everything we eat BUT not that" - I was pretty relaxed about it to be honest. I don't make any food a big deal and tend to eat A LOT better now that I have DD eating with us all the time. I don't bake really (If I do I add honey - after DD was 12m), I don't buy cakes and someone asked me for sugar the other day and the sugar bowl was empty. I don't have it in the house. Salt is something none of us need. Ever. I don't cook with it. I have a salt cellar somewhere but I think it's empty!

I still don't add salt to any food i cook for the children and they are now almost 5 and 3. As for sugar, I minimise the amount where possible but I would have started giving them products with added sugar at around 12 months.

I still don't cook with salt for the children and they don't have sweets at all. I was really an4l about it with DD to the point where I was buying biscuits sweetened with fruit juice instead of sugar and would lick the salt off a chip if she fancied trying one, but then your second child comes along and you kind of get a grip - a pinch of salt isn't going to kill them, nor is a bit of refined sugar once in a while going to instantly rot all their teeth. I know that my kids (and I, in fairness) have a healthy, balanced diet and of course I am in control of that. We don't buy crisps and biscuits so they're not around to nibble, which means that when we go out, the kids can have the tempting cookie because it's the first one they'll have had in a good few weeks! [b'> Sure, they like it and sure, they'll ask for more, or ask for an ice-cream every time they go past a stall, but there's a very simple solution for that... just say no.[/b'> Love it! Pretty much the same story here.

DS is nearly 14 months and I would never add salt or sugar to anything I was cooking for him. Until he was around 11 months he had never eaten anything (including bread) with added salt or sugar at all and I had pretty much hand prepaed form scratch everything he had ever eaten, but gradually I relaxed this and allowed him to have little bites of foods that I was having (and he's my first). TBH, salt and sugar are not inherently bad for you, there is no real difference between refined white sugar, and the sugar that your LO has in fruit etc, so although I would personally sweeten custard with banana rather than sugar for example, if he were to have custard made with white sugar, it would not be "bad" for him, his body would use the sugar for energy in just the same way. I'm personally much more concerned with avoiding anything with artificial colours, flavours and preservatives etc, and this would be my main reason for not giving something like ice cream. To that end, I debated concocting some sort of sugar-free, non iced birthday cake for his recent party, but in end he had a lemon pound cake, (with organic sugar and flour and icing coloured with natural colours ;)) and I happily let him have a very small piece which he thoroughly enjoyed. As long as your LO follows a healthy and varied diet, the occasional bought item with salt or sugar will truly not be harmful but I def wouldn't start taking LO to dunkin' donuts when she hits her first birthday

I still don't cook with salt for the children and they don't have sweets at all. I was really an4l about it with DD to the point where I was buying biscuits sweetened with fruit juice instead of sugar and would lick the salt off a chip if she fancied trying one, but then your second child comes along and you kind of get a grip - a pinch of salt isn't going to kill them, nor is a bit of refined sugar once in a while going to instantly rot all their teeth. I know that my kids (and I, in fairness) have a healthy, balanced diet and of course I am in control of that. We don't buy crisps and biscuits so they're not around to nibble, which means that when we go out, the kids can have the tempting cookie because it's the first one they'll have had in a good few weeks! Sure, they like it and sure, they'll ask for more, or ask for an ice-cream every time they go past a stall, but there's a very simple solution for that... just say no.