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Are you a Rich tea or rice cake mummy?

i went to a mother and baby group today with a good friend of mine whos DD is 13 months, half way through the group they offer all the children a beaker of water and a biscuit (today they were rich tea fingers) My friend would not allow her DD to have a biscuit and instead offered her a rice cake...a HUGE tantrum ensued as she knew the other children had something different! i let my son have a biccy and he is 9 months old. I just figured that one biscuit once every few weeks is not going to
A. rot his teeth or B. make him obese!

I couldnt quite believe my friend was so adamant her daughter was not going to have a biscuit that she would rather spend 10minutes calming her down from her tantrum...to me this was crazy...

So are you as strict with food as my friend or do you allow your child the odd occasional treat?
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Replies

  • I think the occasional treat is good for them to have!!

    With all due respect to your freind...I think that's but petty...1 small biscuit isn't going to kill her! Xx
  • I would have let my son have the biscuit! I try to avoid sugary stuff when there's a perfectly good alternative that he likes (ie - yogurt with fruit puree rather than yogurt with sugar in it) but I think it's nice for him to have treats, and particularly when he's having them with other people. So, at baby groups he will have what the others are having, and if I'm having a muffin/cake, he can try it too.

    Until around the 8 month mark I don't really see the point of giving your LO sugary stuff, as they know no different, but once they have a taste for different food I think it's nice that it's not forbidden. Everything in moderation etc...
  • I would give my LO a small piece of a biscuit like that but certainly not a whole one. If our baby group handed these round I would complain, it puts parents in a dificult position. I think its more about not letting LO get a taste for these things, and being put in a position where you have to say no if you dont want them to have it.

    I think rich tea biscuits are innapropriate in a baby group.

    Im quite fussy about what my daughter eats, she mostly has organic and I really work hard to give her a good diet with all the right nurtrients. If someone offered her a biscuit of any sort I would be cross.
  • We definitely would have gone for the biscuit!!! My dd is 13 months too and she. Used to love rice cakes then all of a sudden went off them although will eat then very occasionally now! I was having a similar chat the other day with a friend as my dd had raisins and her little mate had some chocolate animal biscuits. They ended up swapping snacks and my question was was this because she doesn't have chocolate very often ( about once every couple of weeks) and was it cos I "deprived" her off it that she wanted it even more? So I've come to the decision she can maybe have the odd chocolate biscuit every now and then!
    Anyway sorry I've waffled and hyjacked your post!
    I think your friend was a little mad for rather having to deal with a tantrum rather than letting her try the biscuit! She might not have even liked it!!
  • Sorry g/c! When I was growing up (albeit a bit older than a toddler) I was allowed the occassional treat, however friends of the family had never been allowed anything so by the time we were 5/6 - when they could more easily avoid mum's eye - they would stuff themselves silly with sweets and cakes at playgroups/birthdays. I was never that bothered, as it wasn't so taboo in our house.
  • Gosh that is crazy! I will certainly not be like that with my DS. I will always allow a treat. Obviously I would never allow my child to have just biscuits for breakfast (I know a handfull of people who allow this) and they wont have access to a chocolate bar or packet of crips whenever throughout the day. But for crying out loud 1 rich tea biscuit - and especially when all the other children had had one, thats just a shame for that little girl, poor her.
  • if lizzie was able to eat it then yes i would let her as its a treat and also i dont know any baby group which dont offer a biscuit and glass of juice/water half way through (and a cuppa for the parents!).
    as lizzie cant eat alot of stuff i always carry around a small treat for her incase dd1 wants something when we are out anyway x
  • Just to add i used to be a nanny to a great family who had a son and daughter (aged 6 and 4) Their mum was SO strict with what they were allowed that they were actually obsessed with food! We would go to the park and they would want to go straight to the cafe and not stop asking for things to eat! the mum was a Vegetarian and was bringing the children up the same (which i dont really agree with) the dad of the family did eat meat so the fridge had Ham and chicken etc in, the little boy asked everyday if he could have a ham sandwich like daddy but his mum didnt allow it, to me this is completely rediculous, let the poor boy eat meat!

    As someone else said "everything in moderation" i know when im on a diet and i cant eat yummy food i want it more than i would if it wasnt "out of bounds" i think being overly strict with children is very short sighting and infact will only make them want sugary treats more than a child who has been allowed them now and again!
  • seems abit extreme - toby has really healthy food at all his meals but i pretty much always give him 1/2 a rich tea a day after his evening dinner.

    I dont want him to have an obsession with food like we did so i think its healthier to give them a mixture.
  • My 9 month old has never had a biscuit, chocolate, ice-cream or anything like that yet. I don't see the point, as he knows no different and he eats what I feed him without too much complaint.

    However I'm off to a class tomorrow and if they hand rich tea biscuits out to all the babies, then I would absolutely without doubt let my LO have one. At the end of the day habits aren't formed on 1 little biscuit xx
  • I think a balanced diet is just that - balanced rather than tipped too far one way or another. Peter will have meals where he eats nothing but bread (or just the meat or what have you). I just make sure he gets offered plenty of fruit for pudding and lots of veg at the next meal. As for biscuits v. rice cakes, I would definitely let him have some biscuit (though probably not a whole one). His afternoon snack can be up to 3 Organix animal biscuits (although not every day) or an oat bar. My logic is that if he sees me eating biscuits with tea in the afternoon (as I did up until about a month ago) it really isn't fair to not let him have the equivalent. He is also allowed a small bite of whatever I am having, although this increasingly leads to tantrums when I don't allow him to have all of it, hence why I have started cutting out teatime biscuits and cakes. As a result he has had homemade cakes of various sorts, brownies, Hobnobs and even once managed to snaffle himself a chocolate finger! :lol:

    As I say, I try not to get too worked up about it. He is a very healthy weight, is extremely active and eats a wide variety of foods and flavours. Hopefully he will develop a healthy attitude to food. In the meantime, I'm not going to actively deprive him of anything, just try to moderate what is available.
  • That does sound a bit extreme, its a rich tea not a lolly pop. Saying that though I was at a kids birthday party yesterday with dd1 and when we left I was given a piece of birthday cake for lo who is not quite 8 months. I just said thanks and then took it home and ate it myself :lol:
  • Seems too extreme for my liking. I think a little of something won't harm a childs diet,

    Sarah-jb, I would have done the same image
  • i would allow ds a biscuit, i would hate to see him being treated differently to the other children. he doesnt eat sweety things often, he is 11 months, and has so far tried a little bit of ice cream, bit a chocolate and bit of cake and everything else he eats is healthy. i think an occasional treat is fine. i just know my son would be the same as your friends dd, he would not be happy being given a rice cake if the others had a biscuit!

    ashy x
  • shocked mummy, what do you think is wrong with a vegetarian diet?

    To be honest, I think you should always ask parents before offering a child something to eat.
  • There is nothing wrong with a vegetarian diet, but when a six year old boy would like to try meat (like he see's his daddy eating) i think it is completely wrong to deprive him of it, just because of the mothers views! A vegetarian diet is very healthy as long as it is balanced but to inflict this on a child who is keen to be different is not right at all, dont you think?
  • I agree with some one elses comments in that I don;t think they should have offered biscuits, my ds1 never had biscuits/chocolate deffo not before one but I am almost sure it was near to 2, he didn't know the difference and always really enjoyed fruit, until the last year or so he would have turned down chocolate for a banana!!! i'll be the same with ds2, however if the child is aware as your friends was i wouldn't deny the child either as it won't kill them x
  • I would certainly let my LO have a rich tea biscuit. He has a healthy diet at home and a little bit of something like that will do him no harm.
    Also my LO likes to eat the same as me, I was eating a cracker earlier whilst he was on my lap and when I looked down the craker had my LO on it! So if others were eating a biscuit (and I was), I think he would want to be the same!
  • Haha Curlygirly....
    "Also my LO likes to eat the same as me, I was eating a cracker earlier whilst he was on my lap and when I looked down the craker had my LO on it!" love that imagery...my DS is exactly the same!

    [Modified by: shockedmummy on September 13, 2010 08:39 PM]

  • Seems a bit extream, but each to their own I suppose x
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