Halloween Candy

aeh72 · October 2013

Just curious - what Halloween candy do you/would you let your LO around this age group have? I might be venturing on mean-mommy territory but I'm not really inclinded to give him any. I just want him to have the experience of trick or treating. I don't even think he's going to understand that he's being given something he can eat.

skibunny59 · October 2013

None. She's 19 months old and only has 4 teeth. Even if she had a mouthfull of teeth I still wouldn't be comfortable letting her have candy at this age. I don't think you're being a mean mommy at all. There's no reason why they can't go trick or treating at this age but I think they're just way too young for candy.

aeh72 · October 2013

Thanks! I just needed confirmation that my instinct was right about this. We give him bites of ice cream and cake too, but candy just seems unnecessary to me. Aside from choking issues, the last thing I want to start dealing with is him deciding M&Ms are the greatest thing on the planet and asking for them all the time. It's hard enough dealing with his demands for applesauce for each and every meal and snack!

magentawarped · October 2013

I let my daughter have pretty much anything that she won't choke on. Not in huge amounts, of course, a piece or two a day, but I don't see any harm in a little candy.

APendola · October 2013

Nothing. I can't think of anything in a trick or treat bag that she'd be able to eat. Most of the candy is quite chewy and she doesn't have enough teeth for that yet. Maybe next year.

aeh72 · October 2013

Nicb13 said:

Holy crap! DS is addicted to "sauce". He now wants it every morning when we leave for the sitters house. I guess there are worse things in the world besides applesauce to be giving him. I plan on eating his candy

Ha ha! DS would be "on the sauce" morning, noon, and night if we let him. And, yes, more candy for me too, not that I need it!

Mrs.RockyM · October 2013

None. DD is 1. She gets no candy.

aylafsu88 · October 2013

None. LO has 6 teeth so I don't feel comfortable giving her any kind of candy. She will get a cupcake with no icing and maybe a cookie because they are celebrating at DC.

dpraseutsinh · October 2013

even though i still feel dd is too young, i give her one lollipop. i don't let her have the entire thing, but i give her enough where she doesn't feel like she's missing out while all the other kids are eating their candy. i truly, truly believe in moderation. for example, i'll let dd have a tiny piece of cake on someone's birthday or if all the other kids are having some cookies, dd can have a piece too. although, dd has a peanut allergy so she's pretty limited to sweets anyway :P

DawnLilly · October 2013

Nicb13 said:

LalaMama81 said:

1 piece of candy on halloween is not a big deal. I am as anal as they come about food but even I let my toddlers have a mini hershey bar or whatever.

I'm sure DH will bypass any decision I make and give him candy anyways because I am also anal

I won't stress it.

DH will back me on the candy and sweets, the great grandmas on the other hand....

shannm · October 2013

I'm fine with treating her with a small piece of kit kat and an m&m here and there. Spaced out over time. But I'll be eating the majority of the kids candy. DS is five and DD 18 months.

CheezeFace · October 2013

My DS is 24 months (time for me to transition to the other board soon but he was a preemie so I'll stick around for a bit b/c I fee like he's still a bit delayed...

He gets treats sporadically (like a dum-dum when he gets his hair cut) but not on a regular basis.

I gave him a chocolate coin from a Grandma Halloween box after dinner last night. He loved it and even said "chocolate" perfectly....quite motivated for a kid who doesn't really talk. It was cute until he asked for more and I said "no more". The ensuing tantrum lasted at least 5 minutes.

So, no more candy until he's able to handle it. Suckers seem to be best because they last for a long time and he's satisfied/bored with it by the end.

ashiscute · October 2013

I'm the bad mommy then because I plan to let my 13mo have candy. I'm not planning to load him down but a few pieces of candy through the weekend is not really a big deal to me. 3 Musketeers are super soft and easy to chew and obviously delicious.

JENandJEH · October 2013

I'll let DS have a few pieces...small pieces of a Hershey bar, a couple of Smarties or a few M&Ms.

Meery82 · October 2013

Mine won't get any. He's tried some before and didn't seem to care for it. I'll gladly eat it for him. :@)

[Deleted User] · October 2013

None. I see no point. Plenty of time for that later.

jnnfrrose6 · October 2013

At the DC trunk or treating last Saturday DS got a starburst in his mouth (wrapper on). He bit on it and slobbered on it so much he had the flavor of it and when I took it out of his mouth he got fussy. I went ahead and opened 1 up for him and he was good. This evening he got a tootsie pop. That'll be it, though.

meg_2006 · November 2013

I pulled out the suckers, hershey's bars, and PB cups for DS to eat. He worked hard to get all that candy, he deserves some! 1 a day, and we're keeping it out of sight. He's not a huge sweets person, so I'm not too concerned anyway.

lana22 · November 2013

my son is 23 months and he had his first candy today. he had a piece of chocolate after lunch and one after dinner. we also gave him some pretzels that he scored while trick or treating. i'm planning on eating most of it, maybe share a little w/ DH.

to answer OP i'm ok giving him some chocolate, but not planning on anything like skittles, twizzlers, etc.

allardr · November 2013

None. My DH gave her one lick of a sucker but that's it. It's not about the candy, but rather the fun.

Jessica+Penny · November 2013

My daughter is almost 19 months and can eat most things with her 12 teeth. We gave her a few bites of a Reece's cup, a bite of Milky way, and 1/2 mini Hershey bar. She loved them (and was SUPER hyper this evening) but the candy will be hidden tonight and no more until Christmas probably

We don't give her a lot of sugar outside of fruit so I don't feel like I'm being an over-indulgent mom.

kristennd · November 2013

He's really into lollipops right now, so he got one of those yesterday and the rest is all mine.

skibunny59 · November 2013

allardr said:

None. My DH gave her one lick of a sucker but that's it. It's not about the candy, but rather the fun.

I agree with you. I never deny DD of any foods that she specifically asks for. If we're at a party or having dinner at someone's house and they have cake and cookies and she specifically asks for it, I always offer it to her. She doesn't even know what candy is. She loved going trick or treating yesterday and putting the candy in her little bag but she didn't even know the neighbors were giving her something she could eat.

She had fun and I don't feel like I deprived her of anything by not letting her eat the candy.

aeh72 · November 2013

Nicb13 said:

We ended up having to give all of DS's candy away to trick or treaters when we ran out! Now I don't even get any! Booooo.

Bummer! We ended up with about a dozen Snickers and half a dozen Crunch bars. We did let kids pick and somehow Almond Joys won out over those. Bizzare! I was hoping that's what would be left so I wouldn't want any. As it is, it's not even noon here and I've consumed far too much chocolate already today. The guilt is setting in.

Update to letting DS try candy - out of curiousity, I let him have a bite of a Hersey bar and a Smartie. Spit both right out. Dilemma solved!

LoriLee14 · November 2013

He got one reese cup miniature for trick or treating. I will probably be eating the rest

Mustardseed2007 · November 2013

We gave DS a plain Hershey bar one day when we did trunk or treat at our church (a mini one) and 1 kit kat bar yesterday. He thought it was the most wonderful thing ever in the world and wanted more. That is the problem with giving him stuff he shouldn't really have much of but we know he'll love.

DS is 22 months.

DawnLilly · November 2013

DawnLilly said:

Nicb13 said:

LalaMama81 said:

1 piece of candy on halloween is not a big deal. I am as anal as they come about food but even I let my toddlers have a mini hershey bar or whatever.

I'm sure DH will bypass any decision I make and give him candy anyways because I am also anal I won't stress it.

DH will back me on the candy and sweets, the great grandmas on the other hand....

And as it turns out it wasn't the grandmas or the candy I should have been worried about. It's the senile great grandpa that apparently whistles for my son like a dog when no one is looking and gives him cheese puffs with yellow and red dye.

Bootsie81 · November 2013

It looks like I'm in the minority but I don't really care if my kids have candy. In moderation. But I've been letting them have a piece a day after lunch if they've eaten well. My daughter is 17 months but has all four molars and is working on her canines so choking isn't a huge threat. She's had suckers, fruit snacks, chocolate bars, M&Ms, raisons, etc etc etc.

emberlee3 · November 2013

Even at age 2, DS had no interest in candy. DD is 16 months, and she is obsessed with her Halloween candy. We let her have lollipops after dinner while sitting in her booster with one of us watching. DS gets a piece of candy after dinner, and she wants to do everything he does. I am not going to give her anything else because it's either a choking hazard or contains dairy (she's allergic).

kateraid · November 2013

We went to a few houses and most parents said "oh ill be right back, i'm going to get him something he can eat"... I expected a Mums cookie but nope they brought out Starburst or Nibs. Umm no thanks, my kid doesn't eat that either! I was horrified. I plan on keeping him away from anything like that until he actually knows to appreciate it as a treat.

ttimmerman · November 2013

kateraid said:

We went to a few houses and most parents said "oh ill be right back, i'm going to get him something he can eat"... I expected a Mums cookie but nope they brought out Starburst or Nibs. Umm no thanks, my kid doesn't eat that either! I was horrified. I plan on keeping him away from anything like that until he actually knows to appreciate it as a treat.

Well, what were you doing trick or treating then?? What a funny thing to say. If you're horrified by someone giving your kid candy while you're trick or treating on Halloween, you might want to wait until he's older.

To answer the OP, yes my little guy has had candy. He loves it. Only chocolate type things that aren't hard to chew, but he's a big fan.

aeh72 · November 2013

kateraid said:

We went to a few houses and most parents said "oh ill be right back, i'm going to get him something he can eat"... I expected a Mums cookie but nope they brought out Starburst or Nibs. Umm no thanks, my kid doesn't eat that either! I was horrified. I plan on keeping him away from anything like that until he actually knows to appreciate it as a treat.

Yeah, Starbursts aren't really toddler friendly, but I'm sure they thought it was better because it wasn't chocolate or something with nuts. I wouldn't be offended. We had a couple houses say, "oh, don't take that one (like for 100 grand bar), here this one is better for you" (gave him a Crunch bar). Of course, inside I'm feeling guilty thinking, he's not going to eat either so it really doesn't matter. But, I appreciated their gesture. This is why we limited it to a small # of houses; otherwise, it would have just felt like a candy grub for me and DH!

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