Let Your Kids Regulate Their Own Candy Intake + Poll

[SKL]

I agree with the wasteful comments.  Though I don't suppose it's fair to blame it on the trick-or-treaters when the neighbors give the kids so darn much candy.  I realize this may be regional, but it is way too much around here even if the kid just go around one block.  Then I feel it's on us to figure out how to dispose of the excess.  Well, our dentist has some sort of buy-back program, so maybe we'll try that this year.  I think they donate the candy somewhere, hopefully not to more kids who don't need it at all.  :)

[Princess Ariel]

I have enough other areas in life to patrol. It's their candy, good chance for them to develop some decision making skills.

[lailasmum]

I have one kid who can self regulate and one who can't. They've always been like that. My daughter will eeek out treats over a long period of time but my son will stuff himself with any sugary thing he can get his hands on. 

[Closeacademy]

I let them self-regulate.  I've seen them choose meat and cheese over candy, cookies and other sweets.  In fact on Sunday, they ate quite a bit and then stopped because they wanted to eat real food instead. 

 

I've never regulated candy or food.  Never made them clean their plates or eat a certain amount or even try things they didn't like.  Today as teens, they do have a varied more adult diet because they've learned through their own experiences to try things and they find things that they like.  My kids will eat any kind of meat (beef, chicken, fish, deer, pig, squirrel, etc.)  They are pickier about veggies but I know as they move into adulthood they will find that they add flavor (but then I was an adult before I truly enjoyed vegetables as well).  

[SKL]

Hey, I just chose an egg and apple over another couple of candy bars for lunch.  It can happen!  (So I'm 49, what does that have to do with anything?)

 

I did eat about 10 mini candy bars for breakfast.  But, they had nuts in them.  Protein!

 

Sorry, this has nothing to do with the thread.  I think I am all sugared up.

[Targhee]

Well yeah. There's that. :)

I'm didn't say not to go at all, but I am thinking about what message it sends to drive out of your own neighborhood to find the best score of candy. To get as much as possible and then just toss it. The degree of materialism and waste that holidays are becoming is getting kinda disgusting to me.

Agreed that holiday materialism is gross. So I say hand out less candy, don't make parties and events revolve around food and stuff, and try to spend more time enjoying people and doing things.

 

But that is what trick or treating is - enjoying people and doing things. My kids went to two parties, one a trunk-or-treat, before Halloween - great fun, (dancing, costume contests, carnival games, trunk or treat, candy swapping with other kids), good people, some food and candy. When the big day came they got dressed in costume but opted to stay home and eat their booty from the parties, watch The Black Cauldron, and play RPGs with their daddy.

 

We tossed leftover candy Sunday night - it was about 20% of their total, mostly taffy (which they don't like). Everyone felt sated of candy but of celebration too. Monday has been smooth, no mention of candy, and kids seeming recharged after a fun weekend.

[Upward Journey]

Snickers go well with coffee. :D

 

So do peanut M&M's  :D

[Luanne]

I think this really depends on the child. My daughter didn't like candy much as a child so I let her decide when she wanted to eat it. Come kids love candy and wouldn't stop until they were sick so....those children should be regulated (and no, that doesn't make them stupid).

[imagine.more]

I only regulate it by telling the kids they can eat it after lunchtime each day as a lunch "dessert". They can choose to eat 1 piece a day or 20, I don't care. I just don't want to deal with sticky candy wrappers all over the house all day long or the rudeness of asking 24/7 for another piece. Honestly I'm happier if they just eat it all at once...then I can make sure they brush their teeth and be done with it ;) 

 

My parents didn't regulate ours, we self-regulated. I would parcel mine out to last through to easter. My sister would eat hers all at once. It's an interesting experiment in personality, lol! So far all of mine are of the "eat it all at once!" mentality, but they're also very young. 

[matrips]

Mine have allergies and/or sensitivities to most of the candy handed out. So they ToT for the fun, and then their favorite part is giving out candy. I buy them a candy bar they can eat from whole foods. One neighbor buys stuff they can eat as well. The kids sort the other candy into stuff mom and dad like and then we take a bunch and turn it in for money. We also save some for their birthday piñata next month so I'm not buying stuff again. They like candy, but they're not obsessed with it.

[Momling]

Maybe, but don't you worry it's teaching the kids to gobble up candy when they've got it, because after all, then it just goes away? Candy isn't going away in their lives. Candy is always going to be in the grocery store, and it's always going to be at the office, and it's always going to be present at holidays. And on all those other nights that aren't Halloween, they can't just gorge themselves because mom and dad will remove it when they're done for now.

 

I'd be concerned about instilling a "do it while you've got it" mentality that might last not just on Halloween, but all through the year.

 

No, I don't worry about that.  They don't (and physically can't) gobble up all candy they encounter (on Halloween or otherwise) because there are natural consequences to eating gigantic quantities of candy in one sitting.  At the end of Halloween they really have only eaten about 10% or so of their haul. My kids are welcome to enjoy candy in other settings, but I haven't ever noticed that they take more than a piece or two and they're too frugal to spend their own money on candy. 

 

Anyway, it's a parenting choice I've made and it works well for our family. In my mind it's the best of both worlds... they have the element of choice -- how much and what kind of the candy they'll eat.  But they also have the boundary -- only one night, which limits quantity and in doing so, over the years, may even contribute to their health. 

 

My kids have plenty of opportunities to eat sweets on other days. It's like... we eat pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving and a chocolate bunny on Easter and egg nog at Christmas and cotton candy at the fair and popcorn at the cinema and birthday cake at a birthday party... there's a time and place for each of these special foods. If the kids are feeling denied that I haven't made available birthday cake on non-birthdays, I've seen no evidence of it, and nor have they become cake addicts looking for their next fix because of the lack of cake.  Just like on halloween, they accept the boundary and move on.

[SamanthaCarter]

Agreed that holiday materialism is gross. So I say hand out less candy, don't make parties and events revolve around food and stuff, and try to spend more time enjoying people and doing things.

 

 

I'm not sure we truly know how to do this in our culture. I'll admit I don't. :/

 

I let the kids keep 25 favorite pieces each after they went out, then I stashed some chocolate (for our Sunday Chocolate box - our sabbath tradition), and we dumped the rest in a bowl on our porch for the teenagers. ;) So yes, I regulate.  

[Melissa in Australia]

Other

I don't live in a culture which has this strange custom of visiting strangers and getting huge amounts of lollies.  Though big franchise businesses are trying very very hard to force this culture onto AUS society

[abcmommy]

the only regulation done here is that when they are young we know where the stash is and we eat all the stuff we like best.  Now the youngest is 11 and she hides it better.  :(

[mom2jjka]

I don't regulate it unless they are stuffing themselves right before dinner. They are pretty responsible. 

First of all - they sort out the stuff they don't like (or can't have because of braces) and they give it to my DH to take to work.  

He puts it on his desk as a treat for his employees and clients.

 

Our dentist said he would actually prefer that kids DO eat it all in just one or two days.  He thinks that long-term sugar exposure is much worse.

[gracefor5]

I used to regulate set number of pieces per day. Now they are older, only one even tricked TorT'd this year, and have somewhat learned to self regulate and I let them be. Only so many things I can nag about in a day. They are all pretty health conscious so they might gorge every once in a while but overall control themselves. Better than I do that's for sure. 😜 I do clandestinely throw out a decent amount of it though so the candy eating doesn't go all the way to Thanksgiving!!

[Haiku]

don't make parties and events revolve around food and stuff, and try to spend more time enjoying people and doing things.

 

I think that's a losing battle. People throughout history have celebrated with food and feasts. It's common to pretty much every culture. And I, personally, don't see anything wrong with parties and holidays having a strong food component. It's our nature as social beings to dine together.

[Spryte]

LTFAs. DS doesn't eat any of his candy.

 

He does get a bag of safe treats, and I don't regulate those at all. They are a rare, rare treat. Plus, the amount he gets is about the size of two full size candy bars, so we're not talking a huge haul.

[dirty ethel rackham]

I will say it became easier to self-regulate on candy when we dropped hidden sugar in our food.  Sugar does act like a drug - the more you get, the more you want.  So when it's in everything there is a constant feed going on, creating more highs and lows.  We started buying simpler foods, and sweets didn't taste as good/we didn't want as many as we did before. The lack of sugar in our every day helps on holidays, I think.

We are a "cook from scratch, read all the ingredients, no hidden sugar" household and I still have very limited ability to resist candy.  I have two kids who can self-monitor and one who is just like me.  I don't think this is a cause and effect thing.  People are just different. 

 

(I do notice that I crave it more when I am stressed out.  We are dealing with some big stuff with one of my kids and I went hunting for the stash leftover from Halloween.  I muttered a few expletives when I realized that dh had either moved the stash or taken it to work with him.  I know that he thinks he was doing me a favor, but I just binged on something else that was less satisfying so I ate more.  Yes, I know I have a problem.  My name is Ellen and I am an emotional eater.) 

 

I live in an area where most kids have their Halloween candy regulated by parents.  Much of it gets thrown out (by the parents).

 

When candy has been brought to events, it's like piranhas.  These kids have NO sense of knowing when they've had enough.  And they know they have to grab and gobble quick before their parents find out there's candy.  I can't believe they're even tasting it.

I think this is a matter of lack of manners rather than a case of parents causing the behavior by removing the candy.  Some people just can't self-regulate. 

[flyingiguana]

 

 

I think this is a matter of lack of manners rather than a case of parents causing the behavior by removing the candy.  Some people just can't self-regulate. 

 

But they're mostly polite about everything else

[ktgrok]

My oldest can self regulate, and his mood is not greatly effected by candy/sugar, so I don't even say a word to him. When he was young he could eat a bunch on halloween night, then after that he was supposed to ask before having a piece. I generally said yes, and he never asked to eat too much. As he got older he just kept it in his room and no longer asked, and he still regulated well. We often still had halloween candy around Easter. 

His father is the same way, and had never had a problem with overeating or portion control. 

 

My other two kids would gorge on nothing but candy for days on end, and their behavior is GREATLY effected by what they eat. So yes, I regulate. I let them eat quite a bit on Halloween, then I got rid of almost all of it, explaining taht it wasn't healthy to eat so much candy and we'd get a new toy instead. They have maybe 2 pieces a day of what is left and it is almost gone. If they weren't stark raving lunatics on sugar I'd let them self regulate. But seriously, you'd think my youngest was on LSD when he gets a sugar high. It's a bit amusing, but not something you can live with on a regular basis. Their father, my current husband, has a HUGE issue with portion control (to the point he can easily win those "eat a giant burger/steak/etc contests and still have room for dessert!), and very little ability to self regulate. He will eat candy until he is literally sick and has a headache when they have candy at work, then do it again the next day. 

[SKL]

It's funny to see how much candy is currently in each of my kids' buckets on the Wednesday after.  Miss E's is still pretty much stuffed, Miss A's is maybe 1/4 as full, despite me having declared "detox" on Sunday evening.  (I did let them each have "one" item on Monday and Tuesday, which probably wasn't really "one.")  This is after I scarfed all the stuff they don't like and Miss E donated some to her sister and friend.

 

I think today we'll go through it and pick out what they are willing to hand over for the dentist buy-back thing.  I think it needs to be gone by the end of the week.

[Rebel Yell]

I let them choose when and how much to eat.

 

But my girls are 20, 16-in-19-days and 14 next month.

 

One of them was having a PMS day and just sprawled on the couch with a heating pad, her arm buried up to the elbow in her candy backpack. (Backpack was part of her Katniss costume and doubled as her treat bag.) I just let her be. :crying:

 

I also did not regulate the candy, sandwich, or Mtn Dew intake of the boys who were here. (14 & 17) One of the sweet guys I think was trying to eat all of his candy before he got home and his mom and siblings stole it. :coolgleamA: