Sugary Foods ( 11 Month Old) Question

Sigh. Why are you still going to this sitter?

It's so simple for you to fix this. Take food for him for breakfast. Some scrambled eggs, toast, maybe yougurt. How about some fruit and plain Cheerios? Peanut butter on toast or bananas. Etc.

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A., you are right. Your baby sitter is harming your baby. Speak up and lay down the law on what is and is not acceptable to feed your baby. make a list. does the baby sitter come to your home or do you drop off? If you drop off then bring food for your baby and don't let her feed your baby her food, she obviously does not have a clue.
Any baby is a better eater if you feed him sugar. It take more prodding, and effort to get them to eat the healthier foods. Here are some ideas for feeding your baby better foods:
whole wheat toast and butter/ applesauce/ yogurt with a little jam added/ cooked carrots, peas, corn/ cheese, cottage cheese, cherrios, egg yolks cooked, canned green beans, berries (mine loves frozen blueberries), noodles.

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Yes, I think that the sweet stuff should be off limits, especially at this age. :)

Try this instead: she's the sitter, so give her a list of approved breakfast foods. Give her a list of 6 or 8 things he CAN have for breakfast, a list of things he can have for lunch, and a list of things he can have for dinner.

If she is your sitter, then she should be feeding him what you tell her to. (If it were a daycare situation, you would probably have to discuss and compromise).

If you have to, put all the off-limits stuff away in a cupboard and lock, etc.

And don't fret too much--my son threw his food on the floor all the time until around age 2 (soooo frustrating), but especially at that age and up to 18 m.

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Some of my sons' favorite foods at that age were plain adult cereal (bran flakes were a hit!), cheese cubes, scrambled eggs, hash browns, pancakes or waffles with unsweetened applesauce, plain yogurt with agave nectar or jelly, cream cheese toast or applesauce toast, any fruit, etc.

Good luck!

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I agree with the other moms. Kids don't know anything about sugar & don't need it. So there's no need to even introduce it to them until they're older. Maybe as a treat or special occasion, but that's it. I usually give my kids oatmeal, cherrios, fruit, or yogurt for breakfast. You can even try natural smoothies. FYI... It would be a good idea to even start looking at the ingredients in everything too. Experts are now saying that it's the High Frutose Corn Syrup in alot of junk food & even crackers & juices that's causing ADHD. Try only giving your child things that contain natural sugar like fruit & 100% juice. I even dilute the juice because some cause diarrhea & yes his teeth could suffer too.

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You have every right to be concerned over what goes into your child's body!

Of course he likes her food better. What child isn't going to choose sweets over more healthier foods. It's your job to teach good eating habits early so they will become habits.

I would bring my own food for the child rather than telling her what to buy. A good cereal is Multi grain Cheerios. It has just the slightest hint of a sweet taste and is very healthy. My triplets loved this stuff and ate it for years since they were about a year old. Pudding is not necessary. If it is given be sure it's the sugar free but the child is still getting conditioned to eat sweet tasting food. An 11 monthh old isn't old enough to explain that it's sugar free so it's ok. Applesauce (plain or cinnamon) is a good taste. Be sure it's natural and no sugar added. Mine liked the chunky version. Canned fruit cocktail, no sugar added. Canned mixed veggies at dinner is good too. Easy to pick up and soft to chew. Gerber Puffs or Wheels made of veggies (rather than the fruit kind) are good for snacks. Juice mixed half with water at snack times, formula at breakfast, lunch and dinner. There's many things out there. There's sandwiches cut up. Yogurt. Cottage cheese with crushed fruit in it like pineapple.

Be creative, but send your own food in to her. You want her to creative healthy habits since she is your employee and put in charge of your child's well being. She's not there to apply her wishes on someone else's children. She's there to continue your habits on to your child, to replace you while you're gone, period.

Try mini or micro ravioli, rinsed to save on a mess. Jelly on toast once in a while is ok if it's very thin but it's not necessary. Just light butter is fine. Now you have to retrain your child to eat healthy. Be sure to keep feeding your child the healthy food. If he doesn't eat then he'll know to eat the next meal. Don't cater to him or give in to bad habits just to get him to eat. He'll eat when he's truly hungry. Just pack his food for the day the night before and let her know that this is what he's eating, period. You're paying for a service. Be sure to get your money's worth or find someone else.

K. B
mom to 5 including triplets

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Of course he's eating better for her, b/c of the food she's giving and you're starting some bad habits in my opinion. I would never want my 11-month old to be eating Fruit loops, lucky charms or any of those sugary cereals. My 4 1/2 year old doesn't even eat those. I always brought the staple foods to my sitter, but she also would know NEVER to feed my baby those foods. You could do both, bring her some staple foods or what you would like your son to be eating and also let her know the things that are off limits. If you don't trust her than bring all the food over and let her know what the meals should be.

On a side note, you seem to have many, many issues with this sitter....why are you still using her?

Everywhere we go people try to feed kids badly, and it's very easy for them to get hooked on the addictive sugary processed artificial foods. You know it matters. At 11 months, your babysitter is setting his eating habits. The ONLY thing you can do is send food with him and put your foot down about what he eats if she babysits frequently. Load up bags with whole grain bread and almond butter sandwiches, bananas, apples, apples sauce tubs (Musselman's has a natural one without high fructose corn syrup) whole grain organic cereal O's to give him. There is NO excuse for the lucky charms-what is this? the 70's?! ( I know people were thinner then, but he's not outside alone running around all day at 11 months). Pudding!??!? for god sakes do they still make pudding? Get some plain yogurt.

There are healthy options to every snack but she's not going to buy them, so you need to take the lead. All this stuff is available at the regular grocery store. My kids even like 100% pumpkin (found in baking aisle, but don't accidentally get the "pumpkin pie filling" just the real pumpkin. If you send cereal, a can of pumpkin, some apple sauce and little bread sandwiches, she has NO excuse to give him junk. Be tough. People think it's dumb if they haven't decided to acknowledge it. Who cares what they think.

He eats better for her because she gives him sugar rich foods, she is giving him treats for breakfast. I totally agree with you that he does not need theses types of cereals. Not only are they high in sugar, the ones you mentioned, are also full of artificial colorings which have no benefits to him whatsoever. I'm surprised that a babysitter would give these kinds of cereals to children in her care, on the couple of occassions my kids have had these cereals (at other peoples houses) they are bouncing of the walls within minutes.
There are definitely healthier options for him to take with him. You could provide less sugary cereals without all the artificial colorings (such as cornflakes, weetabix, porridge, rice krispies etc), you could provide granola bars or a different topping for the toast such as natural peanut butter (which at least has some nutritional value). He could also have a yogurt instead of vanilla pudding. Fresh fruit is also a great addition to cereal at breakfast time.
Is there any way you could give him breakfast at home and let her know he doesn't need a breakfast?
You definitely can tell her you are not happy with all the sugary foods he is getting. If you are paying her to watch him she should have to feed him to a certain nutritional standard. That is the least for you to expect.

Of course he eats more for her...That sweet stuff is yummy!
My 13 m.o. usually eats oatmeal for breakfast on weekdays. if it is the weekend, he might eat cinnamon toast, waffles, pancakes, scrambled or hard boiled egg, sausage...depends on what we're having.
It sounds like the only way she is going to feed him better is if you provide the food. You could bring her instant oatmeal, frozen pancakes or waffles, cereal bars, plain cheerios, yogurt.

Hey A.,
You were given lots of great suggestions for breakfast foods, many of which could also be used for lunch. If she is giving this type of stuff for breakfast what does he get for lunch and snacks? Why is he getting breakfast there? I have had a home daycare for 17 years now, and anyone who wants/needs breakfast here, supplies their own. You definitely need to be bringing stuff, either daily or at the begining of the week. I used to have 1 mom who would bring a big box of cereal, a box of waffles, a tub of yogurt, milk etc and when this was running low, I let her know. She also would send fruit of sometype on Monday along with the milk.

Definitely speak up, communication is key, she doesn't know it is a problem until you let her know. Perhaps the other parents are fine with it. Maybe you get a pamphlet from your ped, or print something off from the internet on appropriate foods for that age group. You do have to be careful on one thing... he is eating better for her since it is sweeter food, but he will soon recognize that what he is eating is different from the other children and that also leads to problems for the sitter.For example, you could mix regular cheerios or multi grain cheerios with fruity cheerios that have slightly more sugar but still okay.

A tip I use when my 14 month old doesn't want to eat... I mix whatever it is with yogurt and she will eat. I have mixed mashed potatoes, carrots, small bites of bread, small pieces of fruit etc.

I have recently started giving my daycare kids multi grain cheerios with morning snack, they think the brown cheerios are chocolate, I laugh to myself every time they say that and these kids are 3!

In our house "junk food cereal" is for treats (like dessert) NOT for breakfast - ditto for pudding. 11mo old is still a baby and doesn't need "treats"like this everyday. Whole wheat toast with just a little grape jam isn't so bad - I make homemade jam with very little sugar and we eat it almost everyday. He needs like some scrambled egg, half a banana and half a piece of toast for breakfast, or some oatmeal with chopped up banana, canned peaches etc in it.