Is Pudding an OK Food for a One Year Old?

I run a home daycare and am part of the food program. We are not allowed to count pudding as a food. It is too high in sugar and really very low in calcium content. I would NOT consider it an ok food for a child under 8 except on special occassions or as dessert. There is no reason to give a toddler/baby sweets at all, so I would totally avoid any sugary items until they are at least 2, closer to 3 for my preference.

N.

While pudding might be okay once in a while, I would opt for something like y0-baby yogurt(whole milk) as it is not as high in sugar and also has beneficial bacteria. More important stay away from artficial sweeteners as it messes with the brain signals of satiety and can trigger a want for more sweets. It is better to have a taste of the real thing than go for the fake stuff and end up wanting more.

My niece gave her toddler pudding, and the now 10 year old hates any natural snacks and is a sugar junkie. With my daughter We used yogurt, cottage cheese, and pieces of cheese. Soft melon is ok too. I am deathly allergic to splenda, and after reading about it, have real reservations about how 'natural" it is. It can produce a lot of gas & diarrhea. The trick to training a little one to eating real fruit and veggies is not giving them the fake stuff. I gave up baby food after 1 year and began grinding up whatever we ate--broccoli mush was a specialty!! Eat baby food once, and see what it tastes like...nothing you'd cook, for sure! Good luck.

Hi M.~
I gave both of my kids, now 5 & 18mos, pudding once they started using forks & spoons to feed themselves, which was close to 12 months. I gave them brand names rather than generic, but there was really no reason for that. I honestly didn't put much thought into it, but they're both fine!!
Hope this helps!
J.

Definetly ok my son has been having vanilla pudding since 7 months and its on a paper from the dr office that is where i got it now chocolate I am not sure

I've given it as a treat, with some fruit on top. My favorite brand is Kozy Shack, the chocolate & rice pudding are especially good. But this was a great way to get my son to work on his self-feeding skills! Same with yogurt....

I didn't think of all that!! I let my 1 yr old help me make the pudding & then we enjoyed the snack after naps. He only ate a couple bites!

I let my daughter that is 5 eat pudding and she shares it with her one year old sister and she does fine. She has not gained that much just from pudding. I think your going to be ok. Just don't always give it offer other alternatives.

The other mothers will probably be equipped with better answers (I am expecting my first in December so I will probably be asking the same question next year) but i will say that I would stay away from all synthetic sweeteners. I have read numerous studies that highlight how all of them-once testing is complete-will be found to be harmful and most carcinogenic/cancer causing. You don't want to get your little one used to fake foods anyway, the best is natural in moderation. Just my two cents!

Good luck.
M.

Pudding is fine for a 1 year old since they can have dairy now. I give my 13 month old regular pudding (occasionally only) and she is fine. My first also had pudding and there were no problems.

NO!!! It has NO nutritional value and is completely unneccessary to introduce to a baby! Stick with fruit for something "sweet" that way they also get vitamins, etc. I think any kind of dessert and junk food is completely unneccessary at this age, even beyond, what is the purpose of giving it to them? There are plenty of great healthy alternatives. And a double no to any artificial sweeteners, they have caused cancers in mice and even though it may be safe in small amounts, think about how it adds up over a lifetime. Also, they say the first 2 years of life can be especially dangerous to give them those types of things because their development and growth is so rapid...stick to natural. Good luck!

Pudding is Ok but I would stay away from chocolate because he is still a diaper and chocolate can play havoc with some people. Do not go with a pudding the artificial sweeteners either.

Hi M.,
While sugar's not the best thing for kids, artificial sweeteners should be avoided at all costs - most of them are basically poison to us. I can tell you that aspartame in particular is formaldehyde, a known human carcinogen and many of them can affect us in bad ways like migraine headaches or do damage on the inside that might not manifest on the outside. I tried to avoid giving my Emma sugar for the longest time, and I am glad I did although now at 2, she is "getting out more" to kids parties and stuff, and it's everywhere. I am glad she only really gets it at these events because I can see it "turn on and off" in her body like she just goes wild. That's actually not a good thing, but I figure she's only getting a little at these events and better than her getting it always. I have a lot of nutrition info. for kids being a Shaklee distributor if you'd like some more information.

Thanks,
K.

I've given both my kids pudding after they started dairy (at 1). Its always easy to throw in the bag to add to a meal for them when you are out - no worries about refrigerating(if you buy those individual packs). I personally stay away from anything low sugar that isn't made from pure sugar - even Splenda. I just don't have any faith in these things. You never know what they will find 10 years down the road.

Good luck,

Aarti.

I give my daughter sugar free for some things and have not noticed any problems! I do also buy a lot of no sugar added things. We do the pudding on occasion but I have found that she loves applesauce- no sugar added and also yogurts. The yogurts taste good and have plenty of health benefits!

There is a lot of controversy over aspartame and Splenda/sucralose. Because of my daughters allergies to some food additives I just bought a book called A Consumer's Dictionary of Food Additives and in there it says that the Splenda/Sucralose is safe. In 2000 the European Union ordered more studies on it and concluded that at its current use it is safe. Europe is much more strict in additives than America is so that is one of my general rules of thumb when purchasing something that may be safe in America and has been pulled from the shelves in Europe. I would check out this book if you can, maybe from the library, it has a ton of information on the additives in lots of foods that you may not want to give your child. This is something totally new to me since we just started looking at ingredients but I am shocked at some of the things we consume!

You may also want to go down the organic aisle if you are still leery on it and you can buy puddings and other things that contain natural sugar for her. I even just found that they have natural soda! OH MY! lol My daughter goes nuts if she sees me drinking a soda and I am not willing to share because of the dyes in it since she is allergic to them.... now that I found this for her I can give it to her as a treat!

Many blessings to you and yours!
- T.

"Spots Are Beautiful"
Support Understanding and Research of
Pediatric Mastocytosis
www.mastokids.org