I have watched my children down multiple bowls of ice cream in one sitting, almost an entire bag of sour gummy worms from the store, and more cookies than I could count at a party.

It doesn’t always seem ideal. However, I also know from observing, these same kids will take two bites of a cookie and say “I’m done” or one bite of ice cream and then throw away the melted mess.

The other day I was leaving for work and my kids were asking the babysitter for leftover cookies and cake from the birthday party a few days before.

We told them they could have them with lunch. When I returned home, their lunches were still out on the table and they both had left cookies and cake on their plates.

When we don’t interfere our children tend to balance out their intake on their own.

To our adult judgment, it may appear that what they’re doing is extreme and way out of balance. It may seem like they’re eating absurd amounts that will make them sick (and sometimes it might.)

But when we allow those moments to happen without judgment, without creating shame or stopping them, children also feel free to say “No thank you,” or “I’m done,” on the occasions when they’ve had enough.

You might be thinking, That never happens!! My kid always eats more!

And if that’s the case, we need to assess what might be happening.

  • Does your child feel limited and restricted from sweets?
  • Do you always step in to control sugar?
  • Does your kid feel like the food is bad or they’re being judged?
  • Are “treats” used as a reward or taken away as punishment?
  • Is your child under a lot of general stress or anxiety?

If there is something else going on, the solution is not restriction. It’s addressing the cause. Why don’t they feel safe to leave sugar? If they feel like they can’t get their fill or that it will be off limits any minute, they will try to eat as much as possible in the moment. For more on this, check out The Number One Way to Help Your Child’s Sugar Obsession.

And if you want to help your child be able to leave sweets… If you want to stop stressing about sugar…  If you want to know what to say when they’re begging for candy and cookies… join my Making Sense of Sweets Workshop.

We’re covering the research on sugar and health, the possible causes of your kiddo’s sweet obsession, and practical strategies for how to handle it.

The top results my clients report are that they feel less stressed and able to handle sugar with more confidence. Think about how you feel when you are confident in what you’re doing.

Thank you for joining me and letting me be a part of your journey in creating joyful eating for your family. I look forward to connecting with you soon!