Does Halloween Scare You?

BOO!!

Does Halloween scare you? It doesn’t need to.

Relax and remember that feeding kids is a journey. As parents, our goal is to help kids become competent eaters; able to navigate and manage all the foods in their world, including sweets.

A few tips:

🎃 Relax and enjoy! Halloween is one day a year and it’s meant to be fun! What kids eat on Halloween has much less impact on their health than their overall eating pattern and habits on the other 364 days! Helping your child to learn to relax around sweets will benefit them for a lifetime.

👻 Keep your tone and language neutral. Call candy what it is: lollipops, chocolate, etc.  Avoid using words like “unhealthy,” “bad” or “junk” - they’ll just make your child feel guilty, confused or ashamed for wanting and enjoying it.

🍭Encourage your kids to express their thoughts - why they like candy and how it makes them feel. It’s ok to say “I love candy too!” Share which types and flavours are your favourites.

🎃 Have a plan for how you’ll be handling the candy and share it ahead of time with your kids, so they know what to expect. 

👻 Let your kids sort through their haul and savour the experience. Let them eat as much candy as they want on Halloween and the next day too.

🧛🏻 After that, let your child be in charge his or her own candy, as long they eat it as part of their regular meals and snacks. Let them eat as much as they want during snack times (include one or two other foods), and let them choose a few pieces to have with their meals. If your child can’t manage this, support them by “taking care” of their candy and bringing it out for them to manage at meals and snacks. You’ll be amazed to see that the thrill (and the candy) usually runs out more quickly than you expected!

🍫 If you want to donate some of your children’s candy or trade it for toys or books, make sure your kids are involved and on board with the plan.

👻 If you’re going to sneak some of your kids’ candy and eat it, make sure you do it when they’re at school or asleep, and don’t take so much that they notice 😉

Was this helpful? I’d love to know how you handle this holiday in your home.

🎃 Happy Halloween!