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Welcome to the monthly FAQ post meant to answer real questions from readers that I think will resonate with most of us. I always aim to offer usable tips and reassurance, so I am crossing my fingers for that today!
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And now for the first question that is appropriate for this spring holiday season we are in:
We try to limit added sugar for our toddler since she’s still so young, but my parents don’t agree with us that it’s necessary and they give her so much of it whenever we see them. (SO many fruit snacks!) I don’t want to upset them, but I also want them to follow our rules. Any advice? —Sam
You are definitely not alone in caring about this or experiencing this! There are two things that have helped me in my own life with this issue:
- Understand that it’s actually okay if we can’t 100% control every food our toddler is exposed to. In the grand scheme of things, that is almost impossible to do.
- Know that it’s 100% okay for us to advocate for our kids, our rules, and to ask those who loves us (and our kids) to follow our lead.
Those two things might seem opposed, but I think there’s room for them to work together. For me, this meant that when my oldest kiddo was one, I would send a text message ahead of a family visit asking for agreement on a few basic things.
An example of what I might ask for ahead of time might be:
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