Welcome to YTF Community, a place to safely share in the challenges and joys of feeding our families. And make all of it easier!
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!
Quick reminder, all members get a bonus weekly post like this—on topics like How to Feed Kids When You’re Drowning, A Week of Real Life Dinners, and this Master List of Cooking Hacks to Make It All Easier—and a weekly meal plan that is editable. There is also an option to make custom meal plans to make it easier to plan meals, create grocery lists, and get through some of your mental load a little more quickly.
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:
Members Only
The full post is for paid subscribers to the YTF Community. The vast majority of my content is free every day of the year, so if this topic is of interest to you, consider upgrading to a paid subscription to keep reading.
A subscription gets you: Paywalled essays, commenting with peers, weekly customizable meal plans, bonus recipes, and other fun perks.
If you’re already a member, login for access.
Thank you for these answers. I loved the perspective & context you offered regarding setting boundaries & creating agreements with other family members. Spot on & very helpful.
I’m so glad and thank you for commenting!