sugarfree treats for GCs -any ideas?

I think cutting out sweet treats entirely is not necessary. My two children were allowed a choice of either a sweet treat or a mini book every Friday. They had nothing sweet apart from puddings the rest of the time including soft drinks of any sort.

They still haven't a single filling in their heads even at 40 odd.

The problem is that some people and children are more predisposed to tooth decay.

I do not give mine sweets usually, but allow them a biscuit - I suppose I feel that they stick to the teeth less even though they contain sugar.

Can you ask DD what she is planning to give them?

Fruit is full of sugars, so that is not the answer.

Some of my DGC like crackers, or crisps or Pom Bears.

My Mum was warned and our children were bought comics when she came , but they are a very expensive item now , MIL and her DD fed eldest with dolly mixtures , but he was the fav ! the rest had no fillings till well into their 30s and 40s but DS1 has a mouthful and expensive crowns

Small cheese biscuits as un-salty as possible?
When my kids were small they had a rich tea biscuit with their mid morning snack.

I did not keep any sweets in the house on a regular basis. My Mil would occasionally bring a Twix bar as a treat but that was sort of monthly.
A piece of fruit such as banana or a pear, well fruit is sweet but it is quite watery when compared with the concentrated sugar in sweets.

It is far better not to have an regular sweets available.

Not sure totally cutting out sweets etc is a good idea, just limit them. We thought we were doing the right thing with DS1 by never giving him any sweet things and he became very greedy when anyone else gave them to him. All things in moderation is what we did with the others and that seems to have worked.

I do wonder why you feel there is a need to give them treats at all. We don't when we see our GC although two of them have a fondness for the tiny tomatoes so sometimes we buy them those. We only buy sweet things at Christmas and sometimes as birthday party prizes.

My DS1 and one of my GSs (his nephew) liked nothing better than a crunchy cucumber. When another GS was of a size to sit in the shopping trolley, he liked to snack on cherry tomatoes. By the time his mum got to the checkout, she sometimes had to hand over the half empty container for the barcode to be read. My half-GS (GD1's half brother), as a toddler, used to charge into my house, shouting, 'I NEED a biscuit'. I usually had a packet of digestives or rich teas which satisfied him - not the whole packet.

My DGCs get fruit or one of the fruit bars. I would recommend yo-yos- Bear brand. They are made from fruit and sweet potato-no sugar- are long thin strips which unroll and come in packs of 2 with a card as well so lots of amusement value. www.bearnibbles.co.uk/yoyos
DIL is a dentist and DGCs are only allowed water and milk to drink.

anno you made me smile as I remembered DS3 used to say 'need' when other children said 'want'. It worked a treat on all my friends but never with me.

Almost impossible. No added sugar dies the mean no sugar. Even this bear brand thingys contain 37.8g of sugar per 100g.

Cheese cubes?

There's a new app somewhere that lets you scan products and tells you how much sugar. Does anyione know the name?

dies the mean ???? does not mean....

Just found it....

Change4life Sugar Smart

Let's you scan things and tells you how much sugar in it

Carrot batons, fresh fruit (OK I know fruit contains sugar, but not added) my little DGD is partial to broccoli florets (al dente)which she knows as " trees" !

I think DD is a bit more relaxed about it. The dentist really put the wind up her! Fruit is fine and the occasional biscuit but only water and milk to drink. The biggest problem seems to be getting eldest GS to eat anything without tomato ketchup!

Make pop corn with them.....then eat it......! When its just made and still hot it tastes yummy even 'naked'.

Your DD might appreciate some of the information here
www.toothfairyblog.org/category/articles/
One of the things my DIL always says is treats are OK as part of a meal but between meals you should stick to things like oatcakes (my DGD calls these biscuits!)
How teeth are cleaned is also important. No rinsing at the end!

I'm not sure whether you mean treats or snacks jane10.
To my mind a treat is a once a week thing and a few sweets (eaten all at once, because it's the number of intakes of sugar that's as important as the quantity, as far as teeth are concerned anyway) once a week isn't going to do any harm, as long as the rest of the diet's ok.

However if it's the several times a day snacks (which all my grandchildren appear to be unable to live without) that's an entirely different matter and they should be sugar free.
Whole fruit is fine because the fructose is contained within the cells and isn't released till the stomach enzymes have got to work, mainly. Fruit juice isn't, because the sugar is 'available' and so should be diluted to minimise this.
The best thing is cheese, because it has a buffering effect on saliva and helps recalcification of the enamel.
So cheese, pieces of toast with butter or marmite, nuts, bananas, apples, digestive biscuits with minimal sugar if you must.
Something to remember is that although the amount of sugar per 100grams may look horrendous, if you're only eating a very small amount of it, it probably doesn't matter in the scheme of things.
So if a child has to have something nutritious dipped in a very small amount of ketchup before it will eat it, the benefit of eating the nutritious thing probably outweighs the disbenefit of the ketchup, IYSWIM.

Personally I think snacks are the work of the devil for both adults and children. We are looking after DGCs this weekend while their parents go away for 3 nights and I'm going to test the theory that they can live without snacks, and eat their proper meals better when they do without them

I give my gc blueberries as a snack.

That was very useful information JaneA

My GC really love Quorn picnic eggs as an after school snack when I pick them up as it can be after 6.00 by the time they get fed. GS3 (age 5) loves olives - any kind!

Yes anya I agree if the last meal is going to be 6pm they need something after school to 'put them on' as my DM used to say.
I don't snack at any other time but I often have a piece of toast or fruit about 4 o'clock, specially if I've been working in the garden and feel depleted!

I thought the OP meant what to take as a treat when visiting GC? We used to be able to take a tube of Smarties but now these are banned. Comics would be ok but as mentioned above they are very expensive (and mostly rubbish). A strip of stickers is popular but I wish I could think of an alternative. A pack of tomatoes or a cucumber doesn't really fit the bill!

some fun things to buy the grandkids if you ignore the pricier ones (and the minions tik tacs

My DGS has no fillings at all, has lovely teeth and eats sweets.It can be done, without a ban on all sugar taking place.Sugary drinks are worse than sweets, he doesn't have those ( drinks) but enjoys some choc or smarties.Regular teeth brushing is the answer.

Otherwise, depending on age, craft things, colouring books, stickers, books.

Thanks all. Some useful links and great ideas. I agree that snacks/treats seem to blend into much the same thing! I'll get some of those fruit rolls to take as Gran treats when I visit them and will get a stock of microwave popcorn, crackers and cheese cubes as snacks when they come to us for longer visits. They're very keen on cleaning their teeth luckily and their dental hygiene is reportedly very good. Maybe the dentist is really trying to make a point. Most likely its for the best. Thanks again.