Toddlers tend to LOVE chocolate. But as Easter approaches, most parents worry about how to manage their toddler’s chocolate egg consumption.
We know that what happens in the early years can impact their lifelong relationship with food. But what if we haven't offered any chocolate yet? Or what if our toddlers are REALLY into chocolate? How much is too much? How much is enough? And what should we say to them about it?
Read on to learn my tips to let go of your worries this Easter.
Why parents worry about toddlers and Easter chocolate
Sometimes this comes from fears about our own eating, especially if we sometimes feel out of control around these kinds of foods.
We might assume that everyone will eat too much chocolate if they’re allowed to have as much as they want, but in fact, usually the opposite is true. People are more likely to binge or feel out of control around lollies and chocolate as a result of restriction and losing touch with what their body is telling them.
How should we manage Easter chocolate instead?
We want our kids to be able to listen to what their tummy says. This might be a bit controversial, but I actually want your toddler to eat as much chocolate as they like! Why? Because we can help them much more in the long term by teaching them to listen to their bodies, than we can by restricting how much they eat this Easter.
We want them to learn that chocolate is just food, and they can eat chocolate without becoming obsessed with it.
This way they learn to eat enough to be satisfied and then move onto playing once they’re done.
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We can help kids learn to listen to their bodies
The key is to have these foods as part of a child’s usual diet, but within the structure of regular meals. Kids who have regular access to all foods (but not constant access) can choose to eat as much as they feel like and stop when they’ve had enough. THIS is the holy grail of intuitive eating and a key part of the Mealtimes method.
What age can kids have Easter chocolate?
To be clear, I wouldn’t offer chocolate to little kids who don’t know what it is. There is no need to give a baby any chocolate - you could give them a blueberry and they’d be just as happy.
So, when is this magic age to start offering chocolate? For first born kiddos it can be somewhere around 2 years of age, but for those with older siblings, they’re often aware much earlier that they’re ‘missing out’. We don’t want chocolate to be seen as a highly magical food (it’s just food) so the point they start noticing you're not giving it to them is the point to introduce it without fanfare. Read on for what to do next.
The Mealtimes Method for Easter Eggs with Toddlers
Here are my top tips for managing this sticky (literally) issue over the Easter weekend, which can also be applied at other holidays. If you have older kids, you can start here too. In Family Mealtimes we have support for what to do next as your kids get older, and how to approach this if your school aged kids haven't ever had unlimited access to chocolate. There's also answers to frequently asked questions about this.
This is what works for my family, and I've heard from thousands of Mealtimes members that it's been great for them too. If you can trust the process it can work for yours too.
Easter Sunday comes once a year. If you have an Easter Egg hunt make sure everyone enjoys it! Leave a carrot out for the Easter Bunny (there’s a chance for your kids to interact with a vegetable!). After the hunt let them eat as much chocolate as they like (seriously). You don’t need to stress about the sugar consumption, and maybe you can also enjoy eating your own Easter Eggs. Easter Monday can also be relaxed – let them count and sort their stash, trade with their siblings and so on. It's fun!
As much as you can, keep offering regular meals and snacks over the Easter period. Do whatever you would do on a typical day, or whatever fits around other family events. Your toddler might be hungry even if you couldn’t imagine eating anything else. But also they might not. As always: you provide, they decide.
On Easter Tuesday, pack up the chocolate and put it in a box each in the pantry or fridge. Chocolate consumption now becomes part of snack time. You can offer it along with another food (fruit, veggies, milk, pikelets etc) and your toddler can choose how much to have at that snack time. This means they don't have access to chocolate all day long. They do get to choose as much as they would like to eat, but only you decide if it’s included at that snack.
Finally, make sure your child doesn’t feel watched or judged while they’re eating Do your best NOT to comment on what they’ve had, how much they’ve had, or if they feel sick after eating lots of chocolate or lollies. Resist the temptation to turn it into a lesson - they will put those pieces together in their own time.
I want your child to understand that chocolate is just a food, and that you’re not fixated on what they do with it. This is how they learn to stop when they feel satisfied, rather than eating until someone else makes them stop.
These tips should help you to enjoy the holiday time, and help your kids learn to listen to their tummy voice. If you’ve always controlled how much your child eats, then it can be difficult for them to work this out for themselves at first. Don’t panic though – because they can!
Trust that your toddler can learn how to eat chocolate
If any of this sounds tricky, Toddler Mealtimes can help. I'm here to help you feel confident, not confused, so that Easter can be something you actually look forward to.
If you're ready for a clear, evidence-based approach to toddler feeding and support from feeding experts at every step, the Mealtimes Membership is ready for you.
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