How to Manage Halloween Candy for Young Kids

We are two weeks out after trick-or-treating, how is everyone doing?

I want to start this by saying: I’m still figuring out what works best for us. There are SO many different ideas and strategies out there. It’s not a one-size-fits-all approach for every family or even every child. This may also change year to year – which is certainly what I have found!

Case in point:

Last year’s Halloween candy ‘management’ felt a lot easier when my daughter was 1 and a half years old and only went to a few houses. She was more excited about looking at her treats and went to bed early before she witnessed her older brother (age 5) demolish his stash. I can’t even recall if she had any candy – at most, one or two pieces. She still napped so that was the time when my son would have his candy. This year was a different beast when she could trick-or-treat a bit further as a strong-willed, determined 2-and-a-half-year-old and stayed up later to sample more with her brother. And she sure liked candy(obviously!) She also doesn’t nap anymore, so there isn’t a time where my son can eat it without her seeing. And speaking of my son, he ran house tohouse and covered way more ground this year which meant a lot more candy than previous years.

Let me explain my challenge with this whole topic:

I hold two strong values that seem in opposition of each other at Halloween:

1. I am very intentional about keeping my kids’ sugar intake low. For example, I don’t buy flavoured yogurt, juice boxes or BearPaws. I monitor maple syrup for their pancakes. I do this for their brains, their gut health, their immune system, their behaviour (aka avoiding blood sugar drops for fewer melt downs) and to reduce their future disease risk. By the way – the daily upper limit of refined sugar is 25g for kids. I won’t burst your bubble and tell you how much is in each piece of candy (I also don’t fully know either) but you can get there FAST.

2. I also care a lot about their future relationship with food and avoid putting treats/sugary foods on a pedestal. I am aware of the research that shows more restriction =more binging, sneaking/hiding, and less ability to regulate intake. We purposely don’t call candy or dessert “bad” or “unhealthy” or “cheating” – none of that negative language.And also – Halloween is special and exciting and I want them to enjoy it.

So here I am, not wanting my kids to eat a lot of sugar on the regular, but careful not to shame their Halloween candy intake so they can hopefully regulate themselves one day. What's a parent to do?!

Here’s our approach:

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On Halloween night:

1. There’s no limit. We let them go wild and did the eat-their-hearts-out approach. We made it fun. Ex. “ooh what does this one taste like?” “What’s your favourite so far?” “Can I try that?”

This is what we’ve found:

a.       They happily share with us and each other vs. hiding it or being greedy.

b.       We enjoy it together.

c.       Sometimes they take a bite of something and put it down to move on to something else.

d.       Sometimes they say “ew” and they throw it out.

e.       When we feel it’s time for bed or it needs to end, we say bedtime, no more.

*I didn’t love this for my daughter this year. I felt she was too young to eat SO much candy at once and we paid for it that night – she had a rough, restless sleep and I think she’s too young to connect the conversation in the morning that “maybe it was too much candy before bed.” (Or all the spooky things she saw?)

2. We throw out:

a.       Pop.

b.       Hard candy/choking hazards.

3. This year we thinned out my son’s stash and put excess into a freezer bag to stash away in chest freezer for next year.

a.       I also loved this idea from a friend who took handfuls of her son’s stash and put in bowls out front for the teens who come by late and raid the bowls.

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For the first week after Halloween:

4. In my son’s lunch, we included:

a.       1 bag of chips and he could pick one treat eachday.

5. We set designated times when they can have candy. It made it predictable.

a.        After or alongside the after-school snack or dinner.

b.        Never on an empty stomach – always with or alongside food.

c.        There was no pressure like “you need to eat all your chicken if you want candy.”

6. I set limits during those times (which was new this year):

a.       My son could pick 3 treats after his snack and my daughter could pick 2 treats.

b.       After dinner, my son could pick 2 treats and my daughter could pick 1.

7.  After a sugar high, we move! We go outside and bike/scooter (in the dark!), play soccer, bounce on indoor trampoline, or puton music and dance.

a.      I explain this. How eating candy gives lots of energy and our body wants to move to hopefully help them connect with that feeling. But honestly, they          naturally want to move after eating anyways!

After that first week, my daughter got a fever and was sick on Friday. I told them we are going to take a break from candy because our body needs to fight the germs. (Truth – sugar suppresses natural killer cells, our first line of defence against viruses making our immune system weak.) My son was upset briefly, but by Saturday – they both completely forgot about candy and haven’t asked about it and that was over 6 days ago. Wonderful – all done!

Final thoughts:

1. I think as parents it’s our job to hold boundaries and set limits around our kids’ candy intake - even if they protest.

a.       Perhaps that is WHEN they have it, HOW much, orfor HOW long.

2. I think it’s important to have the conversation with your spouse so you’re on the same page. It’ll provide clear expectations for the kids without confusion.

3. I think older kids can be part of the conversation and decision-making process.

4. A co-worker shared her family’s strategy for her older kids. They can pick a certain amount after trick-or-treating (ex. 20pieces) and they choose when to eat it and how much. When it’s done, it’s done.

5. The switch witch didn’t resonate with us. I feelit sends the message that candy is “bad” since a reward is given for gettingrid of it.

6. Candy is yummy and it shouldn’t be shamed.

7. I also don’t think exceeding the 25g of added sugar each day for weeks is a healthy choice for kids.

8. There’s no right or wrong way to manage this!

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9. If you regretted your 'management' this year, let it go. Next year is a new year to try something different! 

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