McDonalds

[Harper]

My dd is only 13 months old and I am very careful about what I feed her. Eating good, healthy, organic, unprocessed food is very important to me. She had a lovely carrot/pineapple cake from Cathe's book for her first birthday and loved it. I don't want to be obsessive but I have that tendency. It is so easy now but I worry about when she gets older. If she were to eat something I considered junk food at someone else's house I wouldn't freak out, but I just can't stomach the thought of her ever eating at McDonalds. I read Fast Food Nation and I think fast food is poison. I wouldn't eat there so I wouldn't want dd to eat there.

My family thinks I'm a little over the top and my mom was saying last night that she will probably go there with friends. (I've already made it clear to my mom what my reaction would be like if she ever took her there.) It seems to me like I could tell her friend's parents that I didn't want her to eat there. The local pizza place fine, the fast food junk on every corner--not fine.

So what do you think? Any like-minded mamas out there or do you all think I'm overreacting!

[oceanbaby]

My ds will be 3yo soon, and has never eaten fast food. He has had some french fries when we are in a restaurant, but never McDonalds or anything like that.

When they are older (preteen, teenager) and go with their friends, well, that's their decision. And will I ever take them there when they are in grade school? Maybe, but it will be a rare occasion if it happens at all. I am pretty much a vegetarian, so I can't imagine feeling very compelled to stop there. Hopefully my kid will continue to like burritos as much as I do!

Ds knows what I consider junk food to be - I explain that is bad for him and that it can make him sick. But he can make his own food choices when he is old enough. I can decide what comes in the house, though, and where I take him.

My parents were total health nuts, but I did eat a lot of garbage in highschool and college. But now I've come back around, and our house is full of mainly healthy foods. So their efforts were not in vain!

[Doulaluna]

When our son was 3 or so we explained to him about our food choices (being veg. etc.) and how fast food doesn't fit into the equation. He is 7 now and would be the first to tell you he wouldn't eat at McDonalds. Not that he hasn't been exposed to fast food. Unfortunately we can't control every aspect of his every day when he is with other people, so he has had french fries and salad from a couple of the fast food joints (or taco shells with cheese from taco bell), plus there's pizza parties at school, etc... But I have started to beleive that this mild exposure has been good for him.

He doesn't like most of the food that these places serve and I feel that by having been mildly exposed to them (without his parents freaking out) will tone down any rebellions he will have on diet when he's a teen. I have friends who were raised vegetarian without every having been allowed to stray from the path. When they hit teenager years they freaked out and started eating hamburgers and french fries from McDonalds on a regular basis. Granted they are all vegetarian/organic now, but it would break my heart to see my son scarfing down burgers just to spite me/us.

Just my 2 cents.

Heather

Mama of Indigo and Shay

[Mere]

I'm no McDs fan, but I think it's inevitable that everyone will eat there at some point in their lives. My dd hasn't eaten there yet, but she has eaten at Arby's a time or two, and a DQ too I think - always as a result of us being on some sort of road trip where there weren't very many options. A few times isn't going to kill her, and in fact, I think that by allowing fast food in [extreme!] moderation she won't go bananas for it when she's old enough to make her own decisions about food. As the other posters have said, I think completely restricting fast food (or anything for that matter) is a great way to make it incredibly appealing...

I'm hoping that dd will just live by our example, which generally is that there is a time and a place for fast food. (Same for sweets and other unhealthy things) When she gets old enough, hopefully she'll understand the logic behind it too.

[layla]

My oldest is 7 1/2 and has never had McDonald's or anything like that. I reinforce over and over that that food is junk. They are pretty smart when it comes to what foods are good to eat and what food aren't, so I hope that will stay with them and they'll make the right choices when the time comes.

[LunaMom]

I think the age of your child says a lot. I'm not a big fan of banning foods entirely because I don't like loading food with values other than nutritional ones, if that makes sense.

BUT (and it's a big but ), I do agree with controlling what is offered to babies so that they can develop a healthy palate and learn to enjoy a variety of healthy, whole foods. Humans are biologically inclined to prefer fatty and sweet foods, because those foods are high in calories and back when we were living in caves, calories were hard to come by. They sure as heck aren't now!

So I truly believe that a child who is exposed to very sweet or very fatty foods at a young age will develop an unhealthy preference for these things, AND a "bias" against foods that don't have these qualities.

That said, I don't think it would be a huge deal for a child to have fast food a couple of times in toddlerhood, but if it isn't necessary, why bother? I kept junk food out of my daughter's mouth completely for the first two years of her life, and have kept pretty strict limits on it since, and she's one of the healthiest eaters I know, and she's FINE with it. She doesn't ask for junk food if it isn't in her presence, and if it IS, I don't mind letting her have some.

Don't argue with your parents...they probably won't be convinced. But don't doubt yourself just because they have a different opinion.

[lauraess]

this is kinda funny and Ironic, but let me tell you, I NeVER aTE at Mcodonalds before My first was born and After, well..... You see, I was a very tired and anxious mom ( had a little p.p.d that i was in denial of) and ds wouldnt sleep much so there I was driving around for just a little free time so to speak when he was months old and of course i was always hungry so there was the drive thru and despite my embarrassment i went thru!!!!!!!!
and so, 6 yrs later even tho ive struggled a bit with this issue since i usually eat pretty well, organic and all, I allow us to go thru now and again. it's one thing im pretty flexible about. I have a real "weak spot" for Wendys:LOL

Laura

[MamaSoleil]

Dd was first brought to Mcdonalds by a friend at 3 yrs of age. She's now 41/2, and she'll ask to go only for the playland...She never eats their food, and sees me order salads...(sometimes we share a french fry). I agree with all in moderation.
And that if not, your child may rebel, and only eat these things to spite you.

[Marsupialmom]

Big Chained pizza places are not much better than MCD, moderation. By you limiting DC’s taste now you will be surprised that when DC is there with a friend/group she might not like the food that well.

We do cub scouts (for now having ethical issues). There is a vegan family that comes. They a relaxed when we celebrate birthdays. The kids usually decline cake. They cannot stand the taste. Their parents don’t make restrictions then because of the celebratory nature and worry that would make them resentful of their diet. They take their lunch to school, which they like because they can eat and play quicker.

[sharqi]

my daughter is "lucky" enough to be lactose-intolerant. she also does not like meat (we are vegetarians). that eliminates most fast food for her.

my daughter mainly drinks soy milk. she also likes bread products & other carbohydratey stuff (macaroni, rice) & fruit if we have it (not quite in season yet). i worry that she doesn't eat enough healthy stuff, but she seems to be growing all right. maybe that's another thread, kids eating a healthy variety of foods!

i, on the other hand, have been eating shit for weeks now. if only i could eat as healthy as my kid. that's pretty bad.

[Evergreen]

I am not the healthiest eater in the world, but since having dd, I have made a real effoert to stay away from fast food. My mother did the same, but it wasn't specifically forbidden. We got fast food when we went on a road trip or when there was a power outage at our home. When I was 12 my friends an I would walk to where all of the fast food joints were located and buy what we wanted with our own money. When my child is that age, she will be able to make her own decisions, but I see nothing wrong with keeping the little ones from being exposed to it at all, and severely moderating it in the older ones.

[daria]

My husband and I had fretted a bit about how to handle fast food when our son gets older. We didn't want to *forbid* it entirely but we're both pretty horrified by most fast food and don't like to eat at those places. DH had the suggestion that we make fast food a "treat" that we only have on road trips. There's a restaurant called Sonic that is along the way to the grandparent's house but they don't have a location in our town. It's kind of neat because it's a "drive-in" and the servers deliver the food to your car on roller skates. So we'll make it a special treat to eat at Sonic when we're on the road, but we'll never have the problem of passing a Sonic in our own town and having DS ask to eat there. Does that make sense? If he ever asks to go to McDonald's, we plan to remind him that in our family we eat at Sonic.

[Evan&Anna's_Mom]

Oh please, tell me I'm not the ONLY one on this board who eats at fast food places? Oh well, I've been in the minority before...

I think age and approach are key to maintaining what you want your kid to eat. And reasonableness. For a young child where you control all access, you can pretty much do what you want. For kids that are old enough to go out with friends and an adult, it gets a little stickier. If I knew that an outing was likely to involve a food eat out choice, I would probably ask and then abide by the other parent's requests. But if I thought that the only way to make a day work was lunch at McD's or some other fast food place I would probably decline to include a child who's parents said no to that.

Once a child is out on their own for snacks and activities, you can only hope that your early teaching sticks -- but isn't that the way with all "moral" decision making and kids?

That said, I will say that I disagree with the basic premise that all fast food, even in moderation, is poisen. But then again, I used to do product development and marketing for Jack in the Box, so I have a very good idea of what is in the food and how to make choices. My kids and I probably eat fast food lunches about once a week and I'm not at all stressed by that. To each their own!

[corrie43]

Evan&Anna's mom you are not the only one. We eat at Wendy's and burger king, mc D's as a last resort. When we go out to a real restraunt we get a side of broccoli or veggies in place of the fries in the kids meal. We are on the road a lot and I just don't always pack a lunch. We get the baked potatoes and salads at the fast food places and sometimes nuggets and fries. We never get soda, always, milk juice or water. I am far more lax than a lot of people on this board though.

[Lucky Charm]

Oh please, tell me I'm not the ONLY one on this board who eats at fast food places?

You are not alone!

Because of my gallbladder, i can only eat it so often. But I love McDonalds fries, their vanilla shakes and a big mac once in a while.

My kids have enjoyed happy meals.

They are alive and well. OTOH, if they have a choice, they would much rather have Thai food, squid with basil is a fav, then McDonalds in a heartbeat (which we ate Friday, yum!).

[nikirj]

I like my kids to have a ton of variety in their diet and as such, I don't see fast food places as particularly damaging (although you'd never catch me going to the same one twice in a month - we just don't ever eat the same thing twice in a month).

Given the choice, my kids will pick a sit-down restaurant (chinese is their favorite, but they love fish of any kind, too) over a fast-food place. After going to the beach on Saturday morning, we were going to just stop for food but they picked fish and chips over McDonalds :-) (although someone asked my kids about Nemo while we were there, and my son joyously showed her his "Nemo" - the fish on his plate - can you tell I don't shelter my kids much?)

Anyway, the point is, we have a ton of variety in our diets, and I don't see how going through the drive-through every couple of weeks is going to hurt anything - the kids certainly don't seem to prefer it all that much over any other given thing they eat.

[magnoliablue]

I am sure an ocassional swing through the Mcdonalds drive thru will not get you sent to mothering hell. If so, I know I will not be alone. I do not like to eat there, we seldom do, but on half days, my children's classmates go there for lunch. I finally relented and I allow them that. I am also guilty during baseball and football season as well..My dd told me today she will never eat there again, it is garbage. That was music to my ears. I figured eventually they would grow out of it . They don't ask me for it as much as they used to, and the youngest never asked at all. I have always told them that it is not the healthiest choice in the world, and now as they get older they are making that choice on their own.

[wombat]

My dd is 13 months too. And I did give her 4 McDonalds fries last week. She threw the 4th fry away and wanted more kiwi fruit

I believe all is fine is moderation. I grew up with a fanatical mother and as soon as I was a teenager with an income and she had lost control over me, I turned into the biggest sugar fiend ever. Oh also, when at my grandmothers I would eat her entire cookie stash. My mother did not buy soda, cookies, or candy. BTW I never went to a dentist until I was 15 and I had no cavities.

But I did recover from my sugar binge and get a grip on myself again. Now I do eat a healthy, varied diet and I enjoy healthy foods.

So I'm not going to forbid dd from eating fast foods but will try to teach her how to eat in moderation. My goal is to provide her with lots of healthy foods so she develops a taste for them, and then sometime in the future, when she's at a party where I can't control what she's eating, she'll have enough knowledge about food and sense to eat well. Maybe not every time, but most of the time. Then I'll be happy.