What to do about Halloween Candy?

[mimi!]

With attempts to reduce our allergies, ferment foods and kefir, eat natural, traditional foods, take supplements, etc., I'm looking for Halloweeen solutions this year.

My eldest wants to try trick or treating this year (in the past we went to a halloween carnaval).  Trading his treats for organic sugar ones doesn't seem like a good option to me.  He still has such dark circles and puffy bags under his 8 year old eyes.  Its disheartening with how much effort I have made towards making his gut better, and how all our efforts could be undone with a load of sugar.

At the same time, I've tried explaining to him about how the treats likely contain corn syrup, which is most likely genetically modified, and that a load of sugar will hurt his tummy, etc., etc. but he still wants to try it.

Any ideas? 

[sunnygir1]

Do you do any sweeteners, like agave or honey or anything?  If so, maybe you could find or make a few treats with that -- not trying to match the volume of trick-or-treating and then they can trade the candy for a treat plus something else they like (a toy/game/book, a meal at a restaurant, a home-made pizza party, a trip to a hotel pool or the roller rink, whatever they really like).

My kids are still very young, but for dd, trick-or-treating is really fun, and the candy is soon forgotten.  They know in advance they can't eat it.

I have gotten a little flack around here for allowing them to trick-or-treat and not allowing them to eat ANY of the candy, but whatever.  They like it, and those are the conditions on that activity around here.

[1love4ever]

I have been wondering the same thing!  Everyone is giving me so much crap about not letting DD eat the candy, saying "Oh poor baby, that is so mean!!" etc.  I'm still working on it, but am thinking I'll just make my own treats

[mumkimum]

We have a local dentist who will let kids trade their candy in for money.  Depending on your ds, something like that might be appealing?  (whether you find some opportunity for it, or do some version yourself).

[mistymorning]

In our house the switch witch comes.  The kids leave all their candy (well, except for a few they get to eat) out and in the middle of the night the switch witch trades that candy for a small toy.  My kids are totally happy with that.  Then I donate the candy and just get it out of the house.  So that is an option!

[Imakcerka]

LOVE LOVE LOVE This idea! 
 

Originally Posted by mistymorning 

In our house the switch witch comes.  The kids leave all their candy (well, except for a few they get to eat) out and in the middle of the night the switch witch trades that candy for a small toy.  My kids are totally happy with that.  Then I donate the candy and just get it out of the house.  So that is an option!

[mistymorning]

Thanks, I learned about her from this awesome parenting forum called mothering dot commune!

[askew]

We have the Switch Witch come too. We make a whole ceremony of leaving it out on the deck- and in the AM there are toys inside the trick or treat bags. I send the candy to work with DH. 

[amcal]

Lots of dentists will buy the candy back.  Our school is working with a dentist who is going to donate $1.50/pound of candy the school collects and then they will box it all up and send it to the military overseas.

[sunnygir1]

We got a call from the Switch Witch this year.  It was a big hit.  We took out a few treats (like fruit leather and play-doh) to keep and put the baskets out on the back patio.  Dd was a little afraid of what the witch was like and if she would come in our house, etc, but it was okay.  They are both thrilled with the magnet boards they got and haven't said a thing about the candy (I doubt 2yo ds even knew what it was).

[Leo337]

Halloween candy... It seems that hardly any candy does not contain poison(s) these days. Seriously...

Apart from sugar and corn syrup,

First of all, 90% of candy contains Hydrogenated Oils (Trans Fats)

http://www.treelight.com/health/nutrition/PartiallyHydrogenatedOils.html

"In short, trans fats are poisons, just like arsenic or cyanide. They interfere with the metabolic processes of life by taking the place of a natural substance that performs a critical function."

Second, most candy contains artificial colorings, some of which (Blue 1, Blue 2, Yellow 6) can cause cancer.

http://www.sixwise.com/newsletters/06/04/05/12-dangerous-food-additives-the-dirty-dozen-food-additives-you-really-need-to-be-aware-of.htm

There are many more sites saying the same thing if you need to verify.

This is almost unimaginable that manufacturers are targeting kids, primary consumers of candy, with poisoned foods. 

Most of the candy collected by my kids will not be used by them... for the reasons stated above.

[sunnygir1]

I have to say it feels like such a waste to me.  We go trick-or-treating because it is a fun, community activity.  But then we wind up with a bag full of garbage that was manufactured and purchased for this purpose.  We threw most of it away this year. : (  I just don't think anyone should eat it, so I'm not much on giving it to the food pantry or anything.  I wish more people would give items without scary ingredients.  (We give fruit leathers and little chocolates without any bad ingredients.  I like it when people give play doh or apples or stickers or popcorn or nuts or trail mix.)

[Madelyn'sMom]

I was very hesitant to let my daughter trick or treat this year (she's only 2 1/2) but my husband made it sound so exciting that she really wanted to try it.  She had tons of fun and we enjoyed watching her walk around in her cute little costume.  I was able to make most of the candy disappear, but it was awful for a couple of days with bargaining and candy tantrums.  I read something recently that convinced me we could still do trick or treating next year.  It's an idea very similar to the "Switch Witch" described above:  After trick or treating, the child can pick out a few favorites (with parents' help) and leave the rest for the Sugar Plum Fairy.  The Sugar Plum Fairy comes in the middle of the night and takes all the candy away to make new glorious buildings in Sugarland; she leaves in it's place a special toy.  One could also call her the Pumpkin Fairy, which could be a little gentler than the Switch Witch for the really young kids.  The part I liked best was that the author (and others who commented) said that their children did it by choice and always elected to offer up their candy for a the surprise of a new toy!

[sunnygir1]

Originally Posted by Madelyn'sMom 

I was very hesitant to let my daughter trick or treat this year (she's only 2 1/2) but my husband made it sound so exciting that she really wanted to try it.  She had tons of fun and we enjoyed watching her walk around in her cute little costume.  I was able to make most of the candy disappear, but it was awful for a couple of days with bargaining and candy tantrums.  I read something recently that convinced me we could still do trick or treating next year.  It's an idea very similar to the "Switch Witch" described above:  After trick or treating, the child can pick out a few favorites (with parents' help) and leave the rest for the Sugar Plum Fairy.  The Sugar Plum Fairy comes in the middle of the night and takes all the candy away to make new glorious buildings in Sugarland; she leaves in it's place a special toy.  One could also call her the Pumpkin Fairy, which could be a little gentler than the Switch Witch for the really young kids.  The part I liked best was that the author (and others who commented) said that their children did it by choice and always elected to offer up their candy for a the surprise of a new toy!

I like this.  I almost didn't introduce the Switch Witch this year because dd is so fearful these days.  She did okay with it, though.  If I had thought of a better name, I would have done that instead.

Dd totally chose freely to trade her candy to the Switch Witch for an unknown toy...there was no hesitation, and no sadness involved.  She was completely thrilled with the outcome, and her 8yo cousin was so jealous that the next day she put her candy out for the Switch Witch too.

[wishin'&hopin']

Many churches/food pantries/shelters that serve the homeless would be happy to take the candy to add to various Christmas/holiday special event sort of things--one church I worked for made "stockings" for the homeless every year with personal hygiene essentials (lotion, chapstick, mini toothpaste, toothbrush, tampons/pads for women, soaps etc) and they liked to add in little baggies of candy/treats.  While I agree that candy is for the most part CRAP, the cultural context in which we live places value on it that, while I don't feed this stuff to my kid, means that a little bag of treats can do a great deal to lift someone's spirits.  (Plus, I feel a bit better about donating candy when I know it is going to "Mike" the 40 year old homeless man who lived beneath the overpass--and not to "Mike" the 3 year old bouncing off the walls in a preschool class)

[P'sMom]

Yes, we do something similar--the Great Pumpkin comes at night and if you leave your candy (after picking a few faves to keep) at the door the Great Pumpkin will reward you (small toy, book, or even money).  This has been a great success in my house and my girls are 7 and 3.  My first trick-or-treat experience showed me that my big girl (now both of them) can not handle knowing we have those treats in the house so instead this works really well.