Despite Easter being a Christian festival and holiday, it often comes with an abundance of chocolate eggs. With Easter coming up this weekend, those of you with very little ones might be wondering “when can babies eat chocolate”?
Chocolate ideally shouldn’t be given before the age of 2 due to the caffeine and sugar content, however in my experience, most children have had chocolate before this age.
Due to the acidity, chocolate can worsen digestive problems such as reflux, colic and wind. Caffeine in chocolate can increase heart rate and disturb a child’s sleep. Sugar in chocolate can hinder acceptance of more savoury foods, cause tooth decay, and lead to obesity long term if eaten in excess.
Different chocolate has different sugar and caffeine content. White chocolate contains no caffeine at all, but tends to have the most sugar, and dark chocolate has the most caffeine, but usually the least sugar.
Chocolate can contain allergens such as cacao, milk, wheat and nuts, so should be avoided if your child is allergic to any of the ingredients.
My Advice
Promoting healthy messages to our children is equally important as the food we give them, and they should know that no foods are “bad”. If older siblings are having chocolate easter eggs, it would be difficult to exclude the younger child.
I would recommend avoiding chocolate if:
Your child is under 1 year
If they have an allergy to any of the ingredients
If they suffer from digestive issues
It is near bedtime
If a child has a good weaning diet with a variety of foods and textures, and the chocolate doesn’t present a choking risk, giving your child a small amount of a chocolate Easter egg should do no harm, but this shouldn’t turn into a regular treat.
A healthier alternative would be chocolate milk as this contains less caffeine, sugar, provides calcium, and doesn’t present a choking risk.
Happy Easter everyone!
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For more information on foods to avoid in young children visit Foods to avoid giving babies and young children – NHS (www.nhs.uk)