How Much Halloween Candy Do You Let Your Kids Eat?

My kids eat it! All of it! It usually takes them a long time though...and we 'hold' the bags and dispense after the first night!

as long as the candy is age-appropriate & they eat full meals...it's theirs to enjoy at will. If mealtime becomes an issue, then we govern the amount consumed. Toddler-age...totally random consumption & it differed each day.

Pretty much anything in a twist on wrapper goes in the trash, just my issue, but my kids know and understand it. lol After that they can usually have one piece after dinner and I will often put a piece into their lunch box. The candy usually lives on a low pantry shelf, so very visible, and after a week or two, they loose interest in it. When I think it has been in the pantry long enough (usually until the next candy holiday) I will through it out.

Our daughter has a few pieces on Halloween night, then it stays in the kitchen and we dole out a piece or two a day for about a week. Then the bowl mysteriously disappears to a high kitchen cabinet after her interest is gone and she forgets about it. Sometimes if there is quite a bit of it, I bring it to work and let my co-workers have at it.

Last year we let them pick out x amount (a fairly large pile) to keep and the rest went into the baked goods we made for the holidays. Except for the 30 or so candy bars my dd snuck from the baking stash, resulting in a horrid rash all over her body. She never did that again!

I let them eat as much as they want! I figure they'll either learn the valuable lesson that I remember learning one year -too many sweets will make you puke -or they'll learn to eat until they're done and walk away. So far that's what they do. It usually takes them about 3 days to get through the Halloween candy and get down to the stuff they don't like. It's a holiday! I let them enjoy it.

They get one or two pieces at a time, not every day. They only get 2 if the first piece was pretty small... I usually throw anything questionable out, steal 1/2 the good stuff, so they're not left with much to begin with ;)

My son never eats all of his candy- I'm embarrased to say that we still have candy from Easter in the back of the pantry that was forgotten about, so for Halloween (which is just a few weeks after his birthday), I usually trade his candy for a toy. He can keep 5-10 pieces that he can eat throughout the next week and then the rest he gives up for a toy of his choice. I usually give him about 20-25 bucks for the toy. And since it's so close to after his birthday there is usually a toy he wanted but didn't get or a toy that would complete a set (this year he had a lego birthday so he got a ton of legos but there are a few sets he wanted but didn't get so he'll trade his candy for one of those.) I then take the halloween candy into my office and put it in a candy jar on my desk. It works out good for him, since he really doesn't eat it anyways and i always end up throwing candy away from holidays and he gets a new toy and then it works out good for me not having to buy candy for candy dish =) (of course my boyfriend and I hide a little stash of our favorites but the rest is taken to work lol) I should say though that if he wants to keep more then the 5-10 pieces he can and then the amount of the toy goes down. If he wants to keep all the candy he can, and then not get a toy- I leave the decision up to him. Hope this was helpful!
Take care
H.

Hi--
I actually don't allow them to eat any of it. We don't do synthetic chemicals, dyes, corn syrup, or dairy in our house (too many sensitivities). We do go trick or treating, though. The kids leave the candy on the porch and the "Halloween Witch" comes and picks it up and leaves a toy in its place. We then give the candy to a shelter. My kids actually prefer this because a toy lasts longer, and they know the candy isn't good for them. We do get them natural candy (dyed with things like pomegranate juice and made with organic sugar rather than corn syrup), so they don't miss out.
J.

Whatever they want the night of Halloween...then it goes into a huge bowl. I reward good behavior with the treats throughout the year. I put treats in their lunches using those treats. We use the treats to put in goody bags for upcoming friends' birthdays.

It is the go to treat loot for me when PMS hits!!!

Good luck and best wishes at a wonderful Halloween with the kiddos!

Well sadly, after I take out anything that has peanut problems (snickers, reeces pb cups, most chocolate bars really) there's not much left for my kid to eat. :( so sad

My granddaughter is not a big candy eater - yahoo! I usually end up throwing most of it away several months down the road because it doesn't get eaten! Also, on Halloween I do allow her to eat one or two pieces, but by the time they're done trick-or-treating it's almost bed time so no candy then!

My kids eat what they want on Halloween night. Then if there are favorites they want to keep out they can. Then it all goes into big bowls the family shares. My boys are older now, and are athletes, so they never over indulge in candy and it can be left out unattended. It lasts a long time because my boys take their trick or treating very seriously, lol! It's kind of like those old game shows where someone wins a ten minute shopping spree in a grocery store. It's a two hour frenzy!

We let them keep about 50 of their "favorites". The rest we leave in a bag in front of their bedroom door the next night and the "Great Pumpkin" comes and gets it and leaves a toy for them instead. We let them have one or 2 pieces per day if they had a good day at school. My husband is a huge candy eater so he eats all the rest of it! =)

When we get home from trick-or-treating they are allowed to have one or two pieces. Then it ALL goes into one bowl (after my husband and I check to make sure everything looks okay) and the bowl gets put away. They may have one piece after lunch and one piece after dinner. Husband and I may have as many pieces as we want. lol
I don't buy it from them or donate it or give it to the dentist. Seems kind of silly! They brush their teeth and they walked around for the 2 hours to get it. They get to keep it.
L.

I let my daughter eat as much as she wants on Halloween, and then I ration it out, about 2 pieces a day until the stuff I will let her eat is gone, and then I throw the rest away. Meanwhile, I'm eating all the good stuff. My daughter is 2 and like last year, I will only take her to a few houses to limit the amount she gets in the first place.

All of it.

I have a huge, clear jar that sit on a book shelf when people walk into the kitchen. All the candy they don't want goes in there a few days after Halloween, then company and friends can help themselves to a small treat.

This summer I had a girlfriend swing by with her 3 kids, run in to grab a few handfuls on their way out of town.

I'm looking at that jar right now and it's still a 1/4 full? Should I toss it out?

My girls (4.5) will get to eat a few pieces during trick or treating. Then I'll sort through their candy that night. I'll probably bring 90% of it to work the next day, and leave 10 or so pieces of candy at home. Then my girls will be allowed one piece per day til it's gone (so it will last almost a week). I'm not going to trade it for a toy, I'm just going to tell them that they had too much candy for one person.

I'm fine with my kids eating candy, but I don't want to make too big of a deal about this.

Anything I don't like myself or I find not age appropriate for them or I know they do not like goes to work and put in our lunchroom with everyone else's. It doesn't last their long.

As for how much they get. It depends. They have to eat a good meal and then if they behave they can have a couple of pieces each day. Halloween night I will let them splurge, but after that it is rationed out.

Now this will be my daughter's 1st Halloween of actually getting to eat any of it and she will not get as much.

My son has never had a problem with me taking hard candy and lollipops out of his loot and afterwards we used it as his after dinner treat. I hardly ever have to buy treats between Halloween and all of the other holidays we always have sweet treats......rockie road bars are our favourite treat to make we used them to offer to bake sales in our school and community and use up our treats that way too.....in Ireland we traditionally gave fruit and nuts not candy I mix fruit with candy treats in each loot bag. Not sure that will go down well in the US I may have to give up on the fruit.

On Halloween itself I don't keep major tabs - I won't let him go crazy but I don't go crazy with restrictions either.

After that, he is allowed one big item (e.g. mini bars, lollipop, twizzler) and one small item (tootsie roll, Hershey's kiss, etc.) after dinner.

Only problem with this method is that sometimes it seems like the candy goes on forever! However, I do occasionally help him in diminishing the stash - particularly the chocolate. ;)

Halloween night--whatever he wants.
After that it goes into a big bag(s) and he can have some from time to time--I pack a piece in his lunch, a piece after school.
After 2 weeks he forgets about it, then I take some to work, give a ton away (sibs with no kids and HUGE sweet tooth!) then the "yucky leftover weird stuff goes into a bag in the china closet and it gets pitched after the Christmas stuff starts.

We let them eat all of it over a few weeks. It is out of sight out of mind usually by the end of the first week though. I found some the other day when cleaning out the cabinets.

They can have some the first night but the rest goes into hiding and is doled out.

We don't do candy at all and if we do, it's only one piece. But I have other yummy more healthy treats for them. We don't go trick or treating but we watch movies. =)

When our kids were much smaller (one is a teen now), we would typically monitor their candy consumption from Halloween. They would be allowed as certain number of pieces per day (maybe 5 or 6 pieces throughout the day including as dessert after dinner). They could choose whichever pieces they wanted, and they were told to pick out _ # of pieces. At the end of maybe a week, the rest was tossed. They were told in advance, like on Saturday, that on Tuesday the rest would be tossed. So they had ample time to pick and choose which pieces they REALLY wanted and which ones they didn't really care about. (there are always some that are just sugar that they really don't want but will eat if they are there, ya know?). It also helped them learn to prioritize. :)

Of course, as the week wore on, I usually nibbled some too, tee hee.

We let our guy eat as much as he wants for the week, but he knows that the toothfairy comes at the end of the week to trade out what he has left for a toy or $ (after all, she wants to have healthy teeth to collect!). And how much he has left equals a better toy or more money. It usually works out that he sends much of that candy on its way, but he still enjoys the halloween fun. And I don't have to be the bad guy!

. He used to trade it in for a cheap toy (10$) & I would take it to work.

We have always had candy as a special treat--so at halloween, its no different. We let them choose 1 or 2 SMALL pieces of candy for the day and thats it. They can have 1 per day or every other day after that until its gone. We don't go trick or treating-we go to our church harvest party so they get a basketful,but not a whole lot.

M

It's once a year, so I didn't have any rules about it other than not to spoil her dinner. She actually rationed it out herself to make it last longer.

We let them eat it that night then it gets sorted into who likes what (expecially for mom & dad lol) They do some trading if they have things they don't like etc then that night it goes in the pantry. They can have a piece or two a day after that. We don't give it away or anything, it's their candy. But there are plenty of years when we find old candy as we get ready for this years festivities! The whole thing wears off after a week or two and a couple weeks of sugar are not gonna hurt them

I very strong opinions about this, yeah i know dumb things to even worry about. I think a buying out or trading for a toy takes away from the whole point of going out which is to show off your costume and interact with the neighbors ( at least in my world). If you feel that strongly about the candy then don't take them out, or take them to only a handful of people you know very well.

i'm cheap too so I hate throwing away. I love the idea of saving the chocolates for your holiday baking. We've done that and chopped up some hersey bars for our cchip cookies. i've also sent stuff to work with hubby. I'll even admit to socking away the mand m bag and pulling them out for Valentines goodies bags.
I' have matured enough to come to the point that the yucky stuff no one will eat does eventually get thrown out. there's that at least :)

I let the kids pick out 15 or so of their favs the rest get put in a family pot and doled out as a special treat for what ever.

way too much thought into this, but i can laugh at myself.

My daughter only likes, M & M's (plain) and Kit Kats. So it's easy for me to sort those out. She can have one per day. I give most of it to my stepson and his girlfriend and only leave a few days worth for her.

My kids keep the candy in big bowls in the pantry they can have a few pieces a day- they are older 8&15- All gum is thrown away( personal issue) Usually I end up throwing half of it away in a week or so because they are just candied out.

My only child at home is 10. He doesn't like a lot of sweets at one time, so I don't limit amounts, I just limit timing. No eating if we are fixing to eat dinner within the next hour. Every holiday, I end up throwing away candy after about 3-4 weeks.

Well on Halloween night he can eat as much as he wants (he's 4). He doesn't really take advantage of that because he only likes specific candy--M&Ms and Twizzlers. I let him pick out all of the stuff he wants to keep (which isn't much!), then I take the rest to work the next day so the hubby and I don't eat it. Uh...I just eat it all day long at work. Ugh!! I stick all of the candy he wanted in a bowl and stick it in the pantry. He can have a piece at any time. He just needs to ask first. If it's before dinner or something, I say he has to wait until after he eats.

I LOVE the idea of a Halloween Witch! My oldest son has peanut allergies, and can't eat much he get's (and the others have to follow the same rules as him so far so they don't get it either). Besides the fact that I don't want them eating tons of candy...

Thanks to Jodi P. for a great idea!
J.