What to Do with 2 Year Old on Halloween?

We are the "psychotic, poison-syringe-wielding neighbors" and we give away big chocolate bars..

Hee, hee..

I agree to just take him to the neighbors you know. Or to a local festival. I know some malls even hand out candy at each store doorway.

Take him trick or treating - my kids loved walking around the neighborhood at that age!! So cute. Most likely he'll forget about all the candy anyway, so just get rid of it. Or just keep the pieces from neighbors you're friends with.

we had the grandparents over for dinner, then went to a few neighbors we knew. That was all they wanted to do. I let them eat a little candy that night, then put the rest away. They forgot about it. My husband and I ate it all. What made the biggest impression on them at that age was the dressing up part. They wore their costumes to play dress up for months after. Enjoy the dress up fun with them before they get to kindergarden and realize that it's all about gluttony! Another tip, go out early so the little one doesn't see so many scary costumes. The monsters and bloody "scream" masks traumatized my toddlers.

We trick or treated and ate the psychotic, poison-syringe-wielding neighbors' candy ourselves.

OMG take that child trick or treating! :0) I think some people are taking themselves way too seriously worrying about it being an evil and wicked holiday..... nonsense! Its just a fun & silly day, nothing more, nothing less. If you live in a "bad" neighborhood, drive to a nice one! Or go with a friend or relative that lives in a better area.
My son had just turned 2 about 2 weeks before Halloween last year. He made it the whole way around the neighborhood with his 2 cousins age 3 and 5 at the time (and all the parents and a couple of grandparents in tow). It was not about candy for him, it was about the fun of getting dressed up and running around the neighborhood and saying trick or treat at peoples doors. my husband and I sorted throught the candy and kept a small amount that we felt was more appropriate for him, and rationed it out over the next week or two and then he forgot all about it. My husband ate most of it! Lighten up everyone! :0)

I hate my kids eating tons of candy even though we know most people in our smaller neighborhood. So Holloween night my kids leave their candy for the Switch Witch. In turn she leaves them a toy. My child is till talking about the Switch Witch from last year. We have a whole story about her, where she lives, what she looks like and why she needs so much darn candy.

We dressed her up and took her around to the closest neighbors so everyone could "ooh and aah" over how cute she was. Then we took her home, gave her a piece or two of candy, and put the rest of it away. And ate it ourselves, eventually.

f your neighbors are possibly psychotic poison-syringe wielding people then you have bigger problems than Halloween. You need to move ASAP to a better neighborhood. When he is six he will want to play with neighbors and talk to neighbors and ride his bike up and down the street. It takes a village to raise a child, maybe the problem is just that you havent gotten to know the neighbors? Throw a block party and find out which neighbors are psychotic. Personally I have cute little bags of goldfish or pretzels or teeny tiny boxes of raisins for the preschool/toddler set cuz I figure the parents will eat all their candy! (I did at that age!)

***sigh***

How I LONG for the memories of a 'toddler' trick or treating...

It meant *I* could go through THEIR bounty...and remove candy (for safety reasons OF COURSE) that may not be appropriate for them...LOL

As it stands now...with older kiddos gone to parties etc...I merely pass out the kind of 'candies' I can be sure *I* will not eat!!

Lollie pops...bubble gum...skittles...

The list is sad...

Take him EVERYWHERE...

'pick through his bounty'

Worry in a year or so...enjoy for now!!

Best Luck!
michele/cat

I took mine trick or treating. The psycho-candy-poisoners are mostly the stuff of urban legends.

Here, the malls have trick-or-treating for that age. Check your local shopping centers and have a great time! Such a cute age!

We took DD to the mall, let her do a short tour, and then I take all the candy (she is not allowed to eat it at the mall) and dole it out later. When she was 1 or 2 she didn't even understand she could eat it. I inspect it for obvious holes or tampering before I give it to her. In years past, some fire houses used to xray candy for people. Maybe that was just my hometown. He doesn't need to trick or treat, either. Take him to a party or host one with a few similarly-aged kids.

If you are truly fearful of your neighbors, then you should stay home.

I have taken my daughter since she was 9 months old. She got a boat load of C.. Now that she is 3 1/2 we do let her have some C.. We put it away and she gets one piece at a time. Of course mommy and daddy dip into the goody bag once in a while. But she loves to go house to house and see what she gets. Let him go and if you don't want him to have the C. then don't. Give it away or eat it yourself. But let him have some fun! Ppl love to see babies in their costumes.

My son wasn't quite 2 last year. We took him trick or treating in the neighborhood. I replaced all of the candy in the plastic pumpkin with teddy grahams and things like that. He didn't even notice. I let him have one bag a day as a snack. He loved to go grab his snack out of the pumkin. I took the candy to work. I don't think I'll be able to get away with that this year though.

When my daughter was 2, we took her trick-or-treating - she just thought it was really fun to walk the neighborhood and get a treat at each house. She really didn't care about eating the candy itself and still doesn't (she is now 4). The "eating candy" part wasn't even on her radar and by the next morning, with the candy all hidden, she had forgotten all about it. I would say get him dressed up, take him out, and then whatever candy you collect can be brought to the dentist to trade in for a toy or something else fun. I've also heard the candy can be shipped to soldiers serving overseas.

Statistically, there is really very little chance of someone actually tampering with candy and handing it out to kids with the intention of harming them. It always good to be careful and we don't let DD have anything until we've inspected it, but really, it almost has never happened and I think the fear of it has gotten somewhat blown out of proportion. Some police stations will go over the candy with a metal detector if you really want.

You only take him to the neighbors you are friends with and trust, and maybe across town to a good friend, and to any family who might live nearby. That might be as few as 5 or 6 homes, but plenty of fun for him. You then go home and let him hand out candy at his door and see all the kids who come to your house. Or take him to a church or school that has a carnival and games for small kids. Its usually fun, and no one says you have to let him eat ALL the candy he might get. Save some for another day, and toss what you dont like/want.

Take him to a few neighbors that you know fairly well or to a few relatives. We started out just with the next door neighbors, both sides and then the grandparents.
Take pictures and have fun!

(The key to limiting the candy is limiting the houses--and by about age 5 it will be game-over! So limit while you can!)

At 2 my son didn't even know what candy was. So we took him trick-or-treating and then when we got home I just took his whole bag (I'd like to say I threw it away, but the truth is I ate it). He never asked about it. We enjoyed taking him around.

Hello, We have always taken the little ones to people we know. That way, there is no worry.
K. K.

At that age, i think my kids made it to a couple of houses of people we knew. I threw the candy away after and they didn't even remember they were missing it! Probably more fun for me than them, but boy are kids cute at that age all dressed up. Maybe there is a party you can go to for kids that age. I think places like Gymboree do a little halloween party for that age group.

Here our Wal-Mart has something inside the day of Trick-Or-Treat, and our Church also does something inside. Another local church has something we have gone to every year called "Trunk Or Treat." people park in the parking lot with the cars decorated and hand out candy. It is all fenced in and very monitered. The week of The Benson Center (it's like a YMCA in our town) has a little indoor carnival and outdoor maze for the kids and they get to dress up. That is all we do except going to friends and family after.

We live in one of those snotty neighborhoods ( as I have been told by friends, LOL) that hold a seperate night of trick or treating for the kids in the neighborhood only, most of us don't hand out candy on Halloween night because all the kids that are there are trucked in from other neighborhoods. It is usually a night or two before and there is a social/potluck earlier in the evening at our community club house. I don't have a problem letting my son who is 2.5 to trick or treat on that night. I don't let him have the candy except 1 peice at a time at lunch and that is only for a few days after, the rest goes to my DH office.
On Halloween we are usually at my cousins Pumpkin Masacre ( carving contest) this is a family tradition that has been going on for about 20 years.
If there is a church you go to or a local school that has a Halloween/ Harvest festival try taking him there, it would be a more controlled envireonment and there are usually activites for the kids as well.

we are taking him "trick or treating" to my moms, grandmas and a couple aunts and uncles houses. i think 2 is a little young to do real trick or treating, but we might try it next year.

the malls are a safe bet

My guy was 1.5 last Halloween and we took him trick or treating. I took a wagon in case he got tired of walking, and he got one candy when we got back home. I kept some and doled it out a piece a day for a few days and he forgot about it and I gave the rest to my nephew.

Look in your area to see if there's a church having a harvest party, or other tame activities in your community. And if you're near a Toy R Us take him in on 10/29 for the In-Store Halloween Parade. From their site:

"Toys“R”Us stores across the country are inviting kids and families to join an afternoon of fun during “Geoffrey’s Halloween Parade!” On Saturday, October 29, from 12 noon – 3pm, kids can celebrate All Hallow’s Eve with Geoffrey the Giraffe two days early by dressing up in their favorite costumes for an event with more treats than tricks! Attendees will receive a complimentary, reusable Trick“R”Treat bag, which can be used to stow goodies during the event and as they’re trick-or-treating, while supplies last. While in-store, kids can also pick up Geoffrey’s Halloween Safety Pledge, which provides a list of safety tips that should be reviewed with parents before venturing out on October 31."

Whatever you decide to do, let him have fun : )

I took my almost 2 yr old last year, dressed him as a dog (he quickly got
tired of the costume so off it came but at least it was arm), brought the jog stroller, when up to
several houses in the nicer part of our neighborhood.
He loved it, was in awe of the decorations (a few scared him).
It will be a bigger kick this year.
Still bringing the jog stroller for when he gets tired.
Gave the candy to his older sister after I took out my share. ;) ha

You can go trick or treating at friends and relatives houses, that way you know if the candy he gets is coming from psychotic people or not! Also, they would love to see your little guy all dressed up! Also, you can look around in your community for places that have activities on Halloween.; For example, where I grew up, the park always had a big event that had games, candy, music etc!

We go to our church every year for a Harvest Party. Cake walk, jumpy castle, games, etc. Now that they are old enough for trick or treating we still go to the church for a bit, then hit the streets. At 2 I just took them to 5 or 10 houses in a neighborhood where I knew pretty much everyone and it was plenty!

I"m not sure where you live in Los Angeles but they have a great little festival in South Redondo Beach in the Riviera area. They close off a few streets and all the kiddos can get candy in the stores. If you don't want your little one to get candy it's fun just to let them run in the streets and see other kids costumes. That's what I'm going to do with mine this year.

Go to a church or fall festival.

At age 2 I took my kid's to the mall and to houses I knew around our neighborhood. My kid's are older now so we have branched out and I just make sure I really check the candy. If anything is remotely unwrapped, I toss it. LOL but I also throw away pixie sticks because my mom used to throw away them when I was growing up. I don't know why for sure, but they're tossed!
Good luck and enjoy your Halloween!!

If you feel that way, do not do anything with him. He is only 2 and will
never knw the difference.

My son is now three, but when he was one and two, we took him to the Halloween party at our local Gymboree. The party events are usually open to non-members for an additional fee, and it's fun and active--in a two-hour party, the kids do arts & crafts, get to climb and play on the equipment, have parachute time (sitting in a circle and singing songs), and do a costume "parade" where they march all around the big room. The staff gave each kid a sugar cookie (just a plain cookie--no frosting) and kids got treat bags as they left that had things like pretzels, raisins, crayons, etc. in them. It was a great alternative for a very young kid and we got lots of pictures!

We don't celebrate Halloween. I think it is a dark and wicked celebration. We used to, when our older children were little. I remember being appalled at what they were exposed to by the adults in scary costumes, the death-related decorations, and the gory scenes people set up in their yards. You just never knew what you were going to approach at the next turn. So, we buy some candy, stay home, play games, and treat it pretty much like any other day. So much better. It intrigues me that my little ones in the home now are so effected by the decorations they see in stores. It scares them and seems very evil to them. I try to keep them out of stores that decorate in gruesome ways. I don't want them to be desensitized to the evil.

Look for local events. My church puts on a really fun family-friendly kid-fun party that night. We have always gone and done that.

I take mine treat or treating.
Last year she snuck a lollipop as we were trick or treating. When we got back to the house I put the rest of the candy away and we all ate the cupcakes I made. I plan on making cupcakes again this year.
=)
ETA: I use some of that candy in my baking recipes. I send those with my guy to share with his buddies at work. They love it.

My 3 year old is already preparing for this year's Halloween. Every year we go to only a handful of houses that we know so she can enjoy the holiday. She doesn't eat the candy, instead she "exchanges" it for other items. For example, 3 pieces of candy in exchange for a book or a small toy. That way I don't have to worry about all the sugar (or potential crazies). She loves dressing up and walking around with her little girlfriend.

Plus there are other places to trick or treat that are safe. A lot of malls have a costume parade and ToT times. Our local fire department offers a safe ToT party. Even Disneyland has trick or treating parties (you have to buy special tickets for the event) that are safe and fun for the whole family. Ask around your neighborhood to see what some of the other families are doing for Halloween.

Have fun!

actually, when my son was 2 he didn't even know what candy was i don't think lol. and we didn't trick-or-treat. i didn't see much need for us to, when he wouldn't get any of the candy, OR understand what it was all about. we did, however, dress up for my mom's big halloween bash. that was good enough! and yes, now that he is a little older he has candy IN MODERATION, and he LOOOOVES trick or treating...enjoy it while it lasts...it'll probably be the last year you can skip out on trick-or-treating!

at 2, 6 houses is plenty, and then just throw it away.

My kids have always trick-or-treated and the candy mostly ends up going to my office. They get the fun and the cultural experience without all the cavities.

Kind of off track, but if/when you take him trick or treating, try to get a picture of him actually doing it. Our neighbor was great for this one. She'd let me go inside her house and then take a picture of my children as they said "Trick or Treat" or got their candy. That picture of my oldest with her BIG EYES staring at that first piece of candy is priceless!

Oh, and you can invite the "Halloween Queen" to visit. Unfortunately I didn't learn about her until way late in the game. :( From another post I guess she also goes by the Switch Witch. Same idea of leaving candy on your front porch and she leaves a toy in its place. (And then you hide the candy and enjoy *tee-hee*... or throw it away.)