DESSERTS.
Can I give any desserts to young children? Mistakes are very often made here. Junket, plain rice pudding without raisins, plain custard, and not more than once a week, a small amount of ice cream are all that can be allowed up to six or seven years.
What are prohibited? Pies, tarts, and pastry of every kind and jams, syrups, and preserved fruits; nut candy and dried fruits.
Can I give a little? No, for it develops a taste for this sort of food, and then the plainer food is taken with less relish. The little is soon likely to become a great deal.
A child has an instinctive desire for sweets, why not satisfy it? A child's fondness for sweets is not a normal instinct. A free indulgence in desserts and sweets by young children produces more digestive disorders than any other causes. It is a growing tendency and hard to control as the child grows older. The only safe rule is to give none in early childhood.