Moms Talk: Halloween Candy For The Kids

Each week our Moms Council discusses a different parenting issue. Join the conversation by weighing in on a topic, or ask our panel of experts your question.

We put this week's question to our North Potomac-Darnestown Patch for their ideas and advice. The suggestions don’t end here. Add your own tips and advice in the comments section below.

This week's second question: What are your kids' favorite halloween candies and what do they avoid at all costs? After trick-or-treating, do they get a free-for-all on the candy or do you decide how much they can have and when?

Sharina Hunt: My kids in general like most candy. I can't say there is a favorite. I do know they don't really like the Dots, Good and Plenty, and Jujubes. On Halloween I let them eat quite a bit of candy and then the next day or two they usually sort their candy and "play" with it while enjoying a piece or two each day. Then mom takes over. I take out all the really chewy, gooey pieces that are worse on the teeth (Laffy Taffy, Now and Laters, etc.)  Then I usually take some of the candy bars that can freeze and stick them in the back of the freezer for the holiday baking. Then the bucket sits there and they will enjoy a piece or two every few days until they forget about it and then it usually gets thrown away. I have been limiting the desserts more lately because all I was hearing throughout dinner was, "Can I have dessert now?" way too much and I decided dessert was for weekends only. For the most part that solved the problem and the dinner hour has been much more pleasant. We will see how it goes after Halloween and there is more treats in the house.

Garine Isassi: Halloween candy around here is a family battle. My husband thinks all candy is evil and would not allow the kids to have any of it if it was up to him. I, on the other hand, believe that this is one night a year that they should be allowed to eat until they were sick. So we've met in the middle. They get to choose only 15 pieces of candy to keep and the rest goes to "charity" in the form of a bowl at the office or turned in to the dentist. For me, it kind of takes the fun out of it, though. 

The only issues I have is that there are several hundred dollars worth of dental work in the mouths of my kids right now. One pack of skittles or a bunch of tootsie rolls and we are in trouble.

Renee Enright: My kids used to like only fruity, gooey candy and they would put all the chocolate in a big pile “for Daddy." Those were the days, because Daddy was nice enough to share with Mommy – LOL! Now, however, they’ve wizened to the goodness of chocolate so they really like it all. We’ve never really had an issue with our kids eating too much, however. Hence the candy from last year still in the pantry! They generally choose one piece per day after dinner, if they eat a full dinner. At Halloween time, we do allow a little more consumption for a few days, but then the novelty wears off and we go back to one or two pieces per day. We plan to donate a good amount to the dentist in exchange for $$ this year.

Heather Kerr: My kids' favorite Halloween treat is gum and/or gummy candy. They tend to leave the no-name foil wrapped and Mounds/Almond Joy chocolates alone. We let them have several pieces after trick-or-treat and then a few each day after. They usually don't ask for more, however my youngest has a major sweet tooth and may have strong opinions this year! We always have excessive amounts of candy left over. The big problem each year is figure out what to do with Halloween candy the week after Halloween.