5 Step Toddler Sugar Detox

Hello. My name is Caroline and I’m a sugarholic. I’m also 38 years old and at an age where I can hold myself responsible for my less than favorable choices. Where the problem lies is when my pure as the driven snow child starts to follow in his mama’s footsteps at the tender age of 4. Therefore I give you my 5 Step Toddler Sugar Detox!

*This piece contains affiliate links, but any purchase you make will not cost you any more than it should.

I created this 5 Step plan not to eliminate sugar completely (we are talking about a child after all) but as a sneaky way of having less of it around without him noticing!

Step 1: Identify trigger Foods

You know your child, so what are those daily indulgences that really get them going? The ones that they eat one of and then immediately need another! I can admit that I went the way of the wayward mom and went from making my own baby food to handing him those seemingly healthy kid snacks. So for my son, the triggers include:

• Apple Sauce Pouches
• Frozen Go-gurt Squeezers
• Out the door Marshmallows before school (bad mama, I know…)

Step 2: Replace those triggers with your own healthy alternatives

• Apple Sauce Pouches: This takes a little digging but Thrive Market sells Unsweetened pouches, and you can get FREE shipping on the first order!! Go-Go Squeeze from Amazon also has a No Sugar Added variety that is certified organic and comes in more flavors! Look for the ones that have only one ingredient…APPLES!
• Go-Gurt Squeezers: Replacing sugar and dairy can be a challenge, but Kite Hill Foods makes a non-dairy fruit yogurt in “tube form” that looks just like the brightly colored brands your child is used to. It’s available at both Target and Whole Foods. While it still has 6 grams of sugar, that’s less than any of the Go-Gurt varieties. You can also MAKE YOUR OWN using pureed frozen fruits and fillable popsicle bags, and it comes out to about 13 cents a pouch!!!! Plus kids love being a part of the fun!
• Marshmallows: Now, this one might make you think. How will she do it you’re wondering?!! Well turns out they make Healthier Marshmallows too! Once again on Thrive Market, I found a variety made with Cane Sugar and other friendlier products. Or you can do a SUBSTITUTION which I make possible with Step 3.

Step 3: Make it Merchandise!

What is your child’s favorite character? For my son, it’s anything from the PAW PATROL! And although on my deep dive into the toddler sugar detox world I did find some Paw Patrol branded Apple Sauce, I wanted to do one better and create my own snack with a lot less sugar.

Now our new morning routine is a mystery snack usually featuring fresh berries or nuts in a Paw Patrol Treat Container. I’ve found as long as I keep the variety up he’s so excited to see what’s inside, that he doesn’t even notice the missing marshmallows.

Step 4: Perish the Processed

I found when I started with one thing, the rest just began to snowball, and little by little I stopped replacing the processed food in our house.

Now the next step becomes how to make your child excited about fresh fruits and vegetables! While I trip to the grocery store produce section is always lovely, a visit to a local farm for the actual picking is one they will never forget! It’s a bit of a drive for me from Glendale, so a weekly Farmer’s Market is the next best thing when I can’t make the distance.

Step 5: Discover new Convenience Foods

Now I know you’re probably thinking…who has time for all of this? And I have a solution for those moments you might not be able to blend and bag your own goodies.

Tummy Thyme, created by local Los Angeles mom Talia Moore, makes organic baby and toddler food from scratch which is then frozen and made ultra-convenient for you!

They offer FOUR age-appropriate product lines from age five-months to toddler, and the flavor profiles include animal proteins as well as fruits and veggies. All products are sourced from local growers at the peak of the season as well as approved by a Pediatric Nutritionist. 

Each frozen box of four is $14 while the Toddler food is $15 for bag of 6 servings!! That’s half the price of a happy meal!

Now I can serve dinner in LESS THAN TWO MINUTES by just popping one of these little mini-meals in the microwave and serving with some fresh fruit on the side. It’s personally hard for me not to eat the whole Baked Spaghetti Bolognese myself 🙂

Currently, they are delivering throughout the west coast and you can also find a selection of their baby food at Erewhon markets.

Lastly, you can also find Tummy Thyme at the Studio City Farmers Market where you can tame your toddler with one these brilliant organic no-sugar Icys while you get your shopping done ($3)!!

Takeaway for the Toddler Sugar Detox!

I hope this 5 step toddler sugar detox will help bring a little more sanity to your daily routine. While we still make weekly trips to get ice-cream and hamburgers, knowing I’m feeding him right 80% of the time makes those meals much easier to swallow 🙂