I agree, it's only once a year and we can get back to the time when cakes and sweets etc were a real treat to look forward to rather than expected every day as it seems to be now. I think you've done brilliantly, the carrot cake idea is a good one too.
Becky

Thanks everyone . I have a recipe for carrot cake (I hate cake but love this!!! ).

I agree with all of that. Have a look at low GI cake recipes - the sugars in honey are much slower to digest, so lots of low GI recipes use it instead of sugar. I think it's great that you put so much thought into what Carys is eating - there are too many kids living on fast food and artificial additives - but everything in balance, and there is such a thing as worrying too much about it. The best you can do is to bring her up to make her own, educated choices without scaring her off trying new things. Carys is a very lucky girl!!!

I was gonna suggest carrot cake too, its gorgeous.
Birthdays are for treats anyway, don't think you're a failure, but it is hard to stick to principles you set yourself.

I remember going to a talk with a dietician when my son was young, and she said you might as well give children sugar if you ever give them pure fruit juice as the fruit cells are broken down in the juicing process and as such the sugar in them will hit just as hard as normal sugar.

Its like fats, do you give pure butter, very high in fat but natural fat, or do you give them low fat spreads, low in fat but very unatural?

As said before, a little in moderation is a good thing. I kept my son off all of foods baddies as long as I could. He eats healthier than most now he is 14, and chooses too. He doesn't ever ask for fizzy drinks, but drinks milk instead.

You are doing the best you can for your little poppet, and thats all you can do

Aw thanks for your lovely comments .

Can I ask why you don't want to give her sugar?
Becky

Well it's a personal thing really. She's only going to be a year old and has never had added sugar. I don't want her to develop a taste for sweetened things and I'm worried that once I establish stuff like that in her diet my family will start force-feeding her sweets .

I'll be honest - if I could make a cake with sugar and convince my family that it had no sugar I would probably do this. I just know that it will be like 'open border' for sweets/biscuits etc.

I understand. Thanks for explaining. I never got them when I was a kid but I have an incredible sweet tooth now so not sure whether none as a child is good or bad thing lol!
Becky

Actually that's a very interesting comment and 'food' for thought . I wasn't intending to deprive her for ever but maybe deprivation causes an increased interest.

When I went on the SLimmers World diet it was so short of sugar that I started to binge on it because the cravings were so strong. Also my diet is very low in salt so I actually have to put salt on my boiled spuds to stop me craving that too. I just wish there was a fruit I liked that was sweet enough to stop me craving sugar.
Becky