Toddlers and Fiber One

I thought there was some sweetness to the cereal and looked at the ingredient list. Aspertame is an ingredient. I don't give my son any artifical sweetners so I aviod giving him fiber one. Just somehting to think about!

FiberOne bars are fairly healthy, but most people need to adjust slowly to increased fiber or their body will react badly - lots of gas and cramping. If you normally get very little fiber and suddenly get 18 grams at one sitting, then yes - your body won't like it at first. You need to increase the amount gradually over a period of severals days.

That said, FiberOne bars are perfectly 'safe' for young children. You can't really get "too much" fiber - as long as your body gets a few days to adjust to it. My 6 year old was diagnosed with encopresis about 3 years ago and has been eating the FiberOne bars (1 a day, sometimes 2) since they first hit the shelves. They've been a godsend because before they came along it was a struggle to get him to get anywhere near the recommended amount.

The general rule of thumb is a child should get their age + 4 grams of fiber each day as an absolute minimum. So your 2 year olds should be eat at least 6 grams each day. Maybe give them half a FiberOne bar? My 3 year old has a bar every few days and is fine with it, but she's used to it. We also use the pancake mix and sometimes cereals and the 1 year old eats those without any problems, either.

Remember to increase the water intake when you add fiber to help with digestion - it really helps cut back on the gas/bloating/cramping you can get if you suddenly increase fiber.

My children love the Fiber One Pancakes and they are so easy to make......just add water. My daughter loves the Fiber One poptarts...only in the brown sugar flavor. Neither of them have had any weird affects from them. I have had the bars and really like them. It can't hurt to try them.

Read the information on the packaging. I don't recall ever reading anywhere that fiber was bad for any human body. The manufacturers are always the best source of information regarding age restrictions if there is any reason for concern.

P. read your labels carefully. Though Fiber one claims to be one of the cerals for nutrition did you know it contains ASPARTAME?? You should not be consuming aspartame and NO child should be eating this potential harmfull ingredient. Try Kashi Organic cereals. I am a distributor for Shaklee, a major health and wellness company and I have done quite a bit of my own studing on nutrition and even the medical field is saying go preventitive. Please check out my web livingwithsolutions.com and discover for your self. Read up on Aspartame and other sugar substitutes. See for yourself how good nutrition does not always come from the ads on the TV. Would love to hear from you. Good Luck S.

I do not know of these products being necessarily harmful to little children, however adding fiber in that manner will require them to drink more water or they will get constipated.

I have a 2 yr old and a 7 yr old. My 7 yr old needs the extra fiber but won't eat Fiber One products. My 2 yr old on the other hand got a hold of one without my knowledge one day, and before I knew it had downed a whole Fiber One bar. I payed for it the rest of the day. He had about 4 diarrhea trips to the bathroom. My advice is to NOT give your little ones these bars, since they eat lots of fruits and veggies! One bar has about 2 grams more fiber than is even recommended for their ages, and that would be on top of what they are already getting. My suggestion to you is to stick with the good stuff and let someone else overpay for the enriched stuff!

I do not think fiber products are harmful... my DR told me it was ok for my children to eat activia or even metamucil or miralax. I asked specifically because my youngest has issues being regular... she doesn't eat much and doesn't drink much either so that adds to her problem... I have given her activia but never tried anything else other than oatmeal bran cereal or raisens.