Baby drinking coke from a bottle

[papergate]

Saw this earlier and was horrified!

Baby maybe just over a year old crying in pushchair.

Mum gets bottle of full fat coke out from under the pram, fills up babies bottle and hands it to the baby.

I honestly cried when I saw the baby guzzling down the cola like it was milk.

How can anyone think this is acceptable?

How did you know it was full fat coke? Since the sugar tax, the smaller original bottles and the zero bottles are almost identical bar the words 'original' and 'zero' in pretty small print across the top. I know because I can't have artificial sweeteners so on the odd occasion I fancy a coke, I have to squint at the bottles to check I'm getting the right one.

Not that non-full fat coke is great either but it's hard to tell now from the packaging unless you're close enough to read.

Cassian no I actually didn’t, apologies for that comment, OP. It was only a few mins, so easily to cross post.

I stand by my general statement as a one-off, coke is fine. It’s very cruel to suggest the child is being neglected. We have all done things we are not proud of as parents. We are human.

Full sugar coke is commonly used as a hypo treatment for people with Type 1 diabetes. There are plenty of little babies with Type 1 diabetes. Their parents get horribly judged for keeping their babies alive.

My son didn’t get Type 1 diabetes until he was 4, and would only drink milk and diluted juice. I so wished he’d drink coke! It’s a fast acting glucose drink that is readily available everywhere -so it’s effective and SAFE.

If the bottle of coke was taken out of the bottom of the pram then it was way nearer than any tap-surely.

@Celebelly the label on the bottle was red. I always thought 'full fat/ full sugar' coke had a red label.

If the bottle of coke was taken out of the bottom of the pram then it was way nearer than any tap-surely

Well, she presumably had to buy and fill it somewhere

Well, if it helps, the baby:

-May have been with a family friend or babysitter rather than its parent
-May be a lot older than it looks

The coke might not signal a life of abuse or neglect, though it's obviously a horrendous decision by the accompanying adult.

Yeah not any more. Zero and original both have red labels since late last year.

Coke is not fine to give a baby as a one off, (medical issues notwithstanding) and Diet Coke wouldn’t have been any better. As my dentist told me, it’s the acid that’s the problem for teeth rather than the sugar.

In case anyone is interested (it's not interesting): www.coca-cola.co.uk/stories/new-look-for-coca-cola-frequently-asked-questions

I did learn that the caps are red for original and black for zero though!

Some people are getting their pious knickers in a twist, we only know what the OP saw. It may have been a one off. While I’ve never given my baby coke or tea, I can’t say I have never done anything that was probably considered shit. It was coke, not heroin. OP saw it once - making a bad parenting decision, doesn’t mean you are a bad parent.

@Celebelly Coke Zero has a black band round the top of the label. Anyway it doesn't really matter.

Hopefully it was a one off and the mum knows how bad this stuff is for her baby.

Obviously there are far worse thinks but I agree with OP it is a grim picture to behold. Obviously you do not know the background to know if the child is diabetic, but it would also upset me.

After seeing babies with rotten milk teeth, it is truly shocking what start some children are given.

Full sugar coke is commonly used as a hypo treatment for people with Type 1 diabetes
That I do understand. Are they advised to give it in a bottle or a cup though?

It is hardly fucking rocket science to know that you only put milk or water in a baby bottle.

People lead really sheltered lives.

I highly doubt that coke is the recommended treatment for a baby having a hypo. Glucose and water solution perhaps but not a caffeinated carbonated drink.

I actually can't believe anyone is defending a mother actively feeding a baby a fizzy drink in a bottle. Seriously are you all completely stupid??????

I actually can't believe anyone is defending a mother actively feeding a baby a fizzy drink in a bottle. Seriously are you all completely stupid??????

But ultimately @mrsterrypratchett while you’re congratulating yourself at how non judgmental, amazing and what an unsheltered life you lead, kids are suffering pain and neglect. Like most people I’ve had toothache and like a lot of people I’ve had decay in my teeth but caused by my own choices. Can you imagine the pain that a child must be in if all their teeth grow in rotten due to being fed soft drinks in bottles? But hey, as long we don’t “judge” the idiot parents that caused it, that’s Ok.

I maintain that if a mw/hv/social worker/other professional tells you “only put milk or water in this bottle” it’s not exactly fucking difficult to do that.

Imagine you come form a very poor marginalised community. Very high rates of violence, low educational outcomes, lots of kids taken into care. SWs are viewed with great suspicion as is the health community. Middle class white people looking down their noses and judging. They say breastfeed, eat a certain way, discipline a certain way.

But your grandma, mother, aunt, sister all have happy kids and they do the opposite. They love their kids and have protected them from the SWs. And yes, people are over- and underweight in your community but everyone is the same.

You know you don't match up with the white middle class 'ideal' but you can live up to the standards of your peers, your loving peers who don't judge each other.

Now does it seem easy?

Well, she presumably had to buy and fill it somewhere

I assumed (because assuming is ok right? ) that it was probably the Mum's drink in the bottom of the pram, not that she had gone and bought it there and then. She just poured some into the bottle because the baby was crying?

She could have gone off in search of a tap I guess if she knew where one was?

I'd cry tears at this too.... in my line of work I've seen newborns fed mcdonalds milkshake in a bottle. It's not funny, it's heartbreaking.

Oh and BTW I work with many people on this stuff and yes, non-judgemental approaches work better.

So I've actually weaned a few kids off energy drinks, sports drinks and coke. But not by looking down my nose and patting myself on the back for being so enlightened.