What do your younger kids have as a drink in their lunch box?

[whatthewhatthewhat]

Water seems so boring. Don't want anything with sweetener. Used to use Capri sun until they switched to sweeteners... ideas?

every week! Per child.

Mine are allowed to have fruit juice at lunch time so mine takes a carton of orange or apple juice.

Water. Mine are 11 and 13 and always had water. They drink water at home as well. Occasionally something else, but default is a glass of water. It's not boring. It's natural. I drink a lot during the day as well

@whatthewhatthewhat for me it's anything that's pure juice, 100% not from concentrate and no added sugar and sweeteners.

ChocolateTea it may not be boring for you, but it is for a lot of people! I drink mostly water myself, but occasionally it is nice to have something with a yummy flavour. I find this particularly in hot weather, when I get fed up of drinking, and find I can get a funny taste in my mouth that water alone won’t shift.

Just water. They like it.
Sweet drinks are a very occasional thing.

Water, that’s all they drink at home as well other than milk.

Totally agree that to an extent good or bad teeth are just down to luck. My kids all have a fair amount of sugar, sweets, chocolate, and drink sugar free squash and even lemonade and diet coke sometimes. Apart from when the eldest was tiny I have never been massively paranoid about sugar.
The middle one, aged 11 has had two tiny fillings in milk teeth. The eldest, 13 and youngest, 9 have never had any problems with their teeth. I am very lax about my own teeth - never floss etc and have had few fillings or other problems in my life, my friend is super careful with her teeth, brings a toothbrush to work to brush after lunch etc and has loads more trouble with her teeth than me.

Also I agree with the point about moderation, treating sugar like cocaine is counter-productive. When kids go to secondary school they basically just eat crap anyway, and this will be even more so if they have always been denied sugar.

Finally, I am also more worried about the environmental effect of all the single use cartons of juice and plastic bottles of drink being used that the possibility of tooth decay. Even when mine drink those evil drinks like juice squash and fizz, they have them in a cup from a large bottle or carton. I very rarely use single use cartons. If they need to take a drink out with them it would be in a reusable bottle.

They have milk, fruit juice or diluted squash at lunch. Water the rest of the day.

Nothing! School provide jugs of water barely any children take a drink.

Another water only here. Squash isn’t allowed at school.

I go for the sugary drinks only with meals approach. Da drinks water the rest of the time so gets fruit juice or squash in his lunchbox. I am trying to cut down on plastic and waste just now so I use bigger packs and decent into a small insulated bottle. It is a bit joyless to be shocked that people give their dc anything but water. I don’t drink only water it does get boring and I like water and drink it a lot.

Nothing. School provides water.

DD has her water bottle throughout the day & a carton/little bottle of fresh orange or a smoothie in her lunch box for lunch time... mainly to up the 5 a day.

Our nursery specified water only and in a reusable drinks bottle. Some parents chose to ignore the request. The policy changed last term to : no drinks allowed in and nursery will provide water on the premises. They have a healthy eating policy too and check all snacks.

Juice boxes create highly unnecessary single use plastic waste and we as parents need to set a better example to kids by never buying them

Or like I will buy what works for our house and juice boxes it is. They freeze brilliantly and in summer here that is a bonus as they keep lunchbox cold and then can be drunk, no risk of loss or no need for space to be used by a freezer brick.
Brilliant solution for us

^ responsible.

smart actually
those freezer bricks and gel packs have been known to burst, making the food inedible
If a juice box bursts, things get sticky but still safe

Watch the documentary Blue where they show a Shearwater vomiting up chunk after chunk of plastic. Seabird after seabird dying with stomachs full of plastics. Watch as a turtle gets a straw pulled out it’s nose. See the analysis of fish showing that Microplastics have permeated our entire food chain. THEN come back and tell me that your choices are smart.

Mine just have their bottle of water. Sometimes in hot weather when I want them to have some extra hydration I will put in a carton of orange or apple juice.

You’re worried about squash being poison yet you have absolutely no regard for your children’s teeth. Anything with sugar, or anything acidic sipped throughout the day is going to cause so so much damage, more than you think.

I’ve seen a young girl come in for a routine check up, her teeth to look at looks perfect, lovely white clean teeth can’t see anything to suggest she would have any problems. We took xrays and pretty much every single one of her teeth have cavity’s. She was swapping between smoothie and pop all day

Please just give them water or milk.

Don’t juice cartons and Capri sun and things just end up in the general bin? This would really bother me.

Or like I will buy what works for our house and juice boxes it is. They freeze brilliantly and in summer here that is a bonus as they keep lunchbox cold and then can be drunk, no risk of loss or no need for space to be used by a freezer brick.
Brilliant solution for us

And meanwhile the planet is dying.

I give my son water with cucumber in.