To not understand why any child under school age (ish) is given anything other than milk/water on a regular basis?

[Sarah1611]

I see it a lot out and about- tiny dots with bottles and beakers full of juice, squash or fizzy drink. I know it's not the worst thing that a young child can be given but I don't understand why it's necessary. I'm an avid squash drinker and happily drink it in front of my charges but they never ask for it. I don't drink tea/coffee so squash keeps me going!

If we were at a party then I don't see a problem with having other things but not on a normal day at home or on a trip out.

It's not even just the teeth element, but the habit it creates (I should know!!) and also the dependency on sugar- there's enough sugar in most foods in a normal diet without the almost saturate of a soft drink.

[NoobyNoob]

ted totally agree with you. I too had a non eater and anything I could get down him calorie and sugar wise was good enough for me

[oranges]

oops, wrong thread!

[oranges]

This idea that its okay to skip sports day because of work, but not tiredness. Tiredness is part of work. After exertion, everybody needs to be able to rest to start work again. If not, they collapse. You can't just fill up rest time with other activities and not expect it to impact on work pretty quickly.

[tedmundo]

Yabu.

Water tastes grim, whereas Waitrose Orange High Juice tastes like liquid gold.

Also, I had a food refuser and I would have let him eat a family battenburg washed down with a pint of juice if it meant getting some calories into him.

Crickey, between this thread and the one where I discover that me telling the DCs they are clever has possibly damaged them for life, I am starting to suspect I may need to hand back my Mummy badge.

I suspect OP that the best way to view other people's juice drinking activities is that we are all Doing Our Best.

[Crowler]

If you really love him, you'll spend the money.

[MrBloomsMarrow]

Mmm, not sure about cocktails, might work out a bit pricey although we've saved a fair bit by persuading DD to switch from Stella to Kestrel Super.

[Sirzy]

Strangely when DS was in hospital with dehydration the staff didnt care what he drank just that he did, we had every juice going there to try to persuade him!

He has refused all milk since he was 18 months old, he has never liked water. I am not getting into a battle of wills with him over it he has never had pop but does have very dilute squash.

Strangely at 3.5 he has now decided he does like water (when it suits him) so he is starting to drink it now.

[Crowler]

Personally I would not do slimline for kids because of the aspartame.

Have you ever offered him a mojito? They're quite natural. Just swap the brown sugar for stevia, that's what we do.

[MrBloomsMarrow]

No, haven't tried that. DH says the coke is bad for his teeth -maybe I should switch to gin & tonic? Is slimline better or is it bad because of the Aspartame? It's so hard being a parent.

[Crowler]

Have you tried watering it down with club soda, MrBlooms?

[MrBloomsMarrow]

DS2 (5) will only drink Malibu and coke. Hasn't done him any harm.

[chrome100]

At my primary school water was the only thing on offer. I refused to drink it. As a result I remember coming home most days so dehydrated my mouth was literally stuck together. I think if kids don't like water there is nothing wrong with juice.

[MrsMook]

I dislike tea and coffee and find water heavy on my stomach and find squash easier and more refreshing to drink. I buy high juice with nothing articifial in it, and have it very weak so the sugar content is fairly low. DS1 wants to drink what I am drinking. I ended up faking raspberry leaf tea with blackcurrant at the end of pregnancy to avoid tantrums!

He will drink water, but in small amounts.
He doesn't drink milk because he's allergic to it.
He doesn't have juice regularly because it gives him the runs.
He only has fizzy drinks when it's too inconvenient to decline them. I water them down if I can. This is only a few times a year.

I'm not concerned about him and sugar. His allergies stop him eating chocolate, cakes and many sweets, so his sugar intake is fairly low. He's not a big fruit fan and favours vegetables. He drinks from an open cup and doesn't constantly graze.

I could cut his squash, but that would leave me drinking only water too, and selfishly that doesn't suit me. Or I could drink in secret.

Is that sufficient justification?

[Crowler]

Again, why are you comparing the naturally occurring fruit sugar in dried fruit to the refined sugar added to fake yogurt? I can agree it's probably the same to your teeth (that seems reasonable) but it's absolutely not the same for your body!

Raisins are, as snacks go, a fairly good one (not perfect). They have quite a lot of anti-oxidants. I suppose I am a bit more laid back about teeth because we haven't had problems and I assume they will become gooey and that's why you brush.

But, we digress. I'm possibly hyper-vigilant about squash because, as stated upstream - I have a ridiculous diet coke addiction and it has ruined me for water. I really can't drink water with food, I gulp it down when I am thirsty (I do get 8 glasses a day). I can drink sparkling water with my food, but I overwhelmingly prefer diet coke. Your taste buds will absolutely adapt to sweet drinks and then water just seems wrong. If you are used to soda, like I am (diet coke) - then water feels heavy and wrong.

[Lottapianos]

'Really????? Is this all you have to worry about. Get a life, OP'

Oh good grief, there's always one. Why not start your own thread about something Big and Important instead of wasting time writing pointless sneery comments on other people's threads?

'Who are these people who have the time or inclination to judge other people's parenting?'

Who are these people who have time and inclination to post on MN despite being so very busy and discinclined?! And 'judging' is just using your judgement, something we all do all the time (I hope)

[MadeOfStarDust]

hahahahaha happy..... not rising......

[happyyonisleepyyoni]

Who are these people who have the time or inclination to judge other people's parenting? Your head won't drop off from drinking squash y'know.

By the way, aspartame is NOT carcinogenic

[MadeOfStarDust]

most people don't drink squash all day long though - they have a tumbler with breakfast and another after school with a snack - or that is my experience anyhow.

Whereas I watch toddlers snack on those vile little boxes of raisins all day long - and wonder why they need fillings age 5....

"but she never has sweets or fizzy drinks" was one of the favourite sayings at the dentist I used to work at... no, but "healthy" dried fruit, "healthy" cereal bars and sugar loaded toddler yoghurt do just as much damage to teeth and pancreas - the body does not differentiate......

[Crowler]

I agree, MadeOfStarDust, but you can't compare raisins to petit filous.

Sugar is sugar. No reason to be pious if your kid eats it instead of drinks it. But, I think you'll find that a lot of people object specifically to drinking it because as the kid becomes an adults, s/he will have adopted a habit of drinking empty calories that the body does not really "register".

Most people who eat a doughnut, for example, feel fairly naughty and their sweet tooth may well be sated for several hours or even the day. Drinking squash all day long will exceed the calories and sugar and that person may not even include it on their mental tally of what they've consumed.

[MadeOfStarDust]

I do feel amused though, when younger - my girls had their squash and you'd see the faces of some smug mums saying "Oh mine only drinks water, squash is so bad for them" whilst stuffing down a pack of raisins or petit filous! sugar is sugar...

[stopgap]

I have tried everything to get my toddler son to try cow's milk, but no way will he drink anything other than water. I can disguise a runny "fake" milk, such as hemp or rice, in a smoothie, but I suspect a lot of people give their kids squash because, like my milk-refuser, they have water-refusers on their hands.

[Summerblaze]

Really????? Is this all you have to worry about. Get a life, OP.

[Crowler]

It's quite possible to not give your kids squash AND not be smug.

Kids tend to pick up their bad habits from their parents. If you don't drink squash, chances are your kids won't drink squash.

Squash may not be a Bad Habit, but there is no doubt that turning to water when thirsty is a good habit.

My Bad Habit is diet coke. It was clear to me from the outset that I would never allow my kids to have this so it's been easy. If my kids as toddlers had refused water, I would have probably assumed that they were sufficiently hydrated and didn't need it.

[ElenorRigby]

DSD was given sugary drinks from a young age and so developed a taste for them and prefers sugary drinks. DSD had 9 teeth taken out under anaesthetise aged 6.

With DD I was walking down the isle in Tesco's looking at the juice they were marketing for babies and just thought why the hell do babies need juice of any type and that historically juice was never until v recently given to babies or children.

I gave DD milk and water. Now she wont have juice under any circumstances. People look confused when she refuses and try to push it on her lol.
Last check up unlike DSD the dentist said her teeth were perfect.
She's nearly 6 btw.

Also the empty calories in juice really arnt good and are contributing to obesity epidemic. Watch this..

or read this
Pure, White And Deadly: How sugar is killing us and what we can do to stop it

We don't have juice or any type in the house any more.