diet coke at infant school disco?

[GruffalosDad]

AIBU to think this is not a suitable drink for 4 year olds?

Not sure if I am being pfb! I Still water down fruit juice when I get chance (do give it undiluted ic we buy bottles/cartons when out)

What age do kids start on the fizzy stuff/coke?

Pretty sure diet is a worse option than the full fat stuff too!

I don't think DC had any. Sounds like he drank squash. As far as I know he has not yet ever had fizzy drink (he is 4, nearly 5). However, I don't think I would have been particularly bothered about it if fizz had been offered (lemonade or something). A one off thing, fair enough. The sugar isn't going to be any worse than the sweets etc. But coke? Caffine?! That somehow is different!

YANBU. I think many people wouldn't opt for their small child to have a caffeinated drink.

DS is 6yo and goes to a youth club once every 3-4 weeks. He gets £1 for the tuck shop and is allowed to spend it on anything he wants, he always gets a cheese toastie and a can of Pepsi. He drinks half and saves the other spit filled half for me.

The dentist offered dd2 full fat cola aged 2yo for sitting nicely while I had work done. I still at the thought.

Yanbu

Diet Coke, Coke, all fizzy drinks are a load of shit

I'd not want mine drinking a caffeinated drink at 4.

I wouldn't wig out about fizzy drinks per se, whether with sugar or sweeteners. I'd vastly prefer them to have dilute squash or water though.

Definitely NBU. There are certainly more important things to get worked up about but the point is it's totally unecessary. If some parents are happy to let their DC's have it, however frequently, then fine, but there's enough evidence to show how harmful fizzy drinks are and many parents would prefer their DC's avoid it. Making it 'normal' at a school disco is just unhelpful when there are other options they could have offered.

Not something I personally would do at a children's party but not something I would get upset about. My four year old has had the occasional sip and even a cupful with a happy meal. She seems ok.

a dentist gave a 2yo coke
can dentists be struck off??
I would not be happy with coke at a KS1 disco, with or without sugar, because it would mean that my child would get very thirsty- none of mine liked fizzy drinks. There ought to be a choice.

usual

If water etc on offer too its fine
Same at our school I just tell.mine ro have water.

ahem
my dcs were declining crap long before MN was even thort of

I would imagine birthday cake contains at least as much rubbish as diet coke. Should we be angry at that too? And what about 'white' bread sandwiches and those fatty bits of potato called 'crisps'. And as for the sweets in the party bag... These have actual sugar in them not the sweetener in diet coke. Presumably we should bin these immediately upon exit! Why can't parties ever serve quinoa and steamed fish on a bed on spinach like we feed our kids at home!

My four year old has had the occasional sip and even a cupful with a happy meal.

Happy meal! And a whole cup of diet coke! For a 4 year old I've clutched my pearls so hard they been ripped from their necklace and are scattered all over my very clean floor! Someone call social services!!

I used to run the tuck shop as a PTA member at the school disco at my kids' previous school.

We had cans of fizzy drink, squash cups, crisps, chocolate, sweets. The kids LOVED it.

The kids were happy and enjoyed themselves (including my own three) and there were never any complaints from parents.

School discos are optional. And ocasional.

The ocasional drink of coke is not going to kill a child. It's a treat.

I wonder if you were at the same disco as we were?!

It's hard enough to peel a 4yo off the ceiling at the end of a disco without giving them coke as well. I gave my DD squash and a biscuit!

I think its fine for parents to give it occasionally, but a school disco is a little less ideal, though not the end of the world.

I've just come home from ours (helper), we have fruit shoots (the dreaded), some kind of vimto squash in a bottle (only had a small number of those) and bottles of water. We also offer water and squash (not sure if it is sugar free or full sugar) in jugs for children who have no money or who have run out who are thirsty.

We also have a shedload of sweets and crisps for sale and they buy and consume their own body weight in them.

Some parents moan that we should sell fruit, but we know full well that nobody would buy it unless there were nothing else on offer.

Diet coke as a drink - lets analyse it. There is citric acid (bad for teeth - so are oranges then), aspartame (some think it is the devil, there is no real evidence for this, if you go loopy on it of course avoid it, some go loopy eating a tomato, once again, they would avoid it if so) and then phosporic acid (I think I have spelled that incorrectly, but I hope I have the name right) which is the fizzy drink thing, which apparently can leach calcium from bones (once again a small quantity from time to time would have no real effect, but regular consumption of fizzy drinks in children could make it relevant).

Oh and caffeine, in a smallish amount, compared to coffee, which isn't ideal in the evening for anyone but particularly for children.

I suspect they made it diet because of the current sugar emphasis. You could argue diet is better than full sugar (9 lumps in a can) if you are not intolerant to aspartame or don't react to it (and are sensible to ignore non evidence based claims of brain cancer).

You can of course say "no diet coke" to the organisers now you know it is there which would probably be the right thing to do on the basis that most children would tolerate it and wouldn't be harmed from it, and on the basis they have probably been consuming various other sugar products, it is damage limitation.

Our school wouldn't do it, but I can't get too het up about it.

YANBU

I don't think yabu about diet coke. Vile stuff. But, what are they supposed to drink at a school disco If even squash is suspect?

Milk or water doesnt exactly scream 'party'.

Would fentimans ginger beer or orange jigger meet MN exacting standards? On the grounds that it is a 'naice' brand and botanically brewed or some such twaddle?

Can't believe some people are saying they don't give diet drinks because they are full of chemicals or shit.

Can you please tell us what food isn't full of chemicals and shit you don't know about? There isn't any... Animals are pumped full of antibiotics and chemicals to keep them well, fruit and veg is the treated with chemicals to keep them fresh. Nearly all fresh food in shops has additives to stop it going off quickly but diet drinks are the enemy...

Oh, we used to peeling them off the ceilings by the time our discos were over

They were such fun though and I really miss doing them. Where we live now the schools don't seem to have discos except for a Y6 leavers disco, and I think the kids are all missing out on downtime with their friends. We used to have themes, fancy dress, competitions, games, prizes, Father Christmas at the Christmas disco.

Can't get worked up about the ocasional coke.

I prefer my DCs to have the sugar from coke than a headache from the diet version. Saying that, the cheap squashes that are normally served at this kind of event also contain foul sweetners, but at least they're more diluted which takes more quantity for the thumping headache and unquenchable thirst to kick in.

Sweetners taste like soap water anyway.