Water only at school- thoughts please

[lemony21]

I'd love to hear your thoughts about children being told to bring in only water to drink during school time.

Did I read right? A pp giving their 4 YEAR OLD tea?! Why?! No 4 year old needs caffeine, tannins, a drink that is a diuretic and blocks the absorption of calcium and other nutrients! Nuts!

Just water is fine, if they are thirsty they'll drink.

Technically our school is water only in the classroom but squash/juice allowed with lunch.

DS1 just has water, DS2 has weak squash - however he has food 'issues' (tube fed and oral aversion as a younger child) so we have to be flexible with him. If I gave water he wouldn't drink it and as we're in the ME it's too hot to risk it! Squash is the lesser of 2 evils for us really.....

100 ml of diluted orange squash has 2 teaspoons of sugar in it (7.8 g of sugar in the 100ml, 4g per teaspoon roughly).

That's 2/5ths of the daily recommended amount just in 100 ml of it diluted...

That's a huge amount!

I honestly can't understand the thing about "not liking water" unless there are special circumstances involved.

I mean, what's not to like? To me the 'not liking water' just means 'if we refuse we will be given juice/squash/soda'. There is so much sugar in most kids' diets anyway (and I include my DCs in this, their diet is far from perfect) that I really don't see the need for sugary drinks too.

It's not the sugar free aspect of drinks that cause tooth enamel damage it's the fruit aspect. So we shouldnt give fruit either, especially acidic citrus fruit?

Moderation in all things, and less hysteria. Tooth brushing is far more important

Graphista... calm down.... it's herbal tea with milk (he likes to feel grown up). Loves camomile maybe you should have some?

altered images some of us don't like water. Tap water makes me gag and I am in an area where the water is really soft and not full of limescale. Don't dismiss us because we have different tastebuds.

Yabu. Fair enough to restrict to water during class but another drink should be allowed at lunch. Whilst children may not becoming life threateningly ill by not drinking during school hours, they can become ill and it is also let to affect performance.

Sugar Free equals Chemical Shit Storm usually.

The fact that something is "sugar" free, does not make it healthier at all. Fruit is excluded from daily sugar allowances (contrary to what Sarah of I quit Sugar spouts off).

Olympia - I prefer peppermint myself but fair enough, though you didn't say herbal you just said 'tea' in first post and 'normal' tea isn't really good for anyone. (Despite my mothers claims).

poppy2021 I don't mean to be dismissive at all, I am just genuinely confused. I am saying that in most cases of kids not liking water it is because they are used to having another sweeter option.

FWIW I didn't drink water as a child either but looking back on it, it was because I was used to the option of juice or squash.

I still don't understand how someone could object to the taste of water though. Do you experience the same with mineral water?

I thought this was standard.

I would have no truck at all with kids saying they don't like water. It's water, ffs. It's like saying you don't like oxygen.

Graphista . Yes, just like to outwit him on the tea front! We always ask him if he want a cup of tea.

Interestingly enough there was a program (scientific) about children who are 'super tasters' and no matter how much they attempt to acclimatise to different food and drink tastes they still find them awful. I'm sure that's why DS2 hates all things green/orange/red....... even vomits on a banana!

I hate the taste of water. I think there are individual differences in the sensitivity of taste buds which might explain why some think it is tasteless and others find it pleasant or unpleasant. I can just about tolerate it if it is ice cold. I drink it at the gym but have something else after to take the taste away.

Water does taste vile to me. I literally have to be desperate for a drink before I'll touch water. Those hint of fruit waters are bearable, but I gather they're full of sugar anyway. I can't be alone in hating most cold drinks, including squash and fuzzies? love a G&T with ice and lemon though

Fantastic.

Mine refuses to drink water outside of school as its boring and she doesn't like it.

Knows it all that's on offer at school so guzzles it down.

I think a variety of fluids is the best way to take in the optimal amount. I couldn't consume 2 litres a day of any 1 drink, even wine.

I am always wondering why parents start giving children squash/fruit juice from a young age. Surely if you only give them milk and then water from 1yo you don't end up with DC who "don't like water" hmm

What i ended up with was a child with faecal impaction so i had to introduce other fluids to combat that.

I am always wondering why parents start giving children squash/fruit juice from a young age. Surely if you only give them milk and then water from 1yo you don't end up with DC who "don't like water" hmm

Because when i was 5, i just stopped liking it. (still don't) but instead of telling my parents (i also didn't know there was an alternative) i used to tip it away in plants or sink etc so i didn't have to drink it. I was hospitalised for 2 weeks with cystitis caused by dehydration. Noone knew what i was doing & i kept doing it at home after and got hospitalised again until my mum caught me and asked me why i wasn't drinking it!! As soon as she gave me diluted squash i never got an infection again.
I think it's odd when people can't get their head around a child having their own mind to decide whether they do or don't like something. I was surrounded by parents and siblings who all drank water not squash so it wasn't a learnt habit or trying my luck.

I send mine with bottles of flavoured, still water. Luke warm plain water is grim.

Faecal impaction here too and ongoing constipation issues. Lack of drink makes it all so much worse. They drink more when they have squash.

The breadth of human experience is vast.

Here we are talking about kids who have pretty good lives refusing to drink something perfectly healthy & acceptable yet on another thread (discussing WWII) I am reminded that even now there are children who would be SO grateful for 'lukewarm plasticky grim' but clean, fresh water that won't give them typhoid, cholera, worms, parasites and who knows what else!

Aren't we wonderfully lucky to have the choice?

Breathtaking arrogance on the part of the OP. If my kids were in the school you work in I'd be firmly telling you to mind your own business and let me decide what is best for my kids. And I'd also tell you in no uncertain terms what I thought of your opinion of my "poor parenting". This is just a few years on from being told that formula feeding is poor parenting (did you subscribe to that view too?).

Seriously, who do you think you are? Sure schools should promote healthy habits, when they have the time and resources after actual education. There's a HUGE gap between that and you going on a crusade to ensure that all children only drink water at school.

YABU especially for this statement

Is this just poor parenting or AIBU to expect all children to drink just water?

Each child is different. My eldest has specific foods/drinks and rules around them that cannot be breached or she'd literally starve herself. The more you try and leverage pressure/influence the more stressed she gets.

My youngest would drink water all day long. Same parents, same rules. Different children.

By all means suggest a water only rule for the classroom, but please don't try and enforce one at lunchtime or you could make some children's lives utterly miserable and less healthy.

Some fluid is better than no fluid. If you have a sugar ban on the rest of their lunch box then diluted sugar free squash is not as much of a problem as a dehydrated child.

Sitting here with my pint of tap water ....
You don't need diet anything or milk or eat or coffee or diet or full sugar cola or water with a hint of anything. You just need water.