To ask at what age you let your DC regularly drink soft drinks?

[UnderTheAntenna]

i.e. not just water or milk (hot choc). How old were they when you let them drink soft drinks on non-special occasions?

Don’t know what them tasting it has got to do with anything! Fizzy drinks are crammed with sugar or sweetness aimed at the tastebuds of little kids. Just as fast food is full of fat and salt to make it ‘tasty’ as an adult who’s had a wide range of food experiences we can be more discernible about the taste of what we eat and drink. Kids can’t. Of course they love sugar. That why it’s the grown ups job to not give them too much of it!

rarely, only when out and it's a special occasion (e.g. cinema). don't often ask for it, luckily!

we just don't buy it, it's never in the house as a normal part of our weekly food shop (small exception - maybe some 6-pack cans of something at Christmas, but only if someone fancies it and asks for it specially, like when we might buy alcohol in for guests or something)

we often buy apple and orange juice (from concentrate) once a month ish and get through that in a few days... but it's not re-bought until a few shops later..

we always have fizzy water in, milk (different types), mineral water, tea, decaff - plenty of choice really

Pk37 and justanothermile, it’s actually not that I’m judging anyone else for what they do, but you are probably perceiving it that way because deep down, you know that feeding children sugar isn’t a good idea, and you have some underlying guilt or ambivalence about it. Similar to when people get strangely annoyed at someone for not wanting a cake or pizza but choosing something healthy instead. Im sure many people have experienced colleagues or friends who make a denigrating comment when they choose a healthy option and decline something unhealthy.
People in this country have very bad habits in terms of eating, drinking and exercise, and eat way too much sugar and processed food. And that’s often the norm, so someone making healthy choices is berated. We have an obesity epidemic and soaring levels of diabetes, cardiovascular disease etc. There have been public health campaigns to reduce the amount of sugar children consume, but these will never work if people don’t admit there are areas for improvement in their diets.
Calling others judgmental for making healthy choices for their children, isn’t progressive or beneficial to anyone.

Did I ever suggest that I don't know any of this? Did I ever suggest I feed my dc anything else other than healthy food? No guilt here, so don't put suggestions to my words.

I run 50 miles a week at a competitive level, weigh 7.5 stone, weight train 4 times a week and cook from scratch six days out of seven and rarely make unhealthy choices. Both dc are adults and haven't had any form of dental work whatsoever and both make their own healthy choices re diet and exercise.

I didn't feel the need to post this on the thread because quite frankly, it comes across as sanctimonious....

I just chose and still choose to have 90% healthy foods and drink in the house. But yes, there's juice, some biscuits and occasional carbonated cans and the dc have always self regulated. That's a good habit to learn when you have less control.

Control over their choices, apologies I posted accidentally too soon.

Anon10
Uh huh.. yes of course I’m a bad parent for letting my child have something she enjoys in moderation , I feel incredibly guilty.
Christ on a bike ..

This thread is utter madness.

@Anon10 you're being utterly ridiculous. A sugary drink once in a blue moon, or diluted squash/OJ at home is not going to be 'detrimental' to anyones health.
I think you're projecting massively. Either that or you've got an awful relationship with food/drink (which would explain seeing sugar as tantamount to poison.)

I am underweight, with perfect teeth and I enjoy sugary drinks. My DD is a perfect weight (GP measured and weighed her not too long ago), with perfect teeth and she enjoys a sugary drink too.

It's down to self-regulation or (in the case of children) parenting.

I'm unsure of how having diabetes run in your family means that you or your children can never have something sugary - as long as none of you have the condition the odd drink isn't going to harm you.
Alcoholism runs in my family, doesn't stop me from having a drink - I can regulate myself.

Of course, if you can't trust yourself around sugar and don't feel that you'd be able to parent the consumption of your children - then I understand never having any options in.

Will wait for the post in time from you explaining how your child is being sneaky regarding sugary drinks and guzzling them down at lightening speed because they're frightened you'll catch them.

Christ alive, what a boring way to live.

Is life really that much more interesting with lemon squash in it?

Never "regularly". They're a treat.

Can’t beat a hot vimto on a cold day!

@CarolDanvers Instead of just drink plain water as a means to an end? Yes.
Variety is the spice of life and all that...

*drinking

They dont like squash or fizzy drinks that much. They hate cola. I have never bought fizzy drinks for at home.
At home they drink 1 juice a day, water, hot choc or milkshake or milk.
Out they are partial to a slush puppy although not every time, might drink a fruit shoot otherwise will drink water or hot choc or milkshake.

Just can’t get excited about lemon squash I am afraid though I admit I do like the occasional soda and lime in a pub garden on a hot day. I just don’t think not drinking squash means that you’re limited and lack variety in other areas of your life.

Out of interest do you think that people who don’t drink alcohol/eat seafood/eat meat/eat blue cheese etc etc are experiencing boring, grey lives and lacking in variety, or is it just squash you’re bothered about?

Yesterday I picked my son, 6, up and had a can of coke I'd nearly finnished. He said is that nice? will I like it?? So I gave him the end of the can, it's the first time he's tasted fizzy pop to my knowledge.
His face was almost as good as the snooty pta playground queens! I wished I'd brought him a Greggs to go with it when I saw her staring with mouth open! 😂

I’m agog at people proclaiming “poor children” who are “made” to drink just water!? Wtf 🤣🤣

Squash from about 1, maybe 18 months - I can't remember. Yes every day. We all drink more as a result.

Fizzy pop not every day but outside of special occasions probably from 3? We have it in sometimes because we like it. I'm not especially concerned with the caffeine in a small glass of coke. DH used to drink it constantly so DS1 would see it and ask - that I didn't like.

YY absolutely fizzy drinks are in the category of sweets for me. But my kids (the older one anyway) aren't restricted to special occasions for sweet eating - they can spend their pocket money on them when they want.

Meh, I really can't get worked up about juices at all, but neither DH or I drink diet coke/fanta anyway so we don't have it in the house. Kids have free access to fresh OJ/juice boxes/water/milk/Chocolate milk/carbonated water.

We live in a hot climate so I don't give a shit what they drink, they self regulate and generally choose water/milk.

To be honest, kids here are rarely served fizzy drinks at parties, it's always water or juice boxes, general exposure to soda comes much later I think.

I grew up drinking "corporation pop" because my parents rarely had money for more than the basic necessities. I remember my mum being ill, so my dad left a note asking the milkman to leave a bottle of fresh oraange juice - we children weren't allowed any! We occasionally got fizzy drinks at our grans'... dandelion and burdock or sarsperella.

I actually drink water most of the time now, I just find it more refreshing. So DS also drinks water most of the time though I do give him watered down fresh fruit juice sometimes, or squash. Not as a treat per se, but just if we have it in the house. My teeth are pretty bad as I have a terrible sweet tooth, and DS seems to be following me in that (though his teeth are fine so far, he'd do anything for chocolate) so the least I can do is steer him away from sweet drinks and make him clean his teeth as often as is practicable.

DS is 16 and it's still only really special occasions now eg meals out and when on holiday (although he goes out and buys his own from time to time).

I was allowed coke at 16.

3DC, 5, 9 and 11. We all (adults included) drink mainly water, with maybe one glass of milk a day and a glass (or two) of wine (for the adults) or apple juice (for the DC) for weekend dinners. The only soft drinks in the house are tonic for gin and appletizer for the babysitter, and blackcurrent squash for sore throats (kids never finish it when given a glass). I don't drink tea or coffee and DH only drinks it with other people (and famously never finishes it) so the kids have never really been exposed to that. Meals out the youngest requests apple juice, the middle child is like me and prefers tap water to anything else and the eldest sometimes asks for a fizzy drink.

But of course I've made all this up just like I get accused of lying on here about our income, my shoe collection and savings. All human life is on MN and I don't find it hard to believe some people drink soft drinks the whole time so I wish people would understand that some of us prefer to drink water and that doesn't mean we're depriving ourselves, I'd rather get my calories from my food (and sugar free soft drinks are foul).

I was in Bluewater with Ds when he was 6 or 7 and he wanted a drink so, we went to where they sold food and drinks and I asked Ds is he wanted water and a woman of about 55 stood next to us looked at me as if I was beating Ds with a stick! I always wondered what she'd have done if I'd offered him a coke G&T

Pk37 I didn’t call you a bad parent, interesting that you somehow read that into my comment though, and that you are still being so defensive.