Are carton juices the devils work?

[Whenspringcomes]

Recently had a friend and her toddler over for a play date (allowed where we are)
I got a few snacks and drinks for the kids. For the sake of making things easy, I put out a couple of juice cartons with straws. My friend looked quite surprised and said her Ds had never ever tried one of these before and proceeded to give him his water.
For context, the snacks were cucumber sticks, cherry tomatoes, rice cakes, carrot and small animal biscuits. My Dd drinks water and milk daily and a juice carton if we have a picnic or play date as a sort of treat, but no big deal.
Did I make a huge mistake by allowing toddlers to drink one of these 🤷🏻‍♀️They’re two and a half years old.

No, I would have been surprised too. Not an issue though, I just don't see the point introducing something unnecessarily.

Was like that with my first. By the third the crawling baby often stole older brothers fruit shoot 🤷‍♀️

I thought you were going to say they squirted the bloody things everywhere . I wouldn’t give them at that age but only for that reason. Mine had squash in a bottle. I also only ever gave my DC fruit drinks with REAL sugar in. It’s the fake sugar that’s the work of the devil!

They’re all adults now apart from the youngest. Never had cavities and all healthy weights. Go figure .

Juice cartons with straws are an expensive way of buying said drinks and include non-recyclable material.

Haha
Each to their own but I was massively in favour of getting DS to drink only water or milk as soon as he was old enough. Didn’t want him to get a taste for sugary drinks as its all we drank when we were little and my teeth are terrible
Personally think it’s unnecessary sugar. I don’t let him have haribo either but he does have other sugary treats occasionally. I think I’m probably a bit weird because of all the teeth extractions I’ve had

Um Bongo is a gateway to heroin - surely you know that?!

Sounds like a fuss about nothing (her, not you). It's just a little treat. A tiny carton of juice is not going to damage teeth instantly.
Nice of you to provide a few snacky bits & drinks.

Don't let her or mn ruin your picnics. An occasional um bongo won't hurt at all.

Um bongo was my favourite when I was little!

Anyone tried a Rumbongo? Not for toddlers obvs...

But where are they stocked! I need some! Best things ever.

I am sure rumbongo is delicious, I am currently pregnant again so can't enjoy but I know what I'm making when baby is here!

@Dauphinois

Anyone tried a Rumbongo? Not for toddlers obvs...

This sounds amazing!

OP I shouldn't worry too much for the occasional picnic. We always buy an ice cream on a day out which is just as bad I'm sure but it isn't a daily thing, it is a treat!

Mine are 14 and 6.5 years and have never been allowed juice. Hence they show no interest in whatsoever. It either milk or water for them, sometimes hot chocolate/milkshakes. The teen is moving straight to coffee though

It's up to her. She might have had a history of bad teeth and be wanting to help prevent the same in her child.

I don't give DS squash or juice drinks, the only time he has had a small amount of watered down cloudy apple juice warmed was once when he was very constipated (works a treat btw). I don't want him to get a taste for sweet drinks and start to refuse water, several friends' children 'don't like water', but have been given squash from around a year old.

Rumbongo sounds amazing

I mean it's juice with sugar and sweetener

@LubaLuca

She rejected Um Bongo? The woman's a goddamned fool.

Where can you buy Um Bongo these days, by the way? I wonder if it's still as delicious as it was in the 80s (probably not, it's bound to be 'no added sugar' now, the bloody spoilsports).

You can get it the Congo.

DC1 - I would have reacted like your friend.
Dc2 - thanks very much
Dc3 - I would have brought the fruit shoots with me.

All 3 kids wonderful, fab teeth, great shape. Yes my middle child has a sweet tooth....but obviously she understands I won't let her have sweets all the time.

My 4 year old has water and milk mostly with odd hot chocolate in winter. He will have innocent smoothie cartons sometimes as part of his lunch or on the go.

Everything in moderation but maybe your friend is scared her dc will become addicted to juice. My dc hasn't got a sweet tooth so i wouldn't have that concern for him.

Also is it a first child?

An occasional carton of um bongo really won't hurt especially if drunk through a straw with snacks.

Kids have sugar all the bloody time. An apple has about 15g of sugar, an um bongo has 8g. Yes its liquid so the sugar is more readily available for the teeth but on a picnic, with food, through a straw won't cause any harm. Its really not heroin, as long as they are sticking to mostly water or milk, and you are brushing their teeth. Wonder if these um bongo is the devil posters ever let their dc have pudding? No ice creams on the beach?

Why would you give anything other than water or milk as a drink for a young child?

Omg um bongo. I think I had one daily in my packed lunch for the entire of primary school and my teeth are fine. Along with ribena all the time.

I don’t really encourage juice for my kids (5 and 3) but I wouldn’t forbid it. They mostly just drink milk and water and juice is for special occasions. We don’t have it at home hardly ever. Juice was really handy one time when my toddler refused to even drink anything when she was sick, so I usually keep a few cartons hidden in the cupboard just in case.

The packaging and pointless waste would bother me, less so the juice.

I thought she was going to object to the mess that kids make when they squeeze it and it pours out of the straw all over them. Or was that just my kids?

I don't remember if I drank Um Bongo as a kid, I wasn't that keen on squash drinks. I can still sing the song though, of course. I've given it to my kids when they were younger. They are teens and still mainly drink water.