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.

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

Exactly this op^
I would not want to attend a MN picnic as a child or an adult.

I don't think my toddler's had juice or juice drinks yet and he's about to be three. He's only ever had milk and water. I mainly operate on the policy that if he doesn't know what he's missing, he won't miss it. I won't offer him something he hasn't had before just because kids like sweeties - that time will come soon enough!

Once he does realise what he's missing (e.g. he has cake, biscuits etc from time to time because we do too) then I try to contextualise it so he won't ask for it all the time. E.g. we're having cake because it's your birthday. We're having biscuits because Guest has come over. Isn't it kind of Whenspringcomes to offer you a carton of juice as a treat? It's what he has regularly that I'm bothered about, not what he has once in a while - and I'd prefer to put off introducing unnecessary sugar as long as is reasonable.

If my DS wanted to try the Um Bongo, I would have let him, but I would have made it clear that it was a treat at your house, not something we'd buy to have at home all the time. Though if he didn't show any particular interest, I'd have been very happy to just give him water!

And if we were planning to have regular playdates at your house, I'd probably text you after the second time and ask if you'd mind just doing water.

I wouldn't think too much of it to be honest. It's just personal preference for parents, and some kids don't like juice.
I give my oldest squash as he would never drink water, whereas my youngest likes water so I try and give him that more often than squash.

Juice is fine, but don't forget it's mumsnet so anything other than tap water is a no no. Um Bongo- gateway juice innit !

Oh wow I'm bongo! I'm going to get the kids some tomorrow

I'd be more concerned about the animal labour they use to make it tbh.

'Don’t worry - you’ll have the last laugh when her little precious dd is a teen and she’s smacked up on MDMA and sleeping around just to escape the cloying wank that represents the parenting she’s had a belly of. I’ve met these types - no sugar, only water and organic carrot sticks. Their kids run away to the furthest part of the uk the first chance they get.'

Poor kid prob vetted by the Easter egg police as well like on a nother thread atm!

My DC had those on similar occasion as as you mention at a similar age.

However, fruit shoots have always made my two need to wee incessantly. The last time my DD (5) had one she went to the toilet five times in 20 minutes. They are, indeed, the devil's work!

Isn't fruit shoot just sugar free squash? I can't keep up! Mine have fruit shoots if we go out and sugar free squash at home or milk or water or hot chocolate etc

Ridiculous.
I never do juice cartons as they are an unnecessary expense, but if offered by a kind friend no problem. I'd point out later that it was a nice treat and we must brush teeth extra well tonight. Why make a scene?
I let my kids have juice with a meal occasionally as the vitamin C aids iron absorption and they are vegetarian. But they drink water all day and brush teeth well.

My kids have lived on sugar free squash since they were babies. I always struggled to get them to drink water.

You did nothing wrong. There's always someone who thinks they know better than you.

Fruit shoot is sugar free squash yes! Which is advised for water refusers. Cartons of this or bottles are just handy. Obviously plain H2O is better, but won't harm anyone for an occasional thing certainly. Only concern Is the sweeteners, which are currently deemed fine and much better than sugar but the jury is out long term.

And fruit juice is just juice. Not great to drink juice all the time due to the sugars, so if you do have juice it should be when you are eating anyway and in the right quantity. If you are drinking litre cartons of OJ every time you eat something you will be at risk for tooth decay, diabetes etc. But will still only count as 1 of 5 a day. A juice carton is usually the right quantity for 1 of 5 a day without crazy amounts of sugar due to small Carton size, plus vitamins etc. And it's hydrating.

Something like um bungo there are usually elements of both the fruit juice and squash really, as it's a juice drink and usually sugar free so not great for all the time, but a couple of times a week no issues.

I'd be just as concerned about the plastic waste to be honest.

@Wearywithteens

Yeah... she’s a pretentious mother who wants to demonstrate her superior mothering. Her little precious baby can’t possibly be tainted by your semi-toxic chav Um Bongo.

Don’t worry - you’ll have the last laugh when her little precious dd is a teen and she’s smacked up on MDMA and sleeping around just to escape the cloying wank that represents the parenting she’s had a belly of. I’ve met these types - no sugar, only water and organic carrot sticks. Their kids run away to the furthest part of the uk the first chance they get.

Whew, why are you so angry? So much to unpack here...!

Yeah... she’s a pretentious mother who wants to demonstrate her superior mothering. Her little precious baby can’t possibly be tainted by your semi-toxic chav Um Bongo. Don’t worry - you’ll have the last laugh when her little precious dd is a teen and she’s smacked up on MDMA and sleeping around just to escape the cloying wank that represents the parenting she’s had a belly of. I’ve met these types - no sugar, only water and organic carrot sticks. Their kids run away to the furthest part of the uk the first chance they get.

Wow. What a ridiculous post. You do realise that you can choose not to give your toddler sugary or artificially sweetened drinks without being a pretentious, controlling parent, right? We are talking about tiny children. Mine are a tween and a teen now, and they eat pretty much what they want, within reason. I'm sure the fact that I didn't fill them with fruit shoots and Haribo when they were 2 will definitely lead to a life of parent-hating and drug abuse though. Absurd.

I wouldn’t use them regularly and don’t have them at home. Mainly because if DS gets anything good he will want it all the time.

But my parents have given DS some on a picnic and I really couldn’t get worked up about it.

Yeah... she’s a pretentious mother who wants to demonstrate her superior mothering. Her little precious baby can’t possibly be tainted by your semi-toxic chav Um Bongo. Don’t worry - you’ll have the last laugh when her little precious dd is a teen and she’s smacked up on MDMA and sleeping around just to escape the cloying wank that represents the parenting she’s had a belly of. I’ve met these types - no sugar, only water and organic carrot sticks. Their kids run away to the furthest part of the uk the first chance they get

Fucking hell, there are some loons on here. So many issues here in one post!

You did nothing wrong. There's always someone who thinks they know better than you

Sometimes they do. Original um bongo isn't sugar free, for a start.

For all of the parents with cartoon squeezing DC (I had one too) I have a tip! Each carton has a little flap of cardboard on each side, at the top. Flip those up...voila! You have little handles and no more mess.

The first ‘without parents’ party you have, you will immediately know which kids are never allowed any sugar/chocolate. They are the ones hoovering everything with sugar/colouring in.

You are.

Puritanical parenting has unintended consequences further down the line.

You're not a loon for being against puritannical parenting, but for your frankly extraodinary and laughable extrapolation that turning down a sugary drink for a 2 year-old child equals a whole puritannical parenting regime which will end in drug abuse and a breakdown in family relationships. If that isn't lunacy then I don't know what is!

Believe it or not, it is perfectly possible to choose not to give your tiny child Um Bongo without being remotely puritannical or even particularly unusual.

I am more concerned about the amount of packaging to be honest.
some juice is ok imo.