AIBU to be surprised by a five-year-old given cola in a bottle?

[Freshtona]

On a flight the other day and a child of about 5 was having total meltdown and was given a baby bottle with Coca-Cola to calm them! The parents had bottles of coke with them to top it up!

I think child was ND, but regardless of that, why would anyone give that to a 5-year old child??? I try not to judge other parents and my own DC aren't strangers to sugar but cola is not allowed. The caffeine and sugar would surely make meltdowns even worse, not to mention the effect on teeth.

Using the term Orthorexic is a bit of a reach downplays a real ED. This isn’t about being purist over food to the point of obsession as Orthorexia is, it’s questioning a 5 year old being given coke in a bottle which will add to it sitting on the teeth.

A treat now and again is one thing, but there seems to be posters who can’t make their mind up on whether this is a treat or clearly a crutch for an ND child so we can’t question it. A very young child at 5 years old who has been given it by the parents which yeah, a lot of us would judge. There’s been a lot of education on fizzy drinks and poor diet, especially for children who can’t make the choice.

You don’t even know that her kid was ND so that’s a massive assumption in itself

We once had a 2 year old come to look round our nursery drinking a can of monster

I actually think I was on the same flight as you OP - short haul EasyJet and the child was wearing short dungarees? I clocked this too and thought it was odd - I didn’t see any obvious ND but that’s not to say there weren’t additional factors. I queued up behind this child for about half an hour to get on the plane, they were waiting in line nicely, chatting to the adults that they were with, and drinking coke from a tommee tippee bottle with a teat. I thought it was a little odd just like you.

The opening post says that the child showed all the signs of being ND. From which I infer possibly stimming or non verbal or something else which was out of the ordinary for a 5 year old.

I’m going only on the narrative the OP has presented to us. If you want to change the facts, go ahead but most of us on this thread are talking about neurodiversity and coke not general child health

Don’t think you’ve read the thread properly

Yet again….proving you have absolutely no idea. You’re “sure” there’s a few similar…WRONG!! When you’ve met one autistic person you’ve met ONE!! They may share similar traits but they don’t all have exact same traits. Are you ND yourself? You’re making up shit I never said. Just curious as you seem to struggle to read to understand, because nothing I said at all stated I had it harder than anyone else (take note of the part where I mentioned parents sobbing because their kids won’t eat anything) there’s ALWAYS someone worse off!! I have taken loads of advise off other parents with far more experience than me, of course I have, every ND parent has. But you’re telling me I have to take advise off other ND parents here about not feeding my kid junk food, I’ll say this again HE DOESNT EAT JUNK FOOD, he eats ONE type of “food”, it’s not junk food. He also drinks almost anything. I don’t think you’re the type of person to listen to people, you pick a few words out of what someone said and make up your own version.If you have friends/family with autistic kids who have sensory issues I pity them if this is how your ignorant attitude and you tell ND what they should and shouldn’t be doing when they’ve already got plenty of professional help AND advise from other parents!!

ALL children are different but they have some shared similarities … I think you need to take a breath! Are ND children aliens that have no resemblance to non-ND children? Ridiculous person.

Still at it, aliens? what are you even on about ND children having no resemblance to NT kids?? Making up more random things in your head out of nowhere. I give up, you’re too hard to get through to, g’luck 😂👋🏼

Yanbu to be surprised. Yabu to be so judgy about it.

Who knows why they gave their child coke or why it was in a bottle. Maybe the child has a tendency to get motion sick on planes and coke does help massively with that. Or maybe they are ignorant rubbish parents. Considering though that you know absolutely nothing except for this small snapshot of their life I'd like to give them the benefit of the doubt.

I assume it was normal coke and not diet coke..if it was diet coke I take.back everything I have just said and will happily and wholeheartedly join you in judging. Diet coke is vile.

Have seen it recommended for dehydration as well .

Are you from the West Coast of Scotland? I assume not.

This isn't a "thing". What you're possibly referring to is from 40/50/60+ years ago when legend has it tea or indeed cola or similar coloured liquids would be given in a baby bottle. Not mixed with formula, not exclusive to the West of Scotland and certainly not a common occurrence these days.

@MightyDandelionEsq only “confusion “ tbh is how pointless your comment was

I once saw a parent give their 2 year old coke in a baby bottle when DD was in hospital. I could here the nurses voicing their disapproval.

I have ADHD and weirdly caffeine does calm me down! Not sure if the same applies to young children though (and I wouldn't personally allow my 5 year old to drink coke 🤷‍♀️).

Five years old, I would judge the baby bottle

but I wouldn’t judge the content

a little bit of Coke or lemonade isn’t the end of the world and it means the child doesn’t scream the plane down and I’m sure the parents know what they’re doing

Tho just seen child was ND - so ignore the bottle bit in my post

you pick your battles when have a child with Sen

@littleorangefox

I am from Perthshire in Scotland. It is a known issue. HV give out advice on the matter. It is a Public Health issue. I learned about it during my Infant Feeding education.

Would be pretty wild if it had been two different flights! The parents of this child are probably not perfect but at least you know they put in the effort to take their kids on holiday, he seemed reasonably well-cared for and they allowed him treats. They also don't care what other people think.

To be honest, some of the worst parents are those who put all their energy into performatively appearing perfect in public but are horrifically abusive behind closed doors. These are usually extremely strict ones (you see them a lot on MN) who expect children to follow every single rule they lay down and who love to judge other families. They basically live for their own sense of superiority rather than what their children truly want and need. I get red flags whenever I see children who are so perfectly behaved that it's obvious they are terrified of the consequences if they do anything out of line.

I do not believe the Health Visiting services in Perthshire or NHS Tayside are delivering a public health message about a West Coast broon bottle.

If it is a "known issue" you would think the target audience would be the West Coast.

Regardless, I will contact NHS Tayside for further information as I am keen to see the data source for this cola-formula that has resulted in a public health campaign delivered during Infant Feeding education.

Disabled children were left to die. There's a campaign at the moment, headed by the husband of a woman whose baby, born with disabilities was left to die in a Mum and baby home in Cumbria, in the 80s. It was the norm for 'unadoptable' babies.The tank containing the bodies of toddlers found they had disabilities and were used in medical experiments. In some countries, the practice is the same, if you can't work, you don't get fed. Children are fed on Pap across many countries, they don't leave the house, parents across the Western world don't get to do that. In my lifetime institutions have closed. There wasn't shame in giving up your disabled child. That's how they test drove the extermination camps. It's in my lifetime that children who have downs are now put on heart surgery lists, after Craig Phillips (2000 so only 26 years ago) did big brother to fund his relatives surgery, it became publicly known.

Even for a disabled child? Do you judge people who have to use handled sippy cups all of their life, or elderly people who have to start using them? There are lots of reasons, not just unsteady hands why they use the lided cups. Children who stay significantly developmentally behind, still have the need to suckle.

If read my next reply underneath a few mins later you will see that I didn’t notice the Sen bit

and I then said you pick your battles and ignore my bottle comment

obv an elderly person using a bottle with handles is totally diff from a child and same with a sippy cup

bottles are generally for babies so yes rare /people do judge if a walking talking 5yr is using one

but as I said pick your battles - from what op said this child wasn’t screaming and being a pita on the plane so the parents did what worked for them

I would much rather a chosen had coke in a babies bottle and happy then be behind me screaming for 3/4hrs kicking my seat - had A few of those over the years