Coca cola for DCs of 3, 5 and 6 is just wrong, right?

[anonymousbird]

Isn't it?

"other less toxic drinks"

Toxic is a bit extreme - we're talking coca cola, not class A drugs!

"I still restrict them for my 12 year olds"

really? How do you do that?

I'm not a fan of ingesting anything that can apparently cause a toilet bowl to sparkle. However it isn't your business unless they're your children

dd is 8, has had it as a treat, in a cafe/pub/meal since she was about 5. so thats prob once a week.

my inlaws think it's disgusting i have allowed her this. it's fizzy sugar, yes , but they think nothing of sending her parcels full of sweets.

isi t to do with the fact it used to contain more harmful stuff?

ahh well edward - I wasn't allowed fizzy drinks (and hated them until I hit my teens anyhow), and had 5p to spend on sweets once a week, and my mum was very when after having had fillings and all sorts the dentist said "you need to limit the fizzy drinks and sweets"..............

I wouldn't even give cola/fizzy to DD as a 'treat' - Just what would she be getting treated to exactly?

However I wouldn't object to her having some with other kids at the (very) odd party (I.E. I'm not going to make her feel like a freak by excluding her)

SO yes she can have it occasionally, but no I'm not going to give it to her. Plenty of other options out there.

I think like others have said, in moderation it would be OK.

Having said that, my DS(5) has never had fizzy drinks. I never allowed him to when he was younger and if you try to give him one now he adamantly refuses.
I encouraged him to try a drink on holiday at Christmas but because it was fizzy he refused. He once took a mouthful of my drink in a takeaway cup (so he couldn't see the drink) thinking I had water. When the fizz of the lemonade hit he panicked and freaked right out!

"I'm not a fan of ingesting anything that can apparently cause a toilet bowl to sparkle"

Never, ever use lemon juice in cooking then!

piratecat has it been toned down? I just can recall the whole "clean a 2p piece" and "rot a tooth at twenty paces" type experiments at school, not so keen on that going down the necks of my DC's. They've noticed their friends having it and have asked if they can have it.

Downdog - agree with you there, would reluctantly let them drink it if the whole party was having it or something. But am seriously not keen on the stuff!!! And, so far, not seen it served at a party - juice, squash and water to date. Only a matter of time I suppose.

My dcs don't like fizzy drinks- so when we're out for a meal, they have tap water.
They're so cheap.
But people have said to me, "ah, let them have a coke as a treat"- they don't like it, simple as that! Or fruit juice. Or tea. A milk shake yes.
Dh has never tried coke (he is 50) and doesn't drink tea or coffee either.
I only drink Pepsi if I have a hangover, but don't like sweet drinks.

I commend your comment runnybottom. I personally don't like it for my kids but my 4yo has had lemonade as a treat when out and about but hey each to their own. There are worse things happening to kids than a bit of fizzy drink.

seeker - really!

Actually coke/cola is totally toxic. If I was to go on and do a Masters, exploring the relationship between kiddies drinking coke & teenage drug/food addiction would be a fab place to start.

A quick google on the subject of coke/cola will open your eyes as to the damage it can do and to it's addictive nature. For a start:
"The active ingredient in Coke is phosphoric acid. Its Ph is 2.8. It will dissolve a nail in about 4 days."

My younger brother drank coke from about age 6 - he quickly became addicted and it amazed & shocked me how his parents did nothing about it. He ended up very overweight, drinking 2 + litres a day. His consumption had a huge effect on his childhood & teenage years both behaviourally and by making him a fat kid.

Now 21, still carrying all the COKE fat, he now no longer drinks coke -he replaced it with beer a couple of years back & drinks like a fish.

ahh now you see kids in Zimbabwe are very active - didn't see many fat kids out there (and no sly digs about "well that's cos they're poor - because most of the kids I knew that drank it had plenty of food available)

do you not know what toxic means then?

Your coke causes drug addiction thesis would be laughed out of any university.

FGS it's just a sugary drink, not heroin.

DS (8) has it few times a month, when we go out for a meal. He likes it, but is not obsessed about it, precisely because I never made a big deal out of it. He loves drinking plain water every day, has a healthy diet with plenty of veg and fruit.

So if it's a case of feeding your child McDonald's and Coke every day- wrong, although still no one's business.

But I can't imagine why someone would get their knickers in a twist about occasional Coke.

I drink like a fish and was never allowed Coke.

Oh FGS. Yesterday I read about a 7 year old who's scared to walk to the end of the road and now a 12 year old who isn't allowed a fizzy drink occasionally. It will be interesting to see how this cotton wool wrapped generation of kids grow up.

FWIW my mum never restricted anything. We could have what we liked within moderation. We're both a healthy weight with decent teeth.

Brown sugar sandwiches were our Friday night tea!!!
Mind you, I did have a mouthful of fillings

When out for a meal etc, we have allowed lemonade for ds since he was 3. His favourite fizzy drink is orangina though. As an occassional drink, I think its fine.

As a child I was never ever allowed, crisps or chocolate. I now gorge myself frequently on them, still thinking my mother will come in and catch me. Am 37... I am now a true believer of everything in moderation. However dd is now 3 and she doesn't like fizzy drinks, only likes apple juice / water.

reality

me neither Fio Fio

YAWN......

Of course it's addictive it's got caffiene in it!

anonymousbird - you must live a very sheltered life if this shocks you so much!

Didn't it used to be prescribed for medicinal purposes in the states?

I've always been allowed to drink fizzy drinks and I'm not addicted to them and in fact my alcohol drinking habits have nothing to do with that!

It's also the only thing that works on my stomach acid problem when it rears it's ugly head.

Please explain how caffiene is addictive?

of course caffeine is addictive