What would you do? Kids Drinking juice.

[Mumma93]

I had my 3 kids at the dentist last week. Eldest’s Enamel is badly worn and my middle needs some fillings 😢 I’ts totally my fault as all they’ve drunk really since very young has been diluting juice, none of them have ever taken to water. Anyway since the, I’ve told them they only have the option of water or milk now during the day except at dinner time they can have a cup of diluting juice with that. Now the problem is that my 2 eldest don’t really like milk and they despise water, so apart from a sip or 2 when they’re really thirsty during the day, they are just waiting until dinner time to have a drink of their juice 😫. I’ve obviously tried explaining that they need to try drinking some more as it’s not good for them but it’s not making a difference. What would you do?

I can never understand the attraction of a drink with a name that is an anagram of vomit!

as you were everybody, back to the thread.

Do they see you drinking water, Mumma?

Sodastream is a good option.

Also, get them to use a straw for any sweet or acidic drinks they do have.

Just put your foot down? No more juice. I don’t permit juice in my house. If they’re thirsty enough they’ll drink water.

Just stop buying it. If they’re thirsty they’ll drink water.

I’ve just bought some sparkling water to try them with
Sparkling water is just as acidic as juice so won’t solve your problem. They need to drink plain water.

Also I'm sure sparkling water is acidic in nature? So not so good for the teeth anyway???

But another option,.how about diluting the juice more than the instructions, so instead of 1 part juice to 4 parts water- 1 part juice to 6 parts water and slowly increase dilution. Make a jug they can get the juice from and keep the squash bottle out of reach.

As far as I know anything sparkling is bad for the teeth, and the kidneys.

I sympathise, I was brought up in the ‘80s and water just wasn’t a ‘thing’. Sadly,
my DPS didn’t make me take care of my teeth either so they aren’t great now.

I wouldn’t go for sugar-free either, all sweeteners give me migraines and projectile vomiting. Vile things.

Water is rank in a lot of areas though. When I lived in Herts, it was so hard and full of
limescale, smelled ‘bleachy’ and just wasn’t appealing. Where I live now, they’re using a different reservoir as pipes are being replaced in the usual one. It’s undrinkable and we’re having to buy bottled water just to
make tea with.

The kids school only allowed them to drink water and everyone had to have a water bottle. So my kids drink mostly water (though my eldest, teenager, does like Diet Coke which is lethal for teeth, but he is meticulous about his oral hygiene).
Juice is not great, but brushing properly and flossing is also key. Also get rid of raisins which are just sticky sugar pellets if your kids eat those.

Try filtering the tap water. The best thing we ever did was install an American fridge freezer as the children now had water and ice on tap and massively increased their water drinking. We have always had jugs of water with dinner every night. We were also cautioned by the dentist as Ds loved apples and it was affected his baby teeth.

For a cheaper option try a Britta filter jug.

This. Carbonic Acid makes it fizzy, terrible for teeth.

Using straws when drinking anything other than water or milk will help

Also dont worry about the fact that you've been giving them juice.

When I was younger I used to get forced to drink cocaine cola with meals, I hated the stuff because it was fizzy, it really used to hurt when the gas would go through my nose. And apart from fizzy drink we would just have fruit juices.

So now I avoid fizzy drinks and just drink water, obviously kids do the same, but whenever we visit people they spend most of the time in the kitchen chugging down fizzy drinks because they dont get it at home.

You cant really win,.I just hope when they grow up they drink mainly water, and dont decide to just drink juice/ fizzy drinks when they can choose for themself.

Coca cola, not cocaine cola

I mostly drink sugar free squash and my teeth are ok. I asked my dentist about it and he said it was fine and that’s mostly what he drinks too. He advised I just avoid fizzy drinks and juice.

The acidity levels would be higher than water, but so would sparkling water. My hydration levels aren’t good at the best of times, and when I have tried to cut out squash completely, my drinking levels go down massively. As in, I’ll pour a glass of water in the morning and tip half of it away at night undrunk. For me the heath effects of drinking more outweigh the risks of squash. It might be different for your children, but squash or nothing may well end up being nothing.

Agree. I have a dreadful fizzy drink, especially cola habit. I've just been to the dentist and he says my teeth look really good.
My oldest unfortunately takes after dh and although she rarely has anything other than water, nor does she particularly eat sweets etc. and always has had, had a lot of fillings.

One other thought - I really hate drinking water out of plastic, it tastes much nicer from glass. Might be worth getting some small sturdy "grown-up" glasses for the DCs to use - even the little one is old enough at 4 if you remind them to be careful.

Remove the juice option. Or you can juice at dinner but only when you have drunk x amount of water. If they haven't it's water at dinner time too.

I've never heard of "diluting juice". Do you mean squash? If so, switch to a non-sugar variety

Don’t do the dinner time option for juice

stick to water