Do you let your toddler have squash?

[Snowgirl1]

I drink sugar free squash as I'm not all that keen on plain water. DD is 18 months old and sees me drinking this and wants to try it. So far DD has only had water and milk (although doesn't seem to bothered about milk these days). Do you let your toddlers drink fruit juice and squash?

[MimsyBorogroves]

No, purely because I know so many children that refuse plain water after having juice/squash from a young age. I don't drink it anyway, so it's never in the house unless my eldest is having a friend come to play.

My 5 year old has fruit juice in the morning, milk at night and water during the rest of the day (except if we go out for a meal, when I allow him a glass of sprite as a treat!). My 18 month old has just water except a 6am breastfeed as he refuses cow's milk.

[CharlotteBronteSaurus]

yes
both DC have unlimited sugar free squash
neither will drink water, and both are prone to UTIs, so we've got to keep them drinking a reasonable quantity
the water refusal predates the offering of squash - each started to refuse water around the time of their first UTI
their dentist is happy so I try not to overthink it

[MrsPear]

Not squash but pure apple juice until we got told he needed a filling - he is only 3 ds 2 will not be having other than water or milk as a result

[adverbial]

No, not the sugar free (I don't like the substitutes for full sugar, which in my opinion is the lesser evil) or standard squash. Rocks or similar is good for that age.

[adverbial]

Combined with good dental hygiene, of course.

[Startail]

Perennially BFing DD2 wouldn't touch any other form of milk or plain water. There comes a point when mum needs to be able to leave her someone else or get some sleep.

Juice, even diluted does not seem a good idea at bed time or in the middle of the night.

Anyhow, DH always has squash as he doesn't drink tea. So that's what we always have about.

The utter paranoia about sugar free squash is also another thing that's got worse in the last 10 years and my DDs just missed.

[Startail]

And I mean won't touch at 11 DD would go a whole hot day without a drink if she forgot hers.

[HumphreyCobbler]

fruit juice isn't that much different to squash for their dental health. All very sugary. I know they are not the same but I kind of class them as the same in my head in terms of how healthy they are.

[Alwaysbloodyhungry]

Only very ocasionally and only the full sugar type....never the ones with aspartame...which is always the sort they put on offer....

[sparkle12mar08]

At that age we gave diluted pure apple juice or orange juice instead, in the same ratio - 1 part juice to ten parts water. At about three-ish we occasionally gave hi-juice/full sugar squashes, heavily diluted. But even now at 5 and 7 we still give diluted pure fruit juice more often than diluted squash.

[snoworneahva]

I don't know how auto correct chose grit but clearly I don't feed my kids much grit either.

I'm not convinced that limiting sugary treats causes kids to become obsessed with sugar in general. I have always limited my kid's sugar intake and they are fairly relaxed about sweets, they sit in the cupboard for weeks and never get eaten or asked after. On the other hand I got as much squash as I wanted as a kid - i have lots of fillings to show for it and I could never get enough sugar. I suspect some people have a tendency towards sugar and some don't and limiting it with someone with a sweet tooth just highlights their preference.

I hated water but I learned to like it as an adult - Evian tasted better than tap water and better than all the other bottled water ...less chemical taste and once i got used to that, I weaned myself onto tap water.

[HystericalParoxysm]

I don't, except for the occasional carton when out/at a party etc. I don't like giving them extra sugar and neither do I like giving them chemical filled sugar free stuff so water it is.

[MrsOakenshield]

nope, no squash here, though DH and I drink it (as well as water and tea), DD (3.5) has never asked for it. These days I occasionally allow her juice in a cafe as a treat. I'm sure she'll be drinking it soon enough but whilst I have control over what she eats and drinks, she's not having it! I have also seen toddlers start to refuse water once juice/squash have been introduced. She doesn't have sweets either, though I do allow chocolate - for some reason I feel it has some nutritional value whereas sweets have none (and often aren't veggie either), though I appreciate that could be utter bollocks! My mum's a dentist and her view is that sugary drinks are much worse than sugary foods.

I don't think that limiting sweet things makes them crave them - DD loves chocolate brownies but after a few bites will say she's had enough, even if there's lots left.

[holmessweetholmes]

Water or apple juice here. I know apple juice is just as bad for their teeth as squash, but at least it is all natural, without any artificial sweeteners and colours etc in it. I don't really like the taste of squash and my dc aren't that keen either.

[JamNan]

Artificial sweeteners = devil's poison.
Watered down fruit juice or fruit concentrated syrup is ok though. Why give a child chemicals?

[redwellybluewelly]

DD1 drank water or milk until she was 2.5yrs old, she had a nasty fever and was becoming dehydrated, GP said to give her anything at all and from then on she has very occasionally had diluted sugar free squash (simply because that is what we have in the house).

She also has half water aand half fruit juice occasionally in a morning. Usually she drinks water the same as me - also its not sticky when she pours it all over the floor.

[CointreauVersial]

No, I've never had it in the house. DCs are now 13, 12 and 9 and drink water (sometimes milk or juice). I agree with the poster who said once you start on squash they won't want to drink plain water. They don't need all those extra chemicals, sugar and empty calories.

I never had squash as a child either.

[MERLYPUSS]

Mine used to have cold herbal tea - fruit and fennel when 2yrs or so - now they have high juice, with sugar, squash which is quite diluted. I wouldn't give them sugar free as I am a bit iffy about the sweetening chemicals.

[StitchAteMySleep]

From 3+ here, with sugar as I don't like artificial sweeteners. Dd1 (4) is only allowed 1 cup a day, the rest of the time she has water or herbal tea. She often asks for water even if she has squash. She sometimes has watered down fruit juice too.

[Thurlow]

Not really, but only because she seems fine with water and dislikes squash. She did drink squash the other day from a proper cup at a party, so when her Tippee beaker ran out of water I topped it up with squash from the jug, and she pulled a massive and hugely offended face.

It falls into the chocolate and sweets bracket for me. When they get older they'll start actively asking for chocolate, sweets, fizzy drinks etc. They're definitely not evil foods or anything and I don't have a problem with DD (same age as yours) having them in the long run, but while she is happy with water and peas are the height of excitement, I'm not going to actively introduce high sugar treats into her diet.

Maybe just let her have squash from your glass if she wants to try it, and then try and keep water in her beaker.

[Lulabellarama]

I just don't care enough, seemingly.
They drink squash, as much as they like. They sometimes have water/milk/juice/smoothies/sparkling flavoured water at home. When we visit a pub or restaurant the 10 year old has Coke.
I just cannot get worked up about it.

[cornflakegirl]

Mine have squash. DH and I drink squash, so it was a natural progression. Am fairly convinced that artificial sweeteners are not actually poison.

[TallulahBetty]

DD is 19 months and only has milk or water - she actually doesn't like squash. I keep trying her with it but she won't drink it.

[Jayne266]

I give ds water only at home but he went to a birthday party recently and they were serving very diluted squash which he liked also. I was thinking it's a very hot day and my water had gone warm and the juice was lovely and cold he loved it.

[AmandaPandtheTantrumofDoom]

I let mine drink squash (quite weak) once they could drink from an open cup. I don't like sippy cups for sugary drinks for tooth health. Also, not the sugar free sort - the normal full sugar version.

I also make sure that they drink plenty of water. Any sign of going off water and the squash goes away.