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Original poster

At what age do you allow your children to drink coke?

81 replies

emkana · 17/07/2004 17:13

Hi all,
I've just been reading a very heated thread on a German board about the question above - isn't parenting amazing? SOOOOOOO many thinks to get upset about... (dummies, b/feeding, sleeping...)
But I've been wondering about this with my dd1, who sees me and dh drink coke occasionally, and has asked if she could try, but accepted it when we said it was only for adults. She's just turned three. Also, would you think 'proper' coke or diet coke would be better? Find the latter a bit dubious because of the sweeteners.
What do you do/think?

OP posts:
pepsi · 14/07/2004 15:14

Hubby and I both like Coca Cola but dont ever buy it to drink at home really just to avoid our children wanting/drinking it. However if we are out and we have a coke they can have some. I've never been to a party where they gave us coke its normally squash. I dont want to make a big issue out of it as often the more you say no the more desireable it becomes.

Gingerbear · 14/07/2004 15:22

Where is the weirdest place you have drunk Coke? Mine has to be up a mountain on the Laos /Vietnam border after eating a traditional meal with a hill tribe.

In some parts of the world it is safer to drink coke than drink the water

Gingerbear · 14/07/2004 15:25

1000 uses for coca cola!!!

Easy · 14/07/2004 15:45

My ds wouldn't want it, he doesn't drink anything fizzy at all. I think most toddlers don't like fizzy drinks.

OTOH I wouldn't think that the occasional glass or can of coke would do a child any harm (unless they have an allergy issue with it of course).
My dad was the distributer for Coca-cola in the north of England so I drank gallons of it as a kid. I've made it to 43, still got my own teeth, not obese, so there we are.

Easy · 14/07/2004 15:48

oh, and I don't agree with kids having diet drinks. We know what damage sugar can do to us, but the long-term results of modern artificial sweetners are as yet unknown. (altho' there is speculation that aspartame might cause damage to memory)

highlander · 14/07/2004 19:10

my niece has been allowed it occasionally (special occasions) since she was about 3. It's never in the home except for birthdays or Christmas.

Get this - for her 4th birthday one of her birthday presents was a 500ml bottle of Coke (wrapped up!) My sister said my niece elevated her to 'supermum' status!!

Linnet · 14/07/2004 22:23

When I was pregnant with dd1 I was told by a friend who is a dental assistant to only give my dd water or milk to drink as fizzy drinks were the worst things for teeth.

I stuck to this rule but my grandparents said I was cruel and depriving dd1 of treats and gave her fizzy drinks when I wasn't there, they used to buy the little cans of coke, lilt etc. And dd1 would drink them.

What happened, I hear you ask, her teeth rotted and she had to have 4 of her back molars taken out when she was 4. AFter that granny and grandad listened to me and stopped buying fizzy drinks.

dd1 now only drinks water or milk and occasionally if we're out somewhere or if she has a happy meal she gets to have a diet coke as a treat. Once in a restaurant she asked for a glass of water and the waitress smirked at us and replied "water?" and we all said "yes".

dd2 is only 7 weeks old but when she's older we'll stick to the water or milk rule.

Sandi102 · 15/07/2004 21:24

Linnet, how awful 4 u and dd1 2 have had teeth out at such a young age..ds1 who is nearly 5 rarely has fizzy drinks..lemonade is the treat..never coke..he loves diluted squash and blackcurrant juice..but I also hear that isn't too good for the teeth either??

ZolaPola · 16/07/2004 09:56

no way to any fizzy drinks, squash etc. IMO why should crap food full of E numbers/sugar or sweetner ever be a treat?? The occasional bit of decent chocolate or icecream after a meal, no problem. But coke, fizzy drinks etc are so bad - not only for teeth but for diet/behaviour etc.
Nothing wrong with unsweetened juice, milk or plain water - ds doesn't no any different and loves them all.

emma11 · 16/07/2004 13:32

my 12 year old ss has a problem with getting to the loo on time (both ways - yuck), but I did see an article about fizzy drinks irritating the bladder more, so we stopped him having them totally, and the 'wee' accidents stopped almost immediately. Strange, but true.

Twinkie · 17/07/2004 17:18

DD knows that she will be old enought o drink coke when she is old enough to drive at which point she also thinks it is ok to chew gum and have her ears pierced!! - What you have to do is when they say can I have say with a very serious face - OOOOhhhhh no you're not really allowed to have that until you can drive.

I donl;t think any of the cokes are good for you and if you need an example put a 2p coin into a cup of the stuff for a week and then look at the state of it when it comes out!! - You can also use it to clean burnt on dirt from saucepans and so don;t you wonder what it does to your teeth!!

21stcenturygirl · 17/07/2004 17:18

I hate my kids having it - dd1 (6) can have it very occasionally - once a month. DD2 (3) loves it and tries to drink it every day but mean mummy doesn't let her!

noddy5 · 17/07/2004 17:20

Never!My son goes crazy when he has it a bit like he's drunk.He has come back from a few parties having drunk coke and it is hell to get him to bed

Chandra · 17/07/2004 17:21

I would preffer to avoid it as much as I can, and certainly won't be serving it to DS even when I drink a lot of it. Yesterday I was with some friends and there was this mum asking if she could serve coke to a child whose mother had not yet arrived and I thought "of course no!, he is barely three yrs old! the mother is going to be mad at you!" but before I could say anything another friend said "Oh sure you can, he drinks beer since he was one..." It's not the first time that I see a case like this but, it still makes me feel a bit un easy about it..

Marina · 17/07/2004 17:24

We're quite tough about coke with ds (5) - it's the caffeine as much as the sugar IMO. So he's never had it to my knowledge.
When he does have a lemonade he has the sugary ones rather than aspartame etc, and he is only allowed them with a straw and with meals.

iota · 17/07/2004 17:27

Mine (age 5 and almost 3) drink diet coke maybe once a week or so - dh is a big fan of it so it's always in the house. They have a small amount in a beaker with a straw.
Their usual drink is however diluted fruit juice - they get through a litre a day.

beetroot · 17/07/2004 17:40

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

Blu · 17/07/2004 17:44

Well before he had stopped breast feeding!

(He drank good few mouthfuls through a straw when sat on my lap and i wasn't looking....oh well, at least it wasn't a martini I was drinking....).

He never has it, but I wouldn't have a fit if he occasionally had some somewhere else.

Slinky · 17/07/2004 17:44

We don't keep fizzy drinks in the house (both DH and I are not keen on them ourselves), so DD1 generally gets a lemonade if we're out for a meal/party etc. I always make sure its the "full-sugar" variety rather than Diet.

Younger 2 (6 and 4) don't have fizzy drinks at all - 6yo tried but dislikes them, 4yo has never asked. Felt sorry for 6yo at friends party - only drinks available were Coke and Lemonade. He asked for water instead, then the PARENTS who were around (NOT THE KIDS) made a huge fuss about him being deprived of treats/poor little thing drinking water!!!

He's tried fizzy stuff - doesn't like it - end of story, he's certainly not deprived! .

Another thing - my friend drinks GALLONS of Diet coke a day. As it was Diet, my friend thought it would be OK for her kids to drink - one of her sons drank nothing else all day - and at the age of 7 has terrible problems with his teeth (some removed!). It's not just the Sugar, but the Carbonated Water that causes problems too. (She also gave him Coke that had Caffeine - then wondered why he spent the day bouncing of the walls!!!)

lydialemon · 17/07/2004 17:48

DS1 (now 6) has been allowed the occasional coke since about 3. He can have it with a Happy Meal (once a month or so) or 2 small glasses max at MILs, as more than that makes him a bit hyper. Luckily for me DS2 (4) hates all fizzy drinks, so no problems with him!

I'd go for fat coke rather than diet but TBH its full of chemicals anyway so I don't think it'll make much difference. I figure that giving kids things IN MODERATION won't do them any harm.

SenoraPostrophe · 17/07/2004 17:49

ds has it in his bottle (he's 6 months)

Really I also worry about the caffeine and the sweetners. Dd (2) therefore has chocolate milk or fruit juice when we're out instead, although she has recently started asking for "fizzy". If she asks (usually because I've got some - I'm addicted to orangeade) I give her a little because I don't want it to become a big deal IYSWIM. I think if I didn't drink it, she wouldn't have any.

zebra · 17/07/2004 17:50

About once/month I get myself a diet coke and let the kids (age 2.5 & 4.5yo) each have some sips, if they see me having it. I do try to hide it. Wouldn't want it to seem like forbidden fruit,either, though. Agree that real sugary coke might be better, but I never buy that.

I hate seeing under 10's with their own bottle/can of coke, though.

zebra · 17/07/2004 17:51

SP!!! LOL.

sponge · 17/07/2004 17:51

We don't have it in the house but at parties, on holiday etc we do let dd (4) have the occasional fizzy drink as a treat. Never the diet ones. I don't think it does too much harm as long as you make sure their teeth are well brushed. However I never let her have Coke after early afternoon as it can keep her awake. And I guess you have to watch your own kids - some react much worse to e numbers etc than others.

xoz · 17/07/2004 17:55

Both my dd's have it occassionally (ie when we're out somewhere!), usually diet because that's what dh and i have. Where possible we dilute it (insert tounge poking out going 'bleurgh' icon here!) so they get less and to try to put them off it, but it doesn't seem to work. For dd2 (21 months) we usually only put enough to change the colour of the water. I figure that if I tell them that they can't have it, it will only make them want it more!