Kids on Coke...and gum

[Arabica]

Got chatting to very nice mum also in her early 40s at a kids' theatre show today. We were just getting seats when she handed her little girl a bottle of cola--then yelled at her to stop! when she began to drink it. At first I thought she had obviously made a mistake with the drink and was going to hand her daughter something more suitable...but no, it was simply to tell her to remove her chewing-gum first!
Was shocked not just at the coke (child was seen drinking a new bottle of cola later) but at the gum, but am I being naive?

hee hee, not reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaallly

I don't do "row-ettes" and definitely subscribe to the each to their own philosophy - it hadn't occured to me that this was one actually!

I realise that sugar-free gum does have tooth cleansing qualities so the BDA are obviously not incorrect as such in this analysis - it's just the thought of nursery school kids chewing gum .... can't be right surely, although I guess in a controlled manner, as I imagine they do in Finland, it could be managed (although I don't really understand why nursery school kids can't just be taken to brush their teeth rather than given gum - they do at my dd's nursery). Maybe if it becomes the accepted norm though there could be something in it......

Coke for my dd (who is 3) - just the sugar/caffeine effects on her would scare me out of doing it, let alone worrying about her teeth! But I don't really drink coke or chew gum so if she doesn't see them, she doesn't ask.......yet
I have a friend with a ds who is 4, he needs 2 fillings......says it all really about what a crap diet can do for their teeth, quite sad really.

We don't have Coke in the house, but Ribena is just as bad - I unfortunately let DD (now 4) start on it when she was two-ish and she now has one big cavity. The guilt, and she now won't drink anything else, except milk. I really wish I never let her start. I'm sure Fruit Shoots are even worse - more additives. ANyone know about ROcks' organic juices, whether they are any better for teeth?
JoannieL

we don't do coke or coffee or gum so not an issue. DS1 doesn't liek anythign fizzy. But don't beat yrself up over fillings, DS1 (5.5) has had back teeth filled and the dentist said it was just his bad luck to have weaker teeth (maybe I was ill when pg). I was mortified at first as they have always drunk from cups, few sweets, no fizz etc but felt reassured by dentist. DD (3.5) has OK teeth so clearly not a lifestyle thing for us at least. (poor ds1 tho)

Out of interest, what about tea? Only ask because dd (20 months) very keen. Has sips but was reading my brother's baby book from early 70's and my mother wrote how commanding he was about having his cups of tea when he was 3. Also read interesting ancient penguin book which appeared to be the 60's equivalent of child of our time (something like "Patterns of Infant Care in urban environment") and babies less than a year old were drinking oodles of milky tea in bottles.

Thanks Clary, myself and her dad have terrible teeth,so maybe just bad genetic luck. also she wriggled so much when she was tiny having her teeth cleaned we probably missed bits.
Joannie.

I have to say my 4 year old started skimming the frothy suff of the top of my coffee which i am sure has prompted her to really enjoy coffee. Though she does have pretty odd taste buds - enjoys a peanut butter and gerkin/pickled onion sandwhich. Goodness knows what this is doing to her insides.

Lizs - my 2 go to ISOZ. We are currently looking into swiss school. The canton have said they will take my eldest (6.5 yrs) and private school her with 5 other children for a year. She should then be able to go straight into local school. However I have problems that I feel it would take the community feel out of schooling for her which she really enjoys and it would probably mean I would have to give up work. On the up - no more school bills. However realistically I suspect she will stay where she is.

Doesn't Nigella cook ham or something in coke?

I don't drink coke or fizzy drinks so never have them in the house and dd (4) has never tried any. She has fruit juice or squash instead. I let her try some sparkling water once and she didn't like the bubbles anyway. She said it was too prickly! I chew gum sometimes but dd is not interested.

According to a friends' dentist, it's better to give children a straw to drink any sugary drink, as it reduces contact with the teeth.

And yes, Nigella has a recipe for ham cooked in coke in one of her books! Might try it sometime...

In some states in america the police carry gallon cans of coke to use to clean away blood from the highway after a RTA.
Coke will disolve finger nail clippings within 24 hours, a 1lb steak in 48 hours and a six inch nail in two weeks.
Coke is an excellent degreaser and will remove rust spots from metallic objects.

Despite attending a nutritionalist assessment of ds2 dietry needs and gaining all this info on the dangers of allowing your child to drink such a dire fizzy drink, it still tastes bloody lovely with a good shot of Bicardiand I cant give it up!!!!!

And coke that has been opened and gone flat is good to settle an upset stomach, a hangover and morning sickness.

Jayzmummy... lots of them are myths. Saw a cool Mythbusters a while ago and they tested them out... The steak one just ended up with a weird marinade, and most of the others had water do the same effect.

I've got a feeling that blood might have actually been one it worked on though!!

It gets pennies really clean too

Pooka - They used to recomend milky tea on cold mornings for young children to keep them warm on the school run as there weren't as many cars and it could get cold sitting in pushchair or pram. The only reason they have stopped this advice is that the caffine retards iron absorbtion so if you used a decaf tea it should be ok to let the kids have it!!!! Posted this on our antenatal thread too sweetheart. Hope it helps you with your quandry.

I thought that it was the tannin that messed up iron, so even decaf was bad?

I thought that tea was good for absorbing something or the other (iron???) but only if you drank it before breakfast (& presumably other meals), not during, as it can retard vit c absorption if taken at the same time as eg organge juice.

...or perhaps I've got that all totally arse about tit (as they say round here)

Decaff tea is just as bad as normal coz of the chemicals they use to remove the caffeine!! My ds1 loves milky tea occasionally and I can't see the harm as long as not too strong , no sugar and not 4 cups a day!!

Have not read all the thread, so forgive me if I am repeating anyone.

We give DS sparkling water and tell him it is white coke.

Works a treat.

I remember when I was married to dh1 who is a children's dentist. A 2 year old boy came in, very hyper, hard to work on. Turns out he drank 2 liters of Pepsi a day!!! DH1 had a serious discussion with the mother as to risks of tooth decay, health and hyperactivity from all the caffeine. Her answer was that he wouldn't stop crying until she gave it to him. He told her flat out, "You got this started, you have to be the one to stop it."

LGJ, that's brilliant!!Must try that one......

Thanks Andif, he is 4 and we are still getting away with it

Reading some of the responses I really think there is a need for better information about what's not safe for kids under 5 to eat/drink. There's plenty available on babies and weaning, but after that, not much, save for general, failry obvious stuff about limiting sugary foods, including those sweetened with natural sugars, and drinking juices as part of a meal.

ds2 has a little friend (5) who is a bit hyper. Recently there was something about binge drinking on the telly. I explained to ds2 that some grown-ups act silly when they drink too much beer/wine. His reply : Well x gets silly when he drinks too much coke!

Well folks i think if we use our common sense and avoid all the really bad stuff and then go for everything moderation with the rest then we might not do to badly. My mother never used to let me eat chocolate or sweets let alone drink fizzy drinks, as a consequence once i started earning my own money on a paperround i went daft and bought junk all the time and my skin and my weight went to pot!!! We try to let dd have a choice she knows that she can have chocolate etc or fruit for a snack and at three she chooses the fruit most of the time so i can't argue. The main problem i think we all have is from the moment the kids are born it is drummed into us that bottle feeding is bad, you musn't wean till the health visitors says you can and this changes from one year to the next. You are told exactly what to wean them on and when you should introduce different foods, we no longer have to think about it. Then all of a sudden you are told right ho now you need to work it out for yourself, we are going to change our minds on what is safe for the kids to eat every five minutes just to confuse you. I there were clearer guide lines we would probably moan about them as well and go on about the nanny state but it might help some of the younger mums out there who are struggling to know what is right to feed the kids. It really doesn't help that fast food and ready meals are constantly advertised with new ones especially for kids, no one teaches people how to cook properly at school or in a lot of homes any more because no one has the time it is easier to grab something out of the freezer and be done with it! Bring the stuff that is good for the kids and us down to a more realistic price, educate better in schools about diet and teach the kids how to cook properly and maybe things will be better for our grand kids!! Think i have ranted long enough now