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Do you allow your children to drink pop/soda?


Luanne
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Do you allow your children to drink soda pop?  

340 members have voted

  1. 1. Do you allow your children to drink soda pop?

    • Yes, I've always allowed them to even when they were toddlers
      44
    • Yes, but I didn't let them until a certain age
      109
    • They do now, but they are gone from home
      0
    • No, they don't drink soda at all
      100
    • Other (in case I forgot an option)
      87


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My children are allowed moderate soda when they are old enough to brush their teeth. Of course, my youngest is 13 so that has been awhile. I do limit the amount of soda that comes in our house. My parents never bought soda. When I was a kid my favorite holiday was the 4th of July because my uncle would fill several wheelbarrows full of ice and soda and my parents did not care how much soda I drank for a whole day.

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I voted other.

 

We never buy or serve soda, so our children generally don't drink it. However, it's not that they aren't allowed to drink it. When soda is being served in social setting, then they are certainly free to drink it if they want to. We just don't keep it in our own home as a lifestyle choice. They have all tried it and they all claim the carbonation burns their mouth.

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Allow? Yes. Encourage? No. I only purchase soda for special occasions, which pretty much works out to be birthdays and Christmas. But dd has always been allowed to have caffeine-free soda as a treat if we're out to dinner, or at a friend's house. I see no reason to forbid the consumption of soda, but since we have never kept it in the house, dd hasn't developed a taste for it.

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Starting at about age 5? for Youngest and 6 for oldest I started letting them. At that time we moved into our new house. We would walk to the grocery store and the library once a week. It was, including a detour through the park about a 2 hour outing with grocery shopping at the end. When at the store each boy could pick one can drink. They had a big bin full of various can drinks for 39 cents. Some were no name coke, ... most where lemonade, or promagrante, ... They would get that one pick and could drink it whenever they wanted during the week.

 

I would not buy them anything but water when out for dinner or lunch. To expensive. The can drink once a week at the store was the compromise.

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No. Both girls had either weak or thin tooth enamel in their baby teeth and my eldest has four adult molars with thin enamel. We just don't go there.

 

Juice isn't any better than soda, and we allow it only as an occasional treat when out and about.

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I don't regularly buy soda, but if they have their own money i let them get it. They usually get the big fountain sodas because they're only $.84.

 

If we go out to eat with my father i also let them have soda, even if we're out for breakfast.

 

Once in a while (not even once each month) I'll buy Sierra mist because that's the only soda i like.

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Other, they've all had it, but it's so rare that they ever get any. We don't buy it but a couple of times a year and they just get a small amount in their cups. They also complain of it burning their mouth. When we go out to eat, they get chocolate milk. That's a special treat for them. That's supposed to not happen though, I'm supposed to be going GFDF. I won't allow soda though if we go out to eat. That's way too much.

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Hm, I probably started allowing them to drink soda every once in a while when they were 5 or 6. They don't get it often. In summer ,though, I sometimes get them "little gulps" as a treat (that is, I like big gulps and sometimes they're allowed a smaller size!) Diet soda is my vice, I'm afraid.

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Our children tend to have fizzy drinks only on special occasions, such as birthdays, Christmas, etc; it's what they have when DH and I open our favourite bottle of fizz :tongue_smilie:. I don't buy it very often as I firmly believe that it's not at all good for them, especially DS8 who has very poor teeth. I've never refused them when a special occasion has come up though, just as I wouldn't deny myself my favourite tipple :D.

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Do you allow your children to drink pop/soda? If so, at what age did you start letting them?

 

No way. I purchased Mountain Dew once, and regretted it. Daughter never has touched it, and son quit.

 

I drank it in my youth, then quit. Then for some reason, I picked it up again maybe 10 years ago. I drank ONE nightly for a few months. At my next appointment, I had cavities!

 

That was it for me. That stuff literally rots your teeth and I had strong teeth that had never had but one cavity in my 30's.

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Yes we allow it, as DH and I both drink it so I feel it would be hypocritical to not allow DS to as well. Up until around 3 or 4 he could have a sip here and there, but he wasn't allowed to sit down and drink his own soda until he was 4-5+. I would prefer for him to drink kool-aid, water, or milk, though, so I always offer those choices first. He has MAYBE 2 sodas a week, if that?? I am another that prefers the taste of water, but I do go through kicks of drinking cherry coke or cream soda. DH only drinks soda. :glare:

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i buy 7 up for burger night - we dont go out any more. thats about every 2 weeks. my youngest doenst like it.

 

the big thing, tho, is caffeine. I dont let my kids have caffeine until they are taller than I am lol. seriously, soda is an occasional treat but only with no caffeine - and no colors if the younger was drinking it

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I voted "No, they don't drink soda at all," but DS is only 3 so that may change eventually. My in-laws sneaked DS some Diet Coke against DH's express wishes when he was about 18 mo. old, and DH was livid! Our nieces have been drinking Diet Coke since they were toddlers. :ohmy: Our tentative plan is to wait until age 10 to re-evaluate.

 

DH is addicted to Diet Coke, but I gave soda up completely for the last year. I've recently started having the occasional Coke (like 3-4 per month), but I think I'm going to drop it again.

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Sometimes we get sparking juices for a treat for them. Sometimes we let them (even the toddler) have a sip or two of a glass of soda we are drinking. We don't give them their own glasses of soda. I grew up drinking soda, in a house that was an actual stop for the Pepsi truck, just like the corner store would have been. Soda doesn't scare me.

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Soda is not forbidden, but I never buy it. We order water when we eat out because it's cheaper, though sometimes we allow them to get a soda. We don't worry about soda at parties, events, etc. I don't know how old they were when we started allowing it, but not toddlers.

 

I don't like carbonation, so I never drink it myself. Dh does. His soda is in the house, but is diet and off-limit to the kids.

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We don't have sweetened (sugar, HFCS, aspartame) in the house. We rarely go out. When we do eat out, they get soda, even when they were young. I might have ordered apple juice occassionally when they were young, but apple juice is just as bad so it doesn't matter if you substitute juice for soda.

 

I drink a lot of seltzer at home. My youngest likes seltzer. If you say soda to him, he thinks that's what he's getting. Just bubbles, no sugar, no flavor hydration.

 

Soda isn't bad for most people. It's a treat. Daily 12-20 oz servings is too much added sugar. It's all about balance.

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Occasionally we have punch at a party made with Sprite or Ginger Ale. They've all tried orange-pop.

 

One of their favorite treats is fizzy water with lemon or lime when we're at the store. Or one of the San Pellegrino Limonata or Aranciata sparkling juices. If I'm feeling generous.

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I didn't let my daughter have it at all until she was about 10 or so and then just once in a while and no caffeine.

 

Now she is 24. She rarely drinks it (usually only when sprite when she has an upset stomach). She has never had a cavity in her life. Some of that I am sure is due to the soda and some due to just having good teeth to begin with.

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We convinced him from a VERY early age he would not like the bubbles. That worked well as he still won't drink it. He was actually given apple cider once on mistake and the fermentation fizz of it he thought was soda bubbles. However we do allow lemonade, but again that is only an 'out' thing. (Home made is VERY rare!) So the sugar factor probably is not that much of a difference. But he happily drinks water.

 

We don't buy soda. When do drink it out. Well at this point, my husband drinks it out, and I sip his. I can't drink a full can anymore, so I steal a bit of his. I believe this has helped greatly in the no soda camp. If he wants to drink it when he's older, that will be fine, but by then I would guess it would be again an "out" drink, and not a mindless drinking at home.

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My husband has the soda stream soda maker and has for about 7 years or so, whenever it came out. he only drinks soda, but the rest of our family drinks water, or milk. Even juice is only drank once in awhile. We don't buy soda anymore and will only make a small thing of root beer maybe once a month. Anyone over the age of 4 can have a small serving.

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We don’t buy it to have at home but occasionally if we are out to eat or somewhere that has it for a treat they can have some. At this point I only allow non-caffeinated sodas for them. I voted “yes even as toddlers†but the truth is that is more for the third child than the first. :) Like everything else, standards have relaxed it seems. :)

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They've had sips of root beer at the bowling alley, but neither of them liked it. I'd let them drink it for birthdays or root beer float nights, but it would go to waste. DH drinks soda at work, but it's rarely in the house.

 

Not sure what I'll do when they're older. I'll cross that bridge when we get there.

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I voted other.

 

We never buy or serve soda, so our children generally don't drink it. However, it's not that they aren't allowed to drink it. When soda is being served in social setting, then they are certainly free to drink it if they want to. We just don't keep it in our own home as a lifestyle choice. They have all tried it and they all claim the carbonation burns their mouth.

 

This. Except I voted "yes after a certain age" because I wouldn't allow it in a social setting when they're toddlers. After that, they can partake (in moderation) if they wish. Like MinivanMom, we don't keep it in our home (or order it when out), so it's a rare thing when they do have it.

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It is and always has been a special treat, once, maybe twice a month at most, when we're eating out. But we don't have a lower age limit -- once they were eating table food, the occasional sip of soda is allowed. We do have them switch to water after one serving -- no soda refills. I used to limit them to non-caffeinated sodas, and now they generally stick to that by habit, even though I don't limit what they order now that they're older.

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I allowed it as a special treat starting when my kids were about 5-6. My 8 year old just barely likes it. She'll get it as a treat and drink 2 sips and call herself done. We never have at home. When we're out for a special meal or with grandparents, etc, we may allow one. The biggest day of my son's life was this past summer he went to his friend's for a sleepover and the had TWO caffienated sodas in one day. LOL. Wouldn't happen at my house, but whatever.

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We've allowed soda from toddlerhood. It's always in the house because DH and I drink it. DD16 doesn't like what we drink so doesn't drink it at home. She'll usually get Sprite if we eat out. DD13, meanwhile, doesn't like pop/soda at all.

 

Once in a blue moon, they will pour a coke in a plastic cup and freeze it. They like the frozen coke as a dessert.

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It's always been a treat. I don't buy it except for parties or company but they could always choose it when we went out to eat, once they were old enough to choose for themselves. I don't remember giving them that choice until they were 4-5, but it could've been earlier (I just don't remember). One does not like it, the other gets it any chance he can. I do buy it for myself (my big weakness, which I allow myself, two cans a day).

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After age 5.

 

Once she was able to go to play dates, activities and lessons without me being right there I figured she would have some at some time. So I let it go. We also have soda here at home. I allow dd and myself one a day. Mostly we drink water, juice and hot tea.

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