What age did you first let your kids have soda?

[medalla74]

My DD (who will be 8 next week) and my DS4 do not drink soda. My DD gives me a hard time at family parties because all of her cousins drink soda. My DS wont drink anything with bubbles in it. I just figure they have the rest of their adult lives to drink soda, they don't need to drink while they are soooo young.

 

[tlbwriter]

As long as the soda is sans caffeine, depending on the brand, there is no difference between lemonade or juice and soda. Granted you get a few vitamins from some juices, but the sugar kinda cancels out any benefit, IMO.

I agree about the sugar (I think it's funny that some people think apple juice is a health drink... hello? it's sugar water, maybe with added vitamin C) but there are issues beyond the sugar content - the phosphorus in carbonated soda has a harmful effect on teeth and bones.

My DD is 8 and doesn't drink soda at all. I wish I could claim I'm responsible for this, but the fact is she just hates anything carbonated.

 

[tlbwriter]

My in-laws put Pepsi in my neice and nephews bottles since they were just a few days old each. So they both drink pop nonstop. I don't think I've ever seen my nephew drink anything but pop and he's almost 6. Not surprisingly both of them had to get all of their molars pulled when they had their first dentist appointments. Now they have 8 silver teeth each cause their molars were rotted. I wonder why....

Wow. That's astonishing. And they give *you* a hard time?

 

[linda0706]

My DD is 7 and has never had it. She doesn't want it. I think one time somebody gave her a drink & the bubbles surprised her--not pleasantly. She'll tell you now emphatically that she does NOT drink anything carbonated.

Here's a funny story...back in the late 50's/early 60's my parents were pretty poor (way before I was born) but they'd save up every week or two to buy one Pepsi for mom & dad to share after my older siblings were asleep. My mom says it seemed like EVERY TIME they'd pop the cap off that bottle my sister would wake up & come running into the kitchen wanting a drink. Mom said it used to make her sooo mad!

 

[solgent]

I'm pretty against our daughter having soda. My thought was maybe when she is around 5. Well we have had friends and family giving us a bit of a hard time about this. When did your kids first have soda?

By the way my daughter LOVES water and would have that over juice and milk any day. So we do mostly milk and water.

Milk and water are the healthiest drinks, no question. My DDs drink soda rarely. A couple times a year at most. One of them doesn't like it at all and the other two enjoy ginger ale or Sprite. DH and I drink Diet Coke & the like maybe a couple of times a month.

As for what is going on with your friends & family...

(a) are other kids having soda while you have told your DD she can not? I might feel concerned for a child in this situation, not that she is missing out on something so great, but does she feel she is missing out. I definitely relax the rules when I am with another family who does things differently. Example, when we go to the movies we do not get candy because it's expensive there and who needs it. But when we go with certain friends, those kids get candy & popcorn every time, so I go ahead & get the candy for my kids so they won't feel deprived, also because I know the other parent would direct her kids to share with my kids and I don't want to put them in that position.

(b) people are defensive about their food choices. I wouldn't try to argue or justify on the basis on sugar or cost or nutrition. It just opens the door for their counterarguments & gives the impression that your decision is up for debate. Just say something firm but nonconfrontational like, "That's what we decided for now."

 

[mumom95]

We didn't allow our kids to have soda until they were six. Having waited that long, neither one of them like it (I think it is the carbonation they don't like).

We mainly drink milk, water, and the kids really like the new Capri Sun Waters, it is a low calorie version of Capri Sun (mainly water, I think only 35 calories). When we go to a restaurant, they usually get the pink lemonade or fruit punch ( I know they are no better than soda, they just like them better)

I just didn't feel they needed soda before then, but I'm not a soda drinker myself.

Like most people said, there is as much sugar in lemonda and juice as soda. I do think it is sad though when you see a mother pour Mt. Dew in the baby bottle and give it to an infant (yes, I saw this once at an amusement park. I guess the mother wanted Mt. Dew and didn't want to pay for a second drink for the baby)

 

[Desnik]

My DD 9 never drinks soda. She has only had a sip once or twice a few years ago and hates it! DS is 4 and he has never had any and I will make sure he goes a lot longer without it! My kids love lemonade, vitamin water, plain water, apple juice, orange, or pinapple juice, lactose free milk.

My niece has been drinking soda since she was 2!! She is now almost 6 and drinks way too much soda. I don't say anything because it's not my business. So, I would ask your family why they care what your kid drinks!

 

[Dawniell_Willingham]

Wow. That's astonishing. And they give *you* a hard time?

It's just different strokes for different folks I guess. These are the same people who just don't see anything wrong with holding a baby while smoking a cigarette.

We go round and round.

 

[belle&beast]

My kids are 6 and 3 and they have tasted soda, but neither of them like the carbonation. They drink 100% juice, milk or water and they usually choose milk or water when we go out to eat.

 

[disneyandme]

My DD8 has never had soda. She has been offered it before--anytime after age 6, but prefers water. She doesn't like juice either. My Dd3 has too many food allergies so she may never even have a choice to try soda.

 

[DisneyPhD]

My oldest was 2 or 3 when she would have sips of our soda, but we never let her have her own. She is 6 now and thinks it is cool when I get the small cans of sprite so I do that sometimes for special treats for her. She normally drinks chocolate milk, water and sometimes juice or cool aid.

My youngest is allergic to milk, so she doesn't drink it. She has tried pop and can't stand the carbonation. It comes right back out of her mouth. She likes lemon aid and sometimes that is the only option other then water at restaurants. She drinks soy milk at home water mostly. Sometimes juice, but she doesn't care for cool aid. Oh, she loves coffee though. Ever since she could start stealing sips of mine (so around 1 or 2 years old.)

My niece is 16 and can't stand anything with carbonation.

Coke is my weakness.

 

[2manygirls]

around age 3. It is a treat. At the grandparents house(thats what grandparents are for, to spoil them), restraunts, birthdays etc. We don't have it in the house unless we are having company. But I also don't make a big deal out of it. I just make sure they brush their teeth good that night. Also not on a school night.

I was watching a thing on TV the other day that said that you are better to let you kids eat a bunch of candy all in one day then toss it than just a piece each day. Cause it is worse on the teeth to fill the mouth up every day with sugar. 10 pieces in a day is no worse than one on the teeth. Just thought I'd share that since Halloween is coming up.

 

[LisaNJ25]

between 1 1/2-2

 

[Eeyore'sthebest]

My DD7 tried it for the first time last year and spit it out. We were at Community Days and she thought it was orange drink (a definite treat). It was soda and she hated it. She threw it out and went back and asked for water. Her friends were shocked that she didn't like soda. My DH tricked her one time and she took a sip of his Fresca thinking it was water.
She has absolutely no desire to have soda, ever!!!! Yeah for us!

Oh and I told DH that if he ever got her orange drink at McDonalds he had to bring her home and watch her scrub her teeth. And if she didn't do a good job then he had to clean them for her (this was when she was about 3). I have a weight issue and do not want to pass this along to DD. Orange drink is nothing but wasted calories and tooth decay!

She prefers water over anything.
My DSis on the other hand let her kids drink it when they were very young. My niece is the same age as my DD and has 8 cavaties. She actually has 3 molars capped already. Yeah, pump em full of soda that helps.

 

[Gillian]

I got grief from some people for not giving DS juice as a baby. Now he doesn't like juice or soda, and mostly drinks water.

DD is a different story and started stealing my drinks at age 2.5. She's very limited on what soda and juice she's allowed to have at home, but will drink juice elsewhere, and that's fine.

I'm a bad mom though, I used ginger ale to potty train DD at age 3!! It was only two days, but she had all the ginger ale and chips she could hold! Plus Care Bear gummies (ick) for rewards. I did the toilet training in less than a day, but over 2 days.

 

[beattyfamily]

I don't remember exactly.

My 11 year old has it once in awhile, not everyday. She has diet but sometimes has regular. Usually it's at a party or in a restaurant. She probably started at age 5 but I'm not sure.

My 8 year old doesn't like soda and I think she only tried it once by accident on our cruise in 2005, thinking it was her water! Hasn't had it since and doesn't want to!

My 11 year old has also tried coffee. She likes Coolattas and takes sips of my latte but doesn't have a coffee drink of her own. But this is once is a great while, not a regular thing.

I don't think it's a big deal as long as it's not regular soda on a daily basis.

 

[DisMom-2-SSS]

I never gave my 2 youngest (DS8 & DD4) "brown colas"...meaning coke, pepsi, dp, etc. They drink Sprite every once in a while but they think that "brown cola" is yucky!

Now my DD15 on the other hand was given diet coke and diet dp by my Mom all the timw when she was young and to this day...is a drinker!!!

 

[homedad]

our son is 6 and I still can count on 1 hand all the times he's had pop, he still hasn't chewed gum. Were not extremists(sp), he eats candy, ice cream and all other normal foods. I just want to aviod these two things as long as possible.

 

[Mouse House Mama]

Normally around when they started drinking out of cups.

Us too. We don't see big deal about soda. They drink either water or milk all day and at dinner they can have soda. Some nights they hsvewater at dinner too. Some have mentioned lemonade etc. but that has just as much sugar. We are an everything in moderation family and I do like my kids to try everything. Whatever works for you though.

 

[CampbellScot]

never. It's pure sugar and has no nutritional value whatsoever. Soda is part of the reason there are so many obese children in America today. It also rots kids teeth.There are better choices out there for treats in my opinion. But that's just me. Sugar has a very bad effect on my step son's behavior. Which is why we banned soda as a drink option. My step son loves the sparkling water with the fruit flavoring. No sugar and it's water. He thinks it's soda and is happy as a clam.

My step daughter had orange soda on accident once and she said "Daddy, this orange juice is SPICEY!!" It was the carbonation. She hated the way it felt on her tongue!