what kind do you let them drink? I had been told that Dark sodas were more likely to stain their teeth and that colas had an acid that was especially hard on the teeth. I also don't like them to have caffeine if I can help it so they usually have Sprite or something similar if it's available. My mom saw on the news that Mountain Dew and Sprite were rated the worst for teeth out of all the sodas! We have really weak teeth and I have a HUGE fear of the dentist so I try to keep our teeth very healthy. They only have soda about 1 time a month so I don't think it is that harmful but now I'm curious. Has anyone else heard this?

By Mommierenee on Saturday, June 19, 2004 - 08:10 pm:

I don't like them to have soda, but I must admt that they have it on occasion. If I give them dark soda, I usually dilute it a little with water. I drink a lot of diet sierra mist & they really like that mixed w/ orange juice!

By Mommierenee on Saturday, June 19, 2004 - 08:11 pm:

Oh, and they have been to the dentist & so far everything's been good. I would think that the sugary ones would be bad for their teeth. Also, Sprite may have been at the top of the list because a lot of moms give Sprite, so the results were higher.

By Emily7 on Saturday, June 19, 2004 - 08:18 pm:

My ds doesn't get soda, unless around some one other than my dh & myself. Doesn't matter what we say. My sister allows her dk to have 1 can of Sunkist Orange.

By Lorebunde on Saturday, June 19, 2004 - 08:31 pm:

I do not drink any soda and wouldn't really let my 2 have it often but unfortunately thats all my husband drinks and allows the kids a lot. He does a lot of the food shopping and theres always orange, root beer and sprite available. I don't mind too much as long as I know that they had milk and juice during the day. All I usually drink is water.

By Amecmom on Saturday, June 19, 2004 - 08:56 pm:

My son (2 1/2) had soda for the first time two weeks ago. He had a very small amount of Sprite, and loved it. He will only have soda when we go out to a restaurant. Otherwise, no soda in the house.

I usually have him drink water after to clean his mouth, or brush his teeth soon after anyway.

By Coopaveryben on Saturday, June 19, 2004 - 10:09 pm:

With my first I didn't let him have any soda, at all...ever until he was about 3. With my second he tried it about 2. The third was about 12 months.....gee I hope there is not a #4 or they will be getting it in their bottle...haha.

I try not to let mine drink very much but they will have one or two a week. I usually let them have sprite or root beer but they do steal my DH's Diet Mountain Dew and My Diet Coke on occasion.

By Mommmie on Saturday, June 19, 2004 - 10:30 pm:

My son is free to drink Coke if he wants one, but only with a straw. He's 9 and has never had a cavity and he's not big on tooth brushing (sensory issues). He drinks everything except water with a straw. And even though he's welcome to have Coke, he usually asks for OJ, tea or water.

A relative of mine was very restrictive with the soda thing with her kids. She watered them down (without their knowledge) until they were about 11 years old. They are now in their 20s and each drink about 12 sodas a day now.

By Mommierenee on Saturday, June 19, 2004 - 10:41 pm:

LOL mommmie:
"A relative of mine was very restrictive with the soda thing with her kids. She watered them down (without their knowledge) until they were about 11 years old. They are now in their 20s and each drink about 12 sodas a day now."

I water down almost everything they drink now! Unless it's juice & then I still water it down for my 2 year old!

When they are 20 I don't care if they drink 12 sodas a day, as long as they are paying their own dental bills Just kidding!

By Mommyathome on Sunday, June 20, 2004 - 12:05 am:

My kids are free to drink soda. I prefer that they choose something without caffeine. Usually Sprite or Rootbeer. BUT....they rarely choose to drink it at all. If we go to McDonalds, they always choose milk over soda. I would estimate that they have 1 soda every week.

By Ladypeacek on Sunday, June 20, 2004 - 02:48 am:

Mine drink graoe soda or orange soda and that is very rare! My dd can have maybe 2 a week and my ds is still too young. I don't like all the sugar that is in them! Sprite has more sugar than most which is why its bad for the teeth.

By Jackie on Sunday, June 20, 2004 - 06:14 am:

My daughter doest drink soda...She hates anything carbonated,which is not a bad thing.
My son usually only drinks it when we go out to eat, and usually orders a SPrite..I drink it at home, which is normally a caffeine free diet coke, and sometimes my son will have some of mine, but not on a daily basis.

By Feona on Sunday, June 20, 2004 - 06:20 am:

We try to do milk or chocolate milk(treat) Sometimes he has a soda for a treat (emergency - nothing else available) (Still a good soda a week.)

Most restaurants have milk or chocolate milk. Some kids like setzer!

Actually ds likes water best. Because I alway keep some in the car.

By Colette on Sunday, June 20, 2004 - 08:22 am:

I don't buy soda, except for birthday parties. The only times my kids get it is when we go out to eat (and still my youngest prefers milk) or at a party.

By Cat on Sunday, June 20, 2004 - 08:56 am:

My kids drink soda. They're allowed one can a day. They like root beer best, but also like orange, grape, really any of the fruit flavors (usually store brand) and Sprite. I'm not as conserned about the caffine for Robin. It actually has a calming effect for him. Randy on the other hand, will bounce off the wall if he drinks any more than one can or if it's something like Surge with lots of caffine. They boys tried C2 yesterday (the new Coke with half the caffine and half the carbs). They said it tastes the same as regular. I drink only diet sodas (no carbs). Yes, sodas are empty calories and probably not the best choice, but there are worse things in life and my kids aren't overweight, so I'm not going to sweat it.

While I don't doubt the sugar in sodas has an effect on teeth (and the dentist harps on me every six months--he thinks sodas should be outlawed!), I also think a lot depends on how healthy/strong your teeth are anyway. I was a Pepsi-aholic in high school, drinking probably 3-4 bottles (remember the glass, 16.9oz bottles???) a day. I probably drink about 2-3 cans a day now of either Diet Cherry Coke or Diet Dr Pepper (with the occasional Diet Mt Dew thrown in there). I've only had two cavities ever, and didn't get my first until I was 18. I fortunatly have very strong teeth. People like my dh, who brushes twice a day and flosses every day and has every since I've known him (14+ years), yet still have at least one cavity every time he visits the dentist, because his teeth are more porous (sp) and not as strong. My mom doesn't have very good teeth either (she's been known to break them biting raw carrots!). I got my dad's teeth (thankfully!). So anyway, that's just my 2 cents.

By Melissa on Sunday, June 20, 2004 - 09:13 am:

I'm with Cat, Lexi has soda sometimes, she loves it and would have it daily if I'd let her. She is very active,her wt is totally normal, and she has perfect teeth no cavities ever. I am a huge Diet coke drinker and I think it is hard for me to be too strict on soda for her if I drink it so much. She is a good brusher and I guess I feel like I have bigger fish to fry than that. She likes Sprite and Diet Coke I don't really like her to have diet coke b/c of the aspertame ( I think the jury's out on the effects of that, but sometimes she does) I have a huge Kool Aid prejudice though, she doesn't even know what it is.

By Tink on Sunday, June 20, 2004 - 02:48 pm:

None of my kids have a weight problem and my dh and I drink a lot of soda. Diet for me but I love my caffeine and reg for dh (caffeine is good for his ADD.) I guess I was worried that they still were getting too much soda but they are definitely getting it less often than a lot of kids I guess. My family brushes twice a day EVERY day and we still have several cavities each. My dd's dentist swore that she had baby bottle mouth when I never gave her a bottle in bed no matter what. DH and I both have several generations of poor teeth behind us and the kids' dentist will put sealant on all of their permanent teeth as they come in to try and protect them. I thought that diet soda was so bad for them but it sounds like the sugar is more dangerous than the aspertame. We may switch to diet for that reason.

By Cat on Sunday, June 20, 2004 - 03:15 pm:

Be careful with the aspertame. Like Melissa said, the jury is still out on how the long term effects on kid (and pregnant women). Sorry both your families have bad teeth. At least I got one good tooth gene! lol Both my brothers got it, too, but my oldest brother's 13yo has terrible teeth, and they don't get much soda. Like I said, genetics. (like I also said, mho )

By Boxzgrl on Sunday, June 20, 2004 - 10:30 pm:

DD has tried soda a few times, thanks to DH. I let her have a few sips on occasion but I still give her tons of milk and still water down her juice. I think it has to do with genetics too b/c I drank soda like it was water as a child and hated brushing my teeth (not thats its a pleasure these days ) and I had my first cavity at 20. My brother was the same and had his first cavity at 6. Now he has over 15!!

Soda isn't big in my house. We go through binge crazes once in a while but overall were big on juice, water, tea and sports drinks.

By Angela on Sunday, June 20, 2004 - 11:05 pm:

Wow! It is a good thing my DD can't read right now! I let her have either a glass of juice or milk in the morning and one of either with supper and the rest of the time she gets only water. This habit started when I began to get worried about her size, especially in relation to her eating habits. They were generally pretty poor...she hardly ever wanted to eat. Our doctor decided that maybe she was consuming too many "sugary" beverages and that it might be causing her appetite to diminish. My dentist agreed with our switch and wishes I would give up the soda too - although he says genetics play a huge role here. (My teeth were the cleanest they've ever been during my most recent pregnancy when I gave up juice and soda) I am sure my doctor is right in his "theory" because since our switch, her appetite has increased and she looks healthier and is definately not as hyper as she used to be.

By Eve on Monday, June 21, 2004 - 10:36 am:

I don't mind my DD having a little soda now and again. I drink a Diet Coke for lunch and she usually ends up with a sip or two. I bought the half size Sprite for her. She doesn't even drink half of it though. I also mix Sparkling water and a little juice for her. She thinks that's great too. I think she still prefers juice boxes and milk.

By Insaneusmcwife on Monday, June 21, 2004 - 01:09 pm:

my kids only get soda when we eat fast food, which isn't very often. Unless its McDonalds and then they ASK for milk. They changed the milk containers the kids think they are cool and just have to have it.

By Paulas on Tuesday, June 22, 2004 - 12:44 am:

Mountain Dew in the US has lots of caffeine. I only know this because I don't let my kids drink caffeine pop and 4 years ago my brother and I had this heated debate over Mountain Dew. He said he had attended a seminar and they stated that Mountain Dew had lots of caffeine but when I looked on the can it wasn't in the list of ingredients (I'm in Canada). Finally, I called Customer Service and they said in Canada it doesn't have caffeine but in the states it does. I just love when I'm right and my brother is wrong

By John on Tuesday, June 22, 2004 - 10:41 am:

Besides the dental effects, recent studies at Harvard have also found a direct link between consumption of soft drinks and obesity.

"...each extra soda made them 50 percent more likely to become obese, regardless of how many sodas they were drinking before..."

"The odds of becoming obese increased significantly for each additional daily serving of sugar-sweetened drink," the study concluded."

"Even when they accounted for factors like physical activity and other diet choices, the relation between obesity and drinking sodas remained..."


http://www.cnn.com/2001/HEALTH/diet.fitness/02/15/soda.obesity/



http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/press/releases/press02152001.html

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/04/23/health/main613336.shtml


I believe that my early consumption of soda made me obese as a child and started my lifelong struggle with my weight.

By Andi on Tuesday, June 22, 2004 - 10:56 am:

I drink Diet Coke everyday and have no problem wth my son drinking it with me. We also drink Root Beer and he loves that. When we go out to eat he always orders a Lemon Aid.
He always drinks a whole glass of juice for breakfast, usually soda, milk or lemon Aid for lunch and Milk for dinner.

By Truestori on Tuesday, June 22, 2004 - 03:53 pm:

I remember my mom putting a limit on everything with sugar in it so I vowed not to do this with my own...I don't buy it often but when we go out to eat they are allowed to drink their share..
*Soda is the least of my worries with a preteen in the house..LOL*

By Mommierenee on Tuesday, June 22, 2004 - 04:15 pm:

WOW!!! Mountain Dew in Canada doesn't have caffeine! Tha's great, I wonder if we can get it imported??!!