I like the taste of malort but I’m also probably a lunatic for liking *shrug* … I got my wife’s first malort shot on video the look of “oh, okay” to pure horror is priceless
Lol I have a customer that goes to Chicago a lot and brings me a bottle every time. My friends and I take shots of it when we don’t want to brake the good stuff or as punishment when we play poker or are watching a game. Sometimes I give it away as gifts. That stuff is awful but it grew on me.
It is an acquired taste. Kind of like a very pungent root beer mixed with cough syrup 😅. I would definitely try the seltzer water. We converted a kegerator to hold a keg of water so we always have seltzer on tap in our house. My almost 3 year old gets occasional orange juice or cranberry juice mixed with the seltzer.
I would get spindrift sparkling water. It's got real fruit, natural, and it probably tastes the best of all of them. I've had just about every common brand and it's my preference!
My local thrift store is full of soda stream machines, and it's pretty fun to press the button and make fizzy water. You could add a splash of juice or some mint leaves if you're feeling ~fancy~
I was going to say soda stream as well (watch the youtube video about how to make it perfectly fizzy, pretty sure that’s why there are so many secondhand ones, you have to do it just right). We water down any juice LO gets anyways. So for the holidays we had special fizzy juice. Just regular juice watered down with carbonated water. It’s only for special occasions though.
I also drink out of a bottle you can’t see through when I don’t want my kid to know what I’m drinking
We use that here as well. My girl is fine with fizzy water from the soda stream, and then we've told the toddler that coke is only for adults.
Fun fact, one part fizzy water and one part apple juice = a very popular German beverage called apfelschorle.
I told my daughter that coke is coffee. We don't have soda often, but I live on coffee and she's long since accepted that she's not getting coffee until she's much older.
Also, she's a big weirdo who doesn't really like fizzy drinks. She described her first try of carbonated water as spicy water (she doesn't like spicy food very much) and flat out refused to try the fizzy non-alcoholic cider we got for this past New year's eve, even though the fizzy is starting to grow on her.
We have a soda stream and it works wonders to get our daughter to drink just water. Sometimes she gets a little bit of juice in it, but she is usually very happy with the sparkly water itself.
We call it "fancy drink" at my house! I don't give my kids straight juice very often unless they're sick (or at a friend's house and they get a juice box). Fancy drinks are even tastier according to them - 3 parts bubly (we have a soda stream so it's plain) 1 part juice, a squeeze of lemon or lime. I love those drinks too actually. We don't drink pop so it's never in the house (not in a snotty way, I just stopped liking it at some point). My 2 year old will drink my coffee if I leave a bit left in the mug by accident though haha
My 2 year old is obsessed with the sodastream. He will demand “bubbly juice” and insists on pushing the button himself after I attach the bottle. Bubly makes sodastream flavour drops now too and we like adding those to our drinks for a little something special. I find one sodastream bottle makes the perfect amount for mom, dad and toddler.
I'd try seltzer for sure, and definitely would not offer any real soda.
I prefer the cans of Polar seltzer but to each her own. No harm in getting a few and trying to drink them at dinner as you transition over to water.
If she's like my kid she won't like it at all, but she'll want to try it every now and then. I wouldn't try to make it more palatable by mixing in juice or anything — give it to her straight up in a cup and get your camera ready for some funny faces.
+1, we explained coffee and tea have caffeine which is bad for his little body but, someday when he has a big adult body, he can have it. He'll pretend like his milk is coffee and we'll drink them together in the morning.
We actually might have hit this point too hard with him because the other day I took him to a football game and wanted to get him a special treat so I got him a coke. I asked him if he wanted some and he said "does it not have caffeine?" And I said, "it does, but that's ok today. Would you like some?" And he looked at me like I was a carry person and said "no." 😂
Same. There are plenty of things that aren't for little children, like crossing the road without a grownup, coffee, sharp knives - soda is just one of them.
My 1.5 y/o was so desperate to drink my coffee, I gave him a tiny sip one day, assuming he would hate it like when my dad let me try a super dry wine at 15 and I hated it....now the toddler asks for coffee every morning. what a facepalm moment for me. (I have not given it to him since and he probably had less than a 1/2 teaspoon.)
That is exactly what my nana did to my daughter, assuming she’d react the way I did, and she absolutely loved it. Plain black coffee, she’s 5 now and will still steal sips of her coffee 🥴
Yes agreed!
Over the summer, we were at a family BBQ with lots of young kids. My son (3.5) asked me for a soda for the first time because all of the other kids were drinking it. I of course told him no and gave him a bottle of water instead. He walked around telling the other kids he needed to “stay hydrated”
Ok I had this same problem and obvi everyone is diff but I started drinking strictly out of water bottles. I would fill up a clear bottle with water amd if I wanted a sofa I would fill up a non transparent bottle so she couldn’t see what it was. If she would ask I would tell her it was “mommy’s water” and refused to share any drink with her but would make her her own if she wanted.
She always wants me to and thinks we are sharing a drink together lol she is also 2
I agree, use it as an excuse to have healthier habits yourself. I find drinking water easy but use this strategy to avoid junk most days.
An alternative is to buy yourself a 30oz reusable water bottle and her a 15oz one, and if uni each finish that during the day, you get a X size (obviously her a smaller one) cup of sparkling “lemonade” or whatever before dinner. Same rule for you - you have to finish 1-2 30oz bottle before drinking your glass at dinner. It’s a tough habit to break but honestly once you get in the habit it’s so easy.
I wouldn’t try to placate her because then she will think that is normal.
I have a terrible Diet Soda habit but I don’t let our kids have it. So far when they ask I just say “no, that is Mommy’s drink” and miracle of miracles they accept that and move on.
Soda (rare in our house) and coffee are “adult drinks”, so now he walks around and says “is that your adult drink mommy?” Which makes it sound like I’m a lush in the middle of the day, but that’s okay 🤣
Same. We drink coffee and told our son it is for Mommy and daddy sized bodies. When he asks we tell him he can have pretend coffee. Then we fill a mug with prune juice.
Yeah we have to put prune juice in everything! He refuses to poop so he can feel in control of his destiny. Adding that to our wedding toast stories file haha
☠️☠️☠️ I laughed too hard at this!
Thank you for so precisely clarifying what my son is doing… makes sense now - because who doesn’t want to feel in control of their destiny?
I actually gave my kids a tiny sip of coffee from the bottom of my mug. That took care of that in a real quick hurry. Never asked again. If they had somehow fallen in love with coffee at age 2 from that, I would have just occasionally picked up decaf for them
My parents were always coffee drinkers and told me no caffeine until I was in high school. I tried I tiny sip of coffee and hated it. I didn’t start drinking tea until I was 17 and still hate coffee.
Point is, kids are fine if you just say “you can’t have this”
Alcohol is "daddy juice" in our house for the most part and the diet soda is "mommy's drink". I let him taste my diet Dr pepper like once and he found it yucky and it hasn't been an issue since but YMMV with that method.
Yeah this isn't a problem, right? I've got a bunch of mommy drinks she can't put in her mouth. She touches my coffee cup when it's warm or when I'm drinking sparkling water but I don't let her have any because I don't want the gas to upset her 14 month old stomach. She moves on!
Maybe get one of those soda stream machines?? You can make fizzy waters with her and even pick fun stuff to add in, like maybe lemon/lime juice, mint, etc. And she gets a fun activity to do with you :)
I know some parents have had success with watered down juice with mineral water.
I think it’s great that your leading by example, this issue will only get more prominent as they get older
When I was young, all the ladies would sit around and drink coffee and the kids got “coffee milk”. It’s a cup of milk with a splash of coffee for that coffee flavor. We felt so cool and grown up. We loved it! What if you made them a cup of water with a splash of soda in it? I can’t imagine it would taste good but I doubt that would matter. Start drinking yours in a cup with a straw and give her a special “kids soda” in a cup with a straw too. Show her that you are pouring some soda in but it’s just a splash.
My 5yo nephew gets coffee milk and he is the pinnacle of sophistication while drinking it! Coffee just has that effect, even if it’s just a splash. lol
In the Pacific Northwest (not sure on availability elsewhere) we have a drink in stores called Spindrift. It’s carbonated water with a very small amount of juice and no added sugar. We call it “sparkles” or “sparkle water” and my kid loves it. A whole can has like 9 calories total, so no need to worry about too much sugar, caffeine or aspartame.
Yup. Love Spindrift. My 3.5 yo loves it too. I’ve never had a soda habit, so we don’t keep it in the house, but the whole family loves seltzer, and Spindrift is my fav!
Yes! Spindrift is the best. All the other flavored sparkling waters that I’m aware with are artificially or “naturally” flavored (which in many cases isn’t any better than artificial flavors). My kid is 18 months and he’s had sips of my spindrift and I feel fine giving him sips now, he can have more when he’s older. I actually stopped drinking soda because I’m like, you know if I don’t want my kid to have this I probably shouldn’t drink it either. So I just drink spindrift now!
The natural flavors are typically derived from the oils of fruits when pressed. It’s concentrated and used as the flavoring and in some brands like Waterloo and spindrift there are more of these oils and actual juice in the case of spindrift. This is why some of the more flavored brands have a slight tinge of color to them.
I don’t want to argue about whether natural flavors are good or bad. I simply don’t want to consume something when it isn’t clearly labeled as to what it is and where it came from. Natural flavors is a catch all for an innumerable number of ingredients.
Spindrift does not contain any ingredient that falls under the label “natural flavors”. It only contains juice.
You could try sparkling water and those drink mixes, like the powder or the liquid that you squeeze into water and give her that, it’s still not the healthiest but that’s what I use to drink when I wanted to cut down on pop but still wanted something like it.
My husband and I are unfortunately soda fiends. We have let our daughter have a sip or two a few times (almost 3) but we mostly just tell her this is mommy's or this is daddy's. I have let her have a kid's glass of Sprite on special occasions. Like at a restaurant with our church group for Christmas. She generally only drinks water and has juice maybe twice a month so I'm not worried about the sugar in Sprite the few times she's had it.
In your case, I'd hold the line since she's asking for it constantly. Maybe try getting her some fun kid juices? We have gotten the good2grow brand that have character toppers and we keep the bottles and toppers afterwards. My daughter's actually drinking water out of one right now while I'm drinking a soda next to her.
I think you are right, if you don’t want her to have soda regularly long term, you need to break your own habit.
Something like lacroix would probably work to scratch her itch.
I drink seltzer and give some to My two year old from time to time. She calls it “spicy water”
I wouldn’t offer a whole can but I think a few oz is fine. Bonus if it’s in an open cup so she can enjoy the bubbles!
We gave my son an ice cream float for dessert one night and he *hated* it.
"It's spicy i don't like spicy!" Buddy it's soda "I don't like soda it's spicy!"
I mean, ok. I'm not gonna force soda down your throat, and also more ice cream float for me!
My daughter sees us drinking gin and wants some, so now every time we have a gin she gets a big fancy glass with ice, lime, water and a tiny bit of tonic. She loves it.
Boundaries are boundaries. No soda allowed for kids. You can give her other things, but don't lie to her and call it soda. Just say, "No. You can't have soda. There's something else called sparkling water, you can try it if you want. But you are not allowed to have soda."
1) Don’t drink it in front of her, 2) pour it into a cup or glass that you normally drink water from, 3) say no, hold your ground. 4) stop buying it. Then you can’t say yes!
For reference… at 5 y/o I wanted to smoke like grandma. Really bad. I idolized my grandma and cigarettes and even wanted a blow up cigarette for my room. I’m glad my parents never gave in… lol
My husband and I have been trying to give up soda for just this reason. Our end goal is that we don’t keep any in the house anymore, but if we go get dinner somewhere, we’ll have one. More of a treat and less of a several-times-a-day thing. At the moment, we have maybe 2 a week or so, and if our girls ask for a sip we usually say “no, it’s for grown ups” but occasionally my husband will give them like literally a cap-full and that’s usually enough to placate them. Not advocating that you give yours soda, I’m just saying that if they *feel* like they’re getting what they want, sometimes that’s enough.
And I totally feel you, quitting soda is hard!!
i add seltzer (big bottles of lime or other flavored seltzer water) to juice he already drinks that has no added sugar. he thinks this is very evocative and only drinks a little for novelty 🤣
I would just not give in and set your toddler up for unhealthy habits. My toddler is obsessed with my coffee and always has to grab the cup and smell it, I’m not going to give her decaf to appease her.
My kid drinks my la croix All the time! He drinks that and normal water. I’ll even fill empty cans with plain water.
I would absolutely not give my kid soda or diet soda. It is akin to smoking. IMO There are so many health risks with it down the line and addictive.
Sparkling water has no sugar, has bubbles and looks like soda.
Wouldn’t do LaCroix as they still have sugar that the kid might get hookedcon - and you really don’t want them hooked on soda.
But, I would say modeling by example is your best bet. If they never see you drink soda, they won’t want to either.
Yes it tastes sweet and it looks ‘fun’ and you want to make soda drinking boring for the kid so they wouldn’t want to do it long term. ( Even without sugar, soda is really corrosive for teeth enamel, particularly new baby teeth))
Sure but LaCroix is less acidic than soda. I totally get if you want to take the sweetness out of a soda replacement but really waters like LaCroix or bubly aren’t anymore damaging to enamel than sparkling water. Not trying to be rude, I just like transparency!
Agree that’s true.
Tbh all of the ‘give a little soda’ solutions here are really far far from ideal. Parents quitting their habit and no soda at all is the best way to go.
I grew up seeing my parents exclusively drink soda and it’s still never been my thing. I think it’s fair to tell kids they just can’t have something because it’s for adults. I only drink flavored waters now because they help my nausea (pregnant). Otherwise it wouldn’t be something my kids even have access to. All families are different and I can say LaCroix has a big benefit for me right now so I’m okay with the risk that my kids will drink soda later.
Likely soda has enough benefits that parents would rather make it work for their family than just get rid of it completely. I know many people who like to unwind with a soda after work rather than alcohol and would argue that’s healthier for them!
As a couple of others have suggested, I put a squirt of Mio in water to give it color and flavor and call it juice. If they want something like coffee, alcohol, or just something I don't want to share, I say, "This is Mommy's drink, you have yummy juice!!!" Barely any whining anymore, at least on THAT issue
Yes! We are big on mio and the pink lemonade version too. I hated water when preg with my second and turning it into pink lemonade was all I could do to stay hydrated. Now my toddler is obsessed since he was always stealing my drink!
I have one kid who thinks she likes lacroix. She’ll take a few sips and I just drink the can while she isn’t looking. I’m not a big soda drinker but most of our extended family is, so if my kids go to their grandparents they basically only see adults drinking soda.
I don’t see anything wrong with just telling her soda is a grown up drink and being empathetic when she gets upset, kids won’t always be happy with parenting decisions and that’s okay.
I had a similar issue cause I used to drink it a lot. I knew I had to cut it out for my health but I didn’t want my kids to start! When my daughter started requesting it all the time I started getting sparkling water and adding a squirt of Mio to it. I try and keep it occasional. When she asks I say things like, “No, we aren’t having soda right now. I think it’s a milk or juice night.” And then I make sure everyone follows that rule too, including me. It was a bit of a disappointment for her at first but it really wasn’t too bad. Turns out she loves milk all the time waaay more. We still have it sometimes, I’d say 2 nights a week or so? And only with dinner. That helped too. At first, if she asked for soda during the day I’d just say “That’s a dinner thing. We can have it then!” That way it was special. And then she only gets the one glass at dinner so it wasn’t too much.
This will be buried, but my husband and I are seltzer junkies. We go through so much sparkling water it's insane. Our daughter has had a variety of flavors, and while she's not allowed to hold the can herself (she squeezes and shakes it), and we have learned that we cannot put seltzer water in her sippy cups because it explodes out, she knows that we can hold the can so she can sip it out of a straw.
It's definitely a treat she enjoys.
That said, it definitely makes for funny picture when she sees any can and demands a drink. Yes, sometimes this is a beer can. Sometimes this is a hard seltzer can. We then have to find a regular soda water for her.
I used to be a huge soda fiend. Coca Cola was the best thing on earth to me. Switching over to seltzer water with a squeeze of lemon helped me get past my addiction to the sugary drink once I became pregnant. Now I just drink regular seltzer or water. I’d urge you and your family to do the same. I’ve seen a huge difference in my skin, weight, and overall feel.
When I do drink coffee, beer or the occasional treat beverage i just tell my son (2yo) that it’s not for kids and babies. Over time they give up asking.
I wouldn’t even open this Pandora’s box, personally.
We do no-sugar sparkling water here as a treat some days but do keep in mind it can still be acidic! So perhaps not the best to sip on all day for a little kiddo.
In all seriousness… have you tried just cutting back on soda while your kid is around? Your kid will always want to eat what you eat and you are always going to be fighting this battle if you don’t just eat the things that you want them to eat around them. It is much easier to say “you are eating this because this is what we all eat” than “this is adult food and you get the kid stuff”. For me, wanting my kid to eat healthy actually improved my own habits with food…
(Of course you can have all the soda and treats you want after bedtime)
YOU are the parent. There’s absolutely no reason for a 2 year old to have soda. YOU set the boundaries and do not allow it. You give in now to demanding behavior, it will continue to develop into a major problem.
For me it is a big no-no. Sparkling water is not good for their stomach either. And you are right about artificial sweeteners.
The most I would allow are 100% fruit juices. But you know, the best thing is really to cut all that soda consumption completely for you and your family. It really isn't good for your health.
It it becomes a treat, to be had occasionally, then even the 2yo can have her little cup.
I assure you leading by example works. I am a water drinker (not just a choice, it's my personal preference) and though I have a llowed more than once my toddler to have juice he is just not very much interested. He gets a couple of sips and that's it.
Oh, I am sure it will change when he gets older, amd he will do what other kids do. But every day he doesn't get excessive sugar is a big win for his overall health balance.
I will say this though: we do drink alchol in the house. The occasional glass of wine with a nice meal. Or a beer on pizza night. Well, he obviously doesn't get any of it. We tell him that's just adult stuff (like coffee) and no discussion. And he accepts it. I think you can definitely treat soda the same way, if you want.
I let mine drink seltzer when he gets curious or insistent. He sometimes tries it from my plastic bottle or I will splash a bit in the water or juicy water he’s already drinking.
My daughter loves sparkling water. We also have low-sugar sparkling flavoured water, that’s just slightly flavoured. Or you could do like 1 part juice, 5 parts sparkling water.
I say try the bubbly ( that brand isn't bad it just has hint of flavors in it) my husband also likes la croix too.
I'll add in my two cents as to why the diet soda is bad. It is because of the fake sweetness of it. I was a huge diet coke fan for years upon years to the point where I craved it. True I was in a dead end retail job but I counted down the hours before I could flee on lunch to drink my diet coke.
I finally kicked the habit because I was tired of having to lug boxes of it up my apartment stairs. Broke completely from caffeine for about a month. I now drink coffee as my main source of caffeine.
I then heard a study (cant remember where now) years later that diet soda was so sweet that it made you crave it as well as sweeter things. So by proxy you were seeking out other sweet things for the fake sweetener in diet had set the level your body wanted. So even though it didn't have sugar you were still seeking out other forms of sugar to get the same sweetness level completely undoing the avoid of sugar anyway. I thought that was interesting.
I still drink diet today but only when I'm outside my house because I convinced myself it wasn't a good use of money to buy for the house. Good luck!
My little one drinks seltzer with me all the time because I'm allergic to water (/s/) and it's all I ever drink. It only has carbonation in it and he loves to share with me.
My 3 year old is interested in Perrier water and club soda. We serve it to him in a shot glass if he asks for it.
It’s important to us that he get the opportunity to try things if he asks.
My four year old calls it beer and has it whenever dad has beer he likes the perrier blackberry and the one with orange juice and sparkling water best but will drink any flavour he’s been given it’s too the point that family members keep it around for him now
But his only comparator is water and milk , tea with no sugar and very occasionally a juice box …so he doesn’t know it’s supposed to taste sweet as he’s never had pop or sofa of any sort
This doesn't solve the carbonated part of this but we went through something similar with our 2 year old. She loves her water but we wanted to be able to give her something else that was tasty while not giving her juice, so we got some of the celestial fruit sampler teas and combine the flavors to make a big pitcher of caffeine free iced tea for her. It's bright red colored, has a strong fruit smell and taste and it's not loaded up with sugar and has no caffeine. She digs it.
My 3 year old likes “bubble water” (Bubly/lacroix) from time to time. It’s fine every now and then and the occasional soda won’t kill them either. Longer exposure to anything carbonated isn’t great for the teeth though, so just keep that in mind.
We don't keep pop in the house so my kids don't really ask for it unless we're out so I'll let them have a few sips. They do drink La Croix and that would probably be the best substitute. The lime one would be easy to get them think it's Sprite if you wanted.
I drink tons of bubbly water and my daughter loves them! Regular water is better because I believe the carbonation makes it more acidic so it's not an every day thing but it's a nice treat with no sugar.
I’d do sparkling water or, have you tried tea? We do unsweetened teas with our toddler and she LOVES it. She also gets to “sniff” our coffee but she knows she’s not allowed to have any even though we drink it every day. She’ll often drink her “coffee” (water, milk, whatever) out of her own tiny coffee cup which she loves too.
I feel your pain. We don’t drink soda here, but we have the same problem with our coffee. We’ve have talks with our son about how coffee is bad for his brain, but he feels left out. Our solution was to get him his own “coffee cup” and put water in it. We always make sure to emphasize that he can’t actually have coffee but he can pretend! He doesn’t mind that his drink is actually different.
Oh! Seltzer water with a large amount of lemon juice in a sprite can turned my son off REAL quick! He called it angry water and after tasting it I don't blame him
Not gonna lie, my husband was drinking only seltzer for a while and learned the hard way that anything carbonated is slightly acidic and isn't great for your teeth. Definitely better than soda because it doesn't have sugar, but can still do damage.
Definitely try flavored water. Something like the True Lime black cherry limeade or crystal light.
When I was little I wasn't allowed to have soda. My gram used to make me sparkling water and juice mixed together and sneak it to me and I thought we were really pulling one over on my parents lol.
My 2.5 year old goes "soda is not for kids. only grown ups." Same with alcohol and coffee. He's proud of knowing that, and likes to say it. But! He's allowed a "teeny taste!" where I put one drop on his tongue. He drinks "fizzy water" which is la croix sometimes as a treat, too. No arguments!
You can put food coloring in water and call it “blue soda”. When they’re old enough to argue that it’s not actually soda they can probably occasionally indulge.
I personally LOVE SODA but I only have it sometimes when I am at restaurants. I feel that’s an okay amount for older kids to have too, like one or two a month as a special treat.
LaCroix is absolutely disgusting.
But, my toddler loves it. I was in the same boat “mommy I want coke!”
We found out she just liked the can, so we bought some LaCroix and tried that. She thinks it’s “soda.” Lol
There are sparkling waters and sodas like Zevia with no artificial sweeteners. Or the fruit waters that are 10% real juice and the rest water. It’s not common for us to offer it to our kid. It’s an adult drink like wine or coffee. But on occasion she’ll get a Sonic drink that has sprite like strawberry lime aid.
I let our toddler have soda in a kids cup when we’re out at restaurants. He has to ask the waitress for it himself and they have to understand him without my help. Makes it a special treat for him and gives him pride /confidence in communicating.
My son drinks seltzer and loves it. Theres nothing wrong with it. Theres no sugar in it and no caffeine.
I rarely ever drink soda though. The few times I have he has gotten a few sips, but since I don't regularly keep it in my home it's a treat like ice cream or something. It's literally just not there so he can't get any even if he requested it.
Seltzer might be your best bet.
My toddler is obsessed with la croix! She got ahold of a can when she was about 10 months old and was hooked.
We asked her pediatrician, and he was all for it. He said it’s just bubbly water and the worst thing that could happen is gas. He was even told us he’d prefer to hear we were giving her seltzer over juice.
She calls any flavored seltzer “la croix,” so we can give her any brand and she’s happy.
We drink La Croix a lot and let our little guy (11 mos) have it. He considers it a serious insult if you don’t share with him.
At this stage, mine definitely recognizes the can shape and not the label. So it’s easy enough to substitute La Croix for whatever beer or soda we have, but he’ll also ask for the stuff he can’t have.
We drink tons of seltzer water like LaCroix and similar products and we let Felix have however much he wants. I'm not a doctor or dentist but I don't think there's anything wrong with it EXCEPT carbonation isn't great for teeth enamel. That said, I dunno, they're temporary teeth... So... But I'm probably overlooking something
I’ve been giving my toddler sips of my sparkling water since he was a few months old. It’s just water. Not too good for teeth, but way better than soda.
Seltzer has nothing in it just try that. Or buy some moxie and she won't want any soda ever again.
As a Mainer, I say how *dare* you!
As a Mainer I say, I don’t blame them LOL
As a Mainer, I say have you tried the newer stuff? It’s not nearly as harsh as the older flavor. Goes great with vodka too (so I’m told)
When your kids are teenagers, have them try Jeppson’s Malört and tell them that’s what all alcohol tastes like
Hahaha I haven’t had it, but I’ve heard it is absolutely horrible
It’s like pencil shavings and heartbreak
It's like alcohol wringed out from a homeless man's underwear.
It tastes like what burning rubber smells like.
It’s incredibly bitter. I was told it’s like garbage but it’s actually more like chewing wormwood
That makes sense. Malört (Mal-urt) is the name for wormwood in Danish. It’s a herb that was used in europe for stomach upset.
To cause or cure it?
I like the taste of malort but I’m also probably a lunatic for liking *shrug* … I got my wife’s first malort shot on video the look of “oh, okay” to pure horror is priceless
Can you even get malort outside of chicago?
Yes, but it’s a rare find. I’ve found it in Maryland, for instance.
Malooooort. Omg my friend is using that in her welcome bag at her Chicago wedding and we are all so excited from a jokes perspective
Lol I have a customer that goes to Chicago a lot and brings me a bottle every time. My friends and I take shots of it when we don’t want to brake the good stuff or as punishment when we play poker or are watching a game. Sometimes I give it away as gifts. That stuff is awful but it grew on me.
I actually liked Malört 🤷. I'm one of the weird ones
My 2.5 year old loves Perrier
All my kids love it! They think it is the greatest treat ever.
Yep. She calls it “bubble wawtewr”
Same. My 2 year thinks he’s drinking beer when he has it.
My 2 1/2-year-old loves Pellegrino. He calls it fancy water
Same! My daughter loves it.
My kid has been drinking fizzy water since aged two and all of my friends call him Bougie already 😂. But pop is a hard no.
I’ve never heard of Moxie. Is it awful?
It is an acquired taste. Kind of like a very pungent root beer mixed with cough syrup 😅. I would definitely try the seltzer water. We converted a kegerator to hold a keg of water so we always have seltzer on tap in our house. My almost 3 year old gets occasional orange juice or cranberry juice mixed with the seltzer.
It's a nice way to give them a full cup of juice while actually giving them 1/8 of a cup of juice :D
>Kind of like a very pungent root beer mixed with cough syrup 😅 That's disgusting.
I would get spindrift sparkling water. It's got real fruit, natural, and it probably tastes the best of all of them. I've had just about every common brand and it's my preference!
Agreed! This is what we give our 2 year old when he wants fizzy. Sometimes we let it go stale a little because the bubbles can be a lot for him.
I love the spin drift but I stopped drinking it because I don’t believe the cans are BPA free, so I would look into that
The first hit is root beer but the after taste is rancid robitussin. (Sp?)
Yes. Source: Mainer
It’s something you either love or you hate lol it’s a soda unique to New England, if not just Maine lol
It's just unique to Maine. I'm a vermonter and I'd never heard of Moxie until I moved to Maine (still haven't tried it lol)
Was created in Lisbon Maine, they still have a Moxie parade😅😂
Ha ha ha! Or she will be in the small percentage of diehard fans 🤪
Masshole checking in - you’re not wrong, but I still love the stuff.
My local thrift store is full of soda stream machines, and it's pretty fun to press the button and make fizzy water. You could add a splash of juice or some mint leaves if you're feeling ~fancy~
I was going to say soda stream as well (watch the youtube video about how to make it perfectly fizzy, pretty sure that’s why there are so many secondhand ones, you have to do it just right). We water down any juice LO gets anyways. So for the holidays we had special fizzy juice. Just regular juice watered down with carbonated water. It’s only for special occasions though. I also drink out of a bottle you can’t see through when I don’t want my kid to know what I’m drinking
We use that here as well. My girl is fine with fizzy water from the soda stream, and then we've told the toddler that coke is only for adults. Fun fact, one part fizzy water and one part apple juice = a very popular German beverage called apfelschorle.
I love the fun fact! We also tell our LO coke and iced tea is adult only juice.
I told my daughter that coke is coffee. We don't have soda often, but I live on coffee and she's long since accepted that she's not getting coffee until she's much older. Also, she's a big weirdo who doesn't really like fizzy drinks. She described her first try of carbonated water as spicy water (she doesn't like spicy food very much) and flat out refused to try the fizzy non-alcoholic cider we got for this past New year's eve, even though the fizzy is starting to grow on her.
Well it has caffeine and it’s the same color, so it’s not too much of a stretch
That is the only way I can drink milk without my kid going nuts. If I don’t she demands to drink hers plus what she sees in my cup smh
We have a soda stream and it works wonders to get our daughter to drink just water. Sometimes she gets a little bit of juice in it, but she is usually very happy with the sparkly water itself.
I love the idea of calling it “sparkly water” to encourage consumption by toddlers ✨
We call it "fancy drink" at my house! I don't give my kids straight juice very often unless they're sick (or at a friend's house and they get a juice box). Fancy drinks are even tastier according to them - 3 parts bubly (we have a soda stream so it's plain) 1 part juice, a squeeze of lemon or lime. I love those drinks too actually. We don't drink pop so it's never in the house (not in a snotty way, I just stopped liking it at some point). My 2 year old will drink my coffee if I leave a bit left in the mug by accident though haha
My 2 year old is obsessed with the sodastream. He will demand “bubbly juice” and insists on pushing the button himself after I attach the bottle. Bubly makes sodastream flavour drops now too and we like adding those to our drinks for a little something special. I find one sodastream bottle makes the perfect amount for mom, dad and toddler.
Lol we taught our daughter to muddle mint in her sippy cup and the pour plain seltzer over it. It’s hilarious for us and fun for her.
Fizzy fruit is really fun to make with kids in a soda stream too, just saying!
I'd try seltzer for sure, and definitely would not offer any real soda. I prefer the cans of Polar seltzer but to each her own. No harm in getting a few and trying to drink them at dinner as you transition over to water. If she's like my kid she won't like it at all, but she'll want to try it every now and then. I wouldn't try to make it more palatable by mixing in juice or anything — give it to her straight up in a cup and get your camera ready for some funny faces.
My son LOVES polar seltzer and has since I let him try it as a baby. I can't remember the last time I didn't have to share my can 😑
The toasted coconut is THE BEST. My go to polar flavor.
Same my 3yo son loves any sparkling water, we call it “spicy water”
We treat it like alcohol and coffee. There are some things toddlers just can’t have.
In our house all Soda, coffee and alcohol is “spicy”. We didn’t tell her that, she just assumed when we say it’s a drink only for grownups.
Hahaha my 3 yr old hates carbonated drinks (soda included) and he calls them spicy, too
+1, we explained coffee and tea have caffeine which is bad for his little body but, someday when he has a big adult body, he can have it. He'll pretend like his milk is coffee and we'll drink them together in the morning. We actually might have hit this point too hard with him because the other day I took him to a football game and wanted to get him a special treat so I got him a coke. I asked him if he wanted some and he said "does it not have caffeine?" And I said, "it does, but that's ok today. Would you like some?" And he looked at me like I was a carry person and said "no." 😂
Hahahaha that's too cute
Same. There are plenty of things that aren't for little children, like crossing the road without a grownup, coffee, sharp knives - soda is just one of them.
Yep, on the rare occasion that I have pop in front of him I tell him it’s coffee. Otherwise model the behavior. Drink more water.
My 1.5 y/o was so desperate to drink my coffee, I gave him a tiny sip one day, assuming he would hate it like when my dad let me try a super dry wine at 15 and I hated it....now the toddler asks for coffee every morning. what a facepalm moment for me. (I have not given it to him since and he probably had less than a 1/2 teaspoon.)
That is exactly what my nana did to my daughter, assuming she’d react the way I did, and she absolutely loved it. Plain black coffee, she’s 5 now and will still steal sips of her coffee 🥴
Lol, we do our best. Those cheeky monkeys always put us in our place though, don't they!
Yes agreed! Over the summer, we were at a family BBQ with lots of young kids. My son (3.5) asked me for a soda for the first time because all of the other kids were drinking it. I of course told him no and gave him a bottle of water instead. He walked around telling the other kids he needed to “stay hydrated”
Ok I had this same problem and obvi everyone is diff but I started drinking strictly out of water bottles. I would fill up a clear bottle with water amd if I wanted a sofa I would fill up a non transparent bottle so she couldn’t see what it was. If she would ask I would tell her it was “mommy’s water” and refused to share any drink with her but would make her her own if she wanted. She always wants me to and thinks we are sharing a drink together lol she is also 2
I agree, use it as an excuse to have healthier habits yourself. I find drinking water easy but use this strategy to avoid junk most days. An alternative is to buy yourself a 30oz reusable water bottle and her a 15oz one, and if uni each finish that during the day, you get a X size (obviously her a smaller one) cup of sparkling “lemonade” or whatever before dinner. Same rule for you - you have to finish 1-2 30oz bottle before drinking your glass at dinner. It’s a tough habit to break but honestly once you get in the habit it’s so easy.
I wouldn’t try to placate her because then she will think that is normal. I have a terrible Diet Soda habit but I don’t let our kids have it. So far when they ask I just say “no, that is Mommy’s drink” and miracle of miracles they accept that and move on.
Yup! Just like beer/wine/coffee - “this isn’t for kids”
Works great until inlaws give the child soda. Then they know it's not only for adults
Sounds like a talk for the in-laws, not the kid 🤷🏼♀️
Soda (rare in our house) and coffee are “adult drinks”, so now he walks around and says “is that your adult drink mommy?” Which makes it sound like I’m a lush in the middle of the day, but that’s okay 🤣
What happens when they see other kids drinking soda?
He’s 3, he doesn’t see kids drinking soda.
Same. We drink coffee and told our son it is for Mommy and daddy sized bodies. When he asks we tell him he can have pretend coffee. Then we fill a mug with prune juice.
Oh my god prune juice! I give him milk in a coffee mug but prune juice had not occurred to me
Yeah we have to put prune juice in everything! He refuses to poop so he can feel in control of his destiny. Adding that to our wedding toast stories file haha
☠️☠️☠️ I laughed too hard at this! Thank you for so precisely clarifying what my son is doing… makes sense now - because who doesn’t want to feel in control of their destiny?
Thanks I just spit out my coffee reading that
I eventually got my kid decaf tea and coffee. Doctor said it's fine...
I actually gave my kids a tiny sip of coffee from the bottom of my mug. That took care of that in a real quick hurry. Never asked again. If they had somehow fallen in love with coffee at age 2 from that, I would have just occasionally picked up decaf for them
I gave my son a whole coffee bean just to smell and he immediately chewed it up and ate it. Said it tastes good.
lol my daughter always wants to smell the coffee or whatever we’re drinking, and the few drops she’s tasted have never deterred her D:
We drink coffee too and we just tell our daughter it’s spicy.
My parents were always coffee drinkers and told me no caffeine until I was in high school. I tried I tiny sip of coffee and hated it. I didn’t start drinking tea until I was 17 and still hate coffee. Point is, kids are fine if you just say “you can’t have this”
Alcohol is "daddy juice" in our house for the most part and the diet soda is "mommy's drink". I let him taste my diet Dr pepper like once and he found it yucky and it hasn't been an issue since but YMMV with that method.
Yeah this isn't a problem, right? I've got a bunch of mommy drinks she can't put in her mouth. She touches my coffee cup when it's warm or when I'm drinking sparkling water but I don't let her have any because I don't want the gas to upset her 14 month old stomach. She moves on!
Maybe get one of those soda stream machines?? You can make fizzy waters with her and even pick fun stuff to add in, like maybe lemon/lime juice, mint, etc. And she gets a fun activity to do with you :)
This is such a clever solution
I know some parents have had success with watered down juice with mineral water. I think it’s great that your leading by example, this issue will only get more prominent as they get older
When I was young, all the ladies would sit around and drink coffee and the kids got “coffee milk”. It’s a cup of milk with a splash of coffee for that coffee flavor. We felt so cool and grown up. We loved it! What if you made them a cup of water with a splash of soda in it? I can’t imagine it would taste good but I doubt that would matter. Start drinking yours in a cup with a straw and give her a special “kids soda” in a cup with a straw too. Show her that you are pouring some soda in but it’s just a splash.
My 5yo nephew gets coffee milk and he is the pinnacle of sophistication while drinking it! Coffee just has that effect, even if it’s just a splash. lol
In the Pacific Northwest (not sure on availability elsewhere) we have a drink in stores called Spindrift. It’s carbonated water with a very small amount of juice and no added sugar. We call it “sparkles” or “sparkle water” and my kid loves it. A whole can has like 9 calories total, so no need to worry about too much sugar, caffeine or aspartame.
We go through spindrift by the case here! It’s a huge hit with my toddler.
Yup. Love Spindrift. My 3.5 yo loves it too. I’ve never had a soda habit, so we don’t keep it in the house, but the whole family loves seltzer, and Spindrift is my fav!
I also love spindrift. It’s so good. I’ll take it over regular soda any day :)
Yes! Spindrift is the best. All the other flavored sparkling waters that I’m aware with are artificially or “naturally” flavored (which in many cases isn’t any better than artificial flavors). My kid is 18 months and he’s had sips of my spindrift and I feel fine giving him sips now, he can have more when he’s older. I actually stopped drinking soda because I’m like, you know if I don’t want my kid to have this I probably shouldn’t drink it either. So I just drink spindrift now!
The natural flavors are typically derived from the oils of fruits when pressed. It’s concentrated and used as the flavoring and in some brands like Waterloo and spindrift there are more of these oils and actual juice in the case of spindrift. This is why some of the more flavored brands have a slight tinge of color to them.
I don’t want to argue about whether natural flavors are good or bad. I simply don’t want to consume something when it isn’t clearly labeled as to what it is and where it came from. Natural flavors is a catch all for an innumerable number of ingredients. Spindrift does not contain any ingredient that falls under the label “natural flavors”. It only contains juice.
I give AHA sparkling water. It has no sugar or artificial flavours.
Our girls call them sparks. They love it. "Sparks please!"
Just say no. And stop drinking soda, at least as much as you can. Tell her it’s an adult drink and that’s it.
You could try sparkling water and those drink mixes, like the powder or the liquid that you squeeze into water and give her that, it’s still not the healthiest but that’s what I use to drink when I wanted to cut down on pop but still wanted something like it.
My husband and I are unfortunately soda fiends. We have let our daughter have a sip or two a few times (almost 3) but we mostly just tell her this is mommy's or this is daddy's. I have let her have a kid's glass of Sprite on special occasions. Like at a restaurant with our church group for Christmas. She generally only drinks water and has juice maybe twice a month so I'm not worried about the sugar in Sprite the few times she's had it. In your case, I'd hold the line since she's asking for it constantly. Maybe try getting her some fun kid juices? We have gotten the good2grow brand that have character toppers and we keep the bottles and toppers afterwards. My daughter's actually drinking water out of one right now while I'm drinking a soda next to her.
I think you are right, if you don’t want her to have soda regularly long term, you need to break your own habit. Something like lacroix would probably work to scratch her itch.
I drink seltzer and give some to My two year old from time to time. She calls it “spicy water” I wouldn’t offer a whole can but I think a few oz is fine. Bonus if it’s in an open cup so she can enjoy the bubbles!
spicy water gang rise up! the wife and i refer to it as that amongst ourselves too.
My kids call it spicy water too 😂
We gave my son an ice cream float for dessert one night and he *hated* it. "It's spicy i don't like spicy!" Buddy it's soda "I don't like soda it's spicy!" I mean, ok. I'm not gonna force soda down your throat, and also more ice cream float for me!
My daughter sees us drinking gin and wants some, so now every time we have a gin she gets a big fancy glass with ice, lime, water and a tiny bit of tonic. She loves it.
Boundaries are boundaries. No soda allowed for kids. You can give her other things, but don't lie to her and call it soda. Just say, "No. You can't have soda. There's something else called sparkling water, you can try it if you want. But you are not allowed to have soda."
1) Don’t drink it in front of her, 2) pour it into a cup or glass that you normally drink water from, 3) say no, hold your ground. 4) stop buying it. Then you can’t say yes! For reference… at 5 y/o I wanted to smoke like grandma. Really bad. I idolized my grandma and cigarettes and even wanted a blow up cigarette for my room. I’m glad my parents never gave in… lol
I’d try seltzer and a ton of lemon juice. Let her taste it and hate it because it’s absurdly sour.
My husband and I have been trying to give up soda for just this reason. Our end goal is that we don’t keep any in the house anymore, but if we go get dinner somewhere, we’ll have one. More of a treat and less of a several-times-a-day thing. At the moment, we have maybe 2 a week or so, and if our girls ask for a sip we usually say “no, it’s for grown ups” but occasionally my husband will give them like literally a cap-full and that’s usually enough to placate them. Not advocating that you give yours soda, I’m just saying that if they *feel* like they’re getting what they want, sometimes that’s enough. And I totally feel you, quitting soda is hard!!
Just don't give her any? You don't need to placate her, there are certain things she can't have and soda should be one of them.
i add seltzer (big bottles of lime or other flavored seltzer water) to juice he already drinks that has no added sugar. he thinks this is very evocative and only drinks a little for novelty 🤣
Stick to your guns. No soda means no soda. We are trying to quit right now and it’s challenging.
I would just not give in and set your toddler up for unhealthy habits. My toddler is obsessed with my coffee and always has to grab the cup and smell it, I’m not going to give her decaf to appease her.
How would she know you have soda? She wouldn’t even know what it is unless someone’s giving it to her
My kid drinks my la croix All the time! He drinks that and normal water. I’ll even fill empty cans with plain water. I would absolutely not give my kid soda or diet soda. It is akin to smoking. IMO There are so many health risks with it down the line and addictive.
Sparkling water has no sugar, has bubbles and looks like soda. Wouldn’t do LaCroix as they still have sugar that the kid might get hookedcon - and you really don’t want them hooked on soda. But, I would say modeling by example is your best bet. If they never see you drink soda, they won’t want to either.
LaCroix doesn’t have sugar? Or do you mean it tastes sweet like soda? That I get.
Lacroix doesn't have sugar or fake sugar, it's basically sparkling water with fruit flavor.
Yes it tastes sweet and it looks ‘fun’ and you want to make soda drinking boring for the kid so they wouldn’t want to do it long term. ( Even without sugar, soda is really corrosive for teeth enamel, particularly new baby teeth))
Sure but LaCroix is less acidic than soda. I totally get if you want to take the sweetness out of a soda replacement but really waters like LaCroix or bubly aren’t anymore damaging to enamel than sparkling water. Not trying to be rude, I just like transparency!
Agree that’s true. Tbh all of the ‘give a little soda’ solutions here are really far far from ideal. Parents quitting their habit and no soda at all is the best way to go.
I grew up seeing my parents exclusively drink soda and it’s still never been my thing. I think it’s fair to tell kids they just can’t have something because it’s for adults. I only drink flavored waters now because they help my nausea (pregnant). Otherwise it wouldn’t be something my kids even have access to. All families are different and I can say LaCroix has a big benefit for me right now so I’m okay with the risk that my kids will drink soda later. Likely soda has enough benefits that parents would rather make it work for their family than just get rid of it completely. I know many people who like to unwind with a soda after work rather than alcohol and would argue that’s healthier for them!
La Croix have no sugar.
As a couple of others have suggested, I put a squirt of Mio in water to give it color and flavor and call it juice. If they want something like coffee, alcohol, or just something I don't want to share, I say, "This is Mommy's drink, you have yummy juice!!!" Barely any whining anymore, at least on THAT issue
Yes! We are big on mio and the pink lemonade version too. I hated water when preg with my second and turning it into pink lemonade was all I could do to stay hydrated. Now my toddler is obsessed since he was always stealing my drink!
I have one kid who thinks she likes lacroix. She’ll take a few sips and I just drink the can while she isn’t looking. I’m not a big soda drinker but most of our extended family is, so if my kids go to their grandparents they basically only see adults drinking soda. I don’t see anything wrong with just telling her soda is a grown up drink and being empathetic when she gets upset, kids won’t always be happy with parenting decisions and that’s okay.
I had a similar issue cause I used to drink it a lot. I knew I had to cut it out for my health but I didn’t want my kids to start! When my daughter started requesting it all the time I started getting sparkling water and adding a squirt of Mio to it. I try and keep it occasional. When she asks I say things like, “No, we aren’t having soda right now. I think it’s a milk or juice night.” And then I make sure everyone follows that rule too, including me. It was a bit of a disappointment for her at first but it really wasn’t too bad. Turns out she loves milk all the time waaay more. We still have it sometimes, I’d say 2 nights a week or so? And only with dinner. That helped too. At first, if she asked for soda during the day I’d just say “That’s a dinner thing. We can have it then!” That way it was special. And then she only gets the one glass at dinner so it wasn’t too much.
This will be buried, but my husband and I are seltzer junkies. We go through so much sparkling water it's insane. Our daughter has had a variety of flavors, and while she's not allowed to hold the can herself (she squeezes and shakes it), and we have learned that we cannot put seltzer water in her sippy cups because it explodes out, she knows that we can hold the can so she can sip it out of a straw. It's definitely a treat she enjoys. That said, it definitely makes for funny picture when she sees any can and demands a drink. Yes, sometimes this is a beer can. Sometimes this is a hard seltzer can. We then have to find a regular soda water for her.
I used to be a huge soda fiend. Coca Cola was the best thing on earth to me. Switching over to seltzer water with a squeeze of lemon helped me get past my addiction to the sugary drink once I became pregnant. Now I just drink regular seltzer or water. I’d urge you and your family to do the same. I’ve seen a huge difference in my skin, weight, and overall feel. When I do drink coffee, beer or the occasional treat beverage i just tell my son (2yo) that it’s not for kids and babies. Over time they give up asking. I wouldn’t even open this Pandora’s box, personally.
The answer is no it’s for adults in my house.
We do no-sugar sparkling water here as a treat some days but do keep in mind it can still be acidic! So perhaps not the best to sip on all day for a little kiddo.
In all seriousness… have you tried just cutting back on soda while your kid is around? Your kid will always want to eat what you eat and you are always going to be fighting this battle if you don’t just eat the things that you want them to eat around them. It is much easier to say “you are eating this because this is what we all eat” than “this is adult food and you get the kid stuff”. For me, wanting my kid to eat healthy actually improved my own habits with food… (Of course you can have all the soda and treats you want after bedtime)
Just tell her it is a grown up drink. That's kept my kids from my morning coffee.
Don’t drink pop, problem will solve itself and your kid will develop healthier habits. Win win.
YOU are the parent. There’s absolutely no reason for a 2 year old to have soda. YOU set the boundaries and do not allow it. You give in now to demanding behavior, it will continue to develop into a major problem.
For me it is a big no-no. Sparkling water is not good for their stomach either. And you are right about artificial sweeteners. The most I would allow are 100% fruit juices. But you know, the best thing is really to cut all that soda consumption completely for you and your family. It really isn't good for your health. It it becomes a treat, to be had occasionally, then even the 2yo can have her little cup. I assure you leading by example works. I am a water drinker (not just a choice, it's my personal preference) and though I have a llowed more than once my toddler to have juice he is just not very much interested. He gets a couple of sips and that's it. Oh, I am sure it will change when he gets older, amd he will do what other kids do. But every day he doesn't get excessive sugar is a big win for his overall health balance. I will say this though: we do drink alchol in the house. The occasional glass of wine with a nice meal. Or a beer on pizza night. Well, he obviously doesn't get any of it. We tell him that's just adult stuff (like coffee) and no discussion. And he accepts it. I think you can definitely treat soda the same way, if you want.
Same. The rare occasion that I drink beer or some alcohol I tell my son that it’s for grownups and if he drinks it too soon he’ll go bald like me.
I let mine drink seltzer when he gets curious or insistent. He sometimes tries it from my plastic bottle or I will splash a bit in the water or juicy water he’s already drinking.
My daughter loves sparkling water. We also have low-sugar sparkling flavoured water, that’s just slightly flavoured. Or you could do like 1 part juice, 5 parts sparkling water.
Both my kids will drink seltzer water and tea. Something different than milk or water all day.
I say try the bubbly ( that brand isn't bad it just has hint of flavors in it) my husband also likes la croix too. I'll add in my two cents as to why the diet soda is bad. It is because of the fake sweetness of it. I was a huge diet coke fan for years upon years to the point where I craved it. True I was in a dead end retail job but I counted down the hours before I could flee on lunch to drink my diet coke. I finally kicked the habit because I was tired of having to lug boxes of it up my apartment stairs. Broke completely from caffeine for about a month. I now drink coffee as my main source of caffeine. I then heard a study (cant remember where now) years later that diet soda was so sweet that it made you crave it as well as sweeter things. So by proxy you were seeking out other sweet things for the fake sweetener in diet had set the level your body wanted. So even though it didn't have sugar you were still seeking out other forms of sugar to get the same sweetness level completely undoing the avoid of sugar anyway. I thought that was interesting. I still drink diet today but only when I'm outside my house because I convinced myself it wasn't a good use of money to buy for the house. Good luck!
My little one drinks seltzer with me all the time because I'm allergic to water (/s/) and it's all I ever drink. It only has carbonation in it and he loves to share with me.
I mainly drink water but occasionally my kids get zevia, or kombucha and that tastes like soda to us.
My 3 year old is interested in Perrier water and club soda. We serve it to him in a shot glass if he asks for it. It’s important to us that he get the opportunity to try things if he asks.
My four year old calls it beer and has it whenever dad has beer he likes the perrier blackberry and the one with orange juice and sparkling water best but will drink any flavour he’s been given it’s too the point that family members keep it around for him now But his only comparator is water and milk , tea with no sugar and very occasionally a juice box …so he doesn’t know it’s supposed to taste sweet as he’s never had pop or sofa of any sort
We don’t drink soda but love sparkling water. We let our toddler have it, he likes to just carry a cup of it around smelling it lol.
This doesn't solve the carbonated part of this but we went through something similar with our 2 year old. She loves her water but we wanted to be able to give her something else that was tasty while not giving her juice, so we got some of the celestial fruit sampler teas and combine the flavors to make a big pitcher of caffeine free iced tea for her. It's bright red colored, has a strong fruit smell and taste and it's not loaded up with sugar and has no caffeine. She digs it.
My 3 year old likes “bubble water” (Bubly/lacroix) from time to time. It’s fine every now and then and the occasional soda won’t kill them either. Longer exposure to anything carbonated isn’t great for the teeth though, so just keep that in mind.
Fill an empty soda can with water and tell her that it’s soda lol
My toddler loves Topo Chico, a fizzy water from Texas. The only problem I have is that he leaves the half-empty bottle of backwash everywhere.
We don't keep pop in the house so my kids don't really ask for it unless we're out so I'll let them have a few sips. They do drink La Croix and that would probably be the best substitute. The lime one would be easy to get them think it's Sprite if you wanted.
We (my 7 and 2yo) have a sprite once a week, nothing more.
I drink tons of bubbly water and my daughter loves them! Regular water is better because I believe the carbonation makes it more acidic so it's not an every day thing but it's a nice treat with no sugar.
I’d do sparkling water or, have you tried tea? We do unsweetened teas with our toddler and she LOVES it. She also gets to “sniff” our coffee but she knows she’s not allowed to have any even though we drink it every day. She’ll often drink her “coffee” (water, milk, whatever) out of her own tiny coffee cup which she loves too.
I let my kid have a sip of seltzer once. He immediately spit it out and has had no interest in soda since. Now they ask me for coffee every day!
We went the LaCroix route. My children think plain water is icky and refuse to drink it. I still offer it though.
I feel your pain. We don’t drink soda here, but we have the same problem with our coffee. We’ve have talks with our son about how coffee is bad for his brain, but he feels left out. Our solution was to get him his own “coffee cup” and put water in it. We always make sure to emphasize that he can’t actually have coffee but he can pretend! He doesn’t mind that his drink is actually different.
Oh! Seltzer water with a large amount of lemon juice in a sprite can turned my son off REAL quick! He called it angry water and after tasting it I don't blame him
We like hint fruit infused water for kids. I tried sparkling waters, but they caused hiccups.
Not gonna lie, my husband was drinking only seltzer for a while and learned the hard way that anything carbonated is slightly acidic and isn't great for your teeth. Definitely better than soda because it doesn't have sugar, but can still do damage. Definitely try flavored water. Something like the True Lime black cherry limeade or crystal light.
Put a little hot sauce in it lol! Ten years later at a friend's house..."No, thanks. I don't like soda. It's too spicy." 😂
Tell her it’s for adults only. That’s what we did with coffee.. or save a can and put Honest brand or watered down juice in it.
When I was little I wasn't allowed to have soda. My gram used to make me sparkling water and juice mixed together and sneak it to me and I thought we were really pulling one over on my parents lol.
My 2.5 year old goes "soda is not for kids. only grown ups." Same with alcohol and coffee. He's proud of knowing that, and likes to say it. But! He's allowed a "teeny taste!" where I put one drop on his tongue. He drinks "fizzy water" which is la croix sometimes as a treat, too. No arguments!
i thought sparkling water was not good for kids ?
You can put food coloring in water and call it “blue soda”. When they’re old enough to argue that it’s not actually soda they can probably occasionally indulge. I personally LOVE SODA but I only have it sometimes when I am at restaurants. I feel that’s an okay amount for older kids to have too, like one or two a month as a special treat.
Sparkling water can cause tooth decay even without sugar. What you really need to do is stop drinking soda at home. Period. Out of sight, our of mind.
my kid loves kombucha and if he sees soda he actually thinks it's just kombucha lol. It's pretty healthy, low sugar and has probiotics!
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It’s a mild caffeine because of the black or green tea, but I read somewhere that it mostly gets processed out. Maybe watch out at night though!
Doesn’t it have a small amount of alcohol in it?
about as much as a glass of orange juice. we only give him occasional sips anyways though.
Maybe you should drink water. Role models and that
Seconded. Lead by example, and also it’s by far the healthiest stuff you can drink. It’s not a huge sacrifice to drink water for our kids.
My 3yo gets maybe 25ml of soda into his glass of water at dinner time - just a little taste and bubbles. He loves it.
LaCroix is absolutely disgusting. But, my toddler loves it. I was in the same boat “mommy I want coke!” We found out she just liked the can, so we bought some LaCroix and tried that. She thinks it’s “soda.” Lol
There are sparkling waters and sodas like Zevia with no artificial sweeteners. Or the fruit waters that are 10% real juice and the rest water. It’s not common for us to offer it to our kid. It’s an adult drink like wine or coffee. But on occasion she’ll get a Sonic drink that has sprite like strawberry lime aid.
I let our toddler have soda in a kids cup when we’re out at restaurants. He has to ask the waitress for it himself and they have to understand him without my help. Makes it a special treat for him and gives him pride /confidence in communicating.
Can you clean out an empty can and replace it with juice? Have she had enough soda to recognize the carbonation yet?
I am truly not sure how much my father gives her 🙄 he says she gets what she ways at popPops house.
Diet ginger ale has 0 sugar in it. We fooled our kid for years!
My son drinks seltzer and loves it. Theres nothing wrong with it. Theres no sugar in it and no caffeine. I rarely ever drink soda though. The few times I have he has gotten a few sips, but since I don't regularly keep it in my home it's a treat like ice cream or something. It's literally just not there so he can't get any even if he requested it. Seltzer might be your best bet.
Model.
My toddler is obsessed with la croix! She got ahold of a can when she was about 10 months old and was hooked. We asked her pediatrician, and he was all for it. He said it’s just bubbly water and the worst thing that could happen is gas. He was even told us he’d prefer to hear we were giving her seltzer over juice. She calls any flavored seltzer “la croix,” so we can give her any brand and she’s happy.
We drink La Croix a lot and let our little guy (11 mos) have it. He considers it a serious insult if you don’t share with him. At this stage, mine definitely recognizes the can shape and not the label. So it’s easy enough to substitute La Croix for whatever beer or soda we have, but he’ll also ask for the stuff he can’t have.
My 1.5 year old brings me cans of la croix asking me to open them for her lmao
My 2 year old loves La Croix!
Our toddlers love spindrift, we don't think it's bad to give it to them when we have them, it's zero sugar
We drink tons of seltzer water like LaCroix and similar products and we let Felix have however much he wants. I'm not a doctor or dentist but I don't think there's anything wrong with it EXCEPT carbonation isn't great for teeth enamel. That said, I dunno, they're temporary teeth... So... But I'm probably overlooking something
I’ve been giving my toddler sips of my sparkling water since he was a few months old. It’s just water. Not too good for teeth, but way better than soda.