Soda in the bottle
By kellyt82
@kellyt82 (204)
United States
April 29, 2009 6:38pm CST
I witnessed something today that I found quite shocking. I had to take my baby to the doctor's office, and the waiting room was filled with parents and their children. There was one woman there with her three children. One of them was just a baby, a very young baby. The baby was not able to sit up, could barely hold her head up, and was tiny. I am assuming the baby was under four months old. I was very shocked when I noticed her bottle. She was drinking a bright green bubbly beverage. I really think the baby was drinking Mountain Dew or some form of it! I am actually apalled. I felt like that mother was giving the baby something she definately did not need. I really feel that a baby that age should not be drinking soda. Am I overreacting? Does anyone else find this shocking?
3 people like this
24 responses
@utubez9195 (32)
• Canada
30 Apr 09
I don't find this entirely shocking, since alot of kids these days are overweight/ obese basically because it is the parent's fault. They are the ones who are supposed to give proper food that has lots of nutrition in it. I feel that many parents these days are unaware of the dangers of someone who is obese/ overweight espeically children. Even kids should be limited to the amount of pop they drink. What about a baby? Well I'd say that either they ran out of baby formula or the parent is completely clueless.
2 people like this
@sophie_dfuss (2365)
• Philippines
30 Apr 09
If its really soda in a feeding bottle thats really shocking. I think its just a green tea in a feeding bottle. I saw my baby pics when I grew up and saw that I have "something brown" in my feeding bottle, I asked my mother what was that and she told me that its tea in my bottle. I don't think a mother would gave her baby a soda. Maybe you are overreacting at the incident you saw, no offense.
1 person likes this
@kellyt82 (204)
• United States
1 May 09
Well green tea is not carbonated, and this definately was. Some one else mentioned that it could be one of the bubbly types of medicine, which is true, but the one of the other kids had an actual can of soda. So you may not believe that it was soda, but it very well could have been!
@bellaofchaos (11538)
• United States
30 Apr 09
No if the baby is that young .. Why would anyone give them Mt.Dew. grrr. At least it wasn't the blue mountain dew... But to be honest it could be worse. I have to say that this is not shocking behavior with the rise in young mothers and mothers that are just completely oblivious. I feel bad for the kid but I'm sure the doctor will probably say something to her if he sees. that. Now if it was a bright white or yellowish I would say that the babt was drinking a barium mixture. My daughter had to drink a barium mixture so that they could properly diagnose her with gerd( acid reflux.)Sigh!!!! But in this day and age anything and everything is possible.
1 person likes this
@bellaofchaos (11538)
• United States
30 Apr 09
ohh by the way even if she was young that doesn't mean that she doesn't know any better ... I was 20 when I had my first child and I knew better than to give her mt.dew. I currently have five kids and if they do drink soda it's caffiene free as treat or diet caffiene ... I usually give them juice or water or flavored water.
1 person likes this
@magrylouyu (1627)
• United States
29 Apr 09
No, you are not over-reacting. At the same time I do not find it shocking either. Expessially if she was a young mother. I have noticed that young parents (not all of them) just dont care when they give their children or what other people say. It's sad today to see what some parents actually give their children at an early age. I'm not saying I'm perfect. I became a mom shortly before I was 18. I fed both my daughters (now 4 and 5) cereal around 2-3 months because they were drinking way too much formula during a 24 hour period. I dont do everything by the "book". Although my children are almost school aged they still do not drink soda. On the rare occasion they will take a sip or 2 of mine and that's it. They have very little to none through out the year. I just wish these parents could see the harm they could be doing to their child.
1 person likes this
@magrylouyu (1627)
• United States
30 Apr 09
I completely hear you. I am 23 and I know better. I just wish some people knew better as well.
@Manna02 (86)
• United States
29 Apr 09
The first thing that came to mind is: did she forget formula, traveled some distance to the doctor's office, and happens to have a can of pop in the diaper bag? If she was just putting something in the bottle to hold the baby over since there was no formula, she should have definately just went to a sink and filled the bottle with some water. How about pedialyte? Does that ever come in a bright green color like Mountain Dew? Perhaps there is another explanation for the mysterious substance in the bottle.
1 person likes this
@Modestah (11179)
• United States
30 Apr 09
though there are medications which are effervescent and have a bubbly effect to them. and even seltzer water would not be a terrible thing as it has no sugar but it does contain sodium and would help bolster electrolytes... maybe a mixture of pedialyte and seltzer? thing is we do not know what it was.
koolaide is just as damaging as many sodas - with the exception of colas and cafenated beverages, I would guess.
fruit juices/beverages are also loaded with sugars... mother's milk the most perfect food is also sugary.
I would just be cautious to not assume what is in the bottle. maybe asking the mother if curiosity is too much.
my first child only had water in a bottle - and that with a sippy type cover instead of a nipp1e on it. Now, he had bad teeth due to a complication in my pregnancy coupled with medications he was on and a well meaning dental assistant
gave me heck about what she perceived to be his suckling on a bottle nipp1e and her assumption that THAT was the cause of his bad teeth... not even ascertaining that he was drinking clear water. It was humiliating for me to say the least.
@getnbuy (1312)
• United States
30 Apr 09
I saw a special on the people of Apalachia and they fed their babies Mt. Dew. Everybody drank it and their teeth were all rotten. After that airing Mt. Dew started a public awareness campaign. Ofcourse babies should not have Mt. Dew. Niether should kids. In my opinion nobody should!
1 person likes this
@Modestah (11179)
• United States
30 Apr 09
if it was indeed flavored soda I would be concerned... but since you were at the doctor's office there is a fare chance that the infant was the one seeing the doctor and that what was in the bottle could have been a medicated solution - maybe something for boosting the electrolytes. With what we perceive of other parents I think it is a good rule to not jump to conclusions and always try to think the best of others.
1 person likes this
@Bebs08 (10681)
• United States
30 Apr 09
it really is shocking!! how can a mother feed her baby with soda? Are you really sure it is soda? hahaha it might be milk in another color? LOL. No mother in her right mind would let her baby drink with soda drink. It is kind of weird why she did that?
@kellyt82 (204)
• United States
1 May 09
I actually did not ask. I just observed. I just wanted to get everyone's opinion. The one thing that really made me believe that it was soda, though, was the fact that one of the older kids was drinking a can of soda. It was not Mountain Dew, but it was a green can of some sort of generic soda.
@froggieslover (3069)
• United States
30 Apr 09
I don't think that you are overreacting at all. I think some parents would give their kids poo if it would keep them quiet for awhile not realizing what it is doing to them.
My kids are going to be ten and eight in less than a month and they hardly ever get soda, they made have a cup of soda once a month. We usually only give them soda on special occasions..other than that they are drinking water or juice. My kids are actually real big fans of water, they will drink close to three cups a day and that is on their own. I am not saying that my kids are never allowed to have soda but I think giving a baby that is still on a bottle soda is way way too young..they are going to rot their teeth before they even come in.
1 person likes this
@Carolysom (62)
• Canada
30 Apr 09
THAT IS HORRIBLE!! My son was at least a year and a half the first time he got pop and it was a little sip of mommy's because he wanted whatever mommy had. When they as little as that baby you saw how do you know that you cleaned their mouth well enough that you got it all? My mom works in a dental office and sees those kind of kids all the time. That baby's teeth will never grow right and will probably have to be pulled out before they are ready too.
I was in my public health nurse's office one time and asked about a poster they had on the wall. It showed a baby bottle 4 or 5 times that had different things in it. The bottles had dark soda, juice, milk, water and Kool-Aid or something similar to that. Beside each bottle was a stack of sugar cubes showing how much sugar was in each bottle. I was surprised at how much sugar was also in the Kool-Aid, if I remember right it was either the same or very close to the soda. I asked the nurse if soda is really that common to find in bottle and she responded something along the line of "You would be surprised how many people give their babies soda"
1 person likes this
@subi21 (72)
• India
30 Apr 09
How can a mother do this to her kid that too 4 or 5 months old one. Oh no....why are these ppl hardly caring their children. I dont understand. You know.I had resigned my job to look after my kid. And I gave utmost attention to my kid in all factors especially feeding. We should always ensure our child is getting healthy and hygenic food. Otherwise it will affect children 's health. Ok we can give soda to taste or like for any stomach pain or acidity that too 1 or 2 tea spoon but not at all for a child who is 4 months old.
@chastity7 (104)
• United States
30 Apr 09
No you are not overreacting. I know of several people who have given their small children (not that small, maybe a year or so) soda, and they have had to have their teeth removed because of baby bottle tooth decay. That is bad news. Not to mention, all the caffeine in that soda, you can imagine what that is doing to that little baby. Think about it, you know that jittery feeling you get when you've had too many cups of coffee, that's because you've had too much caffeine. I can only imagine what that is doing to that little baby! This is wrong on so many levels. I guess there are just too many stupid people out there that do not deserve to have kids!! Just my opinion!
@awedinary (56)
• Singapore
30 Apr 09
I find it shocking a mother would give a young baby a soft drink. Maybe she was ignorant to the fact it was bad for the baby's health.
1 person likes this
@cher913 (25782)
• Canada
29 Apr 09
was she foreign? perhaps she didnt know better? anyways, that is so wrong on so many levels such as a - all that sugar for the baby's new teeth and gums and b - getting the baby used to all that sugar and nasty stuff. i drink maybe one soda a month. i just dont really like soda that much.
@mrbranan (1012)
• United States
30 Apr 09
I agree that is way to young. I feel when a baby is that young and you give them something sweet like that then it forms bad habbits. What is going to happen when that child gets to be three and wants nothing but soda and chips. She should be ashamed of herself. She is doing her child a disservice.
1 person likes this
@momtrying2makeit (3270)
• United States
29 Apr 09
That does seem really young under a year giving a kid pop. I myself do not really like giving my girls who are 7 and 8 pop. I do let them have it once in awhile but not everyday. I would rather them drink like milk or juice. But on the other hand I also feel that this baby is this womens and it is her personal choice if she wants to give her child a pop. I guess she will be having many visits to the dentist. Take care and happy mylotting to you. 
@sysdexlicwriter (1619)
• United States
30 Apr 09
I wonder if the doctor saw this when she was called into the office. I wonder if he/she would have said something to stop the behavior. I can't imagine a baby even being able to tolerate Mountain Dew. It is one of the highest pops for caffeine. I hope the doctor told her that pop damages the bone structure, along with a whole host of other reasons to stay away from it!
1 person likes this
@avizmanos888 (149)
• Philippines
8 Mar 10
Babies should not be drinking sodas. That is very dangerous to their health because of the preservatives but unless of course you were mistaken and that the liquid she was drinking was actually a medication.
