I’m a relatively liberal mom, but there was one thing I was never willing to do: allow my baby to try soda. It’s probably easier because I don’t really drink soda at all, so it wasn’t much of an issue. I will admit, though, that there were plenty of times when I was horrified watching a friend share soda with babies who hadn’t even hit a year old yet.

It wasn’t just soda that horrified me, but pretty much anything caffeinated was left out of my baby’s drink repertoire. I remember going out to eat with one of the Grandmas who reached over to offer my baby a sip of caffeinated iced tea, and I leaped into action so quickly you would think Grandma had offered her poison.

I guess I’m just afraid my babies would get one taste of that stuff and then relentlessly demand it forevermore. My daughter was over two years old when she finally got a taste of soda, and if I remember right it was decaffeinated root beer. She’s four now, and I think she has had her own soda once. My son is two and still has never had his own soda before.

I don’t know…something about giving babies soda really creeps me out.

It’s not like I tell my kids, “No sodas!” but instead we just don’t really have these drinks available in our house. I hope this doesn’t eventually backfire on me and when my kids head to school they go a little crazy with soda consumption. I just don’t want them to think that every time we sit down to eat it merits a drink of soda.

How do the rest of you deal with this issue?

Tags: caffeine, healthy choices, pop, soda