Babies should be introduced to a variety of foods once they hit the six-month mark. But parents should be careful of what foods they can introduce to their young infants. While fruits and vegetables top the list of foods to be introduced, parents may wonder about what foods to avoid. Soft drinks are delicious, and tempting, and often are considered a source of hydration. So are soft drinks for babies safe?
Not all foods are safe for babies and soft drinks are among the beverages you should avoid for your baby. The reasons are many from sugar addiction to long-term heath issues. Here is everything you need to know about soft drinks for babies and how they impact your baby’s health.
In This Article
- What Are Soft Drinks?
- Are Soft Drinks Safe For Babies?
- How do Sugary Drinks Affect Babies’ Health?
- Top 5 Reasons to Avoid Soft Drinks For Babies
- What Liquids Can Babies Have?
- Tips For Parents to Help Avoid Soft Drinks For Babies
- FAQ’s
What Are Soft Drinks?
Soft drinks are water-based flavored sweetened drinks. They may or may not be carbonated and may contain natural or artificial sweeteners. Some of them may also contain preservatives and food colorings. Some types of soft drinks may contain fruit in them but soft drinks are mostly artificially favored.
Soft drinks are notorious for being unhealthy since they contain artificial sugar, flavoring agents, and preservatives. They do not contain any nutritive value and are often loaded with high levels of empty calories.
Common types of soft drinks (1) include
- Aerated drinks
- Fruit squashes and concentrates
- Vitamin waters
- Flavored waters
- Sports drinks
Are Soft Drinks Safe For Babies?
No, soft drinks are not safe for babies. The high calorie and sugar levels, high levels of preservatives, and zero nutrition levels make them unsafe for growing babies.
For the first six months of their lives, babies should completely depend on breast milk for nutrition. In the sixth month, babies can start having solids to meet their body’s growing needs. During this time, apart from breast milk and formula, babies can start drinking small amounts of boiled and cooled water (2).
Other than breastmilk, formula milk, and water, babies should not have any other liquids unless recommended by a doctor or a pediatrician. Fruit juices may be limited or avoided for babies until they are at least a year old and soft drinks should be completely avoided (2A).
A baby’s appetite can be quite small and the foods they consume should be nutrient-dense (3). Since soft drinks have zero nutritive value in most cases, drinking them will make your baby feel full without providing them any nutrition (4).
Soft drinks like fizzy drinks and fruit squashes can have negative effects on a baby’s health. Their sugary and acidic content is bound to put hurdles on the emerging teeth of an infant (5).
Babies can get addicted to sugary drinks quickly (6) which may put them at risk of developing cardiovascular problems, obesity (7), and diabetes in the long run. Babies consuming soft drinks may also experience health issues such as diarrhea due to the sugar overload and the unhealthy effects of soft drinks.
How do Sugary Drinks Affect Babies’ Health?
The American Academy of Pediatrics says a big no to soft drinks before a baby’s first birthday. Sugary drinks can lead to the following consequences in babies.
- Poor nourishment
- Excessive weight gain
- Dental cavities and poor oral health
- High risk of gas, bloating, and diarrhea
- Dehydration due to diarrhea
Apart from this, parents should mold their little ones into liking healthy and nutritious food. Once a baby starts taking steps into the path of artificially sweetened flavors, it’s difficult to keep them away from indulging in junk food and drinks.
Introducing soft drinks at a young age will spoil their taste preferences and they’ll keep on demanding sweetened drinks. Rather than ruining their taste preferences in their later years, it’s better to completely keep soda away from babies.
In your baby’s early formative years, their definition of drinks should be limited to water and breastmilk or formula. As they grow older, they won’t expect all drinking items to be bustling with flavors. Infants whose parents take precautions to control their junk food and junk drink intake grow up to eat sweets in a balanced amount. Finally, the sentence ‘water is what all of us drink’ is one of the finest messages for your baby’s future health.
[Read : Is Mineral Water Safe For Your Baby?]
Top 5 Reasons to Avoid Soft Drinks For Babies
Sugary drinks such as soft drinks can have a major impact on your baby’s health both during consumption and in the long run as well. Here are some reasons to limit or avoid soft drinks for babies.
1. High Sugar Content
Your average soft drink can may contain 7 to 10 teaspoons of sugar (8). There are no nutrients in the soft drink to slow down the absorption of this high sugar content.
Most soft drinks also contain High-Fructose Corn Syrup or HFCS which is linked to hypertension (9). The high sugar content in soft drinks can lead to obesity, poor oral health, and diabetes in the long run.
2. High Caffeine Content
Soft drinks contain caffeine in varying levels, while some may be caffeine-free, others may have enough caffeine to cause harm to a growing baby (10).
3. Poor Nutrition Absorption
Regular intake of soft drinks is associated with poor nutrition absorption from food (11). In addition, babies have tiny stomachs and minimal appetite. Giving them soft drinks will keep them fuller for longer but with minimal to no nutrition.
4. Hampered Bone Health
The presence of sugar and sodium in soft drinks can accelerate calcium loss from the body (12). Babies need calcium for their proper growth and development and to maintain bone health. This calcium loss can lead to health issues and an increased risk of fractures.
5. Addiction to Sugary Foods
Babies are at a stage where their taste buds are developing and maturing. Exposing them to too much sugar at this stage may cause them to develop an unhealthy liking to all things sugary which can hamper their health and well-being in the long run.
[Read : Can You Give Packaged Juices To Your Baby?]
What Liquids Can Babies Have?
Babies who are yet to reach the six-month milestone should, and only be given breastmilk and infant formula. These provide all the nourishment that your little one needs at this stage. As babies grow, you can plan to introduce other healthier drinks, but soft drinks should always remain at a distance from your munchkin.
For 6 to 12 Month Old Babies
You can let your baby have boiled and cooled water from an open cup or a sippy cup. This way your infant will learn to hold the cup and drink from it and stop drinking from a bottle. Breast milk, formula, and water are the only healthy drinks for your baby at this stage.
For 12 Month Old babies
If your baby’s diet is well balanced with essential nutrients, then you can feed them pasteurized, unflavored, full-fat cow’s milk. Remember, babies under 2 years are not to be fed with reduced-fat milk. Your baby’s body is such a powerhouse of growth and development at this time that only full-fat milk can charge them up to fulfill their needs.
If your little one is eating fruits and vegetables, you don’t need to give them smoothies, fruit juices, or soft drinks. However, it’s understandable that you want to have your baby taste something fresh and delicious every once in a while. For such times, make sure you mix 10% fruit juice with 90% water.
Lastly, don’t feed your little one with juices marketed as 100% pure fruit juice. Most of them are not legit, therefore, it’s better to avoid them.
Tips For Parents to Help Avoid Soft Drinks For Babies
Here are some tips you can follow to ensure that your baby avoids soft drinks.
- Avoid storing soft drinks at home and consuming them in front of your baby.
- Set an example by eating healthy and having healthy fruits and vegetables in your home.
- Give diluted fruit juices and naturally flavored waters if you wish to give something different to your baby.
- You can try adding a slice of cucumber and a couple of sprigs of mint to flavor the water. You can try this out if your baby doesn’t show interest in drinking plain water.
- Remember, juices that claim to be 100% real or natural may still be unsafe for babies. So avoid them.
Soft drinks for babies are unsafe and must be avoided at all costs. Plain water, breast milk and formula are the best for your baby and enough to keep them hydrated. In situations where your baby is sick and dehydrated, you can give them ORS after consulting with your pediatrician.
Good food habits have their foundation at a very young age for babies. Teaching your baby to differentiate good foods from bad ones is an important aspect of raising them.
[Read : Feeding Cow’s Milk To Baby – Facts]
FAQ’s
1. Can Babies Drink Soft Drinks?
No, babies should not drink soft drinks. You should avoid giving soft drinks to your baby at all costs. Soft drinks may be high in sugars, empty calories, artificial colors, sweeteners, and preservatives all of which may harm your baby in different ways. Consumption of soft drinks can lead to poor nutrition absorption, stomach disturbances, and obesity.
2. When Can I Introduce Soft Drinks to My Baby?
Do not introduce soft drinks to your baby in their first year. They should only drink breast milk, formula, and boiled and cooled water during this period. You can introduce soft drink to your baby once they are two years old after getting a go-ahead from your pediatrician.
3. What Age Can Babies Drink Coke?
Avoid giving coke to your baby until they are at least two years old. Once your baby turns two, you may introduce coke in very small quantities after talking to your pediatrician. They should be given such drinks occasionally and not frequently or every day.
4. Why Can’t Babies Have Soft Drinks?
Soft drinks can be high in sugar and acid both of which can be detrimental to your baby’s health. The impact includes poor oral and digestive health. Giving soft drinks at this age may lead to sugar addiction which can cause health issues such as obesity, diabetes, and heart disease in the long run.
Read Also: Giving Fruit Juices To Babies
References
- Health Safety of Soft Drinks: Contents, Containers, and Microorganisms – [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4324883/]
- Beverage Consumption Patterns among Infants and Young Children (0–47.9 Months): Data from the Feeding Infants and Toddlers Study, 2016 – [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6073729/]
- Meat Helps Make Every Bite Count: An Ideal First Food for In… : Nutrition Today – [https://journals.lww.com/nutritiontodayonline/fulltext/2022/01000/meat_helps_make_every_bite_count__an_ideal_first.4.aspx]
- Effects of Soft Drink Consumption on Nutrition and Health: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis – [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1829363/]
- Impact of soft drinks to health and economy: a critical review | European Archives of Paediatric Dentistry – [https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40368-019-00458-0]
- Children’s Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Consumption: Striking Parallels With Substance Use Disorder Symptoms – [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7689136/]
- Soft Drinks in Schools | Pediatrics | American Academy of Pediatrics [https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article-abstract/113/1/152/63782/Soft-Drinks-in-Schools]
- Sugary Drinks | The Nutrition Source | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health – [https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/healthy-drinks/sugary-drinks/]
- Relationship between high fructose corn syrup sweetened drinks, diet soft drinks, and serum sodium: NHANES 2003-2006 – PubMed – [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36581871/]
- Caffeine Content of Energy Drinks, Carbonated Sodas, and Other Beverages – [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/7158834_Caffeine_Content_of_Energy_Drinks_Carbonated_Sodas_and_Other_Beverages]
- Effects of Soft Drink Consumption on Nutrition and Health: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis – [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1829363/]
- High Consumption of Soft Drinks Is Associated with an Increased Risk of Fracture: A 7-Year Follow-Up Study – [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7071508/]
