Am I wrong? Should the teacher let?

miami85

Tue, Apr 09 2024, 2:26 pm

My preschooler is in a class with a morah who is very nutrition conscious--like when there's a kiddush in shul brings her own food for her kids. My daughter has been liking flavor enhanced water--like Mio or the store generics (we have hard water and this helps my kids drink more water). They are 0 calorie but sweetened--I know that the super health conscious would object to artificial sweeteners, but in my mind it's getting my daughter to drink water and nutritionally it is still "water" and not juice or soda. My daughter came home today and told me "my morah won't let me drink 'juice' after lunch". I informed the teacher that it's not "juice" or "koolaid punch" but a 0-calorie alternative to water. I know that the school doesn't allow "soda" for preschoolers, but shouldn't they be encouraging water in any form?

Comptroller

Tue, Apr 09 2024, 2:29 pm

miami85 wrote:

I agree with the teacher, and I'm not "health food crazy".

I suppose it will take 2-3 weeks to get a child weaned off sweetened drinks, but it is really a good habit to learn to drink just plain water.

Last edited by Comptroller on Tue, Apr 09 2024, 2:31 pm; edited 1 time in total

amother

Lemonlime

Tue, Apr 09 2024, 2:30 pm

I can imagine the other kids being jealous & also wanting "juice" so I think it's ok for the teacher to not allow.

I also agree with the above poster. Rather give a bit of juice with the water than artificial sweetener.

amother

Dodgerblue

Tue, Apr 09 2024, 2:35 pm

My daughter's school doesn't make a big deal of juice if it's in a reusable non-tranparent bottle. Maybe try that. However I would make my own healthy version of flavors water. Take your own water and add a tiny drop of Grape juice, apple juice to it. That's actually healthy

notshanarishona

Tue, Apr 09 2024, 2:38 pm

Personally as a teacher I wouldn’t make a big deal but it’s pretty standard to only allow water unless it’s meal time when they get juice. Do your child a favor and teach her to drink plain water now.

mom37

Tue, Apr 09 2024, 2:39 pm

I think there are two issues at play here:

1) Health of your child
2) Does morah have right to decide what your daughter has for lunch or is this only parent’s domain

Addressing issue #1 - artificial sweeteners really are terrible for a person. I would not give it to my child nor do I ingest them myself.

Issue #2: a lot of morahs won’t allow juice or soda because they can result in hyperactivity due to high sugar content. I don’t think you can say the same for artificial sweeteners so you could make that argument.

But I think issue #1 more important issue.

WonderIma

Tue, Apr 09 2024, 2:40 pm

I generally have an issue with Morahs making their own decisions on things like this. When I send my kid to a school, I am agreeing to the school's rules and policies; not the personal policies of the individual morah that my kids are assigned to. Either this included in the school "soda" policy or it isn't. Is there a written policy that is more clear?

That said, I agree with the other posters that it probably isn't a good choice for you as parent to make. I am not judging at all, because I know how difficult some kids can be, and can totally relate to compromising some things for sanity purposes. I don't know if this could be a compromise alternative, but there are unsweetened flavored waters like "hint" https://www.amazon.com/Hint-Fr.....WOVX4

notshanarishona

Tue, Apr 09 2024, 2:45 pm

WonderIma wrote:

Most schools have a rule only allowing water to be brought

amother

Trillium

Tue, Apr 09 2024, 2:51 pm

Firstly any drinks flavorings like mio are so bad for you if you need look into Nuun tablets

But for a preschooler?!?!

💯 At that age teachers isn't wrong because it appears like a juice for other kids...

miami85

Tue, Apr 09 2024, 3:14 pm

Comptroller wrote:

I learned the opposite--flavoring the water is better than them drinking sugary drinks and keeping kids properly hydrated is better than them not drinking at all.

The water where we live has a taste that doesn't work for everyone. I tolerate it but not all of my kids do and constantly buying water bottles adds up.

Most nutritionists will say artificial sweeteners are not a problem.

miami85

Tue, Apr 09 2024, 3:15 pm

notshanarishona wrote:

Most schools have a rule only allowing water to be brought

But this IS water, just slightly flavored, if it was infused with lemon, strawberries or cucumbers, is that different?

mizle10

Tue, Apr 09 2024, 3:22 pm

miami85 wrote:

But this IS water, just slightly flavored, if it was infused with lemon, strawberries or cucumbers, is that different?

It's sugary sweet neon water...

I'm really really not health conscious at all but to me it's the same as fruit punch. My kids school wouldn't either allow it.

miami85

Tue, Apr 09 2024, 3:25 pm

amother Trillium wrote:

It's a few drops of the flavoring, there is absolutely no evidence that artificial sweeteners in that amount is dangerous. If a full 1 liter of flavored seltzer is 10 calories, there's no harm in a few drops of flavoring. Please.