What do American 4 yr olds drink?

steveyjc81

DIS Veteran
Joined
Sep 18, 2010
Hi All,
We'll be in the parks / disney cruise and wondered what US 4 year old kids drink? Over here, when we are out my daughter will drink Milk and a kids drink call "Fruit Shoots", which is a sugar free flavoured water.

I'm not too keen on her getting a taste for Coke/Diet Coke at such an early age, and she's not a big plain water drinker, so I'm happy to learn about what I can get her in the US.

Thanks, Stevey
 
There are plenty of kid friendly non coke drinks available. My DD, now 7, still mainly survives on apple juice and lemonade when we are at the parks. We also bring flavor packets to mix into water because we all know how picky kids can be.
 
water, juice, milk, some have lemonade, or tea. There are also reduced sugar Gatorade/Powerade. Some kids also drink tea. There are powdered flavoring packets you can add to water to give it some taste without sugar/calories like Crystal Light
 
They sell Fruit Shoots in many American gas stations. I buy them for my kids all the time. I don't think they had them at the parks, but they do have apple juice, Powerade, regular water (you can bring in your own flavoring packets), and I think I've seen flavored water at the resorts in the drink coolers. Milk is everywhere. Usually lemonade and iced tea as well (and you can almost always get the tea unsweetened). You should have plenty of non-soda options.
 
I did not allow my kids to have caffeinated beverages before age 5, even then it is very limited. I also found that all of my kids had an initial distaste for sparkling beverages (called them "spicy"). Anyhow, we mostly did milk, water, and then sometimes 100% juice or diluted juice. When eating out, I would let them get various juices (which are sometimes more a juice and sugar water mix than 100% juice), sprite, lemonade, chocolate milk, and milk. At 4, my oldest would have chosen juice whenever he could, my middle would have always chosen milk or chocolate milk, and my youngest would choose lemonade.
I also find that servers in the U.S. will generally ask a parent. My now 6-year-old son went to the World of Coca Cola on a summer field trip and developed a taste for it, so he will request it when we eat out, and the server always confirms that it is okay with me.
 
We drink a lot of water. Our girls will not drink flavored water of any kind and we've tried them all. I'm an "old" mom so I'll admit my girls drink chocolate milk and soda. They are also big white milk drinkers.
 


My kids only drink plain water(lucky for us they love it)and milk, and very very rarely apple juice. My kids wont touch soda until middle school if we can help it. Americans have a very unhealthy addiction to the stuff.

Like most previous posters said. Free water is available at all quick service restaurants so bring your only sugar free flavoring in if your kids don’t like plain water. You’ll need to bring it from home or visit an offsite store(not sure if the on-site gas stations stock it or not).
 
My kids drank milk, chocolate milk, water, and occasionally juice but we sometimes watered it down. No soda. We also watered down the Hi-C fruit drinks in the refillable mugs for them. We didn't do the lemonade at WDW if it was the sugar-free because of the artificial sweeteners.
 
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Personally my kids only drink water, milk, fruit juice, and sometimes lemonade if we are out somewhere special like a restaurant. Lately they also ask to share my "fizzy water" (flavored sparkling water). At Disney I usually bring water bottles. You can refill them by asking for cups of water at a quick service.
 
My kids only drink plain water(lucky for us they love it)and milk, and very very rarely apple juice. My kids wont touch soda until middle school if we can help it. Americans have a very unhealthy addiction to the stuff.

Like most previous posters said. Free water is available at all quick service restaurants so bring your only sugar free flavoring in if your kids don’t like plain water. You’ll need to bring it from home or visit an offsite store(not sure if the on-site gas stations stock it or not).
I'm sure its not only Americans who have an addiction to soda. We've traveled to several places
My kids only drink plain water(lucky for us they love it)and milk, and very very rarely apple juice. My kids wont touch soda until middle school if we can help it. Americans have a very unhealthy addiction to the stuff.

Like most previous posters said. Free water is available at all quick service restaurants so bring your only sugar free flavoring in if your kids don’t like plain water. You’ll need to bring it from home or visit an offsite store(not sure if the on-site gas stations stock it or not).
This may surprise you but many American families do not raise their children addicted to soda. I think your comment is a little harsh. We've traveled out of the USA several times and find soda readily available. I'm sure the restaurants don't keep soda to appease Americans. Allowing a child to have an occasional soda does not mean your starting an addiction.
 
Water or watered down apple juice usually for my 4 yr. old granddaughter.
 
My kids were never allowed soda until they were 7 or 8, and even then it was once or twice a year (usually spritzers at holidays made with a splash of juice and some 7up or ginger ale). Even now at 12 and 10 they know soda is a special occasion drink and enjoy it when it's allowed, but they drink water and milk by the gallons. Once in a while we do fruit juice or chocolate milk, but that's not a regular thing.

Bring a refillable water bottle into the parks with you, all of the QS stands will give out a cup of fresh water if you don't feel comfortable using the outdoor water fountains to fill up. We had no problem with the water fountains when we were there last year.
 
I'm sure its not only Americans who have an addiction to soda. We've traveled to several places

This may surprise you but many American families do not raise their children addicted to soda. I think your comment is a little harsh. We've traveled out of the USA several times and find soda readily available. I'm sure the restaurants don't keep soda to appease Americans. Allowing a child to have an occasional soda does not mean your starting an addiction.

I'm a southern American who drank too much soda as a child : ).

Americans definitely consume too much soda as a whole(it certainly does not apply to all families). It should be a treat like ice cream, not something served with a meal IMHO.
 
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