drink those energy drinks ?

Never :) :) I don't think that they are a good thing, although I know that my daughter has drunk them when driving a long way to help stay awake. They are full of chemicals and I can't see any good reason for them :) :) Depends how old your child is ?? My children were only allowed water, milk, fruit juice and tea when they were young. Drinks like coke were a real treat :)

We have let Dingo (8) have the occasional one ( the ones that turn you tongue red or blue !) when we are food shopping and by the end of the shop she is chatting none stop and bouncing off the shelves !

It is once in a blue moon and like everything I don't see any harm if it is an occasional
treat rather than a regular thing.

I'm with Daisy on this one - my children had enough energy naturally - didn't need extras to boost their natural energy supply!

No 1 son used to take one when he was working as a night-taxi driver, and had a 12 hour shift before driving 1 hour home - but they aren't part of his pack now he is preparing to walk the 100 km in 24 hours (London-Brighton) in May.

My grandchildren seem to bounce off the walls when they are allowed Coke!!

My oldest is 11 and she hasn't had one but only because she doesn't actually like them.  She would rather have a can of tango if she's allowed a treat!  She is now allowed to go ice skating at the weekend by herself(no parents but with friends!).  She gets money for the bus there and back and enough for her lunch too but she still never buys energy drinks or rubbish.  All my other kids are the same and would rather have coke!

I must be the only person that has tried them with no effect at all.  They don't keep me awake, or have me bouncing off the walls.

I must have something wrong with me, as I could drink several and still be as laid back as when I started.  :-(

My 16yr old son told me the other day that he was asked to prove he was 16 in order to buy one of those drinks...  I can't remember which one it was but it was a useful opportunity for us to talk about them.  I've never bought them fizzy drinks at home, and didn't allow either of my children to drink coke much at all until they were in double figures.  Fizzy drinks were a treat sometimes if we went out for a meal and I also kept them away from very sweet or highly coloured drinks.  As a result they often preferred the more natural fruit drinks.

Increasingly, at age 15 and 16, they buy the 'orrible stuff but it's a phase and at their age it's better than alcohol which would be the other thing I might worry about!!

Like others have reported, when my son was younger we almost had to scrape him off the ceiling if someone gave him coke, or full sugar Ribena so I'd have to agree that parents do need to exercise control and help their children to understand what role food and drink plays.  Schools are sometimes very good at covering these subjects too

Again, never. I tried some Red Bull once and thought I was going to have a heart attack - my pulse was racing, I was sweating and I felt really ill, so I'd never let a child have one.

Wouldn't allow any child of mine to have the energy drinks do you know how much sugar and caffeine is in those? Somewhere between 19-24 sugar cubes each drink. :eek!: They may well give a high for up to an hour, but with every high comes a low and then a craving for more carbs, very bad, steer clear.

You might as well sign your child up for future diabetes once they begin to enjoy these kind of things. Stay natural and keep your child on the right track health-wise. :-) Don't be swayed by advertising and what other parents think is ok.

Agree with the others - my 5 year old nephew goes hyper enough when allowed a glass of lemonade, so I shudder to think what he'd be like with an energy drink!

I wouldn't recommend them to anyone to be honest. People with heart conditions should never use them and that says it all to me.

i was wondering if anyone of any age could buy them as well, saw two seven year olds today swigging away at the large monster cans i could smell them before i could see them to me it smelt like the sherbit we could buy loose in the sweet shop, and i know when my daughter who is 20 plus had some of these every day she put on a stone in over two months and she said it was just the drinks.

I am pleased i am not the only one that thought they where to young

Well I,m a wuss and would be too frightened to try them myself and I,m eerrrrrrrrrrm 52.
Stick with a good cup of tea or bottle of water I say.

Our eldest daughter does drink them when she has a lot of Uni work to do, they do keep her awake, but boy does she crash once they wear off.  Son is nearly 17, he's tried them a couple of times, he just chatted non-stop for hours!

> I must be the only person that has tried them with no effect at all.  They don't keep me awake, or have me bouncing off the walls.
>
>

Ditto, no effect at all, but I do have generally low blood pressure, and can get jitttery if I ahven't eaten.

My hubby will maybe have one on a long drive and says they have him buzzing.  Now he just takes a Proplus )cafiene, which si what is in them) as he never liked the taste of the drinks.

> Our eldest daughter does drink them when she has a lot of Uni work to do

it's a matter of personal pride for me that i got through uni without taking any pro plus or drinking these things to study. people drink them all the time at work and i cannot understand the appeal, they taste disgusting! we have a nice costa machine now, just have a vanilla latte :) plenty sugar and a caffine boost while being tasty

A lot of places around here apparently need id to sell them to under 16 but it seems to be up to the individual outlet not law as in alcohol.
I am not sure about the damage they do but feel it is the markeing once again that has hit the young as in alcho pops.I am not a fan of fizzy drinks coke etc anyway as a lot of the ingredients are similar and not good for you, assuming we are talking about redbull and the lik the caffine and taurine is just something extra to add to the problemsi
I would be very unhappy about primary age kids having them and havnt ever bought any of those for mine routinely and never red bull etc. After that age I would guide them to stay with more suitable drinks but very hard with peer pressure and marketing once they have their own pocket money and a bit more freedom
having said all that my kids now 19 and 21 and drink them continuously which i hate but then I drink copious amounts of coffee so hard to defend my views. Sons comment was I work out i dont drink alcohol dont smoke or do drugs cant I do something bad at at times lol!!

I lived off red bull and pro plus when my litter was due (false alarms every night for a week beforehand!), I also drink them when Im driving a long way.

I would not let my children have them, though I guess the occasional one wouldnt hurt.

> Somewhere between 19-24 sugar cubes each drink. :eek!:

Good grief !!! Just what would it be doing to the children's (or adults') teeth ?? :( :(

This is why health visitors are so against giving babies and toddlers juice in bottles or beakers with lids.  It means the sugars stay in contact with the softer baby teeth for much longer - lots of decay ... yuck!

> I lived off red bull and pro plus when my litter was due (false alarms every night for a week beforehand!), I also drink them when Im driving a long way.

thats what they are for though, and i think used in moderation to get you through when you just need a wee boost is fine. i don't use them because they are yuck, but a tin of irn bru with an espresso chaser? it has been done in times of deep hangover/tiredness/busy

Many moons ago, where i used to live a lorry had overturned at the edge of my village. Thousands of bottles of coke had spilled on to the road. Once word had got out what had happened it was like a stampede from all the locals. Anything with wheels on was used to cart away bottles and bottles of the stuff, cars, prams, shopping trolleys.
I brought home forty, 2 litre bottles of the stuff in rusty wheelbarrow with a flat tyre and i have no idea why as i don't even like the stuff. After pushing the load uphill, back home for what seemed like an age, i couldn't wait to have a glass! Ghastly ugh! I used the rest of that bottle to clean my loo and gave the rest away!

NEVER EVER :-) Working in a school i have seen the effects on even the nicest children. It really is loopy juice. Steer well clear!!!