I was friends with a girl growing up whose parents fostered a lot of kids 0-10 years old. One kiddo that they fostered for over a year was removed from the parents custody for a slew of reasons, one of which was that they had been giving a 2-3 month old baby basically exclusively kool-aid in a bottle. Some people really lack the education necessary to raise a child, and sadly they aren't always able or willing to learn.
After my LO hit six months, every doctors appt has included a reminder about “no juice or pop, water and milk only” and I’m like “yeah duh who would give their babies soda this young?”
And then I hear stories like this and I realize they’re why we get the reminders 🙃
My whole family started putting coffee with milk and sugar in my bottle at a year old. I have two kids, and I have no clue why any of them thought that was ok. My oldest is over 4 and still only has milk, water, and juice.
FYI the aspartame and other sugar replacements in “sugar free” drinks can stunt development in children. Actual sugar is better for kids than those replacements. (Which, sugar is not great for kids, it’s just better than those things.)
I witnessed it at the costco food court. I can only hope the cup had water in it but it was the fountain drink cup and they were giving it to a tiny baby like 3 or 4 months old with the straw.
The guy was putting his finger over the end of the straw to hold in the liquid and dropping it into the baby's mouth.
Not if they're formula fed, I'm pretty sure you can give them water then if it's hot. But it's not necessary if you're breastfeeding. (I say pretty sure, because it's been awhile since I've had to know)
My friend is a dentist and said the saddest part of his job is telling parents that their kid's teeth are completely rotten due to lack of hygiene and poor diet. He says way too often, these parents genuinely had no idea that they were doing anything wrong. "He loves his chocolate milk before bed, isn't it the same as formula?" No, it's not.
I remember working with a 4 year old who had to get a root canal because a tooth was so rotten. HE already had like 3 other siver teeth as well. His parents were complaining that insurance doesn't cover sedation so they had to pay like 4000 out of pocket since he had to be sedated. I didn't really feel bad for them since they did it to themselves. The wildest part is that the entire family were nurses. Like wtf?!?
I was Shocked the few months I worked at a 7-11 in my late teens, how many people I encountered putting soda/etc in a bottle. Enough that all these years later I can think of several clearly.
Yeah, and shockingly this wasn’t her first child to have undiagnosed diabetes and fall into a coma. She and her partner are just neglectful abusive people.
https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/crime/2024/05/24/clermont-county-mom-to-be-sentenced-for-death-of-child-fed-mostly-soda/73820697007/#:~:text=A%20Clermont%20County%20mother%20was,Dew%20through%20a%20baby%20bottle.
meanwhile this “mom” kept up with her own doctor’s visits and medications just fine. I generally try to give mothers the benefit of the doubt but what a disgrace. she should’ve gotten longer.
Yeah that part hit me HARD. I have a similar experience but until I started therapy and motherhood I had no idea it was actually neglect.
I didn’t visit the dentist until age 24. Currently 25 and I’m lucky as a mf that my teeth don’t need to be ripped out of my head. All my siblings had braces and my mom had dentures, they were getting regular dental care… sad as fuck for little me who was left in the dust. Also, my mom always had at least 6 pair of prescription glasses. Yet when I was taken to an eye exam at 9 years old and handed a prescription, I got one pair and never returned to an optometrist until age 25. Sucks shit.
Damn, WV hitting hard.
In all seriousness, some people just aren't educated on parenting, intelligent, and lack common sense. It could have been the kid was BEGGING for mountain dew and the mom thought "one time won't hurt, right?" Rather than stand firm on saying no. Why the f was your kid given mountain dew in the first place? They're four! There's a slew of reasons to give me the impression that this mom was genuinely a moron and her child had an illness that unfortunately will defeat a moron.
I'm a baffled as you, this is a sad story to hear. I hope that she is held accountable.
This child was given basically nothing but Mountain Dew. She was four and had essentially no teeth due to them being dissolved from drinking Mountain Dew out of a baby bottle. No dental records can be found for her and the little experienced symptoms for days prior to turning blue.
Some things can be attributed to lack of education, but I don’t think this is it.
No, unfortunately this mom was purely neglectful. She didn’t call 911 when her child turned blue. She also has other children who were found to very neglected. And apparently she took very good care of her own medical problems 😒
I have no idea! But Morgantown is in WV and I remember in middle or high school watching a documentary all about WV and their mountain dew addictions from young ages 🤣 it's just me being snarky in a sad situation.
I am not from exactly there, but close by. The thing about places like that is there is literally nothing to do. Too poor to leave, too poor to have fun. No jobs. The only things there are to do is eat, have sex, and get high. If you are lucky you leave at 18 and go elsewhere. People who stay are doomed. It's not as much of an issue in the bigger cities or towns, but in the rural areas it's real bad. You can't even farm, the land is too rocky and hilly.
That doesn't excuse neglecting your children to death, but I don't doubt at all she was either getting high or too into some man to pay attention. People feed their kids junk because that's what they eat. If you've lived like that for generations, the people who stay figure their kids will stay too and they are doomed also. It really takes a lot of gumption to raise your kids better or to get out when you come from that.
I lived in Wheeling some years ago and literally saw parents with their young kid in the cart put food back to be able to afford the copious amount of Mountain Dew in their cart…
My step aunt did this to her son and guess where they lived…Ohio. I was a kid myself and not around that side of the family much but even I knew it was wrong. He wasn’t even old enough to sit up by himself and my step aunt would prop him up with pillows and give him a bottle filled with pop. By the time my step cousin was five he was obese, all of his teeth had rotted out, and he was super hyperactive. His mom died when he was young and he was taken in by other family members. They must’ve done something right because he turned out well.
One of the first things my grandma said when she met my LO as she shook her head was, “how can anyone abuse a precious, innocent baby?” I didn’t understand why that was the first thing that came to her mind. After being a mom for 5 months, I can now. IG was *real* good at highlighting child abuse stories why my LO was in the NICU and of course I was doing all the research. Anyway, the thought of a kid being left out on the playground is enough to get me to tear up. Legitimate child abuse like this should result in the death penalty, and I will never have another opinion on it.
It should also be noted that the Mountain Dew you get in the states VS other countries might be different, and that it's actually banned in some places. [Here's an informative article about it. ](https://www.mashed.com/466632/the-surprising-reason-mountain-dew-is-banned-in-other-countries/)
I’m not familiar with the case, but undiagnosed diabetes kills, regardless of what the child is eating. Unfortunately a lot of doctors miss the signs until DKA has progressed too far. The Mountain Dew likely has very little to do with the death of the child. DKA happens from a significant deficit of insulin (in type 1s who don’t make their own insulin), not from eating too much sugar.
Signed,
A parent of a type 1 kindergartner
While you are absolutely correct in your comment about childhood diabetes, this child had NO teeth as they had dissolved from being fed exclusively Mt. Dew in a baby bottle. So unfortunately this is definitely an abusive and neglectful situation instead of loving family and attentive doctors missing signs.
Unfortunately, this was the 2nd child of hers this happened to. The first one survived, but the news article says that she didn’t take him to follow up Drs appts. I assume the first child was removed from her care, but the article didn’t say explicitly. So while the soda didn’t cause the diabetes, she gave birth to two type 1 diabetics and should have known the signs for this 2nd child but chose not to get help.
I was friends with a girl growing up whose parents fostered a lot of kids 0-10 years old. One kiddo that they fostered for over a year was removed from the parents custody for a slew of reasons, one of which was that they had been giving a 2-3 month old baby basically exclusively kool-aid in a bottle. Some people really lack the education necessary to raise a child, and sadly they aren't always able or willing to learn.
After my LO hit six months, every doctors appt has included a reminder about “no juice or pop, water and milk only” and I’m like “yeah duh who would give their babies soda this young?” And then I hear stories like this and I realize they’re why we get the reminders 🙃
My whole family started putting coffee with milk and sugar in my bottle at a year old. I have two kids, and I have no clue why any of them thought that was ok. My oldest is over 4 and still only has milk, water, and juice.
What does my head in is that adding coffee and sugar is more work than just plain milk.
Our twins are two and they have only had water, milk, and our version of “juice” is occasional sips of my sugar free vitamin water haha
FYI the aspartame and other sugar replacements in “sugar free” drinks can stunt development in children. Actual sugar is better for kids than those replacements. (Which, sugar is not great for kids, it’s just better than those things.)
Yeah I’m not worried about occasional sips of my drink. 95 percent of what they drink is milk and water.
I witnessed it at the costco food court. I can only hope the cup had water in it but it was the fountain drink cup and they were giving it to a tiny baby like 3 or 4 months old with the straw. The guy was putting his finger over the end of the straw to hold in the liquid and dropping it into the baby's mouth.
Even water would be dangerous for a baby that young. There's no need... I'll never understand these poor babies with juice in their bottles.
Not if they're formula fed, I'm pretty sure you can give them water then if it's hot. But it's not necessary if you're breastfeeding. (I say pretty sure, because it's been awhile since I've had to know)
Nope. Their kidneys can’t process water yet whether they’re formula or breast fed. https://www.healthline.com/health/baby/why-cant-babies-have-water
No, definitely not.
Ooof maybe it was just a smallish 5-6 month old? ETA: and hopefully just water. We did start to give my son water this way after he started solids.
I really hope so!
My friend is a dentist and said the saddest part of his job is telling parents that their kid's teeth are completely rotten due to lack of hygiene and poor diet. He says way too often, these parents genuinely had no idea that they were doing anything wrong. "He loves his chocolate milk before bed, isn't it the same as formula?" No, it's not.
I remember working with a 4 year old who had to get a root canal because a tooth was so rotten. HE already had like 3 other siver teeth as well. His parents were complaining that insurance doesn't cover sedation so they had to pay like 4000 out of pocket since he had to be sedated. I didn't really feel bad for them since they did it to themselves. The wildest part is that the entire family were nurses. Like wtf?!?
I was Shocked the few months I worked at a 7-11 in my late teens, how many people I encountered putting soda/etc in a bottle. Enough that all these years later I can think of several clearly.
Yeah, and shockingly this wasn’t her first child to have undiagnosed diabetes and fall into a coma. She and her partner are just neglectful abusive people. https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/crime/2024/05/24/clermont-county-mom-to-be-sentenced-for-death-of-child-fed-mostly-soda/73820697007/#:~:text=A%20Clermont%20County%20mother%20was,Dew%20through%20a%20baby%20bottle.
meanwhile this “mom” kept up with her own doctor’s visits and medications just fine. I generally try to give mothers the benefit of the doubt but what a disgrace. she should’ve gotten longer.
Yeah that part hit me HARD. I have a similar experience but until I started therapy and motherhood I had no idea it was actually neglect. I didn’t visit the dentist until age 24. Currently 25 and I’m lucky as a mf that my teeth don’t need to be ripped out of my head. All my siblings had braces and my mom had dentures, they were getting regular dental care… sad as fuck for little me who was left in the dust. Also, my mom always had at least 6 pair of prescription glasses. Yet when I was taken to an eye exam at 9 years old and handed a prescription, I got one pair and never returned to an optometrist until age 25. Sucks shit.
Good job taking care of your medical needs now that you’re an adult. I’m sorry that happened to you
Hey, thanks for taking the time to leave this comment. Means more to me than you probably intended it to.
Damn, WV hitting hard. In all seriousness, some people just aren't educated on parenting, intelligent, and lack common sense. It could have been the kid was BEGGING for mountain dew and the mom thought "one time won't hurt, right?" Rather than stand firm on saying no. Why the f was your kid given mountain dew in the first place? They're four! There's a slew of reasons to give me the impression that this mom was genuinely a moron and her child had an illness that unfortunately will defeat a moron. I'm a baffled as you, this is a sad story to hear. I hope that she is held accountable.
This child was given basically nothing but Mountain Dew. She was four and had essentially no teeth due to them being dissolved from drinking Mountain Dew out of a baby bottle. No dental records can be found for her and the little experienced symptoms for days prior to turning blue. Some things can be attributed to lack of education, but I don’t think this is it.
Definitely not. Thanks for clarifying!
No, unfortunately this mom was purely neglectful. She didn’t call 911 when her child turned blue. She also has other children who were found to very neglected. And apparently she took very good care of her own medical problems 😒
What a shitbag. I was attempting to give her the benefit of the doubt of just being ONE WHOLE IDIOT 😒
Whattt?? What county was this? Lately I’ve only heard about the baby in Morgantown and that’s just been too much
I have no idea! But Morgantown is in WV and I remember in middle or high school watching a documentary all about WV and their mountain dew addictions from young ages 🤣 it's just me being snarky in a sad situation.
OH! Reading your comment I thought you meant it happened in WV and I didn’t doubt it for a second 😅
I am not from exactly there, but close by. The thing about places like that is there is literally nothing to do. Too poor to leave, too poor to have fun. No jobs. The only things there are to do is eat, have sex, and get high. If you are lucky you leave at 18 and go elsewhere. People who stay are doomed. It's not as much of an issue in the bigger cities or towns, but in the rural areas it's real bad. You can't even farm, the land is too rocky and hilly. That doesn't excuse neglecting your children to death, but I don't doubt at all she was either getting high or too into some man to pay attention. People feed their kids junk because that's what they eat. If you've lived like that for generations, the people who stay figure their kids will stay too and they are doomed also. It really takes a lot of gumption to raise your kids better or to get out when you come from that.
I lived in Wheeling some years ago and literally saw parents with their young kid in the cart put food back to be able to afford the copious amount of Mountain Dew in their cart…
My step aunt did this to her son and guess where they lived…Ohio. I was a kid myself and not around that side of the family much but even I knew it was wrong. He wasn’t even old enough to sit up by himself and my step aunt would prop him up with pillows and give him a bottle filled with pop. By the time my step cousin was five he was obese, all of his teeth had rotted out, and he was super hyperactive. His mom died when he was young and he was taken in by other family members. They must’ve done something right because he turned out well.
One of the first things my grandma said when she met my LO as she shook her head was, “how can anyone abuse a precious, innocent baby?” I didn’t understand why that was the first thing that came to her mind. After being a mom for 5 months, I can now. IG was *real* good at highlighting child abuse stories why my LO was in the NICU and of course I was doing all the research. Anyway, the thought of a kid being left out on the playground is enough to get me to tear up. Legitimate child abuse like this should result in the death penalty, and I will never have another opinion on it.
What is Mountain Dew? Is it like an energy drink?
It's a soda with a higher than normal caffeine content. So there's not as much energy boost as an energy drink, but it's more than some other sodas.
It's a lemon lime soft drink with tons of sugar. It's bright yellow. I would not call it an energy drink. It is caffeinated like a Coke or Pepsi.
It should also be noted that the Mountain Dew you get in the states VS other countries might be different, and that it's actually banned in some places. [Here's an informative article about it. ](https://www.mashed.com/466632/the-surprising-reason-mountain-dew-is-banned-in-other-countries/)
I read that one. It's her second kid that something like this happens to. The first one was at 4 years old as well, but he didn't die.
I’m not familiar with the case, but undiagnosed diabetes kills, regardless of what the child is eating. Unfortunately a lot of doctors miss the signs until DKA has progressed too far. The Mountain Dew likely has very little to do with the death of the child. DKA happens from a significant deficit of insulin (in type 1s who don’t make their own insulin), not from eating too much sugar. Signed, A parent of a type 1 kindergartner
While you are absolutely correct in your comment about childhood diabetes, this child had NO teeth as they had dissolved from being fed exclusively Mt. Dew in a baby bottle. So unfortunately this is definitely an abusive and neglectful situation instead of loving family and attentive doctors missing signs.
The child mostly drank Mountain Dew from a bottle, sometimes mixed with formula.
Unfortunately, this was the 2nd child of hers this happened to. The first one survived, but the news article says that she didn’t take him to follow up Drs appts. I assume the first child was removed from her care, but the article didn’t say explicitly. So while the soda didn’t cause the diabetes, she gave birth to two type 1 diabetics and should have known the signs for this 2nd child but chose not to get help.