Caffeine is not found in ALL softdrinks, however it is found in some.  What you will find in MOST softdrinks is an abundance of sugar and other preservatives that may have an adverse affect on your child's behaviour and health. 

Excess juice will cause tooth decay if your kids don't clean their teeth regularly; the main concern is the high concentration of natural sugars found in fruit juice in comparison to the equivalent amount of fruit; this again can cause adverse hyper behaviour in your child.  If you give your kids juice as a treat, it is best to water it down 50/50 or even more, most kids are quite happy to drink it like that.

Teaching your kids about the importance of drinking a healthy amount of water is very wise; you shouldn't need to colour it or tell them it is magic as they really need to be aware of what is healthy for them to drink and eat.  Encouraging healthy choices for the right reasons will enable children to make wise decisions about their diet, these choices will help them to become strong healthy adults.  The best way to do this is by being a responsible role model and practising what you preach.

Water is so important it seems to get overlooked  I put a jug on the bench and make sure I drink the required amount a day and I find I don't want softdrinks and have cut back on my coffee and tea intake.

we recently dicovered the reason why two of our  three kids were bouncing off the walls. We were giving them weak cordial to drink, now we give them the concentrated juice that has to be mixed with water, they wont drink plain or coloured water and they are too much of a wake up to our tricks.  My 14 month old son refuses to drink water because it is tasteless. In my previous relationship my daughter was exactly the same as my son when it came to drinking and eating.

All i say is that if it works then go for it.

Definitely no soft drinks for my boys.  They have always been given water and ask for water...they have one cup of OJ or apple juice at breakfast, soy milk at lunch and dinner and the remainder of the day water, water, water.

Parents, same goes for you.  Drink your water.

Good idea.

I only want to add that, we, as parents should start getting kids into the habit of drinking water at a very young age. I introduced juice to my son at about 10 months old and just stopped it all together. It's really empty calories and not worth it as a source of vitamin c. So from then on, I just gave my son water. He is now 19 months and just loves water.

LIam drinks water, but when he has his fruit juice i buy the diluted ones from the baby section of the supermsrket.

The food colouring idea was good- but kind of nasty chemicals are in the food colouring?

my son drinks a lot of water and even when I give him juice, I water it down.... My hubby did it and so I just followed suit.. It is the sugar content and until I can make brushing my sons teeth easier then maybe he can have straight juice....   But he will always prefer water which I am greatful for.

As for my 10 year old step daughter she only gets soft drink on rare occations and even when she does get it it is always a small one and usually in what we call a tasse magic... It makes things into slushies....