Okay, so I’m thinking to myself, when I need to focus and my brain seems to be scattered, and maybe I’m feeling a little sluggish and snappy, what do I do? Yeah, well, sometimes that, but most often, I drink a can of Coke. The caffiene perks me up, and as long as I don’t consumer a six pack of them, I’m able to focus and not scattered and definately not sluggish.
So, my ten year old, who gets snappish and whiney in the afternoons and early evenings (and sometimes in the morning) and can have difficulty focusing, so I’m putting two and two together and maybe I’m coming up with five, however, I give him a Coke with lunch. Just a can, not a two liter. (He usually doesn’t get caffiene of any kind, except infrequently with chocolate.) What happens? Cooperative, creative and kind individual all afternoon and evening. He actually played nicely by himself (building with Bionicles) for a couple of hours instead of whining and pestering his sisters.
Anyone else ever experimented…um…tried this with their kid, or maybe even themselves? I’d like to know if it’s just wishful thinking on my part, or if I should consider packing a can of Coke in his lunch to take to school. (I cannot believe I just said that…)
Sounds like he or she needs more sleep. Caffiene can override your tiredness and sharpent you up a bit, but you’d need to start moving to larger and larger doses eventually (and make up for the extra calories)
When I was a kid, dad used to give my Coke syrup to get rid of my nausea when I was sick. We’d go to Jack-in-the-Box and he’d ask for “Coca-Cola syrup only; no carbonated water”, and they’d give it to him. (I don’t know if they’d do that nowadays.) It worked very well on me. (Incidentally, I’ve seen tiny little bottles of “cola syrup” at drug stores for the same purpose. Of course, they cost a lot more than fast-food syrup.)
As a rule, we don’t allow our children to consume caffeinated drinks. Actually, soda is a rarity in my house. We usually stick with 100% fruit juices and chocolate soy milk for the kids.
Kids with ADD are often prescribed stimulants. They can provide a calming and focusing effect in some situations.
I find a shot of espresso leaves me happy (almost estatic at times- sometimes I think there should be controls on this stuff), more focused and of course more energetic. My days with espresso are better than my days without espresso.
Caffiene, in reasonable amounts, is a great drug. It’s cheap, mildly addictive, has almost no side effects (of course, if crashing off caffiene makes you feel bad, it’s not a good drug for your personally) and readily legally availible. I find it pretty self limiting- consuming too much is unpleasant. You rarely hear coffee drinkers that talk about how they want to get off coffee. It’s an addiction without many drawbacks.
10 is a bit young, but in middle school they will have unlimited access to soda so your just stemming the tide a bit. I’d run it through with you doctor, talk to your kid about moderation, and go for it. I have reservations about Coke though. Couldn’t you make afternoon tea a ritual or something? Coke is full of tooth rotting sugar, costs a fair amount of money, and has lots of calories. If your kid becomes a heavy coke drinker it’s gonna do a number on their teeth (I’ve got my share of Mountain Dew root canals). Tea (although it can stain teeth) is a lot more innocuous.
I love caffeine, but I don’t think I’d intentionally get a kid hooked on it.
Even if the caffeine helps, I’ve never seen any benefit to high-fructose corn syrup unless you’re severely hypoglycemic and on the verge of dying from it.
So, what I’m hearing is that it’s the processed sugar garbage that’s evil, and not the caffiene?
Just for the record, my kids*** rarely*** get soda. My daughter was 13 years old before she ever tasted Coke (and still doesn’t drink it many years later).
I like the idea of having “tea time” though, and may very well introduce it to my son. However, seeing how I’m from the south, we’d never drink that stuff without lots of ice and sugar. (Actually, I prefer iced tea–the real brewed stuff, not that instant crap–over Coke anyday.)
even sven, it was actually my reading up on AD/HD medications that caused me to think about the possibility of caffiene in small dosages. Thank you ever so much for pointing that out (so I didn’t have to!)
(Actually, I prefer iced tea–the real brewed stuff, not that instant crap–over Coke anyday.)