A sweetie and a soft drink the little dear gets (6)
I believe the answer is:
poppet
'little dear gets' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.
'a sweetie and a soft drink' is the wordplay.
'a sweetie' becomes 'pet' (I've seen this in another clue).
'and' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'a soft drink' becomes 'pop' (pop is a kind of soft drink).
'pet' after 'pop' is 'POPPET'.
'the' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for poppet that I've seen before include "Term of endearment" , "dear" , "Term of affection for a child or sweetheart" , "Sweet or pretty child" , "adorable child" .)