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Original poster

Coffee as a treat?

60 replies

saturdaynightgin · 12/04/2019 15:30

Do you ever give your DC coffee as a treat?

Sat in a coffee shop with SIL and the people on the next table have bought their 3 DC (aged between 7-12ish) a coffee each. SIL commented that she’d never pay Starbucks prices for her son(11) to have a coffee, but she does let him have one at home when he’s feeling a bit tired or as a treat when he’s done his homework Hmm

DD is only 3 and hasn’t asked for coffee yet, but I’m almost certain I wouldn’t let her have one.

OP posts:
SherlockHolmes · 12/04/2019 17:25

I was pretty much brought up on coffee, albeit instant. I'm sure it won't do them any harm.

IHaveBrilloHair · 12/04/2019 17:29

Oh shush, it's coffee, not crack.
I bought my 17yr old a Tassimo for Christmas, she's been drinking coffee, and tea for years, easily since 6 or 7.
It's just another drink choice.
(I let her drink alcohol too, shoot me now)

imalwaysfreezing · 12/04/2019 17:31

It's definitely not great for kids (and not a habit I'd encourage even as young adults tbh). Same for energy drinks/Coke.

Decaf still has small levels of caffeine in it. Plus the coffee drinks most kids like (latte, cappuccino/chocolate frappucino things etc) are full of sugar and fat.

If I drink coffee it's always black with nothing added. Does the job & isn't full of crap.Wink

And yes I agree is horrendously expensive when you're out!

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AvengersAssemble · 12/04/2019 17:46

I love coffee but my kids hate it so no. My 18 year old does drink Tea, my youngest loves Milk. I do not think I started drinking coffee until in my 20s, not because I was not allowed, purely because it did not interest me, perhaps because of all the amazing flavours you can get now, younger children like them as opposed to the normal standard coffee I drink!

SpaceCadet4000 · 12/04/2019 18:28

Well, of course, you probably wouldn't give a 3-year-old coffee as a treat! But an 11-year-old is a very different thing.

Some kids just love coffee- I always had a palate for strong and bitter tastes and would ask for it. My parents sometimes relented and I remember from the age of around 11 my mum would buy those instant cappuccino sachets for my sister and me during the holidays.

ExpletiveDelighted · 12/04/2019 18:39

Latte and cappuccino are coffee and milk. No more full of sugar/fat/crap than a glass of milk.

IncrediblySadToo · 12/04/2019 18:40

🤣 at the ‘I only drink it black, I drink proper coffee not hot milkshakes with a little coffee in it’ nonsense. They seem too dim to understand that coffee is added to milk. There’s as much coffee/caffeine in a latte as an espresso 🙄

WitchyBollox · 12/04/2019 21:03

Yep strong black coffee for me too!! Don't ruin it with milk and sugar

BobTheDuvet · 12/04/2019 21:16

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

sleepwhenidie · 12/04/2019 21:59

I’m reading ‘why we sleep’ and it’s quite damning about our consumption of coffee as a society and treatment of it as harmless. The author is particularly critical of the consumption of caffeine by teenagers because we are already making them sleep deprived enough by forcing them into a ‘normal’ day when their bodies are fitting a ‘night owl’ profile. After learning all this, I’ll be trying my best to steer my teens away from it (wouldn’t have given it when younger anyway) - encourage them to stick to decaf tea!

imalwaysfreezing · 12/04/2019 22:23

@IncrediblySadToo pretty sure people know that, I meant (if you're talking about me) that I don't drink extra fat/sugar from the milk/syrups.

Milk is awful for you 🤢🤢

@ExpletiveDelighted my DP has a glass full of milk right now, doing my best not to puke. It's disgusting & so bad for you.

FrameyMcFrame · 13/04/2019 07:58

'Hot chocolate seems more appropriate.'

Do you really need to post a thread judging another family for their choice of hot drink?

It's so pointlessly judgy

I'd listen to the previous poster who said you may find that when your children are older things are slightly different.

PristineCondition · 13/04/2019 08:02

No one thinks twice about stuffing kids full of cola,donuts and msg laden shit but a coffee is wierd?

Pinkprincess1978 · 13/04/2019 08:14

This is starting to become a thing with us. Oldest is 11 and started to try coffee - personally I see tea and coffees as adult drinks (which I actually don't think myself as it's vile stuff) and I don't want my children drinking it.

Apparently DS went to his gp last week and they gave him a coffee. I wasn't very happy but DH doesn't mind so there isn't much I can do.

Stravapalava · 13/04/2019 08:28

My 8 year old has just started getting into (decaf, milky) tea. My 4 year old isn't interested but they both like hot chocolate, so they sometimes get one from a coffee shop as a treat.

I'd probably buy them a coffee (latte, cappuccino etc) from about 12 ish I think if they asked? Come back to me in a few years, haha.

flingingmelon · 13/04/2019 08:33

Be careful with tea and coffee for younger children, it affects their ability to absorb iron.

www.gosh.nhs.uk/conditions-and-treatments/general-medical-conditions/anaemia

Having said that - not sure if it's advice for children not getting enough iron in the first place. I'm sure a coffee a week balanced up with an iron rich diet won't be a concern.

MumUnderTheMoon · 13/04/2019 08:34

My dd likes coffee I just give her decaf. She was 10/11 when she had her first one. She wanted to be like her Nanny. I don't drink tea or coffee she drinks both.

YouBumder · 13/04/2019 08:36

I drank milky coffee from when I was about 4, I’ve always loved coffee!

Mine are 13 and 10 and the eldest doesn’t like hot chocolate so sometimes if we’re in a cafe he’ll get a decaf coffee of some kind. The youngest sometimes has decaf tea if we’re having some too. I don’t really get the big deal tbh, they’re only drinks.

JourneyToThePlacentaOfTheEarth · 13/04/2019 08:41

As kids my mum used to spoon Greek coffee into a pot if warm milk and sugar. We loved it! My dd8 likes to try our tea and coffee and dunks her rich tea in it

KittensAndRainbows · 13/04/2019 08:42

DS(6) has had the very occasional tiny decaf latte, maybe four or so in his life. We gave them for medical purposes (constipation - it worked!!!) For an older child I wouldn't even worry about the caffeine. DS gets a very rare coke zero as a treat and that has caffeine.

IncrediblySadToo · 13/04/2019 09:16

imalwaysfreezing it wasn’t aimed directly at you, but a little of your post added to the overall ‘my way is superior’ vibe. 🤣. It was aimed at the ‘proper coffee’ nonsense, saying it’s not coffee if you add milk, it’s just a hot milkshake etc no harm to kids etc.

cocomelon23 · 13/04/2019 09:17

My 9 year old has never had it but then I don't like it so we don't even have it in the house.

IncrediblySadToo · 13/04/2019 09:25

Milky coffee at home and a latte out are not necessarily the same thing at all. At home you can make hot milk with a tiny bit of coffee. A latte out is 1 or 2 (or more obviously if you ask for it) shots of espresso. It’s not ‘weak’ in the sense of ‘not much caffine’.

Caffine isn’t good for any of us, but it’s especially bad for children & teenagers. Why you’d let them, let alone encourage them to drink it is beyond me. 🤷🏻‍♀️

imalwayscold. I do agree about the milk actually. I was vegan for a long time and felt much better (health and otherwise). However for other reasons my diet is very limited so I’m vegetarian with some dairy these days. But that’s a whole different thread 😖

ExpletiveDelighted · 13/04/2019 09:58

A latte out can always be decaff too, I drink decaff and I've yet to find a coffee shop that doesn't do it.

Greyhound22 · 13/04/2019 10:50

It's nothing to do with you though is it?

I used to think the world was full of nice understanding people and then I joined Mumsnet and realised that when out in public I'm under constant scrutiny (by women mostly it seems).

My son loves a cup of tea. He's drunk he's since he's 3 - and shock horror - not decaff. He even has a cup with the nursery staff (they asked if he could as he kept asking mid morning).

I wouldn't even bat an eyelid at someone buying their older child a coffee - let alone think 'how can they afford that?' FFS.