Did you drink tea regularly as a child?

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I was born in the late seventies , growing up I always drank milky tea at breakfast and dinner and during the day when I wasn't at school.

Giving a baby milky tea from a bottle was also common practice. I have been thinking about this and was curious to know if this was a class / cultural thing or just "what people did in those days."

I grew up in a white working class "done good" family.

I'm 46 and can't remember a time when I didn't drink coffee. My bedtime drink was often 'milk and a dash'....warm milk with half a teaspoon each of instant coffee and sugar.

No wonder I ended up being prescribed vallergan as a child for my inability to sleep!

I did as well. My parents obviously knew it had caffeine in it, but I don't think it was understood that caffeine wasn't good for children.

My background is WC, and most kids I knew also drank tea.

Yes from around 10 years old onwards, used to be medium milky with two sugars, now it's medium milky no sugar.

I was the child who had milky tea in a bottle. We were on the cusp of wc/mc.

Not until I was at least 10, and I didn't much like it at first. Didn't often have hot drinks before that age and if I did it was hot milk or cocoa.

My DC are 3 and 5 and I've let them have a taste if they ask, but neither are keen so I'm not planning to offer till they're much older.

Forgot to say - lower middle class back then - educated parents but very far from well off.

Working class family. Drank tea from about 5. Probably with a little sugar. Later with 2 sugars but now without sugar. Pretty standard for those days. Never in a bottle though.

My dc was born in the 90s and gave my ds a tea as a toddler and he was climbing the walls from the caffeine but as an adult he still doesnt react well to caffeine

Born late 60’s and I don’t ever remember a time when I didn’t drink tea. We certainly had it with our breakfast and after dinner.
Sunday was tea and cake after a bath. Always made in a pot, always loose leaf tea with a strainer.

Only my middle dc drinks hot drinks, although they were all offered it in a cup with no sugar.
My dgc as far as I know have never been offered it.

A real treat for us as children was not orange squash in the winter, or Lift lemon tea if we were at our grandparents house.

*hot orange squash

Was born in 76 southern working class ish family. Drank tea every day. My nan put it in my tippie cup- I'm a total caffeine addict

Yes - born mid-70s and started on the tea in 1977 according to my mum. No milk, no sugar.

Milky tea but never sugar in it. I still like tea.

I remember being weaned off sugar in my tea when I was at primary school, aged 7 or 8? When I did my work experience in the late eighties at a special school (junior age children) the class all got lukewarm sugary tea in their beakers or sippy cups mid afternoon. I am really pleased my daughter has finally started drinking tea at 16, felt like we'd failed as British parents 😁

When did it become so bad if so many people were brought up on tea as a child.
My 11 year old had a very milky coffee but was told by many people it was practically poison , not sure what the acceptable age to try a coffee is now 😐

Me. Child of the 90s. Always had it at bedtime. Then from about age 8 I had it with breakfast, dinner and tea when I was at home (much more filling than the dismal apple and blackcurrant juice at school). Made with UHT skimmed milk and two sugars, no less. My mum also used to give me milky coffee when I was a preschooler. My DSis had bottles of tea after 6mo as she flatly refused formula or cow milk. Health Vis had a fit whenever she came to our house lol.

I genuinely thought "decaf tea" was a scam until my last pregnancy, though, because I was told many years ago by a chemistry lecturer that the type of caffeine isomer in tea rendered it ineffective. I learned this is a myth and the caffeine in tea is effective. All these years I just thought I was an insomniac.

I was given a very milky coffee as a treat on a Sunday. I tried it with my DC but they weren't keen as little ones.

Born late 80s, very middle class upbringing
Had tea (no sugar, small amount of milk) from age 5. By the time I was 7/8 we'd have a cup nearly as often as my parents. We used to have a cup to go to bed with! I couldn't do that now, I'd be wide awake all night. Probably at least 5 cups a day on a weekend and 3 on a school day.
Never had it in a bottle though...

Coffee in babies bottle was the norm.

I think it might be the reason I am so short

Back in Victorian times tea was a survival issue. The middle class women who boiled their water for tea lived longer, so I don't think it's a surprise people gave tea to children.

Our toddler has an occasional sip of cold tea to copy mum and dad. He thinks it is the height of luxe 😀

Yep, born early 70s and had gallons of tea at every meal. No water or other drinks as far as I can remember. At infants school we sometimes had big jugs of milky coffee and a doughnut as pudding.

I had very weak tea with milk as a child and one milky, very weak instant coffee on a Saturday. No sugar though. I doubt the miniscule amount of coffee in the dishwater tea/coffee made any difference to me. Still don't like strong tea or coffee.

From the age of about ten, in the late 80s, Dad used to give me a cup of tea with two sugars in it in the morning. I used a ceramic cup. I'd never heard of it given in a bottle for toddlers.

I still drink tea but significantly stronger brews using Yorkshire tea leaves and only a small amount of milk.

My teenage DD drinks cappuccino and mocha coffee, but has only taken an interest in the past year or so.

No, I wasn't allowed to as a child so by the time my parents would've offered 15/16+ I didn't have a taste for it, I didn't drink really tea or coffee until uni and that was very occasional and honestly probably more about fitting in and being 'grown up'. Even now I very rarely drink either, my brother is the same. Our upbringing was very working class, both parents left denim at 14 dad with no qualifications and mum with nothing but trying and shorthand. My cousins etc all had tea/ribena in bottles and were a bit aghast that we didn't. We were BF into toddlerhood, no bottles, dummies etc, maybe my mum was a precursor to the modern day mumsnetter!

Born in the 60s, yes tea was always available. My DC born in 90s also have always drunk tea with milk.

my dentist said tea, milk and water are the only things children should drink.