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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to not allow ds (aged 6) to drink COFFEE at school

119 replies

MrsMills · 07/02/2007 11:08

They now have a drinks table which they are allowed to use on an afternoon and have been shown how to make coffee (filtered). His preffered choice is milky with sugar apparently. This had been going on for aobut 2 weeks as far as I know and I was not asked if it would be o.k..

I need to go and see for myself what they are doing, but the other parents I have spoken to seem fine about it.

I however cannot believe they are giving him coffee. Bear in mind that this is the same school who told me off for putting 6 pringle crisps in his lunchbox thread here .

Arrrgh I don't even know where to start!

OP posts:
lazyline · 07/02/2007 14:59

If they need something warm after beng out in the cold, what is wrong with warm milk?

If they told you off for putting a few pringles in the lunchbox, then yes, I would go and speak to someone.

finecheese · 07/02/2007 15:00

Drank black coffee by the time I was ten after years of having it - am still here but i can see that the school should have chjecked it was ok with you first - that would annoy me too

Tortington · 07/02/2007 15:02

no your not being unreasonable.

caffeine keeps you awake ffs. kids ned sleep. jesus christ. some people are beyond stupid.

my kids like to have a brew occasionally - its like being a grown up -we have decaf.

SSShakeTheChi · 07/02/2007 15:02

you can get addicted to coffee. I know, I had a hell of a time giving it up. Humungous headaches and trembling limbs, hip pain. Awful.

You cannot give coffee to dc at schools!

Not to mention how it contributes to disturbing their sleep patterns, causing them to urinate more often, can lead to dehydration and then possibly constipation, etc. Just imagine the effect on hyperactive dc! I can't see one argument I'd accept in favour of letting 6 year olds drink strong brewed coffee even if it is milky.

Geez, I mean give them herbal tea, hot chocolate, milo or whatever else.

Is the coffee meant for the teachers , do you think?

SSShakeTheChi · 07/02/2007 15:09

However if it is the done thing in Sweden, you will probably have to go with the flow. Can you tell the teachers that your ds shouldn't be drinking the coffee because you're concerned about the health effects and ask them to make sure he only drinks the other things on offer but not coffee?

clumsymum · 07/02/2007 15:16

SSShakeTheChi,

I doubt that one cup of milky coffee a day is going to produce the sort of side effects you list.

It is only coffee. Blimey, you make it sound like Cocaine !!!

SSShakeTheChi · 07/02/2007 15:19

I like drinking coffee but I think it's bad stuff. Definitely wouldn't let my dd drink it aged 6. One cup a day later on would probably be ok but I think one cup for a small child is too high a dosis. Why risk it?

3andnomore · 07/02/2007 15:35

Hm, I wouldn't be happy with that, I must admit.
There are Malt coffee options though, that are fine for KIds (KaroKaffee), and in Germany it's not uncommon for Kids to drink that variety.
link (only problem with this is, that it's Nestle, so, no good if you boycott them)!

harmful effects of caffein I do realise that that might only be a problem if one drinks a lot, lol!

in this link there is, if you scroll down a bit, a list of the amounts of caffein in different beverages, etc...

mkaes interesting reading

use and abuse, effects of caffeine

\link{http://www.medic8.com/healthguide/articles/caffeine.html\caffeine a patients guide

Mumpbump · 07/02/2007 15:36

I think caffeine does also affect the absorption of calcium. I have certainly been told this in the past by a homeopath...

3andnomore · 07/02/2007 15:36

caffeine a patients guide

3andnomore · 07/02/2007 15:38

Also, just because it is the done thing in sweden, does not mean that you can't say something agaisnt it.

MadamePlatypus · 07/02/2007 17:25

The first time I had coffee was when I was 4 or 5. It was very milky, and the bit I liked best was scooping up the sugar at the bottom of my cup at the end.

However, I don't think I would give my children coffee that young. It just seems like a recipe for a trying afternoon. (although DS has been known to sneak a slurp of my Frapuccino).

I would love to know why sugary coffee is bad, but crisps are bad! I would also love to know how they get past the issue of health and safety and hot liquids.

hoxtonchick · 07/02/2007 17:32

both my kids drink the milk off the top of my cappucino. and actually, ds used to occasionally have a drop (literally) of coffee in his beaker of milk so he'd be like us. but maybe we're weird....

Lazycow · 07/02/2007 17:32

I regularly drank (very milky) tea and coffee from quite a young age (5 or 6) and had normal coffee/tea from about 10 years old. But that was then and this is now. I wouldn't be to fussed myself but I would be p***d off that I'd been told off for pringles in his lunch and then they give him coffee.

Califrau · 07/02/2007 17:42

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

MadamePlatypus · 07/02/2007 17:42

sorry, "why sugary coffee is good"!

hunkeydorey · 07/02/2007 22:17

My ds loves coffee. My friend started giving him the froth of the top of her cappucino when we went out, now he'll have a slurp whenever he gets the chance. I think it's one thing if you introduce it yourself, quite another for the school to do it for you.

WWWCampbellBlack · 07/02/2007 22:21

I don't think children should have caffeine so I'm with you on this.

TenaLady · 07/02/2007 22:23

I would be a bit miffed as I have spent the last 5 years teaching him what foods and drinks are healthy and which are not.

Coffee AND sugar, blimey!

hunkeydorey · 07/02/2007 22:42

What's wrong with a bit of sugar? I'm assuming they aren't eating it out of the bag. I'd rather my kids had sugar than crappy sweeteners.

TenaLady · 07/02/2007 22:46

hunky my ds hasnt had any sugar or sweetners unless it is naturally in the food, same applies to salt. I think they get enough with the odd treat like sweets.

He hasnt had it (to my knowledge) he hasnt missed it and therefore he never asks. I would like to keep it that way until he is old enough to make informed choices himself.

hunkeydorey · 07/02/2007 22:54

Fair enough.

MrsSchadenfreude · 07/02/2007 23:08

My mother used to give me coffee in my spouty cup when I was about one. Apparently the health visitor had a fit, but my mother just said "Oh but she likes it!"

NotQuiteCockney · 08/02/2007 07:05

Really, TenaLady? What counts as 'naturally in food'? Has he had cake? Biscuits? East Asian food? How do you get a child to five without having any added sugar in anything?

jhyesmum · 08/02/2007 07:13

Hi! I don't let my 6 year old DS have coffee - but that's my choice. My sister lets her 3 year old DD have it though.

Personal choice, it's up to you!