To give cup of tea to 4yo?

[maisybobbins]

DS asked to try my tea couple of weeks ago so I let him, not for one second thinking he'd like it. Wrong!! So now he sometimes asks for his own cup and I make him one, really weak, lots of milk, honey in. DH caught him this morning having mug of tea with his breakfast and went absolutely spare at me saying DS is far to young at 4, that it's such an unhealthy drink etc. So really? Is it?

I think a milky tea, or baby tea as we call it here, with a drop of honey sounds lovely.

A mug a day, with decaf tea is absolutely fine in my opinion

My 2 year old likes a "lemon tea" which is just warm water with a slice of lemon in it but which is served, crucially, in a Big Boy Mug.

I thought the chemicals used in processing decaf tea were really bad for kids too? Rooibos tea is lovely with milk and looks almost the same as a real cup of tea, so he won't know the difference. Also why sweeten it? If he doesn't like it without sweeteners, he probably doesn't really like it and may as well drink other things.

Dd (2.9)loves a milky tea. She only has one half cup a week though.

Don't give him decaf. Rooibos with milk is natural, tastes similar to tea and no caffeine! I swapped when pregnant and still drink it now.

another vote for redbush tea. its really good for you as well

It's tea. maybe cut the honey out but it's not as if he's knocking back a G&T with breakfast.

It's tea. confused maybe cut the honey out but it's not as if he's knocking back a G&T with breakfast. hmm

It's mumsnet land. She may as well be doing lines of coke with him each morning!

If you have an aeroccino you could do a mug of milk with foam on top. As a treat every now and then you could dust a bit of cocoa powder on top. DS loves a babychino!

There must be millions of us of quite advanced years, who have had tea since toddler hood, before decaf was ever heard of.

Rooibos doesn't taste similar to tea in my opinion.

I found rooibos sweeter than tea so easier to drink without sugar.

They usually decaffeinate tea with carbon dioxide, as it dissolves the caffeine at a particular temperature and pressure, so I wouldn't think the chemicals involved in decaffeination would be a problem.

I give my daughter a milky red bush from lidl no trace of caffeine and notbdecaf either.just the same as regular tea.
It's not the end of the world.

My DD has always enjoyed an occasional cuppa. Decaf, milky, no sugar. I don't see a problem with it.

Titty you said 'why would you do that?'
It's honey for Christ sake, not meth

Anon why would someone get their child used to the taste of sweetened tea when they can drink it without added sugar? The lactose in the milk will make it sweet enough for someone not used to adding sugar or honey, and sugar sweetened drinks are a big problem; why do you think we're a nation of fat people with bad teeth?!*

*Disclaimer for those who love to nit-pick posts apart...sugar sweetened beverages are obviously not the whole reason, just part of the problem.

Op red bush tea is lovely for children. I think it's naturally decaf and it's slightly sweeter than normal tea. It's supposed to have a lot of health benefits too.

My 12 year old has drunk it since she was tiny.

Drinking tea with meals does stop the iron being absorbed. So it's best drunk a while after as a stand alone drink

Shame it doesn't absorb calories from the biscuits you want to dunk in there!!!

My niece is 2.5 and has a tiny cup of tea. It's decaf and has lots of milk and no form of sweetener. My DS is only 6months but I'd be happy for him to have them same when he was about the same age

Roobius (sp?) Tea is great for kids

So this morning tea was not served to the children with their breakfast... told them I was running out of teabags. Tomorrow I'm either going to serve up decaff or make a pot of tea for them using just one bag. Or just hope the craze has passed...

*"weak milky tea" Are you all on GLUE????

That's DISGUSTING. At least wean the poor kid onto a proper brew.*

Happy to be corrected, but I think Redbush also has no tannin (as well as being decaf) so would that avoid the iron absorption problem?

My kids drink redbush - agree it seems slightly sweeter than ordinary tea to me, but otherwise similar enough that us tea-drinking adults have happily moved on to it too.

Imo decaf never takes quite right, prefer rooibos.

I was drinking a weak milky sugary tea from a Tommee Tippee cup from as long as I can remember. I stopped sugar when I got the flu at about age 5 as the sugared tea was disgusting and have never taken it since.

Were generations of young children iron deprived, I wonder?

Never heard of honey in tea? Is this really done. Yuk! Honey in coffee on the other hand yum.

julie you are indeed correct about red bush - or at least it has a very low tannin content. Tannins give me migraines but I can drink red bush.