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?

Panino and other PPs who've suggested it I am going to try them on redbush. I love it so why wouldn't they. As long as it is in the Big Boy Mugs. Crucial indeed .

Coco sadly I don't have the gadget. We have to go to pizza express for our babycino kicks. Ooooh I could just do with a coffee..

Vanilla rooibos is lovely and a bit sweeter than normal rooibos, might be a good one to try although can be expensive (get the dragonfly or tick tock brand not tetley which is grim).

Fairly sure I had tea at an early age and as far as I know I'm fine

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

this is kind of how I feel.

I now actually can't believe that only yesterday morning I served TEA with HONEY to my poor innocent children. Rooibosh is the way forward. I'm a changed woman. Feeling smug and superior just thinking about it. Can't wait for breakfast tomorrow.

Fairly sure I had tea at an early age and as far as I know I'm fine

God you lot make me laugh. Good job I have my own office.

YADNBU
My ds went through this phase younger than yours as I have a cup of tea in morning. They grow out of it, I made it super weak like you, basically was milk with merest hint of tea, and he felt like mum.
Your DH is over-reacting I think

I'm not sure how bad it is, but decaf drinks use chemicals to extract the caffeine, so I'm not sure that they're good for you either. Definitely try a teabag that is naturally low in caffeine

I used to drink milky tea with no sugar when I was little. If my child wanted one now though I'd go for decaf which should be fine. No idea why you would add something sweet though, he is going to grow up only liking sweet tea, whereas if you made it without honey from the beginning, he wouldn't know any different.

Its fine, its tea not espresso.

As for your OH going spare at you. Does he let your DS eat sugary cereals, drink juice, fizzy, eat biscuits and crisps or have any processed food? I'd say a cup of tea with honey is no way worse than any of those things.

I drank tea from much younger than that. I was on coffee from not much older ... (they gave me a cup and it was love at first sight). I was also allowed port wine and sweet sherry on special occasions.

It didn't harm me.

grew up having tepid tea in a bottle and my DC used to have it from being 2 or 3 but not much, children all round the world drink different teas from a young age, does no harm

At almost 60 one of my happiest childhood memories is of sitting on the couch with my granny and drinking my wee bottle of weak milky tea whilst Watch With Mother was on.

My 5 children also got tea and at 38, 36, 33, 28 and 26 not one of them have ever needed dental treatment, not even the one with profound special needs. Oh and none of them are anaemic.

My grandchildren have all shared tea with me but they slurped it out of saucers till they had their wee cups. We love our tea time together.

I think people really do need to take a step back a bit and try and keep things in perspective a bit.

Just give them milky decaf. No honey or other sugar substitute. If they don't like it they don't like it. They'll come back to it.
Yorkshire Decaf - I have to drink decaf for health reasons so whole family does for ease. It's dead nice. Just tastes like proper tea.

It's fine OP. DD2 used to insist on having a cup of tea as a toddler, she's given it up now at 5

It makes me laugh all this hand wringing over a tiny bit of caffeine. But no one brays about caffeine in chocolate. Everything in moderation and not with meals because of iron absorbtion.

Meh, I grew up drinking it. I've never been anaemic and nor has my sibling. It's not like we were fed raw teabags.

I've drank tea and coffee with sugar in since I can remember, was never a big deal and we never had decaf. None of my DCs drink tea or coffee, their choice, wouldn't stop them if they wanted to

I wouldn't drink my bottle of tea I was a baby, or milk or hot chocolate or milkshake so DM gave me coffee instead but was very embarrassed by me coming round from an anaesthetic after surgery as a toddler and saying "I need a coffee"! I avoided coffee through pregnancy and exclusive breastfeeding with DS as I didn't want him to get an early taste for it like I did. I might as well not have bothered as he is eighteen months now and reliably makes a beeline for my decaffeinated black espresso and is delighted if ever he gets his hands on the dregs when I'm not looking.

He also likes herbal teas a lot in big boy mug, Twinings cherry and cinnamon especially or a few leaves of mint plant that overruns our garden in the summer, so that might be an extra option as well as the rooibos and decaff.

MiL gave DH and SiL tea in a bottle on the potty each morning as soon as they could sit unsupported and both pooed exclusively on the potty from right months old, which was great for MiL as she had two in terries and no washing machine.

Titty yes I'm aware.
So I assume you give 0 fruit to your children right? No bread or pasta either right?

My DGC and DGNieces and Nephews have always had afrernoon tea served here in proper bone china...Gotthemoon's teatime training.

They are all able to cope with the ceremony and the Ritz afternoon tea is now quite achievable even for toddlers....just saying.

Meh. Mine are 12 and 9 and have had tea from about 6 with no apparent ill effects.

Can't see how it's worse than Haribo!

It's perfectly fine, apart from the fact that it can stain your teeth, but brushing would sort that out and it would only become noticeable after years and bloody years of being a tea/coffee pot.

Just make sure it's decaf tea, and don't add sugar. I suppose a bit of honey isn't too bad. I had non-decaf tea as a kid, very milky.

My 2 year old loves rooibos tea. Ds1 used to love decaff earl grey. Ds2 is a weirdo who will only eat and drink very specific things but even he on occasion has rooibos. Given the crap that is in some drinks and food specifically aimed at very young children I roll my eyes at the notion that tea is a major health hazard.

why would someone get their child used to the taste of sweetened tea when they can drink it without added sugar?

Because I wanted DS to develop a taste for tea, because in the long run tea is so much healthier as a habitual drink than cola, juice etc. OK, unsweetened tea may work if you are really not giving your child anything to drink except milk or water. But everything else is either sweetened or sugary and most young kids are not likely to prefer unsweetened tea.

We cut out the sugar later. Now DS is teenage I would rather he drank a few mugs of tea even with a spoon of sugar than the litre of apple juice he can down in a day if given the chance.

I can drink rooibos if I have to BUT IT'S NOT PROPER TEA. Ahem.

I drank tea with sugar for 30 years and gave it up recently. It tastes different- obviously- you are getting a different hit with sweetened tea than you get from unsweetened tea.
My dd (10) has never had sugar in her tea and used to go on at me to give it up . She was right. It tastes better and I can't believe I'm saying that.
Dd drinks water, milk, juice, squash and tea. When we are out she might go for a fizzy drink but just prefers the others.
By all means encourage your child to drink tea. It's tasty and it's sociable and not especially harmful- I have decaf for my own health reasons but caffeine in moderation is fine.