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Original poster

To give cup of tea to 4yo?

151 replies

maisybobbins · 17/05/2017 23:19

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?

OP posts:
GhostsToMonsoon · 18/05/2017 14:02

My daughter quite likes tea. She has it extremely milky though, and I either re-use my teabag or make her a decaf one from scratch.

minionsrule · 18/05/2017 14:20

Just watch for anemia. Tannin absorbs (or steals) iron from you body - I was very anemic as a child and I drank tea from a young age.
Obviously it doesn't affect everyone but the recommendation is you don't have a cup of tea within 1 hour of eating - by then your body has absorbed the iron.
I recall a childhood being fed liver and such because of it Angry

IfNot · 18/05/2017 14:28

Tea is a basic human right. Nowt wrong with a little cuppa for a toddler.

wheresthel1ght · 18/05/2017 14:46

Dd is 3.8 and has had weak decaff(it's all I drink)tea since she was about 15 months. After a particularly nasty bug it was all she would have. She probably only has it once or twice a week now but I don't see an issue tbh although ditch the honey!

Sostenueto · 18/05/2017 14:52

Absolutely give them a cuppa. Doesn't have to be decaf just make it weak and milky. My gdd at age of 3 would come to a cafe with me and would love sitting at table with teapot, putting milk and sugar in and stirring nannas tea. Everyone used to look as if it was really peculiar and at 15 she still loves a lovely cup of brew and has become quite a tea expert!

MTBMummy · 18/05/2017 14:52

DS (3) has a cup of tea with me occasionally, its normally half tea half milk and a small toddler size mug, not a regular tea cup, he drinks what I'm drinking as we make ours in a pot, so if its just after lunch he'll have regular or decaf later in the day and I can't say it's affected his sleep or energy levels at all.

ParisToLondonMamon · 18/05/2017 17:01

Honestly! This website!!
It is tea. T E A.
If you're so concerned that tea might kill your child then maybe you need to look at what YOU were drinking during your childhood...
My daughter drank all sorts from a very young age and she looks a lot healthier than most teenage girls I see.

LilaBard · 18/05/2017 18:11

Just to back up the dentist on here - deffo cut out the honey! an dplease no-one give sweet tea to their kids in a bottle or sippy cup, it's a disaster waiting to happen. Google image search bottle caries if you don't believe.
I was given very very sweet tea as a kid by my granny (of course) and have gradually cut down the last few years and just weaned myself off the sugar at age 30. Can't do without the milk though!

CrazedZombie · 18/05/2017 18:52

Herbal teas are routinely served to babies and kids on the continent.

Personally I'd ditch the honey but continue to serve the tea. This thread has made me thirsty for a cuppa. 😂

TaliZorahVasNormandy · 18/05/2017 19:40

DD loves tea. I, on the other hand, not so much. Although the Raspberry tea she insisted I buy was rather nice.

num1mumziezxoxo · 18/05/2017 20:00

What would you say the right age is for a coffee. My little girl has been begging for a try of my morning coffee for a week. Should I give her a sip just to show how it tastes?

NotISaidTheWalrus · 18/05/2017 20:02

If it's not decaffeinated, it's a lot of caffeine for a 4 year old

It really isn't.

LakieLady · 18/05/2017 20:19

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

Yep, 60 years of tea drinking and I'm fine (apart from being addicted to tea). Never been anaemic in my life.

My brother was the same, I remember him having tea in a bottle when he was about 18 months old.

FadedRed · 18/05/2017 20:26

Smiling at the horror of giving weak, milky tea to children, when on so many posts the drink advised for those 'nice, cuddly times' is hot chocolate. There is caffeine, fat and copious amounts of sugar in British hot chocolate, at least as much, but probably much more than weak, milky tea.
Agree with the pp's who said honey in tea is a vile aberration that should not be tolerated. Grin Keep the honey for the whisky hot toddies but keep those away from your DC"s

Fruitcorner123 · 18/05/2017 20:33

Caffeine in a cuppa 26.4mg caffeine in a can of coke 8mg. I googled it.

So not cobblers then.

I know loads of tea drinkers who don't believe the caffeine content yet get headaches when they don't drink their regular brew.

I accept that a milky tea won't be quite that much but still at least doubly.

Fruitcorner123 · 18/05/2017 20:33

Double

greenkecks · 18/05/2017 20:35

Bloody hell all this fuss over a cup of tea.

It's tea, not heroin.

Ok honey and caffeinated tea isn't ideal for a child, but a treat once in a while won't hurt. Even better switch to decaf and have no or very very little sugar, it won't do any harm.

Fruitcorner123 · 18/05/2017 20:44

No-one is claiming it's heroine or crack cocaine. There are some things which aren't good for children's health and caffeine is one of them, sugar is another.

Milky decaff tea with no sugar/honey every now and then is obviously one. I haven't seen anyone object to that!

Fruitcorner123 · 18/05/2017 20:47

Aaargh I mean 'fine' not 'one' stupid phone!

ItsThisOneThing · 18/05/2017 20:56

I used to get tea in a bottle when I was little, loved it. When I asked our dentist what drinks we should give our toddler she said water, milk or tea. My DS has had the occasional decaf milky tea since he was old enough to drink cows milk.

I also would like to think it'll encourage him to keep drinking it as he gets older, rather than fizzy juice etc. I have friends who don't drink tea and instead drink fizzy juice for breakfast Confused

NotISaidTheWalrus · 18/05/2017 22:05

Caffeine in a cuppa 26.4mg caffeine in a can of coke 8mg. I googled it

You googled wrong.

Fruitcorner123 · 18/05/2017 22:10

Please tell me how to google 'right' then because i honestly have googled it a couple of times. Which one is wrong the caffeine in tea or the caffeine in coke? Happy to be corrected with facts. Is it that there is more in coke or less in tea?

Fruitcorner123 · 18/05/2017 22:18

Ok I can correct myself it's 8mg per 100ml of cola. The caffeine in tea is correct 26mg but not as much as three cans of coca cola as much as 300mls.

Still an awful lot for a 4 year old.

Original poster
maisybobbins · 18/05/2017 22:33

Fruit I think it probably is too much for him, he's only diddy. But scoured cupboards today and the only red bush tea I have is Earl Grey Tick Tock Red Bush. Which might be a stretch too far when they're used to Tetleys. And horror of horrors I've only got creamy milk to go in it which kind of makes me want to heave. So no tea for them till I've made it to the shops.

OP posts:
NotISaidTheWalrus · 19/05/2017 00:05

Also very much depends on the type of tea and how you make it, so any one number of how much caffiene in a cup of tea (how big, for a start?) is completely random and meaningless.

Until you define your parameters you can't make any comparison.

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