2 year old having cup of tea at nursery

[Pumpkinsoup22]

My dshas just moved out of baby room. When I collected him the other day was told he'd just had a cup of tea and biscuit. I assumed they were role playing and really meant water or milk. However the staff member said no real tea. AIBU to think this isn't really appropriate for 2 year olds.? Before this I've never had any concerns at all with the nursery.

My DS went to a playgroup where they gave 'children's tea' (which was actually sold in Tesco for a while) - decaf tea with vanilla, very milky and not too hot. He loved it. Real tea with caffeine I would be much less keen on at nursery age - he's only just started having that occasionally and he's 11.

Well - squash and milk are also completely unnecessary aren’t they?

Just ask them to stop if you don’t want them to. A warm cup of milky tea isnt anything to worry about.

If you’re worried about neon absorption then I suppose you cut out calcium and eggs too? Honestly if you don’t have a blood disorder it’s not going to be an issue with such a tiny amount. www.irondisorders.org/diet

Don't know about nursery but my DD's had tea from a year, perhaps younger if mum was looking after them! Far better than juice and squash with all that sugar.

Have you logged it with the police, OP?

My kids adore milky decaf tea. I’m struggling to see the problem?

I share my tea with my 18 month old (and by share I mean he has about 5 mouthfuls) he loves it and asks for it. I actually bought decaf teabags so I can share to his heart's content. Nothing wrong with it at all provided it's not strong or it's very milky and decaf tea would be even better.

What do you think is going to happen to him? It's a drink, it won't kill him and its not like they're giving him gin.

Radioactivetoy. What exactly is wrong with being working class? Are you suggesting that it's something to be ashamed of?

@radioactivetoy you just brush their teeth as normal?.... you haven't got to do it on top of what you're supposed to be doing already (twice daily). What's worse? Dipping their dummy in some brandy to help with painful teething or a bloody bottle of tea? We're all still here to live the tale, are we not? This is all really melodramatic!

radioactivetoy unclench that puckered little bum and stop worrying about what's working class and what's downmarket. Don't you know it's frightfully déclassé to openly fret about class in such a manner?

Whereas back in the real world wains have had a milky tea for decades will no ill effects.

{Begging your pardon, Miss Mitford ma'am, but I do believe it's spelt 'there'.}
In this case you believe incorrectly.

Yeah because it’s one more thing parents need to do, to spend longer than necessary brushing toddler teeth because they have a drink that is of no benefit whatsoever, may even be harmful to health and keep them awake and whether you like it or not is downmarket

Harmful to health? Downmarket? Bloody hell get a grip woman. Do you feed your kids anything with sugar in? What about fruit? That a no go too!

1tisILeClerc, nope.

'Is here any benefit?' - incorrect

'Is there any benefit?' - correct

My children quite like tea and have it occasionally. They were quite into tea as toddlers so I used to buy decaf tea and make a weak one for them. It is a good nonsugary drink on a chilly day.

Plus it will stain their teeth

I was going to point that out - and green tea can stain children's teeth grey.

Personally, I wouldn't encourage toddlers to think they like drinking any hot drinks, even if you serve their drink lukewarm. The op will need to be extra vigilant now about leaving her own cups of tea unattended - even if she thinks they are out of reach.

Almost nine in ten serious scalds from hot drinks involve under fives. In fact, hot drinks are the number one cause of scald injuries among young children. Hot drink scalds peak at the age of one or two with most of these accidents happening when babies and toddlers pull a mug of tea or coffee onto themselves.

Its a cup of weak milky tea. It’s not black coffee and a fag!

Have you actually spoken to the nursery about it? With over twenty years worth of Early years experience the most frustrating thing is parents that over share on social media platforms without actually speaking to someone at the nursery about it.
Some settings adopt an approach whereby children sit and share ‘tea’ at the beginning of each setting. The tea is herbal and it gives children the opportunity to gain valuable social skills on sharing, taking turns and conversation. If the nursery are taking this approach then they are forward thinking and should be applauded, not shot down in a bolt of lightening on social media!!

It’s not black coffee and a fag!

How can we be sure there wasn't a fag though? And maybe a flick through the Racing Post too.

I'd find it unusual a nursery doing this ( I've worked in plenty) but wouldn't bat an eyelid if they did.

Isn’t it a bit of role playing

The tea will be so weak that really it will be milky warm water

I was always amazed the amount of food the feed children at nursery but it keeps them occupied

I'll never understand why spiteful classist remarks are tolerated on MN. Personally I'd be infinitely more ashamed of looking down on my fellow man than of being working class or 'downmarket'.

My middle class Iranian friend gives tea to her children, including toddlers. I wonder if that'd be viewed differently on MN as she's middle class and because it's 'cultural'. (Disclaimer: I know that Iranians love their tea but I have no idea if it's the norm for children to drink it.)

I'd be more bothered about the sugary biscuit than the tea.

Giving toddlers tea is so quirky, I'm imagining the staff sitting around knitting the children scarves to wear when it's cold. It's so bizarrely old fashioned that I actually think it's sweet. But then it's not my child drinking the tea.

If it was a once a month thing with tea cups I'd say, it's a nice idea.

My DS loves a cuppa 😂😂 to be fair it’s mostly just milk (no sugar)