What age did you have your first taste of Alcohol?

[NotTodaySherry]

I was about 5! My mum let us have babycham on Christmas Eve and very weak "port and lemon" on Christmas Day as kids. I feel now that although this was very much of the era, it was wrong and it is possibly the reason all 4 of my siblings and I have been huge drinkers as adults.

AIBU to refuse to give my DD (15) any alcohol at Christmas. I managed to discourage my parents from trying to give her any all these years but now she is asking me herself to drink the little gin & tonic cans I bought for any visiting friends/family.

We had a bit of a heated discussion since her friends are apparently allowed to have these cans at home but ultimately, she accepted my reasoning - it made me wonder if I am doing the right thing? WHat are other parents doing?

I have friends who say they let their teenagers drink in their own home rather than out on the streets with strangers. I'd rather she waits as long as possible but I'm not a fool, I know it happens.

What age did you first drink? Are you a big drinker now? AIBU?

I'm not counting cans of shandy you bought from the shop regardless how young you were I would say 12. Watered down wine with dinner while staying with family friends.
I was around 14 when I started drinking 'properly' for want of a better word.
19-20 when it became a problem.
Then periods of alternating between drinking huge amounts and drinking none.
Now I'm 47 and don't drink any alcohol at all

I’m really quite shocked that so many people had their first taste of alcohol under the age of 10.

Alcohol dependence is a complex issue with so many variables. I grew up around alcohol being drunk on special occasions but personally I never developed a taste for it. Alcopops were a god send, I could finally drink alcohol with my mates but I’m also a lightweight and after a glass of anything I get lightheaded.

I would let a teenager have a drink, but allow wine or beer only. No G&T and definitely nothing sweet like alcopops or Baileys.

Dating myself here maybe but as a preschooler, my parents used to have a martini with olives when my dad can home from work. My sister and I always got to eat the martini-soaked olives.

Certainly by 5yo. Not sure when. We were allowed a tiny amount of sherry with orange juice on Sundays and dp made wine so they would let us have a taste when bottling up.
I (and siblings) drink very little now. I may have half a glass of wine later, but doesn't bother me.

Done the same with my dc. One (17yo) won't touch any. 19yo doesn't mind a glass of prosecco or cider, but wouldn't have more, and the 13yo tried beer the other day, declared it fantastic... But didn't want a second sip. 🤣 Apparently beer tastes of gravy (the only time we normally use beer is to make a beef gravy)

My experience is that the people I've known with an alcohol problem are those who were not allowed it rather than those who grew up with being allowed small amounts.

Probably from fairly little. It was always around at family gatherings and we were allowed to roam around a lot as kids. It's never been made a big deal of in my family. Legal drinking age when I was growing up was 16. None of my siblings or cousins has an unhealthy relationship with alcohol.
I've never been properly drunk, have never thrown up from alcohol and have never actually had a hangover the next day.
On the other hand, I've had friends who hadn't been allowed alcohol until they were 16 and then got completely pissed all the time at parties to the point of one ending up in hospital having his stomach pumped several times.

Very young. My parents used to let me have a sip of their drinks, and I’d be allowed a shandy made with real beer. It took away the mystery of alcohol and I’ve never binge drunk and rarely drink now as an adult.

About 10/11 my babysitter would let me drink whatever I wanted. I never ever remember being curious about the taste, it was always the feeling it gave you that I was most interested in. To be honest from the moment I experienced that first buzz I spent the remainder of my teenage years chasing it.

In my 20s it got worse, to the point I was drinking wine at 8 am most mornings until I got to 27 and took a 6 month hiatus and did a bit of work on myself. Been able to drink like a normal person ever since.

I had 'sips' of mum or dad drink throughout childhood, but was allowed my own heavily watered down wine from age 12 or so, getting gradually stronger so by about 15 I was drinking a glass of normal wine with a meal every week or so. From then I was also allowed things like martini and lemonade. This worked for me. Drinking was normal, not taboo, so when I was out with my friends and they drank till they were sick, I wasn't bothered and knew when to stop. It also made nights out cheaper as I was as happy to order an orange and lemonade as an alcoholic something or other. I have only been properly drunk a handful of times, and I'm over 50. I still enjoy alcohol, but sparingly. We probably open a bottle of wine once every few weeks. We often have a bottle of something else open that I can have when I fancy, but that would last me a couple of months.

I don’t recall having any as a child. I definitely drank to excess when I did get hold of it (clubbing from 15), because it was such a taboo subject at home.

My 13 year old has just poured herself a glass of Buck’s Fizz to go with her breakfast.

Both her & my 10 year old have tried wine, beer, cider & Prosecco.
I’d much rather they learn about alcohol with me, than the way I did.

I would definitely let your 15 year old have some.

Mum used to let us have lambrusco on Christmas day from a young age. It was really diluted with lemonade though. At 15 I would have had an alcopop sort of thing at family parties. I'm not sure when I'll let my kids have it though. I only just started letting them have fizzy pop on occasions 😂 they're nearly 4,5 and 7

Can't remember how old I was but very little, tasting my dad's beer off his finger kind of thing.

I rarely drink, it just makes me tired so I don't see the point.

Sips of my parents drinks from preschool age. Allowed my own at 13, 14? Grew up in the age of Bacardi breezers and the like, which I actually think are dreadful with hindsight! I wouldn’t let a 15 year old have a can of gin at home tbh, maybe a shandy?

I did binge drink in my teens/early 20s but don't now.

Oh yes, Buck’s Fizz @leiaskye, that’s a good idea. Particularly the premixed ones, they’re very weak.

I was allowed to taste from as early as I can remember. Not given my own drink, but I’d dip a finger in the foam of my dads beer or whatever my mum was drinking. I found the taste pretty nasty tbh so never really got it.

I’m teetotal now. I drank a bit in my uni days as I was an introvert and it made it easier to socialise.

Reading this thread I’m wondering if it’s the heavy dilution with sweet things like lemonade that get children more accustomed to the taste? Alcohol alone to a child is very bitter.

I’ve been the same with mine. If they asked for a taste, i let them. They’re 13 and 16 now and neither drink alcohol.

I was raised in a teetotal family, I only had a sip of champagne at a wedding when I was 17. (Hated it)

Took another 20-odd years before I tried it again. My teen dc have a sip of wine from time to time, or a small glass of cider, but so far it's all been tasting only. My eldest is nearly 18 and hasn't shown a huge amount of interest in drinking much, thinks it tastes disgusting, even the sweet drinks or when the taste is masked/watered down. The dc see me drinking from time to time as a normal addition to a meal or in the evening watching a film. Hopefully drinking alcohol is just seen as a normal, boring aspect of being an adult.

My mum gave me a sip of Guinness when I was 6 years old. I've never been a drinker and only use alcohol in food.

Maybe 7ish, my mum used to let me finish her Bacardi and coke when we were on holiday(probably more ice than anything). I talked about this with her recently and how if I let my dc do the same she would be shocked/cross with me. My parents aren’t big drinkers and only ever drank on holiday or at Christmas when I was growing up and I never saw my mum drunk and my dad jus once, they don’t drink at all now and I think that their behaviour towards alcohol has had more impact on me than allowing me to try it young because like them I rarely drink, maybe once or twice a year and then it is just one glass of wine or similar. I don’t see the appeal in drinking just for the sake of it but it is nice on occasion.

I would let a 15 year old have a small drink on a special occasion, probably from around 13 or so.

I can't remember my first taste. I can remember having Cherry B and Snowballs when I was maybe 10 or 11. They aren't exactly hard liquor though!

And being allowed to sample some flavoured liqueurs on a holiday day trip when I was primary school age.

Then I went to my first beer festival aged 15 with my Dad. Half pints of proper real ale, and paying attention to the different flavours and styles, not a mission to get drunk. Just a lunchtime session and a couple of halves that year, but we went together every year for about 20 years.

My parents have always enjoyed a drink and have been relaxed about alcohol, but did not approve of teenagers drinking on the park, at home or in a pub was OK though. Neither tended to drink to get drunk either. I was a pretty sensible drinker as a young person, made a few mistakes but nothing like some of my friends.

I have grown up to enjoy drinking, and probably drink more than recommended but it is a couple of glasses of red with dinner and rarely more. My sister was bought up in the same environment and hardly drinks at all.

I was 12 or 13 I think- offered a very small glass of bailies by my mum, hated it.
I didn't drink again until I was 17, almost 18, but was never a big fan of alcohol and don't drink at all now.

Tee total and holier than thou parents. Went out abs for shitfaced the second I could (god bless the 90s). So that backfired.

I’m really quite shocked that so many people had their first taste of alcohol under the age of 10

Me too.My brother did once pick up and sip my dads beer- he was around 4- but it wasn't given to him as such. Don't agree with the argument that the French do it, either. We are not France, our drinking culture is horrible, although it does appear to be changing- loads of young people now are rejecting alcohol completely.

I think it depends.

If you are drinking in front of her then it seems a bit mean and hypocritical to tell her she can't have a small drink.

I understand more if someone doesn't drink in front of their children. That sets a better example, if you expect them not to drink.

(I was 3 when I was given alcohol. Alcoholic mum. It didn't turn me into a big drinker but I wouldn't recommend starting that young...)

I think alchopops are a really bad way to introduce teenagers to alcohol. They are so disceptive.

Offer them beer, wine, or cider (but careful with what cider some traditional cider is REALLY strong), it is more of an acquired taste and the alcohol is more obvious in them. You can buy pretty weak beer or make a wine spritzer so they can join in during a special occasion without getting drunk. They will be more inclined to drink slowly than if you give them something that tastes of pop.