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 had a sip of whatever my parents had from very young, if I asked. A small glass of wine from about 16 with a meal if they were having wine, were at home and I asked for it (they don’t drink anything except wine). I now drink two or three pints of beer a week, and have never drunk until I’m sick, so I am doing the same with my DC.

23 months. Champagne.
My 7 year old loves a mouthful.
Decided today that LP is her favourite. Less of a fan of Piper Heidseick. 🙄

I was 18. Parents and a lot of family non-drinkers. I never had an urge to try it younger. I was in my 20s by the time I'd have a few drinks. Stopped drinking in my 30s during pregnancy and never started again.

This year I allowed my teenagers (14 & 16) to have a glass of bucks fizz each with their Christmas meal (about 0.5 units each). They’ve had sips of alcohol in the past. In fact DD got a 200ml bottle of Prosecco when she got her GCSE results. I think they need to be taught that alcohol is something you enjoy in moderation in company.

@OublietteBravo

This year I allowed my teenagers (14 & 16) to have a glass of bucks fizz each with their Christmas meal (about 0.5 units each). They’ve had sips of alcohol in the past. In fact DD got a 200ml bottle of Prosecco when she got her GCSE results. I think they need to be taught that alcohol is something you enjoy in moderation in company.

This, you need to teach your kids that alcohol is something to be enjoyed. Not something to be abused, how to drink in moderation.

However it doesn’t take Away from our personal responsibility as adults with free choice, at some point we need to say, it’s on us.

This, you need to teach your kids that alcohol is something to be enjoyed. Not something to be abused, how to drink in moderation

Interesting. From my own point of view, i don’t enjoy alcohol. I don’t like the taste, i don’t like the effect, and I don’t like waking up the morning after feeling the effects.

I rarely drink at all, let alone in any sort of moderation.

So for me, teaching my kids to “enjoy” alcohol is a bit strange

We have photos of my sister and me each with a very small glass of sherry on Christmas day. I think I'm about 4 in the photos.

I've always had a good relationship with alcohol, drink infrequently and drink to the point of being drunk less than once a year. I was probably last tipsy summer last year.

15 is plenty old enough to have a can or two of gin and tonic at home.

I was 18, I just wasn't interested in drinking alcohol.

Now at nearly 54 I'm teetotal and have been for over 30 years, I just don't have a taste for it, much prefer soft drinks.

My two DDs were around 16 before I allowed them to taste any alcohol.

They're 29 and 27 now, and like me, they don't drink at all.

My DS is 15 and has shown absolutely no interest in alcohol until last week. I had a very rare bottle of Peroni (at home) and he asked to try some. He hated it. I do like a drink, but generally when I go out. I only have alcohol in the fridge when I get bought some by friends at Christmas and it takes me months to drink that. I just can’t be bothered.

Tonight, he has mentioned that both his best friends had some cider today and that he thinks he might like to try some. He hasn’t been out under any pressure by his friends - they are not like that. It was just a general conversation. He hates fizzy drinks, so I am not even sure where to start in terms of letting him have a little drink at home. I may buy a fruity cider at weekend for him and see what he thinks. He’ll probably have forgotten about the conversation at weekend.

I was allowed a glass of wine when I was 13 and liked it that much that I kept sneaking in the kitchen for more and ended up hammered. Spent the night puking up and haven’t touched wine since (40 years ago).

I don't think it was ever really normalises at home - my parents were divorced and though my dad went to the pub a lot I don't remember him drinking at home.

Binge drinking was normalised for me by Young Farmers. From joining age 14 the older ones used to buy us cider in the pub after every meeting and 'barn dances' / socials were just enormous piss ups. The bars never asked for ID and we drank K cider or barcadi and Coke. I remember having an awful hangover at age 15. My mum had no idea - she (like many people I imagine) thought of YFC as a wholesome form of socialising. It really wasn't and actually the contact between men in their twenties and thirties and teenage girls in the days before DBS was a bit of a red flag TBH.

About 8 or 9. I wasn’t keen😬

I have a photo of me at 6 months sipping champagne from my mums glass. Pretty sure I had sips of my parents drinks with permission until I was 8 and then allowed watered down drinks. By 13 my mum bought me Bacardi breezers etc. Alcohol was never anything forbidden so by the time my friends (who weren’t allowed drinks at home) had the chance to drink it wasn’t a novelty for me.

I plan on being the same way with my kids

I have no idea as spent the first few years of my life in a pub - DGM was the landlady of the family pub. Have memories of being given larger and black in a sort of dummy with a very little bottle type attachment - may have been called a dinky feeder - but until I was old enough to hang with the young farmers it was really only on occasions and usually a babycham.

Now I am back to occasionally having a drink but I can take it or leave it.

i first tried alcohol at 10 (maybe a questionable choice from my parents)

I am German and I think it is fairly normal to give a child a very "watered down" buzz fizz for special occassion.

I was never a fan of alcohol, it put me to sleep until I was in my late Twenties. I think I got drunk the first time when I was 26/27.

We allowe DD to have a 1/2 glass of processo - if she wishes - for Christmas and NYE since she is 10. She is now 13 and hasn't moved on from the. odd sip. She may drink a small glass of buzz fizz but I would say it is 1/2 normal processo glass if at all.

In Germany you are allowed wine/beer/sparkling wine in a restaurant/pub if you are with. an adult. It helps taking away the mystery of alcohol and most teens under 18 still don't get drunk on a regular basis.

DD sees us drinking alcohol and we explain about it. I think it is better to show that adult can drink and are responsible than making a big fuss about it and they drink it in secret.