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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

What age should a child be trusted with a hot drink?

94 replies

Onanotherdiet38 · 01/04/2022 12:54

Like a hot chocolate, what do you think is a suitable age for them to be given their own hot drink safely?

OP posts:

SheWoreYellow · 01/04/2022 16:37

@Onanotherdiet38

I don't have my own children, looks like I've massively misjudged. I work with a 7 year old girl who has a habit of knocking things over and not listening, my colleague gave her a hot chocolate without a lid but fortunately she managed it ok

You’d give her water in a glass, so I’d see it as the same.

Presuming it wasn’t too hot.

YerWanIsGettinNotions · 01/04/2022 22:59

DH is 41 and he’s not there yet to the point where I'm comfortable with him using the Good Mugs.

DifficultBloodyWoman · 01/04/2022 23:04

@YerWanIsGettinNotions

42.

DH is 41 and he’s not there yet to the point where I'm comfortable with him using the Good Mugs.

😂🤣😂🤣😂

gogohm · 01/04/2022 23:07

Mine drank tea from a sippy cup, hot chocolate from around 18 months but it's was luke warm

MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · 01/04/2022 23:11

About 2 or 3 and at 7ish he was able to use the kettle,that was as a happy day,now I have to beg for a cuppa these days

gogohm · 01/04/2022 23:11

@VampireMoney

I hate tea in a bottle. I came back from a rare trip out with now exh to find my dd drinking tea about 6 months, mum was babysitting. Dd has drink tea ever since

VampireMoney · 01/04/2022 23:15

[quote gogohm]@VampireMoney

I hate tea in a bottle. I came back from a rare trip out with now exh to find my dd drinking tea about 6 months, mum was babysitting. Dd has drink tea ever since[/quote]
I don't put tea in a bottle and neither did my mum or gran, always a sippy cup for a toddler then a regular cup from about 3. Tea in a bottle sounds horrible!

Iheartmysmart · 01/04/2022 23:15

Bloody hell. Think I was having a small glass of wine with my Sunday dinner when I was 10! DS had his own ‘hot’ drinks from about 3 from memory.

Kuachui · 01/04/2022 23:17

yeah depends how hot really. fresy made cup of hot tea/hot choco for example 12 years old, any younger id say more warm tea

NeverDropYourMooncup · 01/04/2022 23:31

I think I probably had tea from when I was about 2. It went into a Tommee Tippee cup as far as I can remember, but once I'd progressed to Mellow Birds Coffee made with milk aged 3, it went into a proper cup to be properly enjoyed. By eight, I was making tea and coffee for everybody, so I naturally made one for myself as well.

It probably worked out quite well in that I didn't knacker my teeth with squashes and fizz.

RewildingAmbridge · 01/04/2022 23:45

Ds has had 'babycino' warm milk in cafés since he stopped breastfeeding around 16 months, they're not usually that hot though, more warm. He would have a lid/takeaway cup at that age. He's now 3 and walks into our local café, asks for some 'fluffy milk' and wanders off to see if his favourite chair is available. He drinks from a china cup quite easily.
At seven they would be able to manage a hot chocolate without much of a thought, unless it's one from those vending machines in very flimsy plastic cups that are always hotter than the sun. I always burn myself on those.

dottydodah · 02/04/2022 10:06

I remember drinking warm tea about 4 or 5.My DC never really liked hot drinks until they were older (except Hot Chocolate) I think obv not too hot ,I always seem to leave my tea until its warm now!

inheritancetrack · 02/04/2022 10:15

It depends on how hot. I wouldn't give a 7 year old a really hot drink. If it can be spilt on the skin and not cause redness, that's how hot I would do it

gogohm · 02/04/2022 10:17

By 7 my kids made me mugs of tea!

Blueeyedgirl21 · 02/04/2022 10:17

7 to make them and bring them carefully through from say kitchen to living room. I’d say 3 to have a hot choc in a cafe sat down.

gogohm · 02/04/2022 10:20

@VampireMoney

Apparently it was normal in the 70's.

My kids were breastfed until toddlers and refused formula or expressed breastmilk so I do have sympathy for my dm, I used a sippy cup myself for drinks but she was onto something, dd was very happy, something rare (dd is autistic, we didn't know it then obviously but she was a very grumpy baby)

TheDogHasABone · 02/04/2022 10:40

Mine from 2 with understanding they need to wait for it to cool.
Right temp? My 3 month old has just finished a bottle of warm milk. any age.

Chely · 02/04/2022 10:43

5yr we had no spillages, I wouldn't give them it boiling hot though. The teen can make her own hot drinks but younger ones (11 and below) are not allowed yet.

Changechangychange · 02/04/2022 10:56

Safe for them to drink it, or safe for them to not spill it everywhere/make a mess with it?

DS has been having hot chocolates and hot apple juices under my direct supervision since he was 2 (warming up after playing out in the snow etc). In a small cup, not too hot, not overfilled, heavily supervised. Didn’t drink much of them, but it made him feel cosy which is important when they’ve been out in the cold for a while. His nursery served fruit tea at snack time for the same reason. Again, tepid not boiling, small plastic cups, heavily supervised.

He is four now, and I’m happy to buy him his own hot chocolate after skating or something. He knows to check it isn’t too hot first, and honestly is more interested in the cream/marshmallows than the hot chocolate. He might need a bit of help to get it to the table without spilling, but that is because most coffee shops overfill cups by a ridiculous amount. I don’t think he needs cups of tea or coffee aged 4, but that is about the caffeine content not the temperature.

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