15 / will any of you be allowing your 15 year old some Drinks on Xmas day eg sup of desert wine?

[ZeViteVitchofCwismas]

As above inspired by other thread...maybe hot milk with a Tony shot of bailey?

Or is it a no no.

How naive! How much alcohol you drink has very little to do with your parents attitude towards it and much, much more to do with your friendship group.

Just ask me (teetotal parents, very against it) and my friendship group (the whole range of attitudes right up to being totally fine with them getting drunk under age). We were all very pretty big binge drinkers - but the very 'cool' parents meant we all had someone to give us a lift, someone to buy us some booze and somewhere to crash afterwards.

If my 15 year old asked me for a glass of Prosecco or whatever, maybe bucks fizz , I would be happy to share it but she doesn’t ask and doesn’t seem interested so there’s no point inciting her to have some. I am a regular wine drinker but my kids are not interested and I feel like that is a good thing.

my now 18 year old was always asked if they wanted a glass of wine /cider/smirnoff ice etc always said no, she still mainly says no never drinks at partys always offers to be the driver

Why alcopops? Just let them have what you're having.
Mixing booze with sugar is just more likely to lead to over consumption.

I offered my dd (15) a sip of my prosecco but she said no. She's not interested in alcohol. If she'd said yes I'd have given her a small glass.

I don’t mean this to sound like criticism, more a statement. With questions like this swap the word ‘alcohol’ for the word ‘cocaine’. I say this because research (Professor David Nutt) has found alcohol to be more damaging to society than cocaine, but because alcohol is so normalised we ignore this.

DD1, 15 in 2 weeks, has tried mulled wine, wine and beer over the last couple of days and declared them all disgusting. She's gone back to her apple and watermelon J20 😀

B+M 89p little can of vodka and lime for DS(16) with his Xmas dinner

Yep, my 13 year old (nearly 14) will pinch some of my Smirnoff ice this festive season.

Nope. Won't be providing or approving of under age drinking in our family. We don't drink and I'll explain to my kids why. They'll then make their own decisions.

There is no age limit

Mine were allowed to try whatever they wanted from about 14. All seem pretty sensible drinkers now.

You can drink in private homes from the age of 5.

It's not underage drinking to let teenagers have a glass of wine in their own homes.

Prof Nutt is very wise. He also has the courage of his convictions... as I recall, he was fired from his job as a government advisor after making the comments you mentioned. Now a campaigner for legalized medical use of marijuana.

The above was in reply to @Lovetotravel123 's comment BTW.

Youngest is 15. Have given him a shandy in the afternoon and an Bacardi and coke for the evening. I'm very very scared of alcoholism and really want to avoid any weirdness with alcohol.

My 15 would have drunk exactly the same as anyone else in the house and not just at Christmas. But we are not big drinkers. On Christmas day he might have had a couple of glasses of bucks fizz, a couple of glasses of asti and maybe a beer over the course of the day. He was bigger than his Dad by 15 and probably never had more than a couple of units in his body at any time. Now at 27 he barely drank at all as he had offered to drive elderly relations around.

I think it's a myth that being exposed to alcohol removes the mystique. I was allowed the odd drink at home, but from 14 onwards I knocked booze back with wild abandon whenever I could get my hands on it. Drank a horrifying amount between then and my early 20s. I barely drink at all now though.

We've steered fairly clear of allowing 14 year old to drink. Their mother has alcohol/addiction issues and from what I've read it's best to avoid exposure.

They've tried the odd swig at Christmas but haven't enjoyed it.

Yes I do - I’d rather they learn (14 and 15 yo DD) to drink safely and responsibly at home. I have a hard time with letting them go to a pub at 18 and the expectation is that they’ll know how to handle themselves and alcohol (I didn’t, and look back I wasn’t terribly safe)

I grew up in a family where alcohol was not treated as a secret grown up thing. Even as small children we were re given a dash of wine in water at dinner if we wanted to try it. My siblings and I have brought up our children in the same way and at 15 the older ones would definitely have been allowed a glass or wine or beer with dinner. The younger ones can taste it if they are interested. None if my siblings nor myself really drink very much and definitely didn't go through the phase of going wild as soon as they could get their hands on a drink, the same is true of our older children.
I'm all for demystifying alcohol in a controlled environment and showing its something to be enjoyed as a pleasant drink on certain occasions rather than an illicit substance just for getting hammered on.

Same! That, or wine in a tiny sherry glass lol.

It definitely worked, I knew what alcohol was, it was never this mystery ‘must have’ and I was sensible with it once I was old enough to buy it myself.

OP, I’d say go ahead.

This theory has been debunked by loads of research. Allowing children to have alcohol is actually more likely to result in them drinking later on

I would let a 15 year old try alcohol. I would not try to make alcohol child friendly. I don't like alcopops for that reason. Why add Baileys to milk for goodness sake, just so a young person will drink alcohol?

Both my 13 and 15 year old were allowed a cider however I don't think either bothered. 15 year old usually would be he is unwell today with the cold/virus my 13 year old had last week.

I don't think making alcohol look like a really special "treat" is a great idea - why must they have one with Christmas dinner or New year? My teen hasn't asked me, I'm sure he wouldn't like the kind of drink that I do have in the house but why would I buy him an alcopop that just encourages him to consume alcohol with the taste of a soft drink?

My 6 and 8 year olds both had a sip of bucks fizz (and hated it😂) so I fully expect I’d allow a couple of drinks at 15! Safe at home is the best place to try these things, takes the excitement and mystery out of it before they hit the street corners with their mates!