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AIBU?

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Original poster

Sil giving my baby tea

197 replies

abi9396 · 26/02/2023 17:57

My baby is 6 months in 2 weeks. He stayed the night and mil and sil house last night. He came back with tea stains over his bib and sock. My eldest son then told me that sil had given him some of her tea to drink. Mil, sil and my partner are all denying this and claims the baby spilled her tea on accident and that’s how it’s over his bib and sock. If they did can this be harmful at his age I am worried?

OP posts:
Eatentoomanyroses · 26/02/2023 18:00

No it’ll be fine.

BeardieWeirdie · 26/02/2023 18:01

Either she is an idiot giving your baby tea or an idiot leaving hot tea in your baby’s reach - I’d believe your eldest. Don’t leave your baby with her.

UrsulaPandress · 26/02/2023 18:01

Baby tea is a thing. Tea with extra milk.

FoxInSocksSatOnBlocks · 26/02/2023 18:02

Yeah, they would never look after my child unsupervised ever again.

You can’t trust them.

Whydothat · 26/02/2023 18:03

He'll be fine, tea contains tannin which can cause issues with iron uptake but a little bit won't cause any harm.

BevMarsh · 26/02/2023 18:03

I'd not be giving my baby caffeine.
I'd not be happy that they are all lying either.

kagerou · 26/02/2023 18:05

I doubt your SIL actually gave him tea on purpose , especially if everyone else said that's not what happened (meaning they know babies shouldn't have tea)

Obviously its not great if your baby has drunk some as it has caffeine in and tannins but if it was a one off small amount it wouldn't be extremely harmful

Apparently my grandparents used to give their children weak sugary, milky tea in their bottles (1940s to 1960s parenting!) Obviously not something you should be doing but will hopefully calm you to know all 6 of their kids survived haha

Onnabugeisha · 26/02/2023 18:05

It’s got no nutrition and has caffeine. So while tea won’t harm him, it’s also not good for him either. I’d be really upset at whoever is lying though.

coffeecupsandwaxmelts · 26/02/2023 18:06

The tea isn't an issue in itself but I'd be unimpressed if they've lied about it.

How old is your eldest? Are you sure he's telling the truth?

ToLongToCharge · 26/02/2023 18:07

Will they feed him honey next

I would 100% stop all unsupervised contact

Withnailandeye · 26/02/2023 18:07

i mean it’s not brilliant at that age, is there any way it might have been decaf, I give my (older) DC decaf tea.

I wouldn’t be happy about the lying though - alarm bells.

FoxInSocksSatOnBlocks · 26/02/2023 18:08

@kagerou That’s called survivor bias and should always be discounted.

Doing something because they did it it 20/30/40+ years ago and X were fine is a) not a reason to do it now and b) totally meaningless.

MrsBunnyEars · 26/02/2023 18:09

UrsulaPandress · 26/02/2023 18:01

Baby tea is a thing. Tea with extra milk.

Not a good thing, though.

Agree with PP - letting a baby get spilt tea on them is bad too, and my baby wouldn’t be going back.

PennyRa · 26/02/2023 18:09

It's not good but not terrible for a one off. People used to put tea bags in baby's bottles

TwilightSkies · 26/02/2023 18:09

This thread is so funny 😂 it’s tea not heroin!!
Maybe it’s an Irish thing but giving babies milky tea is normal here.

daisypond · 26/02/2023 18:12

Your baby will be fine, but it’s absolutely not on, and I wouldn’t like them lying about it.

Ponoka7 · 26/02/2023 18:13

I had my first in the 80's and we gave our babies milky tea, as my and previous generations were. As said we now know that they shouldn't have tea within 45 minutes of eating. I wouldn't give my GC tea, now. I'm glad I gave my children tea because those that were critical were giving strong ribena and fruit juices, which did teeth damage. I'm anti giving babies water, because of the lack of nutrition. You need to tell them that it doesn't happen again.

LakeTiticaca · 26/02/2023 18:13

My son used to love a bottle.of tea from about 10 months old. And horlicks
And ovaltine
He's 35 now and doing just fine 🙂

coffeecupsandwaxmelts · 26/02/2023 18:14

FoxInSocksSatOnBlocks · 26/02/2023 18:08

@kagerou That’s called survivor bias and should always be discounted.

Doing something because they did it it 20/30/40+ years ago and X were fine is a) not a reason to do it now and b) totally meaningless.

It's tea, not heroin!

Coffeellama · 26/02/2023 18:15

I’d be more annoyed if they were telling the truth and they’ve managed to leave tea close enough for him to poor it on himself!

Baby tea isn’t a thing anymore, especially for those that aren’t even weaning age yet, but it won’t have caused any harm.

WeCome1 · 26/02/2023 18:15

LakeTiticaca · 26/02/2023 18:13

My son used to love a bottle.of tea from about 10 months old. And horlicks
And ovaltine
He's 35 now and doing just fine 🙂

My mum smoked and drank through her pregnancy. I’m fine.

Doesn’t make it a good idea though.

Rainbowsundae · 26/02/2023 18:15

FoxInSocksSatOnBlocks · 26/02/2023 18:08

@kagerou That’s called survivor bias and should always be discounted.

Doing something because they did it it 20/30/40+ years ago and X were fine is a) not a reason to do it now and b) totally meaningless.

I don't think the phrase survivor bias was intended to cover giving a baby wet tea in a bottle 😅😅😅

coffeecupsandwaxmelts · 26/02/2023 18:19

WeCome1 · 26/02/2023 18:15

My mum smoked and drank through her pregnancy. I’m fine.

Doesn’t make it a good idea though.

Show quote history

Are you really comparing smoking and drinking during pregnancy with giving a six month old a tiny bit of tea?

CuteCillian · 26/02/2023 18:19

Maybe it’s an Irish thing but giving babies milky tea is normal here.
My niece and nephew have been raised on milky tea from around 6 months.
The main issue here, is being able to rely on the people you trust to care for your DC being completely honest.

maddiemookins16mum · 26/02/2023 18:20

It’s tea, not vodka. I’m picturing a baby sitting with them reaching out for a glug of tea, taking a slurp and basically drooling, spitting it out.

Nobody was hurt during the above scenario.