To think my DD 6 is old enough to try a sip of wine???

[Cinderffingrella]

My MIL it utterly outraged...but my parents let me have it VERY watered down from a similar age, and I'm not even going that far. Incidentally, I barely drink....

'When teenagers go binge drinking, it's usually not about liking the taste of wine or beer. It is, as it always was, about not having the confidence to stand out from their mates'

I think this is the whole problem, people who are against a sip at 6yrs seem to take the relaxed views that teenagers are bound to get legless. Much better to bring them up to be confident enough to be individuals and not feel they have to follow the crowd.When I was young nearly all my friends smoked-I thought it was a revolting habit and never did-the friends get used to this and accept it.
If you give a 6 yr old a sip to see what it tastes like you don't need to give them another! You can then say that they know what it tastes like.

Hi Zippibabes - sorry -posted and ran off to bed last night. No one is taking any notice of me/sycamoretree. They are more interested in OP...which is funny considering how it was spawned. Still, I guess it's an interesting subject I guess. Maybe should have said DD was 2.....

I am only going by the OP as I have no idea how it was spawned-all references to what it was a spin off from have me baffled!!

I'd like to point out, especially to anyone who thinks that "alcohol is a poison" and thus should not ever cross the lips of a minor, that paracetamol, when taken in sufficient quantity, is also a poison (in common with other drugs) which, coincidentally, will cause liver damage.

So, no Calpol, then?

But you don't give Calpol - just so they can have a taste do you? You give it for a reason, and if someone suggested you gave it randomly to a six year old I think we'd all agree it was a Bad Thing.

I think my point stands - the fact that a substance, if ingested in sufficient quantity, can be poisonous does not mean it can never be given in ANY quantity.

If I allowed my dd to taste alcohol (and that's all I'd do until she's a lot older) it would be for a reason - a) because she will have asked and b) because it makes sense to me and my dh to avoid portraying alcohol as mysterious and glamorous. On it's own, I don't expect it to make any difference but along with showing her that we can drink responsibly I believe it's a rational strategy.

Are you having a laugh?? To even THINK of giving a child alcohol?!?

Not unreasonable, a sip is not going to do ANY harm

I wouldn't and don't for any reason (weddings/18th birthdays etc from recently) -they are 6 and 9 - but that's just me - I respect your choice to do things a different way.

YANBU. We've happily done this since the LOs were about 3 or 4.

On the rare occasions that we have wine with our family meal we allow our dcs to have heavily watered-down wine. Similarly if we have beer with a meal they have a small glass of alcohol-free beer. This is as well as, not instead of, a glass of water. We teach them how to drink their 'wine' - in sips, not knocking it back. It's all part of growing up and learning to appreciate and respect food.

It is not substance abuse, nor is it child abuse.

There seems to be a somewhat hysterical attitude to alcohol in the UK. I don't subscribe to it.