Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

I’ve just given my 2 year old a desert and just realised it contains alcohol

199 replies

Fightingtobepositive · 02/04/2024 18:08

Just bought a lemon desert from Lidls we’ve all sat down to share it after dinner and half way through thought i could taste alcohol so checked the ingredients and it does contain it. I’m freaking out. He’s only had a tablespoon worth of a fair sized pack but I am freaking out and feel like absolute shot 😢 posting here for traffic.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
5
Llistamista · 02/04/2024 21:27

I gave mine beer battered cod tonight!!!!!

not alcoholic

My brother ate the whole tub of brandy cream when he was a baby

not alcoholic

In this case it will be fine, as in a tiny taste of a pudding, but people’s attitude on this post to giving alcohol to small children is quite worrying. There is actually new studies and schools of thinking on this subject highlighting the real dangers of giving alcohol to small children. It is illegal to give children under 5 alcohol for good reason

do link us to these new schools of thought that differ from the old schools. Luckily there wasn’t any alcohol in the dessert eh?

all these ‘more brandy than custard’ stories - you do realise these are family folklore not reality don’t you?

Gia6 · 02/04/2024 21:34

Fightingtobepositive · 02/04/2024 19:24

Hearing all these stories has helped so much. Thanks all, even the eye rollers ;)
DP has just taken him to bed… I’ll probably be checking in on him all night but all these comments have made me feel less hysterical!

Did you make sure he drank a pint of water before bed to prevent his hangover?

Blogswife · 02/04/2024 21:38

He will be fine . I gave my GD a spoon of my tiramisù cake the other day. I’ve only just realised ( after seeing this post) that it had alcohol in it . It had no effect ( thankfully ) 😅
My grandad used to dip my dummy in whisky - I’d like to say it didn’t do me any harm but I am rather partial to a tipple nowadays !

WarshipRocinante · 02/04/2024 21:41

Gettingonmygoat · 02/04/2024 21:22

Here in Scotland whiskey was used to rub on babies gums when they were teething.
Nurse Harvey's and Woodward's gripe water used to have alcohol in them, only thing that made my middle one sleep.

No, it wasn’t. In Scotland, it wouldn’t be whiskey. It’s whisky. If you’re Scottish, you should know that. Whisky. Without the E.

Allofaflutter · 02/04/2024 21:45

Brandy cream was very definitely alcoholic! My grandma always made her own with lashings of it. Practically drowned the Christmas cake too each year. Very definitely alcoholic.

Allofaflutter · 02/04/2024 21:47

She did it every year until I was in my 20’s. Maybe bought ones don’t have it but hers definitely did.

Llistamista · 02/04/2024 21:47

@Allofaflutter yes if you make your own. Not supermarket tubs

Hankunamatata · 02/04/2024 21:50

My nan used to give me Rumtopf - fruit soaked in rum. The alcohol content must have been huge but it was a weekly treat with ice cream from no age

Llistamista · 02/04/2024 21:50

@Maka21 erm that’s just a website that says alcohol isn’t good for kids. Why is it ‘a new school of thought?’ Pretty sure we all know this…..

Allofaflutter · 02/04/2024 21:50

My point was my brother got pissed and was fine.

Allofaflutter · 02/04/2024 21:52

And he doesn’t drink now so it wasn’t a slippery slope to alcoholism.

TeabySea · 02/04/2024 21:54

FionnulaTheCooler · 02/04/2024 18:10

He will be fine, it's a tiny amount. People used to give kids "gripe water" which is basically gin a couple of generations ago.

I used to absolutely love gripe water as a kid!

BrownSauceOnBeans · 02/04/2024 22:00

I always got brandy in my bottle to help me sleep if I was ill!

Gia6 · 02/04/2024 22:04

Blogswife · 02/04/2024 21:38

He will be fine . I gave my GD a spoon of my tiramisù cake the other day. I’ve only just realised ( after seeing this post) that it had alcohol in it . It had no effect ( thankfully ) 😅
My grandad used to dip my dummy in whisky - I’d like to say it didn’t do me any harm but I am rather partial to a tipple nowadays !

Edited

My 1yo is partial to making a beeline for my used plastic champagne flute at parties and BBQs and trying to quaff the residue back dramatically. I’m sure some pearl clutchers are horrified…

honeyfox · 02/04/2024 22:05

In the 1980s we used to get egg whites whisked up with whiskey when we had a cold!

WimbyAce · 02/04/2024 22:06

This is funny as we bought some choc mousse little puddings from Lidl and my OH is like they've got something in them. I'm like no it doesn't say anything just says milk/dark chocolate mousse. Read the small print today and they do indeed contain alcohol. Very tasty mind 😃

Llistamista · 02/04/2024 22:11

But this ‘contains alcohol’ is akin to an allergen warning for people whose religion forbids them from alcohol. It categorically does not mean it’s alcoholic. It’s just like a flavouring

Clafoutie · 02/04/2024 22:35

Llistamista · 02/04/2024 19:26

Op you need to seek help for anxiety. Checking in on your child all night because he ate a spoonful of a non alcoholic Lidl dessert that has a tiny amount of alcohol as an ingredient is not normal or healthy

I agree with this. OP, you are doing yourself much more harm with this anxiety than any perceived harm to your child. There is literally nothing to worry about here. I know from my own experience that it can be hard to get a handle on anxious thoughts, but it helps perhaps to identify them for what they are?

Snugglemonkey · 02/04/2024 22:43

I put sherry in my tomato sauce. My children eat it at least once a week. The amounts are so tiny in a batch of anything.

My Christmas cake is another story though. I feed that with whisky for 12 weeks. It reeks. I hate fruit cake, so I have never tried it, but I am told it packs a punch. I would not let a child have that.

Is it something that has the alcohol cooked out or something fed with it?

But actually, yes, generations of children survived gripe water and dummies dipped in whisky, whisky rubbed onto gums. My mil told me that she made her children "happy" when teething. She dipped a crust of plain bread in whisky, rolled it in sugar and stuck it between their gums and lips 🙈🙈🙈

She was most disturbed that I was using weird powders and not going for a wee tot of any kind of alcohol 🙈

gmgnts · 02/04/2024 22:52

FionnulaTheCooler · 02/04/2024 18:10

He will be fine, it's a tiny amount. People used to give kids "gripe water" which is basically gin a couple of generations ago.

Gripe water is still freely available and contains no alcohol - I don't think it did even 60 years ago when I was a baby!

CagneyAndLazy · 02/04/2024 22:54

Topsyturvy78 · 02/04/2024 21:10

My son drank an alcoholic drink we just so happened to have paramedics there to check DD over. They said it won't do him any harm and to just give him lots of milk to drink to flush it out of his system.

I can't believe they didn't recommend a kebab.

Noyesnoyes · 02/04/2024 23:01

Choochuw · 02/04/2024 18:09

😂

He'll be fine.

Give him a few more spoons and he'll sleep well.

PMSL! Read the op and thought the same!

Noyesnoyes · 02/04/2024 23:02

GoodVibesHere · 02/04/2024 18:10

It's fine! My DDs had tiramisu when they were tiny, they loved it.

Tiramisu is the food of the devil! No one should be fed that!

GrinGrinGrin