To refuse to let DD drink coffee?

[TheKeyToTheJungle]

DD (13) is constantly asking me if she can drink/try coffee. So far I have been saying no because I don't want her to get addicted to it like I am, I have both DD and also a 1yo DS as well as a very demanding job and I just can't function without coffee because I'm always exhausted and need it to function. Coffee helps to keep me alert every day when I'm exhausted, honestly wouldn't be able to function without coffee. DH thinks that I should 'consider' letting DD try it but I'm worried that she will end up addicted like me. Aibu to not let DD drink coffee?

Stand your ground, op. I'm also addicted heavily to coffee. I started drinking coffee at 17 and haven't stopped since.

Neither have I. And I'm so happy I stuck with it! Coffee is one of those things that brings me joy every day. And there's strong evidence from multiple sources that it has reduced my cancer risk, too.
https://www.wcrf-uk.org/our-blog/coffee-cancer-latest-evidence/

From about 2 years old my son used to.pinch coffee beans out of the hopper and has always loved a coffee. He's grown up now and still loves it but definitely isn't addicted, only having a cup every few days..There's loads of caffeine in tea too, everything in moderation is my view.

You sound obsessed with addiction. Not all of the millions of people who like coffee are addicts you know. Surprised your poor dd hasn't just been to Costa.

My son has been drinking coffee since he was 12 hes 21 now not an addicted yet.
She might have it at a mates house if you keep stopping her.
You can't control everything.

MillshakePickle your poor children. Are you going to control all there choices or just never let them have friends or freedom. Your attitude will mess them up more than a latte. Heaven forbid they ever do anything wrong with your attitude.

Are people really thus concerned about caffeine?

What harm do you think it might do?

It's just a mild stimulant used by most people in the world, delivered in the form of a delicious drink.

Has she really never tried it? She doesn't even know the taste? My ds is 8 and loves the taste, he is always trying to drink my Americanos, even when black. I do stop him as have heard it can inhibit growth but at 12 I would let him now and again. I love coffee but would t say I'm addicted, I just love the taste. Found it easy to switch to decaf when pregnant.

At 13, has she not went to starbucks or costa?
My 13 year old enjoys an occasional iced latte or chocolate frappacino with coffee in it, but she buys them herself, has never asked for coffee outwith that

This. She probably won’t like it anyway. She’ll be wanting to try worse things very soon!

I think calling it an addiction is a bit extreme. Some people might become a bit reliant on it (I know I'm a gremlin in the morning before my coffee), but it's not like people are mugging old ladies for the cash for their next fix or ending up in A&E having their stomach pumped. It's just coffee. My eldest has been drinking it since about 11, but he self-regulates to one cup a day and then switches to decaff or tea after 4pm so it won't affect his sleep (I'm not sure even a bomb would affect his sleep if I'm honest.)

YABU, you're making a mountain out of a molehill.

And an extremely healthy drink too. If broccoli was full of nicotine then I don't think we'd be fussed about people being hooked on it.

I do get blinding headaches if I don't get enough caffeine each day. I asked my GP many years ago what I should do, and she said "make sure you get enough caffeine each day then".

My teens like iced coffee, they buy the instant sachets stuff …they’re full of sugar and they know this so they don’t have them often. They also sometimes buy them from Starbucks without me so if I denied them they’d want them more.

I was born in late 1970’s and my parents thought it was a brilliant idea to force me and my siblings to drink coffee at least twice a day (breakfast time and after tea). It wasn’t decaf either. If we didn’t drink it and it went cold, it would be reheated in the microwave!
When I was 12 I refused to drink it ever again, and even now I don’t drink any hot drinks.

Wrong, my 13 yo likes coffee, she usually has decaf though

YABU. My 10 and 8yo love a latte. 😅

My 2 year old kept badgering me to “share” so I let her try a (very small!) sip assuming she’d hate it and that would be that. Turns out she loves it and now i have to drink it secretly in the kitchen or she has the mother of all tantrums 😂

Do you not let her have coke , hot chocolate ?
she is already drinking caffeine .

Tbh if you are struggling that much with tiredness - wean yourself off it . It won’t be doing what you think . How many coffee’s a day are you drinking ?

Nothing to stop her going into Costa or Starbucks when out with friends and getting one. I’d rather she had it at home. Let her try a Dolce Gusto capsule or something- they’re not really strong.

OP, your relationship with coffee sounds very peculiar & you're obviously not comfortable with it. I agree with another Pp about get some bloods done, make surely there's not something else going on.

Ironically, your use of coffee is going to be what's driven your daughter to obsessively wanting to try it, she's modelling your behaviour - you've made it interesting.

Two of my 3 love coffee, one hates even the smell. 15yo (youngest) loves an iced coffee as a treat, it's not a big deal and as a rule most ppl can take or leave it. He had one every morning for a week on holiday, helluva strong too! In the two weeks since we got back he's had one.

Your daughter will be fine, it's not the caffeine so much as how you use it.

Tomatoes, potatoes & aubergines are full of nicotine lol

They give babies caffeine in hospital. A cup of coffee won't hurt her.

If being neurotic means they will live physically healthier, happier and longer lives so be it.

Well the evidence is that the opposite is more likely@MillshakePickle

And, no need to worry - there will be money available to pay for any furture therapy they may need.

I’m taking this as a fairly witty joke…

Keep her off it. I started drinking black coffee with no sugar in it age 11 (as part of an eating disorder to stave off hunger and to fuel excessive exercise). I'm now 42 and addicted to it. I drink about 8 cups a day just to function.. I'm sure I'm causing myself health issues

Well you'd think so. My 2nd daughter at 13 often went in the Costa with her friends after school ( she loved hkt chocolate with marshmallows) but some of them had coffee. TBH I can't see the big deal