To give my 12 year old decaf coffee?

[SweetOneSizeFitsAll]

DD likes the taste and smell of coffee. She has had a few sips or tea spoon full from my cup and has asked to drink coffee as a now and again treat. I'm not sure I should give her caffeinated coffee so have bought some decaf but my sil says I'm poisoning my tween.

What age do people start drinking normal coffee and AIBU to give dd decaf once a week?

Who are all these children who like coffee! I don’t think I started actually enjoying coffee until I was about 30 🤣 uncultured swine

It's totally fine.

Decaff is fine, caff is fine too. Tell SIL to fuck off.

I used to drink milky coffee from about 8 or 9. I would have happily have let my DCs have coffee at that age. They don't really like it though. They do both drink hot chocolate regularly which is processed.

If you are concerned about the processing (or really want to shut SIL up) get coffee beans / ground coffee and get Swiss water decaff, which uses water to remove the caffine.

I started drinking milky coffee at about 8 years old if not younger. I remember when my Mum & Dad split up when I was 11 and I started staying over at my grandparents a lot, my grandad would insist on me having a tea with extra sugar because ‘coffee isn’t good for you’! Now I only drink coffee with a Baileys in it! I’m not big on soft drinks and hate water so tea is my regular go to.

My son started drinking the odd cup of tea at about age 4 and has been drinking the odd coffee since he was about 10, at around 13-14 he went through a phaze of drinking a lot of it, often black. He’s now 15 and whilst he still enjoys a strong coffee he chooses to drink a lot more tea.

It doesn’t appear to have done either of us any harm. She’ll be fine.

Fine. So long as you are aware that there is still caffeine in decaf and are OK with that

Just let her have proper coffee. By the time mine were in high school they were meeting up with friends and having coffee in cafes etc.

I drank normal coffee at that age! (And/or decaf, depending) Drank decaf sometimes at age... 8? All black. Totally fine.

did you mean to write 12 or did you mean 2 ?

'She has had a few sips or tea spoon full from my cup'

Completely unreasonable.

Decaf tastes like shit.

ETA: Mellow Birds daily aged 3.

12yo having coffee caf and decaf is totally fine.

I think it's fine Decaf or normal
Mine were more into tea at 11, that's fine too

My Mum gave me fully caffinated milky coffee BEFORE BED!! from when I was about 5 as I loved the taste. She moans that of all her kids I was the worst sleeper. I kid you not….🤦🏼‍♀️🙈. A small mug of decaf will be fine!

I'm 34 and still waiting for the enjoyment of coffee to finally start kicking in. I'm having my fruity chocolat-y no coffee frappucino at Starbucks and my 13yo nephew drinking filtered back coffee with me 😅

Mine did, too. I slept better that way.

Well I got mine a nespresso machine for his birthday when he was in Y7, and the only rule was no caffeine after midday.

The amount of rubbish kids eat I don’t see why there is such pearl clutching on Mumsnet about older children drinking decent coffee.

Although I will join in the pearl clutching if we’re talking about the hideous milky slop containing a week’s sugar ration from Starbucks and the like.

I loved a cup of mellow birds at that age! Decaf especially is fine!

@SweetOneSizeFitsAll I’d say it’s fine, i remember when I was younger (I’m 25) at centre parcs I used to go to Starbucks alone but get decaf once or twice and I used to feel so grown up 😂

side note but if she loves the smell of coffee, she may like the coffee face mask from lush! I don’t really shop there but it smells so good I could eat it, it’s called Cup O’Coffee

My 7 year old drinks a milky cup of decaf coffee every Sunday morning when he wakes up 😳😂

I used to drink fruit tea in uni until a dentistry student told me it was terrible for your teeth because of the acid.
Switched back to "normal" tea!
My 13 yo has normal coffee and tea, just occasionally less than once a day. My 9 yo has a cup of tea sometimes.
I don't think it's a big deal, probably way better for them than fizzy drinks

Yes please just let her have it. And full caf too. Surely she has tried it anyway in the school canteen or McDonald's or Starbucks don't you think?

I have been a tea drinker since before I could talk I think and so far no damage… as for coffee both mine starting drinking a morning cup about 12. Can’t see the harm tbh. I wouldn’t want them drinking 10 cups a day but a morning cup won’t hurt them!

I drink Organic Swiss Water Decaffinated Coffee, I'd have no issue with giving this to my children.

Coffee is one of the most heavily sprayed (pesticides) plant, so I will only drink Organic.

The gateway for me was coffee ice cream. Was eating that for as far back as I can remember! I prefer savoury over sweet- would rather eat vegetables and find fruit to be noxious and difficult to eat.

Coke has a third of the caffeine of coffee, diet coke has half. Coke has 35g in a 330ml can of sugar which is roughly 9 teaspoons. So I would worry a he'll of a lot more about the sugar in coke than the caffeine in coffee. Italian and French teens drink strong coffee.
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