Cups of Tea

[springbelle]

Bit of a silly question methinks but how old were your DC's when they started drinking tea (black with a little milk).
My DD is 21 months and is constantly asking for a cup of tea when I'm having one!!
She is getting a tad board with water and milk......
I'm sure I remember drinking tea with my Nan when I was about 3.

DC3 loves a cup of tea! He's 3 and started having milky tea around 18 months.

Small children shouldn't have tea- the tannin leaches iron from them, and can lead to a deficiency/anaemia.

Nonsense.

No- it isn't nonsense:

nhs guidelines

Sorry- the tannins reduce absorbtion of iron from food sources if you wish to be pernickety- which is fine in healthy adults, but obviously more of a problem in children who have smaller stores of iron.

I've been giving 'tea' to DS since he was 2 because he wanted to join in with me so I dip my used teabag into a cup of warm millky water. Hardly any 'tea' in there really but he loves it for whatever reason :-)

You could try redbush or herbal tea if you're worried about normal tea. I let ds (3) have a hot chocolate now and again which he loves, maybe she could have that instead?

I have to agree with swanker, certainly for the younger children, ie under fives. Drinking a lot of cow's milk can also lead to a problem with iron deficiency, admittedly, it is unusual but does occur.

Wouldn't the caffeine content of tea be unsuitable for young children? Does anyone know?

Hi Wigeon,

Yep you're right, it can cause hyperactivity - although fizzy drinks have much higher levels of caffeine in them...

If you can get away with just water and milk...

I was warned during pregnancy not to drink too much tea as I was anaemic and the tea prevented the iron being absorbed by the body, so it is not nonsense.

There is no way I would let a child under 5yo drink tea.

Mme- my body wouldn't let me drink tea when I was pg (vom emoticon not envious)

My 2 are interested in my wine, but I won't be giving them any!

I have given peppermint tea though, and fennel (I think in Germany this is de rigeur for babies?)- both mine like them, but drink them virtually cold.

Swanker
Yes, in Germany the DC get fennel tea and maybe fruit or other herb teas. Giving a child black tea would be akin to offering a British child a glass of whisky - they would be horrified.

I did restrict my tea drinking during pregnancy, and drank a lot of redbush tea.

children shouldn't drink tea.

if your child desperately wants a grown-up drink with you, can't you make hot chocolate or something like that?

I once madea drink for a child where I pretended to put the teabag in, so they were effectively drinking hot water with milk and a bit of sugar.
seemed to suit he child okay.

We drank tea and even drank very milky coffee as kids, but not till primary school age. I'd suggest some redbush/bush/rooibos tea, which looks like black tea and tastes similar to it. It can be drunk with milk just like black tea, but is naturally caffeine free and low in tannins.

Hipp Organic used to sell the fennel tea MmeLindor mentions above - this was 3 years ago, but they are probably still doing it. It is also supposed to be good for digestion, heartburn, and colic in babies (we gave it nearly cold in a bottle to DD1 when very small and windy).