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Original poster

Do your 5 year olds drink tea?

81 replies

Enid · 04/04/2005 12:14

was a bit shocked when dd's friend's mum offered me and them a cup of tea. Didn't know how to say 'dd1 doesnt drink tea' without sounding like a prat. She had already given them one earlier apparently and dd1 said she had sugar in hers - cheeky mare, she's never had a cup of tea in her life

OP posts:
tiffini · 04/04/2005 12:16

my DS 4 yrs likes a coffee sometimes, but it is decaf and no sugar

smellymelly · 04/04/2005 12:17

Yeah, we give my 5 year old tea very occasionally, and my 2.5 year when she's lucky.

But I know people who give their toddlers tea in bottles!!

fastasleep · 04/04/2005 12:18

Don't 'they' say that you should wait until they're something daft like 11 because the caffiene stops them from absorbing vitamin C....or something.... decaf obviously is just brown water though lol

Gobbledigook · 04/04/2005 12:19

Caffeine does hinder the absorption of iron and that's why it's not recommended in little ones.

milliways · 04/04/2005 12:19

Mine still won't touch the stuff - onlt hot drink they like is hot chocolate. They are 9 & 14. But when their friends come round & you offer them a drink, sometimes they ask for tea!

fastasleep · 04/04/2005 12:19

Iron!! I knew it was something

serenity · 04/04/2005 12:19

DS1 had had the odd cup by then, but not as a regular thing. However, he's just turned 7 and over the last week he's started to ask for a cup at least once a day. It's actually very weird as I stopped drinking tea when I was pregnant with DD, and still can't drink it, so I don't know where it's come from. There are worse things to drink!

Original poster
Enid · 04/04/2005 12:19

yeah, I sort of have a problem with it, but I don't really know why. I mean she has coca cola very occasionally and that doesn't really bother me.

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SPARKLER1 · 04/04/2005 12:20

I don't give mine tea or coffee. When I asked dd2 (3) the other day if she wanted a cup of tea she laughed at me and said "no I'm a child!" She must think it's like alcohol! LOL

Gobbledigook · 04/04/2005 12:20

You were just getting confused fastasleep! Took me a minute to remember! It's vitamin C that helps the absorption of iron.

sansouci · 04/04/2005 12:21

A tiny bit of tea & lots of milk. Dd loves to be included but seldom drinks it... not surprised, hate very milky tea, yuck.

smellymelly · 04/04/2005 12:21

Well, I don't let my kids have cola ever!!!! So there you go...

Tommy · 04/04/2005 12:21

I can remember drinking coffee at the age of 3 or 4 - wouldn't dream of giving it the DSs - or tea TBH.

fastasleep · 04/04/2005 12:21

Oh riiight I remember now - phew thought my memory was spitting out junk then!

smellymelly · 04/04/2005 12:22

BTW - their tea is exceptionally weak, with loads of milk and luke warm....yuk!

mummytosteven · 04/04/2005 12:22

fast think it's that the tannin in tea impedes iron absorption

btw /hijack you going to mather ave this afternoon?

tiffini · 04/04/2005 12:23

i thinking of stopping giving my DS dscaf, as i recently heard thay it is probably worse than normal coffee, because of all the crap they put in it to take the caffeine out.

I f thes say they cant have tea before they are 11, why dont they same the same about chocolate, that has caffeine in?

fastasleep · 04/04/2005 12:23

Don't think so MTS...feeling a wee bit otherworldly today [confused emoticon!!]

Original poster
Enid · 04/04/2005 12:24

well the mum is a hv, so i presume she knows what she is doing

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fastasleep · 04/04/2005 12:25

MTS is right - it's the tannin not the caffeine, tannin is a special tea thing, caffeine will just make them hyper! Giving them coffee/coke/choccy/sweets lots could mess with their metabolism and cause ADHD like sypmtoms but only in quite large quantities...

sansouci · 04/04/2005 12:31

For pity's sake, how much tea are we talking about here? Surely not enough to impede iron absorption or any other damaging effects!

sansouci · 04/04/2005 12:32

Far more important to be concerned about the amount of junk kids eat, IMO.

Original poster
Enid · 04/04/2005 12:32

I just never even considered it as a children's drink

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fastasleep · 04/04/2005 12:32

Course not San...I'm just saying what could happen if they got a taste for it and you fed it to them 10 times a day!...Or if your child has low iron levels then you should probably avoid giving them tea...it's good to know

Original poster
Enid · 04/04/2005 12:32

Its my drink - don't want to have to start making one for dd1 everytime I make one for me

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