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Do you give your children alcohol?

134 replies

MamaMaiasaura · 27/04/2007 10:41

here

I have given my ds watered down wine, very small amount. I have also let him sip champagne from my glass and aware his dad has let him have a sip of beer. Does anyone else do this? I know I probably risk being shot down n flames but I dont think it is particualary harmful to let him have a sip on special occasions. We drink very little here and I wouldnt let him have alcopops/spirits etc. When we on holiday in France they gave him watered down wine the the restuarant. I understand the article is probably aimed at parents to give their kids full strength drinks and alcopops but wondered if anyone else has allowed their dc to have a little bit of wine?

OP posts:
FioFio · 27/04/2007 11:18

This reply has been deleted

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Enid · 27/04/2007 11:19

my dd1 has tasted it (not offered by me)

but no I do not encourage or let them have it

my parentes let me have wine and water and I am terrible old soak now

Porcupine · 27/04/2007 11:19

i dont see the point WHY igive your kdis tasted of alcohol?

why h not show em a porn film too

singingmum · 27/04/2007 11:20

I allow my Ds a small 1/2 glass of wine on special occasions(only time we really drink) and Dd small taste of watered down wine(using lemonade)
My parents did this with myself and my brothers and it taught us that if you drink responsibly is ok.
I have never been drunk and have no intention of ever doing so.If you say no to a child we all know that they will do it anyway so I would rather know what they are hearing and learning about alchohol etc. than have it done badly with false information behind my back.
This proposed change in law is poppycock

Porcupine · 27/04/2007 11:21

ye sbut SM oyu woudl be STUNNED what goes on behind closed doors
kids being bough alcohol to drink as young as 14
and no parental control.

Enid · 27/04/2007 11:21

hula you gave your dd a BUCKS FIZZ?

,thunk

jomist · 27/04/2007 11:21

Very good point Porcupine. Both mine have tried wine because they wanted to know what it tasted like and they hated it, but what if they wanted a drag on a fag? I'd be horried!

Londonmamma · 27/04/2007 11:21

The alcohol concern charity can't say 'oi you lot who swig from cans in front of the TV and let your kids do the same, we're after you...' so they issue a blanket wish to ban all alcohol to all children anywhere. Then the families who would never dream of letting their children get drunk get up on their high horses about watered down wine with a nice meal. THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH MOST OF US. No one is going to be arrested for giving children a taste of wine/beer in the way that healthy families have always done. Who's going to tell 'the authorities'? Who's going to come and arrest you? Ridiculous nonsense i.m.o. and that's all they've been discussing on the radio this morning - I'm fed up of it!!

Porcupine · 27/04/2007 11:21

very odd attitude here to it.

lefthandedlady · 27/04/2007 11:22

I grew up with small tastes of alcohol from around 7...agree that, like on the continent, eg France & Italy, it teaches that alcohol is OK in moderation and with food. Not good to send kids message that it's for bingeing on, even by doing it ourself in front of them, without them tasting it.

Complete ban from nanny state is no good.

There's a difference between allowing kids to get pissed at home/ giving uncontrolled access aged 7 and giving them a sip at same age. Like most things It all comes down to individual parental responsibility along with diet, discipline, TV-watching etc

Don't agree with aquaintances who allow 2-year-old sips of their wine though, that's unnecessary and dangerous.

singingmum · 27/04/2007 11:23

Both my children have smelt cigs and hate them(MIL smokes) so I have at the moment no prob on that as for likening to porn this is ridiculous

Porcupine · 27/04/2007 11:23

the " ont eh continent" argument is a heap of shite imo

mosschops30 · 27/04/2007 11:23

yes I have at BBQ's and stuff, little sip of lager or shandy, dd is allowed a little wine with a special meal (shes 11).

My parents did it when i was young and friends of mine did too (like at family get togethers).

I think its a good thing Ive never had an unhealthy relationship with alcohol, in fact I rarely drink now.

Tony Blair needs to look at French and Italian children who see alcohol as something to be enjoyed with a meal and is acceptable in small amounts to enjoy with family and friends. I dont see the binge drinking problem we have here, and certainly not the amount of teenagers drinking that we have in the UK.

Porcupine · 27/04/2007 11:23

|WHY si ti ridiculous?

Porcupine · 27/04/2007 11:23

god they DO dirnk in france!

BrownSuga · 27/04/2007 11:24

We were allowed small glasses of wine/beer from small age, no hard liquor though. My exFIL used to let his DGD have sips of his whiskey (neat) when she was a toddler, she loved it, but maybe a bit OTT.

I will let my soon to be DS drink wine/beer well under 15. If you make alcohol this mysterious, adult thing, I think kids are more likely to sneak it and abuse it, and I'd rather know what he is up to.

MadeForIt · 27/04/2007 11:24

we were given port and lemonade at xmas from as long as i can remember and i think that is why all 4 of mums children, have gone through periods of big binge drinking. Ive grown out of it now but regret wasting so much of my late teens drinking stupid amounts and waking up regreting a lot of things in the morning. Therefore, there will be no alchohol for my DD till shes of age. And then I shall try to teach her about sensible drinking.

My partner who is Jamaican grew up without alchohol and as a result isnt bothered in the slightest about it. In Jamaica it is only old men who drink!

ThatBeetroot · 27/04/2007 11:24

kids have a wee bit of wine sometimes. ds who is 13 may have a glass of wine with Sunday lunch (he prefers red lol)

Nothing else although ds2 drank a whole glass of cider the other day without me realising and loved it

Enid · 27/04/2007 11:25

er dont they have a massive problem with alcoholism in france particularly with wine?

SmileysPeoples · 27/04/2007 11:26

WE don't smoke, but if we did I would never want them to smoke. But alcohol is part of our life and I imagine it will be in theirs too. They're curious to taste daddies drink and don't want to make it taboo.

What do you fear will happen if a child tastes his Daddies beer??

We don't watch porn either. Not in front of the children anyway.

Enid · 27/04/2007 11:26

whats wrong with say ing

no its booze its for grown ups only

dd1 would rather have a can of coke any day

JodieG1 · 27/04/2007 11:29

Agree, they do have problems with alcohol in France etc and also I think that saying alcohol is for adults is a good think too. Just like other things are adults only so is alcohol.

singingmum · 27/04/2007 11:29

Pornography is a totally different issue.Alchohol ban that they want is to stop health probs that they for whatever reason think is to do with allowing alchohol to younger people.
Also the blanket ban the charity speaks of could effect all who allow a sip as they do literally want a blanket ban.
No on here is saying give your child a can of larger or twelve just that a sip or taste etc. on occasions teaches a child that there is nothing wrong with alchohol in small amounts and that you do not have to binge drink to enjoy it.In fact the people who I know who have had seriously unhealthy attitudes to drinking are the ones who as children were told that it was not good for them in any amount

shonaspurtle · 27/04/2007 11:31

Db & I used to be given cider in a wine glass at my grandparents' house as well as at home if the adults were drinking wine (Sunday dinner occasionally). I don't think my parents really twigged that it was alcohol - this was from about the age of 12. I remember it used to make us sleepy .

My dad would let us drink shandy when we were on holiday in France from about age 15.

I personally will not be repeating the cider thing with ds as I don't think looking back it was right. I still went through the unwise teenage drinking anyway.

I can't believe though that alcohol in small amounts under adult supervision makes much of a dent in the underage drinking stats.

Enid · 27/04/2007 11:31

well if they want a sip say no

give em something else

then they get fascinated, then they swig half a bottle of martini on a park bench with thier mates, then they are violetnly ill then its all over

[wipes hands of it]