Children and.................................................................

[SPARKLER1]

......................................Tea, coffee and bubblegum.
One of my dds is 6 years ago and is getting very interested in all the above. We haven't given her any of them as yet. Nearest she has got is dunking a biscuit into my coffee.
What age would you give your child these things??

dd1 is 6 in a few weeks, and is allowed a sunday morning treat of a "babychino"- basically about 10mls of coffee in a cup, topped up with frothed milk. She is happy to accept that "proper" coffee is something that grown ups have, but occasionally giving her what she sees as a seriously grown up treat seems to stop her hankering after downing my espresso!

We don't really drink ordinary tea, but both dd's have a liking for herbal and fruit teas.

Chewing gum is more of a thorny issue. I hate it, but dh chews it, so the kiddies want it. DD1 also get peer pressure to eat it in school. Our compromise was to say that it is something for teenagers, which she is happy enough with atm, but I can't help but feel will come back and haunt us...

exceptionally grown up, and

Sorry about the typos, really must preview

a childminder friend used to put very weak coffee in her 18 mth old mindee's feeder cup
The girl is 10 yrs old now

DD (22 mths) has tea. In a cup though. I normally make it quite milky.
She'll happily drink MIL's black coffee too.
I have no idea where she gets her tastebuds from as dh and I both hate coffee.

is coffee bad for kids just because of the caffeine content?

I would give mine tea or coffee (very weak and milky) to any of my children if they ever expressed an interest (ds3 aged 2 sometimes wants some coffee but never actually drinks it). The bubblegum, I am less sure about, as I don't go for sweets as a whole. They could choke on bubblegum....

I would give my DD weak tea but don't think I would give her coffee. I never had coffee until in my teens, also when I first met DH he had months off work with caffeine poisoning (drank way too much strong coffee, red bull etc )

My ds (3.5) has tea but I only drink decaff so no problems there. If i drank coffe it would be decaff too. Just a sip of coke sends my ds bouncing off the walls!! As for chewing gum.. no hope in hell! I don't use it so he takes no notice.

Mine (9&14) refuse to try tea or coffee. DD (14) has just had braces removed but was banned from any sort of gum whilst they were on. However, she was never really into it. DS (9) LOVES chewing gum, and really wants to master bubble gum blowing. He gets it for a treat - BUT in Sept he starts orthodontist treatment so I will let him have it this summer & then he is banned too!

i give mine decaf - as they do get teh urge sometime s- usually in winter.

Bubble gum is banned in our house after DS2 promised to be very careful with it and to dispose of it in the bin. I later found it all over a pair of school trousers. Tea he has just started to have maybe once a fortnight - very milky and just-warm. He is 6.

I used to nanny for a 2 yr old little boy and he used to plead for my coke! I did refuse most of the time although maybe once or twice let him have a tiny bit in the bottom of the bottle!

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That's interesting to hear that an ENT specialist suggests using chewing gum. Glad to hear that the horrible stuff is actually useful.

my ds's (6 and 3) have never expressed an interest in drinking tea or coffee or chewing gum.

I do let them drink coke sometinmes though as dh drinks loads of it and it is always in the house.

Ds2 asks....no actually demands me to make him tea all day. I have to "forget" to make it otherwise he'd be drinking it all day.
Ds3 likes a cuppa too but not to the point of Ds2's obsession.

Both of them have 1/2 a sugar and half the cup if milk. When I've tasted it it tastes nothing like tea as there is so much milk in it.

DD has had a cup of weak Earl Grey with a fair bit of milk most days since she was about 2. I think it's an inclusion thing.

She's had a taste of coffee (espresso) and now won't go near it, don't think she knows about gum.

ds has had tea since a out 18 months (now 5) - he occasionally asks for coffee but i tend to 'forget' to make it or accidentally make hot chocolate instead.

Let ds try chewing gum but he swallowed it so perfect excuse for me to say he is too young

babies had tea as the norm in their bottle or cup in the north till about 1981 and they are all fine. I am quoting my parents here by the way. I hasten to add My parents gave my 9 mth dd gherkins and pickles at the age of 9 mths while babysitting "just to see if she pulled the same face you did" I survived
I now pay someone to babysit

Although I allow my dd (3.10)to have a watered down wine with sunday dinner I wouldn't allow her to have tea or coffee and certainly not bubblegum.

The refusal of tea and coffe is probably more down to my laziness, it is enough of a chore making her endless cups of juice without having to put the kettle on. She is also hyper enough without introducing caffeine into the equation.

She does however take great delight in finishing off my tea or coffee whenever I leave a cup unattended.

I sometimes let her have a hot soya milk before bed, I have found that dairy milk makes her vary congested and sniffly at night.

Tea in bottles... wait till your fellow mumsnetters read about that in the morning

chweing gum with xylitol (not bubblegum) is very good for dental hygiene, and the xylitol serves some other important purpose which escapes me for the moment.

My main gripe about gum is a) the noise some people make chewing it and b) the way some people just drop it (indoors in my case )