tea....

[Mine]

Is it ok to give my 12 month old really weak tea...??

He hates water, juice or any cold drinks.
Other than milk i struggle to get him to drink anything else, so i was thinking maybe now that he is 1, a weak tea with some honey might go down a treat....

Any other suggestions very welcome!!

Tannin in tea inhibits the absorption of Vitamin C and iron, so it's not a good idea really.

You could try giving him ice lollies made with weak juice - might be a different way of getting fluids inside him.

Not really.
Not only is caffeine in itself bad for babies it also inhibits iron absorption.
Warm watery milk might not taste too different to tea?

Lots of people do give their kids tea, but there's no nutritional benefit and even if it's really weak it contains caffeine. The honey is still sugar which will be bad for his teeth.

Why not just let him carry on with milk? He can have cow's milk now.

he doesn't like cow's milk either.......

Are certain kings of herbal teas ok.....

Here in Germany they give children fruit tea the whole time, maybe ask at the pharmacy/health food shop?
Fennel is v popular as it has anti-bloating/windy properties.

My DD likes fennel tea - I wouldn't give her the normal builders' stuff though.

it turns out he likes Green Tea!!
Thanks for the advice lovely ladies
x

Slight hijack here - when would it be appropriate to introduce a child to a proper cuppa? DH and I drink it all the time and our 6 month old is obsessed with it, more than anything else. Clearly he doesn't have any now (he gets to sip at the cup when it's empty and then looks confused when he doesn't get anything in his mouth!) but I'd sort of assumed he would be fine when he was 1.

Green tea is pretty high in caffeine (I can certainly feel it, more than coffee even) so I'd make it really really weak and keep pushing the herbals!

tea still not ok for a 1yo because of the iron-absorption thing

Hot milk-and-water with a dash of tea you might get away with, but not tea tea

Personally, I reckon when he's ok to drink from an open cup without help he's ready for tea. It just feels wrong to put tea in a sippy cup, which is what you'd have to do otherwise.

good tea info here

Thanks MrsB - v helpful.