My 4 year old's favourite drink is a cup of tea

Kotek Besar

He can't get enough of it. It's all he asks for. We always make it fairly light and with minimal sugar.

Is his favourite drink normal? He only turned 4 last week.

cynder

Mine too, but i dont put any sugar in. He loves his HOT TEA. My daughter liked tea when she was 2 but she doesnt drink tea much now at 12, she loves bottled water but not tap water.

I've never seen any of mine hyper after drinking tea. It also has no effect on my blood pressure I've drank tea since I was 2 or 3 and my blood pressure is on average 103/62 I never go over 110/67. I have gone as low as 80/47.

Victor

What does everyone else drink?

cynder

cordials?

Mine also drink robinsons and orange juice, apple juice and so on, sometimes fizzy drinks. They also like hot chocolate.

You get some that object to sugar or aspartame or caffeine. I think these people only drink water. Everything in moderation

Morag

Personally I hate to see little kids drinking black teas due to the tannin and caffeine in it.
Even diluted down with milk/water it doesn't' take that much to effect their systems
and they can get cravings for it, just like an adult can.

We've a policy of no black teas before the age of 12, no coffee before the age of 16 and caffinated drinks are limited as well. And certainly no engry drinks.

Mine drink milk, juices, cordials, fizzy drinks are once offs and not daily and hot chocolate while out. They both know that they should be drinking a certain amount of water a day and have their own water bottles which get re filled and put in the fridge.

Kildrought

Personally, I'd be inclined to leave it out at that age.

Eldest child didn't touch either tea or coffee. Had tea for the very first time at the age of 15 when in a friends house!

My (then) 10 year old son was allowed to have a taste of some of my coffee when on holiday in Greece and got a huge yen for it. I wasn't keen on him drinking coffee to be honest so it was restricted to high days & holidays.

If she likes hot drinks you could try warm milk or fresh fruit juice diluted with hot water perhaps?

neemish

have a toddler nephew who loves a cuppa every now and then even though his older siblings have never had it.

whoever is making it literally just dips the teabag into the cup and adds plenty of milk - i think that this is known as cambric tea. he also gets a weensie spoon of sugar, more for show than anything else.

like the rest of us, a little of what you fancy will do you no harm

Why not give him decaf? I (sometimes) buy organic decaf as there are no chemicals used to decaffeinate it. I would try to give it to him without sugar though, I don't think there's any need to give extra sugar - but I just think sugar is horrible in tea anyway!

My daughter loves tea, but she would only really have it with breakfast at the weekends, I don't see it being too much of a problem unless he's drinking too much of it - which applies to everything, except for water.

nesf

Our two year old gets her "tea" once a week when her grandmother is over, i.e. a beaker of milk with a teaspoon of tea in it. Our 5 year old doesn't get anything but the a smoothie once a day and water otherwise. Actually giving full strength tea to a young child isn't the best plan because of the caffeine. Probably better than cordial and sugary drinks though on balance.

Hobbitfeet

What about Rooibos tea. Meant to be very good for kids
http://www.sakidsonthego.com/articles.php?cat=153&id=90

Reillyman

Sharrow wrote: »

We've a policy of no black teas before the age of 12, no coffee before the age of 16 and caffinated drinks are limited as well. And certainly no engry drinks.

Jeez I'd say your house is unreal craic altogether...

Orion

Reillyman: We'll have no more posts like that please. There is no call for personal insults in the slightest. Stay on topic and be helpful or don't post.

Orion

Sharrow wrote: »

Personally I hate to see little kids drinking black teas due to the tannin and caffeine in it.

You can get black teas with a low caffeine content. I don't mean decaffeinated crap - I mean good black teas that just have a low caffeine content. If you're using leaf tea you can also decaffeinate it by throwing out the first infusion - 90-95% of the caffeine is in that cup.

I wouldn't give sugar in it at all. Kids get enough sugar in other stuff - and a good tea doesn't need it.

My kids don't take tea - their choice - they say they don't like it. Their drink of choice is apple or cranberry juice or cordials. Occasionally we'll allow 7-Up. And sometimes hot chocolate before bed. They also like shop bought smoothies (Innocent etc). I just can't get them to drink home made ones. Still working on that.

lynski

Hobbitfeet wrote: »

What about Rooibos tea. Meant to be very good for kids
http://www.sakidsonthego.com/articles.php?cat=153&id=90

i'm making a cup for myself now,no idea it could do all that and taste that good too!

Hobbitfeet

lynski wrote: »

i'm making a cup for myself now,no idea it could do all that and taste that good too!

Been drinking it for years and had no idea either just thought I would google it when I seen this thread as I knew it was no caffeine wanted to check if it would be ok to recommend to give to a child. Due my 1st baby in 2 days so good to know

PCPhoto

just throwing it out there - is it possible that your child simply wants to replicate what you are having ?

or if you are not a tea drinker - is it possible that TV advertising has an effect ?

Personally I think its most likely that your child see's you having tea/coffee and wants to imitate - I don't think a child should have tea/coffee at such a young age but then again - its your child and your decision to make.

Orion

Orion wrote: »

You can get black teas with a low caffeine content. I don't mean decaffeinated crap - I mean good black teas that just have a low caffeine content.

The organic decaf that I buy is nicer than any regular supermarket brand. I think the brand is clipper.

I also give my daughter herbal teas. She loves camomile before bed. I'm interested now in this rooibos tea, does it taste nice?

My daughter is 7 and is allowed 7up or fanta when we are at the cinema or eating out or the likes.she wasn't allowed coke/Pepsi up until late last year when I let her taste it and she thinks it's horrible!

Her favourite is hot milk with cinnamon done with the frother on the coffee machine!

lynski

rooibos is lovely. really nice on the tummy and very hydrating and with milk very close to barry's, imho

lynski

lynski wrote: »

rooibos is lovely. really nice on the tummy and very hydrating and with milk very close to barry's, imho

Oh wow, I was thinking it might be like that pu-er (sp?) tea which is, quite frankly, rotten!

Thanks

Phoenix Park

Sugar in tea will destroy his teeth, even just a small bit of sugar. The biggest indicator of decay in permanent teeth is decay in the primary/baby teeth, so its important to try and look after the baby teeth.

I can't imagine a child can tell the difference between decaf tea and regular so surely it makes more sense to use decaf at that age?

angelfalling

Your child is only copying what they likely see you drinking most often. I'll let my 2 and 4 year olds have a sip of anything we have to quell their curiosity, but as for making them their own cup of black tea... no. We have "special tea" which is chamomile tea we make milky for my 4 year old.
I hate how some parents make it sound like if you don't let your kid have fizzy drinks and the likely all they drink is water. We "make" soda mixing a small bit of orange juice with sparkling water, homemade smoothies without added sugar (drank with a straw to protect teeth a bit) milk, hot chocolate on special occasions... that's all we drink (minus our own coffee) and I hardly find that limiting!

Is there something wrong with having a kid who drinks mostly water? Shouldn't we be starting our kids on life long good habits?

littlebug

No tea or coffee here, they've never asked for or shown any inclination towards wanting to try it (ages 9 and 7). It's not by example as I'm rarely without a cup of one or the other in my hand

They've never had fizzy drinks either, when they were really small we just told them "we don't like those drinks" and it stuck. There's no rule per se, we don't have fizzy drinks in the house and they've never shown any inclination towards wanting them when we're out.

Drinks of choice are water, milk, orange juice, orange cordial (though limited) though they'll occasionally have hot chocolate as a treat or if they've been out in the cold or if we're out in a cafe.

cynder

Phoenix Park wrote: »

Sugar in tea will destroy his teeth, even just a small bit of sugar. The biggest indicator of decay in permanent teeth is decay in the primary/baby teeth, so its important to try and look after the baby teeth.

I can't imagine a child can tell the difference between decaf tea and regular so surely it makes more sense to use decaf at that age?

I've drank tea from an early age. I could take 4 spoons of sugar in it. At 15 I was too lazy to put sugar in and stopped. I had no trouble at all with my teeth.

Each person is different. Everything in moderation. Even water. I've read that you can od on too much water.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_intoxication

CrazyRabbit

I also grew up drinking tea(with sugar), and I honestly can't recall any negative side effects. A small cup every day or two (not within 3 hours of bedtime), isn't going to do any harm in my humble opinion.

Most tea's have about the same caffeine content as soda's, and about half that of coffee. Chocolate has about one-eight the amount of caffeine of tea.

Oh and with repetitive use, the stimulatory effects of caffeine are substantially reduced over time anyway.

BostonB

Ours like a rare cup of milky tea.

RubyGirl

Hobbitfeet wrote: »

What about Rooibos tea. Meant to be very good for kids
http://www.sakidsonthego.com/articles.php?cat=153&id=90

Where do you buy it?

My 4 year old is Ribena and my 6 year old only has milk or water. Tried them with tea, and hot chocolate and not interested.

nesf

RubyGirl wrote: »

Where do you buy it?

My 4 year old is Ribena and my 6 year old only has milk or water. Tried them with tea, and hot chocolate and not interested.

You can get Roobos in most health food shops and I think Tesco and Dunnes stock a few roobos teas by the major brands but I'm not 100% certain about that.

Hobbitfeet

RubyGirl wrote: »

Where do you buy it?

My 4 year old is Ribena and my 6 year old only has milk or water. Tried them with tea, and hot chocolate and not interested.

Yeah health food store or any kind of artisan shop like not your run of the mill corner store if you know what I mean. You can also get in Lidl but I dont like this one personally. If your in Dublin there is some special tea shops that sell really nice loose Rooibos. It can be a bit more expensive but worth it I would use a teabag twice

Fittle

Perhaps it was a Dublin thing, but I remember as a young child seeing every toddler on our road drinking tea from their bottles, and toddling around in their vests and nappies on a mild summers evening (in the days when there were gangs of kids out playing on the roads!).

My lad loves the odd cup of tea also - I'm not a massive tea drinker myself, but if I was, I'd say he'd drink as much as I'd let him! As it is, he's always loved a cup of milky tea with a half spoon of sugar the odd evening. I don't see the harm in it.

egan2020

Fittle wrote: »

Perhaps it was a Dublin thing, but I remember as a young child seeing every toddler on our road drinking tea from their bottles, and toddling around in their vests and nappies on a mild summers evening (in the days when there were gangs of kids out playing on the roads!).

My lad loves the odd cup of tea also - I'm not a massive tea drinker myself, but if I was, I'd say he'd drink as much as I'd let him! As it is, he's always loved a cup of milky tea with a half spoon of sugar the odd evening. I don't see the harm in it.

We had this in Tipp too I remember my friend's child who is 17 now loved his bottle tea in the evening. I can't remember if I had it in a bottle but I have nice memories of walking home to my grandmother's house after primary school to be handed a lovely cup of sugary tea. I don't take sugar in my tea anymore but that was Weight Watchers doing!!

January

Apparently, I was a tea addict when I was younger, always had to have a bottle before bed... now I can't stand the stuff... or coffee...

My nearly two year old likes the occasional bottle of tea... stems from me going away on Valentines Day last year and her having a bottle of it in my parents house. She only ever gets it when she's in my parents because we don't drink tea here so rarely ever have any tea bags. They get warm bottles of milk before bed time and juice and water during the day (recently tried to trick my three year old when she asked for juice and I just gave her water in a sports beaker... she was having none of it!).