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What age can you give a baby tea ?

I'm just wondering if any of you give your lo's tea ? My mum gave me, and my brothers and sisters milky tea in a bottle when we were 6 months old, and so I was wondering whether anyone else ever did this ?

I would like her to have tea at some point (she is just over 6 months old) but wasnt sure what sort of age to start it ?

Do any of you ladies give your lo's tea, if so what age did you start ?
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Replies

  • daniel is 2 1/2 and hes had tea about 3 times and that was a drink from my cup,i know you have to be carefull with tea has it stops the body from absorbing iron (i think its iron) how i know this :lol: i needed some iron tablets after my pregnancy and the guy at the chemist said not to take them with tea as it wont work :lol:

    sarah
  • Just out of curiosity why do you want her to have tea?
  • I think its nice to be able to offer a hot drink as she gets older, I dont think coffee is suitable for children and I cant make hot chocolate as the smell always makes me vomit !! So tea is the only other real option.

    Plus the traditional english girl in me thinks a family sat around drinking tea is always very nice !
  • I'm with Carly on this, why give her tea?

    It stops the body absorbing essential nutrients and is full of caffiene! How about warm milk? Or a horlicks type drink (although thats quite sugary)
  • please don't give her anything in a bottle other than milk!!

    The teat of a bottle sits in the mouth for a lot longer than a sippy / trainer cup and even before teeth have come through can start the erosion process on the enamel. Even milk can have this effect on teeth.

    My lo is 2 and doesn't have his own tea (will occasionally have sip of mine) as I don't think caffeine is good for lo's. I also stayed off juice til lo was over a year and just gave water and milk before one.

    I was a 70's child who's mum let me have unlimited amount of sugary drinks (and sweet tea!!)etc and i'm 34 and have a mouth full of fillings, crowns and have just had to have two taken out and its all down to the amount of sweet things i was allowed as a kid

    Hope this hasn't offended you xx
  • I agree with Dinks, a warm milk would be a better option, and also the occasional malted drink. Shea has a sugar free ovaltine at bedtime in the winter
  • I would not give your lo tea cos of the caffeine, and would not offer decaf either.

    I would only offer warm milk in a bottle anyway, anything else in a cup such as sugar free malt drink.
  • Definatly just stick to the warm milk or the occassional horlicks..there really is no nutritional benefit in tea, why introduce caffine? To me its no different to giving them coke.
  • its a common misconception that tea is low in caffeine.... it is actually quite high. if u really want to give her tea then i would suggest de-caff. have u thought about hot squash? my mum always used to give us hot blackcurrant or hot orange squash (there now baby ones of these). and i also agree that only milk feeds should be given out of a bottle, and even then ds (6 and a half months) only has his bedtime feed out of a bottle, in the day we use a soft spout sipppy cup, its unvalved and teaches them how to sip, and he's taken to it straight away, the hard spout ones tho are too hard for him and he doenst like them at all. however tea does have a number of anti toxins in and can be beneificial but i would definately only do the de-caff and without sugar, also how would u make it? whitye or black? if white i assume ur gonna use formula milk and not cows milk?

    as i said ds is 6 and half months (29 weeks) and he has only had coiled boiled water as a drink, he's perfectly happy drinking water so i don't see the point in giving him lots of additives, coulourings,chemicals and caffeine when he doesn't miss them, especially avoiding all refined sugar for as long as i can.

    clair a belle, my mum was the same, giving us loads of sweet drinks and snacks, now neithet, me, brother nor sister drink much water and our teeth have payed the price. we all will choose fizzy drinks or squash over water anyday, and ingfact i do'nt think i have ever seen my brother drink water, not even when he's ill, he'll hgo for the coke instead.

    this isn't meant to offend but in answer to ur question "when will u give my lo tea?" -- not until he's atleast 2 or 3 i think, even then will be the decaff and defo no sugar.

    xx
  • Its not like I was gonna give her it tomorrow ! I was just curious, and of course I wouldnt give caffine tea or tea with sugar in !!!

    Anyone who drinks tea must have started drinking it at some point and I was curious as to what age that was !!! Its not like I wanted to replace her proper drinks with it, just thought its nice of a winters evening when she's bigger to sit down with a cup of tea !

    I had tea from a young age and although I agree that with todays information it was early it never did me any harm. I have no cavities, no fillings, nothing !

    I was only curious, not itching for the bad mum award !
  • Oh lambchop no-one was saying you are a bad Mum! I was just trying to make a point that tea really has no benefit for lo's. Lots of people are unaware of the caffiene content in tea and also how it stops the absorbtion of other minerals, so I wanted to make you aware of that too.

    In answer to your original post- When will you give your lo tea? I would think not until he is old enough to make it! About 10? if he wants to try it but I will limit it as long as I am able too!
  • I tried Alex on tea when she was about 10 months old - she was going off her milk so was curious how she would take to it. She's had it a couple of times since but is more interested in mine rather than her own. I see no harm in experimenting. It's not like you're going to give your lo tea with loads of sugar in it. It's all about moderation I guess. Also, she's your daughter so it's up to you whether you want to give her tea or not. There's worse things in the world to give a child.x
  • I tried Alex on tea when she was about 10 months old - she was going off her milk so was curious how she would take to it. She's had it a couple of times since but is more interested in mine rather than her own. I see no harm in experimenting. It's not like you're going to give your lo tea with loads of sugar in it. It's all about moderation I guess. Also, she's your daughter so it's up to you whether you want to give her tea or not. There's worse things in the world to give a child.x
  • I tried Alex on tea when she was about 10 months old - she was going off her milk so was curious how she would take to it. She's had it a couple of times since but is more interested in mine rather than her own. I see no harm in experimenting. It's not like you're going to give your lo tea with loads of sugar in it. It's all about moderation I guess. Also, she's your daughter so it's up to you whether you want to give her tea or not. There's worse things in the world to give a child.x
  • soz honey, didn't mean to upset you!! You're not a bad mum at all!! xxxx
  • no one was saying ur a bad mum, just saying when we would give it and why we're adverse to giving it young, which did, if i'm correct, answer ur original post. i did also point at that te is not 'the only one left' and that there are other alternatives. as did some other ppl, which i for one thought was what u were asking too especially as u said tea is the only one left after coffee and hot chocolate.

    dinks, i knew about the caffeine but i didn't know about the mineral absorbtion, hmm maybe i'll up my answer to atleast 5, especially as toddlers need lots of iron and if tea hinders that then ds wont have it til later, maybe the occasional sip of mine????

    not having a go just answering ur post.

    xx
  • Sorry i'm being a bit senstive, having a rough week. Didnt mean to snap at you all. I do appreciate your responses, really I do.

    Sorry guys ! Forgive me ???
  • Millie (3) has the occasional slurp out of mine but prefers the fruit tea I drink (I don't sugar it) so maybe you could try that instead? In answer to your question about when we started drinking tea, I was 28 lol After I had Millie they brought me a cup of coffee (I didn't like tea) but they buggered up and brought tea instead, I was so desperate for a hot drink I drank it anyway and have been hooked ever since, very odd!
    Just to clarify with the iron, it doesn't make any difference how much iron is in their diet, too much tea (I think it's the tannin) stops their (and your) body from absorbing it.
    Personally I wouldn't give them tea of their own till 5/6, but I don't think the odd slurp out of yours in the mean time would do any harm.
    xx
  • Just FYI, something i didn't know till i was aneamic after the birth, tea and coffee stops your body absorbing iron in food. Oooops, just read Bedhead's post, sorry for repeating x
  • woah there! No one said your a bad mum! All I was trying to say was that there isn't really any need to introduce tea at such a young age as there is no nutritional benefit in it and there are plenty of other things to try first, but shes your baby so its up to you!
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