Coffee & kids

Avatar for onehappymama
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-26-2005
Coffee & kids
26
Thu, 11-30-2006 - 8:28am
Quinn, my mother & I went to Georgia for Thanksgiving.
One thing that has always struck me as odd is the way just about all of my cousins kids drink coffee. I don't mean just tweens & teens...I mean preschoolers & elementary aged. I was at my cousin Jimmi's house pouring me a cup of coffee. Spencer (3 yo) came up & asked me to make him a cup. I told him "no". He went & told Jimmi that mean ole 'Schrin's mom' wouldn't give him any coffee. (BTW...he can't say 'Quinn', says 'Schrin') Kelly (Spencer's mom) fixed him a cup. I watched her, it was about 1 cup worth, heavy on the milk...but was still a lot of coffee for a 3 yo. (IMO)
Ellen (another cousin) babysits 7 kids (ugh! can you imagine?!) & she told me that they all but the baby drinks coffee. These are all preschoolers.
Is this the norm? Quinn has never even tried coffee (he drinks Cheerwine for his morning kick) & doesn't really care for the way it smells when it's perking.


Edited 11/30/2006 8:29 am ET by onehappymama

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Avatar for bradleyteach
iVillage Member
Registered: 06-29-2001
Thu, 11-30-2006 - 8:34am

No, in our area I don't know anyone whose young kids drink coffee, it was never done in my family but in other areas, things may be done differently. I remember when Dh's stepbrother and wife visited NY when their DD was about 10 months old and they were giving her Coke in her bottle.

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Avatar for 2boyz4us
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Thu, 11-30-2006 - 8:36am

It seems to be a Southern culture thing to me. My nieces love it-born and raised in Carolinas/Texas but now here. My youngest son says he likes it (Grandma has given him a little bit of decaf with much milk) but I don't let him have it at home. I don't think he really liked it, I think he liked the thought of it and haveing coffee with his grandparents I remember having small portions of it occasionally as a child with lots of cream and sugar but it was a few times and far between. My oldest son says he will never touch coffee because his goal is to be super-tall. You know the saying "Coffee makes you short"? well, he takes it to heart. He and his friend call Starbucks, which I love by the way, The Home of the Short-LOL!

As far as the preschoolers, and small children-nope, I wouldn't do that but that is just me. I wouldn't appreciate my babysitter doing it either, but probably the parents know?

 
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-17-2005
Thu, 11-30-2006 - 8:41am

I let my son (10, almost) have coffee if he asks---which is not very often. Maybe once a month he will ask for some. It's usually 1/3 coffee and 2/3 milk. Hannah doesn't like it.

It is not the normal thing in this area, I don't think.

Karin

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Avatar for cathiann
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Thu, 11-30-2006 - 9:07am
Not here!
Surviving Middle & High School
Avatar for ang2gals
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Thu, 11-30-2006 - 9:12am

Kids, more like tweens/teens, hang out at our local Starbuck's in the evenings. I think its replaced the mall as the suburban hangout. That said we have about 5 coffee places near us - 3 Starbuck's, 2 Caribou so there is ready access to coffee. My girls usually ask for frappacinos in the summer & I get them the kids hot chocolate (which is only $1) but I usually get them decaf fraps w/skim milk. For some reason they don't like whip cream in either the hot choc or fraps....which is good because I'm conscious of the fat & caffeine in these drinks. Also I do see parents bringing in their kids & they have drinks (mostly fraps) so its not uncommon in our area. The big thing w/teens is supposedly cappucino drinking.

-- Ang

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iVillage Member
Registered: 01-17-2004
Thu, 11-30-2006 - 9:25am

My daughter has been drinking tea since kindergarten. It was something she used to do with her grandmother. She now makes a cup every morning before going off to school.

She had coffee for the first time last weekend. She had finished dancing in the local Santa parade, and was looking for something to drink. All I had was the coffee in my hand, so she drank it. She thought it was pretty good.

Community Leader
Registered: 07-26-1999
Thu, 11-30-2006 - 10:00am
Jordyn loves coffee, for years she would just drink out of mine because I will always drink the flavored coffee or have flavored creamer in it. I drink coffee regularly and until she was about 6 didn't give her any except for some of those frozen coffee type drinks because when I was growing up I was always told coffee would stunt your growth. But she drinks it regularly now, usually on the weekends when I brew a pot for myself. Its about 1/3 milk or creamer and the rest coffee, but when I make White Mochas in the morning before work I make one for her also. I know when you go to Starbucks they will ask if you want it made decaf for kids, and if they ask or I remember I will have them make it decaf for her. She also likes tea quite a bit. I don't drink tea, but a friend of hers in Michigan drank it a lot and she would drink it over at their house.


Edited 11/30/2006 10:02 am ET by arryl
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iVillage Member
Registered: 01-28-2004
Thu, 11-30-2006 - 10:54am
no one give any child in our household coffee. There might be a time where the kid wanted something to drink and they took a sip but that was it. My daughter even took my glass of wine one day and took a sip, I just looked at her. She hated the taste and ran to get something to wash it down with. But not here have your own cup... thats a bit extreme...
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Thu, 11-30-2006 - 11:47am

Hmmm, being a miltary wife I've lived in 6 different geographic regions around the world and I can honestly say I've never lived anywhere where kids drank coffee like that! In the south I've seen em raised on 'sweet tea', its very syrupy from all the sugar!

Teacher and parents complain that their kids exhibit hyperactive tendencies...do ya think if they removed all the caffeine from these children that they'd calm down? LOL!

I will admit my 15 yr old will drink it with flavored coffee creamer in the winter and it really seems to lift his morning grumpies a bit. My 12 yr old daughter will only drink it if it's in a starbucks cup! LOL

Denise

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-28-2004
Thu, 11-30-2006 - 11:52am

I drank it is a child. Granny and Papa would pour their's and then pour mine (heavy sugar and half milk). They are responsible for my coffee adiction.


My kids are not allowed. DH would have a fit, as caffeine from any source is off limits to our kids! I have let them taste and on occasion I will let DD finish an eggnog latte or dark chocolate mocha. The boys prefer hot chocolate.


Coffee cups from Starbucks and Peet's are fashionable in CA. You see

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