Tea and Children

Once my kids reached an age where they could handle hot liquid in a mug, I’ve shared all my teas with them — oolong, black, green … I hope I haven’t stunted their growth (or is that one about caffeine and growth a myth?) …. !

My parents only gave me tea when I was sick (they only drank tea then too) but I do remember being given the real deal. My mom still prefers coffee to tea anytime. My kids always had the offer to try tea, but when they were young it was decaf. Now they love tea. They drink coffee too but tea is what they want to relax. They drink from herbals, decafs to strong loose tea.

it seems to me I faked sick a bunch of times, then I got smart and just said I like tea.

This post and every one of these comments is from 8 years ago. What gives? It is a classic, timeless question though, and I was just talking about this with someone.

My wife thinks kids shouldn’t take in any caffeine, so mine are only allowed to taste tea. The standard take in medical circles is that children shouldn’t ingest any significant amount of caffeine at all (so both are wrong, I think, my wife and that). That raises the question of kids and soda, since obviously Coke is also targeted at kids, and they intentionally add it to that, but there’s no simple resolution to that contradiction.

In China—per my understanding; I’m not Chinese, so based on hearsay—there are conventions about some teas being milder and more suitable for children, but basically once they’re a year old they can drink tea, for many, maybe even lots of it.