Are you surprised by the number of toddlers who are coffee drinkers?
New Toddler Trend: Drinking Coffee (Yes, You Read That Right)
Caroline Olney
If you were to ask us to guess how many toddlers in the U.S. drank coffee, we'd say, "Umm, NONE?!" ... but it turns out that as many as 15 percent of moms are giving their 2-year-olds coffee. And we're not talking the occassional sip.
These kids are sipping java every day!
The study, which comes from the Boston Medical Center (BMC), looked at 315 moms and 2-year-olds in the Boston area. At first, they were just asking the women about the breast milk, formula, water, and juice that the kids were drinking. They eventually changed the questions to include coffee when they realized that a lot of moms were giving their kids caffeine without realizing how bad it was for them.
More from The Stir: More & More Kids Are Getting Addicted ... To Coffee
This news is especially surprising considering how often we're told that caffeine is horrible for children ... and it is. Caffeine consumption in kids is linked to a whole bunch of bad stuff, including depression, diabetes, poor sleep, obesity, and sustance abuse. Yikes.
The effects are so bad that we're not even supposed to drink coffee when we're pregnant ... but then people turn around and give it to their babies?
According to the study, Hispanic mothers are 15 percent more likely to give their kids joe, and the majority of the kids who were drinking it are female. It also said that on average, the children were drinking a little over an ounce of coffee ... which means that thankfully, they're not even close to finishing a full cup.
More from The Stir: Drinking Coffee During Pregnancy: Is It Safe?
Even a handful of 1-year-olds were drinking coffee everyday, but it was only 2.5 percent of the families studied. Even so, this probably means it's time for some more PSAs covering what your toddler should and shouldn't be drinking.
Are you surprised by the number of toddlers who are coffee drinkers?
No... This is and always has been normal where I'm from. My 2 year old and I split a latte on mondays. Some people stare, others don't look at us twice. If I was back home and not stateside, nobody would think it's odd.
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With the amount of craptastic stuff people feed their kids I don't know that it really ranks very high on the poor choices awards.
When I was little, I would refuse to drink the milk in my bottle. What I wanted was my mom's coffee. My mom asked the doctor and he told her to fill my bottle with milk and then let me see her put a little bit of coffee in it. I drank it that way for years. My children are all older and only one out of 4 will drink coffee. They never cared for the taste. I have no problem with a toddler drinking watered down coffee but I don't think they should be drinking it full strength.
If you want to do it then go for it.
When I was a kid, I got a splash of coffee in my milk so I could drink coffee with my grandmother in the morning. I love coffee. I wish my teen liked it, she could use the jolt to help wake her up in the morning.
As for giving toddlers coffee, if it is mostly milk, I don't see the issue. I wouldn't give my toddler straight coffee. But how is this different from sharing your iced tea with your toddler. Back when I was a kid, this was very common.
Husband refuses to sleep with me
- Cafe Steph
on Mar. 4, 2015 at 8:57 AM