When did you give dc tea?

[Clarity]

DD1 will be three in June and I've started to allow her to have iced tea - unsweetened only. I've been making/keeping no caf peppermint tea in the fridge and allowing her to have a glass for dinner. I guess I determined b/c it's not sweetened, has no calories, sugar or sodium that it would be fine for her to have her own cup. I'm asking because I still haven't let her drink anything but milk or water with any regularity and in making the leap and giving her tea - it feels a bit like a *big deal* kwim? LOL

[Tondi G]

I think unsweetened decaf/herbal (chamomile or peppermint) iced tea is a great option for kids! That said my boys have had english tea since they were little cause grandma drinks it... with milk and sugar. They have been drinking it since they were around 2 maybe. They had sips of mine or grandmas from a year or so on. My almost 4 year old will drink some of my iced tea if I order one from coffee bean or starbucks. My almost 8 year old will only drink my unsweetened iced tea if there is no other option! :)

[citymama]

DD is 3. I'm a tea nut - my teapot is almost always steeping Darjeeling or green or Earl Grey tea. I pretty much drink caffeinated only, although some are very low caff. kinds like jasmine. If asked, I've given DD a sip of my tea, or a very, very tiny amount of black tea on a cup with a whole heap of milk and she pretends she's drinking tea with me. I keep meaning to buy some Celestial Seasonings herbal fruity teas so I can brew her a non-caff raspberry or something so she can really play along.

[ThreeofUs]

I think peppermint sounds fine - in fact, I was just moaning to DH that we don't have a fresh peppermint bed at this house, so we can't make fresh tea.

Besides, peppermint is pretty low on the allergies list, kwim?, where something like chamomile is not.

H gets a little tea when he wants some, usually with a lot of soy milk in it. But I'm not sure why I'm so careful about it, really! I remember getting saucers of tea, coffee, and *gasp* sips of wine and old fashioneds when I was his age. (Maybe that accounts for the occasional weirdness, eh? :) )

[pastrygirl]

My husband is a big tea drinker and has been giving our son tea for several months -- maybe since he was 2 or 2.5. He makes Toby's tea decaf by brewing his own, then re-brewing with the same leaves and then adds lots of milk. If you want fresher decaf, brew for 30 seconds then dump out the water and re-brew.