How much coffee is okay for a child?

Question

My nine year old loves coffee. She loves coffee ice cream, coffee candy, chocolate covered espresso beans, you name it, if it involves coffee she is all over it. What started out as sips when she was a baby now involves multiple cups a day. Now that summer is here she has cut back to two cups of coffee a day. I think the heat of summer combined with not having to get up before noon has a lot to do with that. During the school year, she has two cups before school and another one when she gets home. I'm afraid her teeth are going to get really stained. If she doesn't get her coffee, she is irritable so it's just easier to let her have it. Advice?

Answer 1

My advice for you is no coffee for her.  

Answer 2

You are a horrible mother for giving your child coffee.

Answer 3

Hmm i hope this is a joke.   A child should not be allowed to drink coffee or anything with that excessive amount of caffeine in it period!   You need to ween her asap!  Get her coffee flavored stuff, without all the caffeine.... and if she "must" have it get her decaff!   But i do really think this is a joke, because you might as well stick a cigarette in her mouth and light it for her.. geez  

Answer 4

Stop this madness now before her teeth turn the color of the coffee. Show her some pics of people with nasty teeth, that should do the trick.

Answer 5

Who is the adult in your house??? Sounds like the 9 year old to me.

Of course she'll get irritable if she doesn't get any, anyone cutting down on or giving up coffee goes through WITHDRAWLS!  It is a drug, caffeine.

Why is she sleeping till noon?  What time does she go to bed?

Before school starts, get her off of the coffee, it will be a couple of tough days, but getting her off of it now is so much better than allowing her to stay on it.

Answer 6

Seriously??

Answer 7

Joanna, I don't know if that's you giving everyone a thumbs-down.  I hope it isn't you.  I hope it's just a troll coming along to be ugly.

The facts are, the amount of coffee your daughter is drinking is unhealthy for a child.  Ask your doctor.  Go over to WebMD.com and look for it.  My daughter is a grown-up, and the no-caffeine rule for children was already accepted medical practice when she was born.

Yes, the coffee is going to stain her teeth.  So will tea or the darker sodas.  

Yes, she's irritable.  She's addicted.  Her body expects a certain amount of caffeine every day and when she doesn't get it, she gets headaches.  She gets grouchy.  She gets hyper.  Those are all normal symptoms of caffeine withdrawal.

Now, if you want to get her off caffeine, you can't just cut it out all at once.  That's not good for her health, either.  You'll need to gradually taper the amount she gets, either by letting her drink less or by mixing regular coffee with decaffeinated coffee.  Her pediatrician should examine her before you try to wean her off coffee, and you need to get his advice about how to taper it and how long it should take to get her off the coffee.  

Caffeine won't necessarily stunt her growth, but it can have any number of unpleasant effects on her body that could cause lasting complications.  For her sake, get her off the caffeine while her body finishes all its growing processes for the next 8 to 10 years.

Answer 8

I would say no coffee, at all, it could stunt her growth and it's not healthy for her at such a young age. I would suggest talking to her about the bad effects of coffee and tell her that it's best she doesn't drink it anymore.

Answer 9

why don't you give her some cigarettes to sooth the irritability? Hey, shes addicted to caffeine so what does it matter??

What the h**l is wrong with a parent that allows their child to get addicted to coffee????

Answer 10

I will be very surprised if you can find a pediatrician that will applaud you for allowing your child to consume coffee.  Caffein is addictive and the sooner you get her off of it, the better. Yes, she will be crabby and irritable but deal with it. You allowed it to happen, now allow it to stop.

Answer 11

My husband has a brain tumor. his doctor is a neuro oncologist. He says that no child should be having caffeine. Its like a drug that is not really known enough about and we are hurting our children, long term.

He is very serious and thinks were setting our young up for long term issues because its easier than saying no.

My 11 y/o grand daughter get caffiene only rarely She can have a soda coke or pepsi, on a special occasion. I am addicted to caffiene and its just as bad a jones as cigaretts. I will get ugly if you keep me from my coke.I am 50 and sleep very little so I can live with my addiction.

I think your daughter has a real problem and needs help breaking the habit. How did this ever get to this level any way? My parents taught us coffee was not for kids.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

Answer 12

A little taste of decaf is safe but only a little taste.  My grandparents would give me a little taste on the spoon of their coffee or the coffee icecream but it was always Decaf.  Giving a child a bunch of coffee is just asking for trouble.  It can damage their heart, their stomach lining and cause them to have caffine withdrawl which is horrible and makes jittery and they function like a child with ADHD and have a hard time concentrating and focusing on homework and stuff.  

Answer 13

no amount of coffee is good for a child it stunts their growth

Answer 14

well first thing is first coffee has caffien and caffien is a stimulant and is very very addictive. seems your daughter is addicted already this is not good. yes her teeth will get stained if she doesnt bursh regularly. you should help her kick this bad habit by buying decafinated coffee and mix half caffinated and half decaf and slowly just put more decaf in her cup. she will be irritable but you her mother the one who allowed her to get this addiction will have to deal with the irratability and she will get headaches from withdrawals. give her tylenol for theheadaches and stick to decaf from now on. if your worried about her teeth being stained you can always take her to the dentist and get them cleaned or get the crest white strips and whiten them.  

Answer 15

I don't let my children have coffee. The reason she is irritable is because she is addicted to it just like kids get addicted to pop. My 13 yr old is allowed to have an occasional cup of coffee but not even daily. I don't allow my 10 yr old to have it at all. I think this would be a good discussion for your doctor.  

Answer 16

Honestly, I don't know what to advise you to do with this. I was a coffee drinker at that age and still at 33 am addicted to coffee. I think that these others on here attacking you is unnecessary and rude. I don't think you are a 'bad' mother for allowing this. It may not be good for her, but to call all of your parenting 'bad' is a little out of reach. I think that maybe you should work on cutting the amount of caffeine down and potentially out for her. Maybe switching her to decaf after the first cup of regular to ween her off the caffeine until she is completely on decaf. I cut coffee out for awhile because of an ulcer and I drank Green Tea for a couple of months to wake up in the morning. It doesn't compare to coffee, but has a lot less caffeine in it. I don't know, sorry people are so mean.  

Answer 17

I don't think a 9 year old needs any "artificial energy" lol

Answer 18

wow you make her sound like an addict but umm yea why are you even asking this question? have you asked her doctor if its even ok to give her coffee go ahead and bring it up her next visit and of course they are going to say that she shouldn't be having any coffee but its you and you are the parent

NICE PARENTING SKILLS ON THAT ONE

Answer 19

You MUST be joking. Please tell me you're joking.

My daughter had a cup of coffee at a sleepover -they were trying to *be teenagers*. She came home, threw a tantrum, yanked out her hair, screamed and cried, blood shot eyes and then passed out on the couch. It was absolutely horrible. after I figured out what she tried- we had a long talk about the dangers of trying to *be big*. She cried. She didn't realize the health dangers of something so common.

If you are serious. Lay out the health dangers to your 9 year old. she will understand. Never give a child coffee. It races their heart and affects their emotions and nerves.

Why would you even START that?????

Answer 20

too much coffee is definetly not healthy, especially for someone so young. my advice is to definetly start to have her cut down. never let her have anything but decaf, and try to limit her to one or two cups a week. there is nothing wrong with coffee candy and all of that, because thats just candy, so when it comes to that, give her as much as you would if it was just normal candy, so not a lot. she will definatly be mad at first, but its the best thing for her, and she will understand eventually. and to the first answer- you are NOT a horrible parent.