What age do you let your children drink?

[ChipnDaleRule]

We recently met up with friends, and my 14 year old daughter was talking to their 14 year old daughter, and she was saying how her parents allow her to have a glass of wine with a meal.Im not sure she meant every meal but however it got me to thinking is this a responsible thing to do?Half of me thinks that it makes alcohol not such a big deal & teaches them responsible drinking,but the other half of me thinks a) can a young developing body cope with a glass & b) could it give them a taste with one glass leading to two etc.
Luckily my daughter hasn't asked to have one but i would like to know what you think on the subject.

 

[tennisfan]

I think it is better that way as it does teach people about responsible drinking. It is very common for Italians and the French children to have a glass of wine with a meal at that sort of age.

My parents let me and my sister have a drink with a meal at that sort of age. I'm 31 now and hardly drink, never have done.

At the end of the day most children will drink under age, I see this a lot in my job and many children cannot handle it and end up going to hospital as no one responsible will look after them.

 

[kamik86]

My parents definitely let me have alcohol on occasion (my parents only had any on occasion) as a kid. I don't see a problem with it. My family always thought that there are many cultures that have always given kids some wine with dinner and they have less problems with alcohol then the US does and they trusted us so they let us have a bit if we wanted.

I definitely don't think anyone's first experience with alcohol should be with friends where no one is really watching how much everyone drinks or really aware of their own limits.

 

[scottish mum]

My oldest ds is almost 16 and I will offer him the odd drink if we are celebrating something, last christmas he was offered wine with dinner, a drink for new years eve etc. So far he has refused all our offers. i would far rather that he has his first drinks with us in the safety of his own home surrounded by people who are able and willing to care for him and that it can be given moderately.

Last christmas was the first year that I had offered though, he was 15 but imo any younger should not be consuming alcohol anywhere.

 

[married-2-wdw-nut]

We are of the same thoughts - alcohol in a controlled environment rather than them drinking at a party and being unwell or anything major that I don’t really want to think about

When we took our then 20 year old on the Disney Cruise around the Med, Disney were really strict about not giving him a drink. Laugh was when we got off in Italy on a Disney excursion, lunch included wine - which was poured out for both him & our 12 year old as Italy does not have any drinking laws.

 

[disneymom443]

I'll let my DD 19 have her own wine cooler. I'll also let her have a sip of my wine or what ever I happen to have. No beer (we don't drink beer)

 

[Laurafoster]

I know my parents certainly let me have the occasional drink when I was younger. Possibly around 16 I think. It was generally "weaker" drinks though such as Buck's Fizz or Lambrusco etc.

It's certainly a cultural thing though, I work for a French company and if we go out for lunch my French colleagues won't think twice about having a glass of wine with their lunch. At company nights out I have never seen any of my European colleagues drunk either whereas there are often a few (usually more) English colleagues who are worse for wear.

Fortunately I'll have a fair few more years before its a decision I'll have to make. I do think that if I chose to to wait until my kids are 18 that they would be exposed to it in other ways through friends or nights out. I certainly remember going to under 18s discos ( do they still have these lol) and there would always be a few girls outside with a bottle of something deliberately trying to get drunk.

 

[Tinkerbell1989]

My parents very very rarely drink, so there was never any alcohol in the house when I was growing up...
Therefore the first time I had alcohol was with friends at a party aged 15/16. When I went to uni aged 18, I was one of those girls who would drink and drink because I could.
Now, aged 24, I know when to stop. I don't have to drink to get drunk.

DF was always offered alcohol with a meal from a reasonably young age (14?) And as a result he is far more sensible!

Xx

 

[Chilly]

My experience was the same as many others, my parents would offer me sips of their drinks from maybe 13/14, but I never liked it, however it made alcohol not a big deal or anything special.

 

[torsie24]

Sounds like I was a child alcoholic compared to you guys!

My parents gave me sips of anything they had since I was tiny. One if my dads favourite photos is me as a toddler pulling my Guinness face. Lol.

My nan would often give me a tiny Baileys if we were at theirs for a party of something and we'd have Asti at NYE. From about 11/12 I loved Malibu and coke thanks to my cousin so if we were out for family dinner I'd be allowed 1.

When I was 13/14 Bacardi Breezers got big so is have the occasional one if our for dinner etc.

Sounds a load I know, but I never once got drunk at a party, or friends house, and I really think its because alcohol wasn't taboo for me. I actually now don't drink at all (even before I was pregnant/breastfeeding) and will always choose schloer or similar when out.

So I'll do the same with my children as I think it's healthier.

 

[wideeyes]

I offered my daughter tiny sips from a young age. She is 11 now and always says no unless it's champagne!

 

[darthtatty]

my son has had the odd sip of drink for a few years. Occasionally he'll have a small glass with meals, he's 13 now.
When I was younger we used to go out to the pubs a lot and all of us-my brothers & sisters used to take sips of my mum and dads drinks.
None of us drink alcohol these days, unless its a special occasion or a weekend away
Im sure being introduced to it when we were young and in a controlled way made us more sensible.
I had friends who weren't allowed alcohol until they were 18 and then theyd go out and get drink every weekend-in fact they still do.

 

[torsie24]

Yup - same here.

I had a friend whose parents kept all alcohol locked away and never let her have a sip.

We went on a school trip when we were 14 and she stole a bottle of vodka and drank the lot! I'd sipped vodka before and knew I didn't like it so didn't have any.

 

[joolz1910]

We are not wine drinkers so we don't drink with meals. Our children have always been offered sips and usually grimace. I will probably allow my eldest to have a drink (supervised by us) at around 15 as I want her to be responsible.

She had a sleepover with her 12 year old friend (DD is 13) and the girl's mother bought them WKD's. I was livid! My DD didn't drink hers but I thought the mother was irresponsible. Turns out that I was right as the girl regularly gets stoned and her Dad allows her to get drunk when she stays with him.

I think what I am saying is that I favour a balanced approach. I am not my kids' 'mate' but neither am I their prison warden!

 

[Ware Bears]

My parents included me at special occasions like Christmas, birthdays, family parties from an early age, I was probably about 13, and if they were having a drink out or on holiday I was always allowed a sip (9 times out of 10 I wasn't interested and would prefer coke which was much more of a treat!) and we've brought up our DDs the same.

 

[StephyDee]

When I was little, and my dad would have beers out of the porch, he'd let me have some. By little, I mean I was like....under the age of 8. He'd have about an inch or less left in the bottle, and I'd look at it randomly, but not say anything. I didn't have a NEED to try it, but you know, when you're a kid, you're curious of what the 'grown ups' love about this stuff lol. He'd go "You can have it....it's only a tiny bit, not enough to do anything." I'd have it, and I remember liking the taste of it (at least that brand....might be Rolling Rock, but I can't remember for the life of me ). My mom would occasionally let me have a tiny sip of her wine coolers too. Nothing crazy, just enough to see what it tasted like. I never tried to sneak any alcohol because of that, since I had an idea of what it tasted like, and even as a teen, I didn't feel like going through all that mess just to have some booze. Yeah, it tasted nice, but not amazing enough for me to get in trouble for it.


I will say this though. It's a story, but a fun one. The first time I was drunk was when I was 8 years old. In my defense, it was my cousin's wedding, and EVERYONE got this massive glass of champagne. It was like this, but bigger, because my cousin went all out for his wedding, even with the champagne lol:

So when I saw the huge glass, I specifically remember turning to my mom and asking "I'm not allowed to have this, right? It's HUGE!" She said I could, since it was a wedding, and that she didn't think I'd finish it all, since it was so big. Welp, a couple of hours later (and after I finished the whole glass lol), I was a crazy kid, jumping up and down instead of dancing, running around the dance floor with this other little girl, and cutting the line for a segment of the reception where the guests got to dance with the bride for a few moments each.....I ended up cutting the line three times. I remember running into her dress, and she laughed like she knew I was gone. The next thing I know, I wake up on the hotel couch, it's like, 3am in the morning, and "I Love Lucy" reruns are playing on tv. The next morning? Massive hangover. That taught me to stay away from alcohol for a looooooonnnnng while.