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Giving Wine To Toddlers And Small Children

I was reading in a site the experience of a US citizen who went to have dinner at the house of this family that comes from the Middle East. As they were eating, she saw two small cups of wine at the table. The kids of this family (ages 2 and 4) were approaching the table straight for the cups. When she saw that, she tried to stop them and told the parents about it. Their reply was that those cups were theirs and that it was a tradition in their home country to let kids drink a little wine with their meals.

The woman was shocked and replied by saying it must be legal in your country but it is illegal in the United States, and she removed the cups from the children.

The parents also stated that such tradition is widely used and helps to prevent alcoholism in the future.

Thoughts?

For me, one word: MADNESS.

Children Small Toddlers Wine Giving

There are many countries that do this, normally it's not spoken of, but just merged into part of their culture. France is one such country, and many other european countries also.
It has been proven that cultures that bring their children up to respect alcohol, certainly don't have the drink culture that countries such as the UK have, where you just see people throwing as much alcohol down their necks as they can, and where as many women as men end up in drunken brawls!
I can't condone drinking at such a young age, as where I live, it would be classed as abuse, and you would have your children taken from you, but I do find it interesting that the countries following this culture generally are better behaved as adults!

Giving Wine To Toddlers And Small Children Reviews Consumer & Travel Family Culture

What about if you was living in a country where the practice is accepted? Would you give wine to your tots?

Children Small Toddlers Wine Giving

No, I wouldn't, because I don't believe that it can do a toddler any good having any alcohol, but if I were in a country where that was their tradition, nor would I expect any rights to stop them from continuing with that culture!

Neither of my 2 youngest have ever had any alcohol, my 18 year old has only ever purchased himself 2 drinks (1 each time on 2 separate occasions) since he has been legally allowed to drink from age 18 (2 months), he is against getting drunk, so would never allow himself to become intoxicated, and he was never brought up drinking alcohol either, so I think you've got to put some of it down to how people parent their kids, and to how wisely you try to educate them against the effects of alcohol!

Children Small Toddlers Wine Giving

If I had any children, I would never encourage them to drink alcohol. I cannot fathom the logic of how giving a child alcohol at an early age, would prevent alcoholism. Children are impressionable and they love to mimic the behaviour of adults. What happens when kids associate alcohol with becoming an adult? Or suppose they acquire a taste for the alcohol and when the parents are not around, they decide to drink some more? I think the philosophy of exposing them to alcohol at an early age, may encourage them to become alcoholics rather than prevent it.

Rather off topic, but... I remember many years ago, I heard some parents in Trinidad, "spiking" their baby's formula with rum. Parents have boasted that if the child is cranky and refuses to settle down, the rum in the milk, will put them to sleep instantly. How sad! Instead of trying to find a way to soothe your child, people choose to drug them! About ten years ago, I picked up a bottle of "Gripe Water" and I was shocked to learn that one of the main ingredients was "alcohol." I noticed that when babies develop colic, some doctors recommend to give them "Gripe Water." A friend of mine had a baby who had colic very frequently. She used to give her "Gripe Water" but noticed that the problem kept reoccurring. So, she took her baby to the paediatrician, who strongly advised her, never to give her baby "Gripe Water," since it contained alcohol. Now that was ten years ago! If you go to the pharmacy today, you will see that same "Gripe Water," being sold with one difference: the label boldly indicates that the product is "Alcohol free." Whew! What a relief! It is very unsettling to know that companies sold products for babies with alcohol, many years ago. Thank goodness, times have changed for the better!

Edited: Geenie on 4th Oct, 2007 - 6:27pm

Giving Wine To Toddlers And Small Children

Well, its already been stated that in much of Europe there is a culture of allowing children to drink wine with their meals but what I wanted to add is that the children aren't given "a proper drink" but have instead what is essentially a glass of water with a little wine in it. As they get older the amount of wine increases. I don't know the situation of the Middle Eastern family in LDS' description but I do know that in cultures were children do drink a little alcohol with their family at meal times the effects are limited by

1 The fact that it is, in general, watered down;

2 That it is eaten with food; and

3 They amount they drink is strictly controlled and they are under constant supervision at the table.

This has benefits too including:

1 Children do not grow up to see alcohol as "forbidden" so getting drunk loses its appeal as a form of rebellion or confirmation of adult status

2 Children learn that a glass of wine at the table can be a normal part of a pleasurable meal and of life without then leading to a life drunken debauchery-a view that I think over regulation of alcohol can encourage.

3 Children form sensible opinions about what alcohol is and what it can be used for unlike (as has already been pointed out) children in the UK who can often see it only in terms of getting "off their heads" as quickly and as much as possible.

I have no statistical evidence to back this up but much anecdotal evidence does talk about these things. I have a friend who worked in a Student Union bar a few years ago. He said he was always happier when groups of foreign students came in of an evening because they drank slowly, didn't allow themselves to get too drunk and were generally a more pleasant bunch to deal with. When the indigenous students came in they generally drank as much as possible and, as the night wore on, became more rowdy, obnoxious and unpleasant as a result. In conversation with the foreign students, my friend discovered that they had all been brought up to see alcohol as part of the social experience (by drinking at the table with their families) and most of our own students hadn't touched a drop until their late teenage years.

Not scientific I grant you but I think it does highlight some interesting points.