Tea is one of the main drinks in Russian cuisine. Most Russians drink it daily, without even thinking of replacing it with something else. If a child grows up in your house, you are certainly looking forward to when you can treat it with a fragrant drink with a cake. At what age can tea be given to a child and how correctly to introduce it into a child's diet?
Can I drink tea to infants?
Folk wisdom and scientific research prove the benefits of tea. This drink is rich in antioxidants and nutrients. However, use it is not recommended for children under 2 years. For babies, any drink is food. For this reason, in the diet of the youngest children, drinks should be as nutritious and useful as possible, and also safe. Some manufacturers of baby food offer young parents special teas for babies. Usually it is the adapted and enriched drinks on the basis of extracts of herbs, berries and fruit fruits. When a child can give tea of this type? Be guided by the manufacturer's recommendations. Many drinks of this category are suitable for consumption by children over 6 months old. If the child is prone to allergies, it makes sense to consult an observing pediatrician. When buying children's tea, do not be lazy to study the composition of the product. A drink rich in preservatives and dyes is best left on the shelf of the store.
Black tea for kids over 2-3 years old
After the second birthday in the diet of the baby, you can enter ordinary black tea. Parents will have to resist the temptation to pour the child an invigorating drink from his own mug. Children's tea should be very weak, light brown in color. Be sure to purchase loose tea leaves: tea bags are inferior to her in quality. At what age can tea be given to a child if it has taste-improving additives? Pieces of fruits, berries and healthy herbs in small quantities can be present in the first children's tea drink. Be sure to study the composition - chemical additives should not be, as well as tannin, caffeine.
Milk tea
Can small children give tea with milk? Most nutritionists agree that such a drink is very useful for children over 2 years old. The most important thing is to properly prepare such tea. The correct ratio is 50/50, respectively, half the glass should be filled with milk. Why is it the most useful tea for children? Milk reduces the concentration of tea leaves and improves the taste of the drink. Milk tea is less dangerous for the stomach and tooth enamel of the baby. In addition, milk neutralizes the effect of oxalic acid on the baby's body.
With what to prepare tea for the baby?
At what age can tea be given to a child and what should be added to it? In Russia, traditionally invigorating beverages are sweetened. Most adults are used to drinking sweet tea. But the kids are encouraged to try to give the drink without additives. All children love sweets. But we must not forget that regular consumption of sugar can cause caries and form a wrong taste. Specialists managed to prove that sweetened tea is much less useful than "sweet", without additives. If your baby is happy to drink unsweetened tea, you can rejoice. But what to do when a child requires sugar? Search for a worthy alternative. Most often, sugar is replaced with honey. This option is suitable for children who are not allergic. At what age can tea be given to a child with honey? It is advisable to wait three years. First time put in a mug of very little honey and try to track the reaction. Children up to three years in the tea to improve its taste qualities can put pieces of fruit or berries. Some mothers dilute children's tea leaves with compote.
The chemical composition of conventional welding
Normal black tea is an incredibly useful drink. But some substances contained in it, have a beneficial effect on the adult organism and are completely useless for the child. What is contained in classic black tea? Tannin tannin invigorates no worse than caffeine and binds salts of heavy metals such as lead and mercury. For children, it can be dangerous, since it destroys iron. There is a high likelihood that tannin will negatively affect the fragile mucous membranes of the digestive system. In black tea there are purine bases that stimulate the production of uric acid and oxalates. These substances can be dangerous for the kidneys of a very young child. Oxalic acid, present in the tea leaves, is dangerous for baby teeth of the baby. Theine is an alkaloid contained in black tea. This substance has a tonic effect and can interfere with the production of vitamin D. Asking the question "at what age can you give your child coffee and tea," remember that these drinks affect the nervous system. Caffeine in principle is not recommended for children until adolescence. But in some babies even drinking weakly brewed tea can cause hyperactivity and sleep disorders. Introducing this drink into the diet of the child, be sure to follow the behavior and psycho-emotional state of the baby. If you notice any changes, stop giving tea or try to dilute it even more.
How to choose and brew tea for a child?
For children's nutrition, tea should be chosen high-quality and natural. It is advisable to use whole leaf brew. For one cup of tea, brew no more than 1-1.5 grams of dry mixture. Folk wisdom says: hot tea is a medicine that has cooled down - poison. And this statement is confirmed by scientific research. When cooling, some of the nutrients in the tea breaks down. Children are recommended to teach them to drink warm, freshly brewed tea. If the drink is cold, it can not be heated. Having decided to warm the tea, you will only increase the concentration of harmful substances in it. Do not make your baby drink a drink if he does not like it. To replace tea in a children's feed it is possible compote, the drink welded from prunes is very useful.
Exotic kinds of tea
In our country, black tea is considered classic, and what other variations of the drink exist? Green varieties are considered to be the strongest and invigorating. It is in them the concentration of tannin and caffeine is the highest. Some types of green tea excel in their tonic properties, even coffee. It is advisable to start this kind of drink only when you are a teenager. Many parents are interested: from what age can you give a child karkade tea? This drink tastes more like compote. Karkade is rich in vitamins and citric acid. If the baby does not have allergies to citrus fruits, you can treat it with tea as early as 2 years. Herbal teas, for example, from linden, mint and dogrose, can be given as a drink only from 6-7 years. At an earlier age, such drinks are a medicine during a cold. If the herbal taste is very much like the child, you can add medicinal plants in a small amount in the usual black tea leaves. Now you know what tea and from what age you can give the child. Try to observe these rules and do not forget to track the individual reaction of the child's organism to new drinks.
Useful tips for the introduction of tea in the diet of the child
Begin to introduce tea into the baby's diet gradually. Let it first be one cup at breakfast. Is it possible to drink tea to children on a par with adults? Approximately in 5-6 years to pour a child a drink can be as often as he wants. And yet, do not give it just before bedtime. Remember: tannins contained in tea can accumulate during the day. If the baby "suddenly" became nervous and highly irritable, perhaps it's all about too much of an invigorating drink in his diet. From what age it is possible to give tea to a child - an individual question. Make sure that the baby is absolutely healthy and develops normally, and only after that start to introduce into his diet this drink, but on condition that the child is already 2 years old.