When Are Your Kids Old Enough For Coffee?

Parenting comes with a set of choices you must make, such as restrictions for when your children should be allowed to do certain things. This includes things like when they should be allowed to ride a bike, eat candy, go to the mall, and—you guessed it—drink coffee. As popular as it is, coffee isn’t your typical drink, and shouldn’t be taken lightly. So at what age should you allow your kids to drink coffee?

Hold Off As Long As Possible

As long as your kids are living underneath your roof, chances are they’re still in their teens. If they’re in their teens, we believe that’s still too young for you to consciously endorse that they make coffee a regular beverage. You can offer them the occasional sip out of your cup, but don’t allow them to make it their “morning drink”.

Caffeine Is Still a Drug

Never forget that coffee contains caffeine, which is considered an actual drug. Just as you wouldn’t want your child to be taking other kinds of drugs, so too you probably shouldn’t encourage them to drink coffee while they’re still a teenager. Once they’re in college and entering young adulthood, they’re free to drink as much coffee as they want. But you should still advise them to take it easy as they veer into this coffee-drinking part of their life.