At what age should I start feeding coffee to my children?


Recent studies have suggested that by the time a child reaches the age of 18 months, the parents should have him or her on a healthy routine of about 1/2 cup of coffee per day. Of course, the child will not have adapted a taste for black coffee at this point in life, so Dr. Lugar Rolfstein of Germany suggests watering the coffee down with hot water and lots of sugar. You might ask, "but isn't coffee addictive?" Nonsense says Ralph Morgan, a finely dressed man on a very important street. "I can quit anytime I want." Well, what about the sugar? Sugar is good for children. It gets their heart rate up, especially when mixed with coffee, and they tend to get plenty of exercise when they are hyper. "But my child is hyper a lot and I don't know what to do." Well, TV or video games will tend to mellow them out quite a bit and they won't be such a bother. In fact, many parents find that they can leave home for hours at a time with the safe assurance that their child won't even notice they are gone.

But what about espresso? "I've been feeding my child espresso shots since she was five," says Susan Logan. "Is that OK?" According to science, you should have started earlier. By the time your child is three years old they should be drinking lattes and mochas and we highly recommend using your own breast milk. It is a lot easier to train them over to espresso by giving them a French Press for a couple of months. This would make a great gift for their birthday or Christmas. Then start giving them Americanos, gradually reducing the amount of hot water used. By the time your child reaches First grade, they should have adapted a taste for straight espresso shots and should be drinking four to six shots a day to help them stay awake and alert with their busy schedules and work loads.

by Dave Mullis