tasting alcohol as a youngster

[working dog]

if a child about one,two, or three was allowed to sip beer or wine every now and then(just small sips) i would think that is really not a good idea....wouldn't this cause the child future problems?? like maybe they would start drinking at an early age and have a tougher time stopping......i wonder if any of you folks had a taste at a very young age ??  thanks...billy

[sassysissy244]

I was my moms bartender at 7. Segrems 7, Ale, Pabs blue ribbon, Orange So Good, Made the best drunk of me at an early age. I am now 50yrs old and beg my children to never ever taste the stuff. I set the example of how dangerous alcohol is and toll it takes on life. It almost destroyed my life. I am gratefull my bottom was not in the coffin. There is hope and I am still looking up form my bottom.

[ibizan]

Our society glorifies drinking......look at the commercials..drink this to be sexy,get in2 the mood,be cheery at a sporting event......drink drink drink but control it!And we are such a take this pill for whatever ails u as well.........its just crazy!My dad drank and drank a LOT......i thought it was normal...i was stealing his alcohol at age 10.He is gone now but he told me when i was 5 years sober that he felt my alcoholism was his fault......I said oh no dad don't do that 2 urself........yes it was available....it was easy..but u did not sit on me and pour it down my throat.....and for that i was responsible!

[working dog]

and pin pin patrick that was a really helpful answer...lets just say if i saw this going on i would head it off asap...it can be very upsetting as life goes on and we look back at the amount of time we waisted over doing alcohol and drugs...i think one of the worse problems in the u.s. is at the top we encourage alcohol...how many politicians drink too much?... why do we fight too many wars?? sometimes we have to look hard to see the damage alcohol takes part in...it's too easy to stir things up then go have a drink to somehow justify our actions.....billy

[narla]

I agree it is wrong to give a child alcohol,even sips,
I would like to say though that neither of my parents drank alcohol and I was never given it as a young child,I started drinking at 14 getting it off older friends,from my first taste I knew I loved the feeling it gave me.That is what has made sobriety so difficult,

[ibizan]

i agree w/pinpin patrick!plus WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MIND would allow a child this young sips of alcohol?what is the point of that?leads me to assume the parent or so called adult doing this has a problem!that is total MANURE!:)yes it would definitely lead to problems as a child grows up...if this is happening for a child at this age what is next?

[PinPinPatrick]

My personal belief is that absolutely no one should ever give anyone underage a drink of alcohol.  And ONLY in non-alcoholic families should the parent teach the children the hazards of alcohol not to exceed a certain limit, etc.  Only when they are of drinking age though, and maybe even have a single drink with them.  I still think even in non-alcoholic families parents should still not drink around their children at all.

For me if there's any possibility of me ever having kids I would definitely not drink around them and I'm just gonna tell them that alcohol is bad and ruins lives.  I'll tell them that if you want to grow up and be a successful member of society... a Doctor, a Lawyer, a Nurse, a Pharmacist, Scientist or an Engineer...  You should not drink.  And if you really think about the world pretty much every successful person ever has not had a drinking or alcohol problem... Although they may have achieved success and then spiraled down.

It's best not to encourage a behavior in children that will set them up for a disappointing path in life.  Parents are instilling thoughts, behaviors, and habits right into their children consciously or even unconsciously.  What the child see's they imitate and they want to become just like the grown up... whatever the grown up does.  A child is like an unwritten book... waiting to be written on for instruction... waiting to learn the ways of life and ways of doing.  We should focus on creating constructive ways of doing things for our bundles of future joy rather than ways of destruction.

[PinPinPatrick]

Yes I have I should smack my stupid parents for pouring me a glass of wine.  I was like 10 years old and my Mom poured me a glass of wine.  My Dad had given me a sip of beer when I was like 11.  I'm pretty upset with them, in a way they kinda paved me a path of alcoholism for the future.  I told my Mom about it after I developed alcoholism (becoming shakey after drinking) and she denied giving me a glass of wine.  But I know she did because I remember that evening and she was drunk off wine herself.  

My Dad is finally like 4 or 5 years sober with maybe just a few relapses but my Mom still drinks at age 55... she still likes her wine and I don't think she can imagine her life without it.  I told her all the problems... she had elevated triglyceride levels, blood pressure problems, higher LDL and low HDL... all signs of mild liver dysfunction if you ask me.  

My Dad's liver is kinda permanently ****** now he has to take lipitor daily... his liver function can't remove LDL and doesn't make enough HDL.