Lettuce and Tea?

My daughter loves lettuce...we give it to her with a little ranch and tomatoes...she started eating it at age 3...as for tea my daughter is 4 almost 5 and just started drinking it this year...when we go to her grandma's sometimes she will get tea...I think my mother-in-law just uses the lipton...we don't give her too much though.

I would avoid lettuce until your daughter has all of her teeth and is consistent about chewing her food well. It can pose a choking hazard-- kind of like a piece of a plastic bag. My family eats salad pretty frequently, but my 2.5 yr old son is only just now starting to show interest in eating it. It may be too early for your daughter to be interested anyway.

Personally, I think it's best to stick with water, milk, or 100% fruit juice (in moderation), but if you're set on trying tea, I'd go with herbals. Chamomile tea is a great tummy soother and is safe even to give to infants. Most herbal teas like orange spice or raspberry zinger would be fine to give a toddler, but I would definitely avoid black teas because of the high caffeine content. The tannins in black teas can also cause loose stools. Good Earth Caffeine Free tea is cinnamon flavored and is naturally sweetened so you wouldn't have to add sugar.

The only problem with lettuce is that it is hard to chew, so once most of their teeth are in and they have a good ability to chew most foods, lettuce should be fine. As far as tea goes, regardless of the benefits of green tea, tea is full of tannic acid, which is extremely bad for you (they use it to tan hides to make it into leather), and i would strongly suggest you never give your child tea, especially caffeinated tea. Herbal teas are fine, as they are not made with tea leaves, and the more straightforward ones, like chamomile should be fine at any age.

As long as she has teeth and chews food, she is old enough for lettuce. Romaine has the highest vitamin C content of all lettuces, plus it has lots of minerals. Put it on sandwiches or in wraps or see if she likes salad - try different dressings to see what she prefers - just avoid anything with high fructose corn syrup (which is not digestible), or canola oil (as it clogs the spleen). As for tea - the best (non-caffeine) brew available on the planet is called Treasure Tea. It is made of six rainforest plants that are anti-oxidant, anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-fungal, and immune supportive, as well as aid with digestion and blood sugar balance. And it is delicious (stevia is one of the herbs and it sweetens it just enough but not too much) plus it's nutritious and SAFE (caffeine is a dangerous and highly addictive substance). Treasure Tea has been shown to reverse complications of the liver (like hepatitis and rocky mountain spotted fever) as well as other organs of elimination. It can be drank hot or chilled/iced. Plus the tea bags can be reused several times to really get your money's worth. If you are interested in more information about the specific herbs in it feel free to contact me or you can check it out on my website: www.shootingstarherbs.amazonherb.net.

we give our kids iced tea all the time. restaurants often only say "soft drink" with kids dinners, but we get them the iced tea. It is excellent for them and you can give your daughter tea whenever you want. Stick with the plain tea and don't use black tea (has too much caffeine) or herbal (some herbs may not be good for little ones). But just plain ol tea is fine. I buy the decaffinated iced tea bags for tea at home.
Your little one can have lettuce whenever you want to give it to her. There is pretty much nothing in lettuce. It's mostly just a "filler" and great for adults because of the low calories. But if you give it to your daughter, make sure she is eating her other calorie rich foods first and then the lettuce. You don't want her filling up on the stuff.

I am adding stuff because I just read what others have written. Yes, herbal teas have no caffeine, but you need to get herbs approved by your doc first. I agree not to give green tea. This isn't good for anyone really. I grew up on tea, as did my husband, and it is a wonderfully tasty sugar free drink. Water can get boring and juice can have too much sugar (yes, it's natural sugars, but it's still sugar). And as far as caffeine, the iced tea served in restaurants, for example, has such a small amount of caffeine. We have highly energetic kids to begin with (even before they ever had tea) and a cup of tea at a restaurant has never affected them. Just use your good mom judgement and keep it to a minimum.

My pediatrician actually recommended Chamomille tea for my son (not sleeping thru the night). And he LOVES "leaves", but it would depend on how much she chews them. I would try her on the more "crunchy" parts rather than the more leafy parts - that would encourage her to chew it more.

I don't think there is any problem with lettuce but as far as tea goes, I would stay away from anything that has caffiene.

My 2 year old hates lettuce. We have given him small pieces since he could chew, and he has never liked it. My older kids responded the same way, but we just kept trying and they like salad now. At around 3 they like to dip everything, so a little salad dressing for "dip" goes a long way towards getting them to eat it.

Your toddler can have lettuce now, but it can present a choking hazard, even for adults, not just kids. So when you do give it to her, just make sure you watch her, and don't leave her alone with it. As far as tea goes, you can give her just about anything herbal. But sometimes the side effects/dietary benefits can be adverse for kids, go to your local natural foods store and they will be able to give you excellent advice about which herbs do what so you can decide from there what to give her.

Hi L., I have a 9 and 6 yo and never even considered giving them tea, so I don't know about that. I always offered them lettuce in salad when they had all their teeth. They never liked it until one day I was eating a salad when my son was about 4 and he asked me for a bite and he and his sister have both been huge salad eaters since then! He even eats his salads plain with no dressing, so go figure...So I would wait on the lettuce until she at least has all her teeth but she probably won't like it until she is older! Good luck!

Tea is good. My son started on Chamomile tea at 4 months. It was recommended to me as he had a VERY difficult time with teething and Chamomile naturally helps to relieve pain. So, age doesn't matter for tea. Just try to stick to the natural herbal teas. (no caffeine)

Hi L.-

Lettuce is a pretty safe one as far as allergies are concerned, so I introduced it once my daughter was eating solids at every meal. I think she was probably about 1.5. Be sure to cut it up into very small pieces since it doesn't dissolve in the mouth like other foods. To be honest, my daughter didn't like it at all (and still doesn't).

She started drinking tea very early on... right around the same time she started drinking water regularly. My husband's family is Chinese, so they started giving her little sips of green tea when she was 1. She loved it! Chamomile is generally a safe tea to give a toddler, as it is caffeine-free. I would just watch the temperature to make sure it is only luke-warm when she drinks it.

:-) T.

I don't know about the lettuce, since my kids (age 8, 5,& 3) still won't touch it. But we keep trying...

As far as tea, I think it is fine to give it to your toddler as long as you are aware of what is in it. All black teas have a higher caffeine level and so I would avoid those, but rooibos teas - sometimes called red teas - have NO caffeine as well as NO tannic acid. That is what I give to my kids. Also some herb & fruit teas are good, but I would agree with others that you need to watch what is in them.

All true teas (black, green, white) have tannic acid in the leaves, but it is only released into the tea if you steep it too long. You'll know when you do because the tea will taste bitter. Just follow the steeping time on whatever tea you have and it will not be an issue. I have no problem giving these teas to my kids (as long as they are decaf).

Whatever age u decide to give lettuce, be sure to soak. Its rare but it can a mite that can make trouble in the intestines.