Mum defends herself after video of toddler drinking a ‘cup of tea’ goes viral

A mum has been forced to defend herself after she shared a video of her toddler drinking a ‘cup of tea’.

The mum, who goes by the name Leanne on TikTok, shared a short video of her son taking a sip of what looks like a milky tea in a plastic red cup. 

In the video, Leanne can be heard asking her son what he’s drinking, to which he replies: “Mama, cup of tea.”

Yet while the youngster seemed perfectly content with his beverage, many TikTok users took offence with video – which has since had over 1 million views – and slammed Leanne for even allowing her child to have a brew in the first place. 

One viewer commented: “Tea is just as bad as coffee, it’s filled with caffeine which is bad for babies”, while another noted: “My kid loved tea until my health visitor told me to stop as it can cause them to not produce enough iron and they can end up anaemic.”

Leanne wasted no time in defending herself, however, and quickly commented on the video: “For the ones who are commenting about the tea… He had seen me with a cup of tea and wanted one, a cup with a small amount of tea won’t hurt him.”

Julian Hochgesang / Unsplash

It is worth noting, however, that hundreds of other parents rushed to Leanne’s defence. One person wrote: “Am I really seeing a debate over a kid having a cuppa? As long as it’s Yorkshire Tea…”. 

Another commented: “What a lad. There’s nothing wrong with him having a brew… He’s enjoying it, that’s all that matters.”

Just to set the record straight; while large amounts of tea can cause iron deficiency in toddlers, a small amount every now and again is harmless, with Dr. Christian Jessen claiming that the small amount of caffeine in weak tea can even boost sports performance in schoolchildren.