Dangers of Tea For Babies And Children

Dangers of Tea For Babies And Children

Taken from documents belonging to the group Healthy Homemade Baby Food :

Tea is caffeine

Many parents who think giving tea to give children better than coffee, because caffeine content in tea is much less than coffee. This assumption turned out to be broken by a study by IPB in 2007, which states that the caffeine content of tea and coffee which turned out to be relatively large at 0.6 %.

Caffeine alone bring harm to your baby's growth, where these substances can affect a child's brain nervous system, in this case caffeine affects the nervous system work. Caffeine can also make children restless and have trouble sleeping while for infants and toddlers to sleep is a very important activity for growth. Caffeine is also harmful to the heart of the child, because it can stimulate respiration and affect the heart.

Tea is Tannin

In addition to caffeine, tea also contains a hazardous substance called tannin. Tannins contained in tea can reduce iron absorption by the body. Iron minerals in the tea will be bound by Tannin, the reaction formation of Tannat, which subsequently wasted in the feces, the reaction can cause anemia in infants. Tannat acid in tea can also affect the absorption of vitamin B by the body, resulting baby will experience a deficiency of vitamin needed for the growth and development of the brain.

Caffeine is a substance that is easily absorbed by the body. In fact, more than 99% of caffeine consumed will be absorbed by the blood and distributed throughout the body parts to the brain. Conversely, caffeine is a substance that is NOT EASY issued by the body through urine. Caffeine levels in the blood will settle long before it wasted with urine.


In adults it takes up to 5-6 hours to remove half of the caffeine content in the blood. While the baby takes up to 14 hours to remove the caffeine content. That is because the baby's body is still difficult to metabolize caffeine intake.

Bad for the Kidneys

The function of the organs of the baby's body is not perfect, therefore giving tea to infants, especially those under 6 months greatly affects the performance of his kidneys. Sepat flavor of tea that is consumed by your baby will burden the kidneys work and interfere with the absorption of other gastrointestinal system. Well, if the system is disturbed digest tract, then certainly the absorption of nutrients essential for growth will be interrupted anyway. If it were so it is quite possible the growth process will be disrupted.


So, for your child to avoid the dangers of caffeine and tannin, avoid giving him tea, either sweet tea or unsweetened tea. Taste deliciously sweet tea is sometimes favored child, but do not get used to the small consumption of tea, especially in the excessive portion.