Hot drinks served at playgroups - what's your opinion?

[watgem]

I'm going to stick my neck out here and say that I really don't like hot drinks in a toddler group, at one of ours a gran held her drink in her lap and a child knocked into it, luckily it went over gran's lap and not the child, which was very unpleasant for the poor lady. I suppose it doesn't help that my friend is a paediatric nurse who says that scalds on children are awful, even from a seemingly cool cup of tea a child can be scarred for life as their skin is so much thinner. Surely we can all cope without a hot drink for an hour or two?

[Gizmo]

We have tea/coffee at our cm group after Los have their snack, they then have free play while we breath lol

[Pipsqueak]

youchers to the knitting needles!!! have you ever told your mam the truth now that you have admitted it to us?

my brother used to beat up on me and in turn I done stuff to my sister...

my nan chopped her friends finger off with a very sharp knife... you know that game people play - normally when they are drunk!... spread your fingers out and you stab a knife fast between fingers..... my nan done that when they were young (around 1912) and she got (in her words) the 'whipping of her life'.... never put her of knives though!!!

[onceinabluemoon]

My mindee grabbed a hot drink from under a chair and spilt it on herself at a toddler group. She was there with her mum (not me) and her mum and the lady whose drink it was were chatting momentarily, meanwhile munchkin (who was round 18 months) reached under the chair and grabbed the drink. It took less than ten seconds...

I agree with teaching children to manage risk, but I doubt any crawling 5 or 6 month old or even an 18 month old is old enough to understand that a hot drink burns. I don't go to toddler groups that have hot drinks any more. It is far too easy for an adult to be distracted and a child get burnt, but each to their own.

Some interesting reading here http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/2995636.stm

[Gizmo]

Pip I think we need a like button on here just for you xxx

[rickysmiths]

Ok, can I admit that he didn't actually jump off the sofa...I pulled him off I was sitting on the floor, he was sitting behind me on the sofa being silly & I grabbed him & pulled him over the top of me.
He landed on the knitting & the needle went through one cheek, then the other. I pulled it straight out

We were little tinkers

This made me grin. My little sister broke my arm when she was 2 and I was 6!!

Then she broke my little finger when we were 12 and 16

My son pulled a cup of tea over himself when he was under a year old but he did it in the right place. We were at my mums friends house and friend was a GP. ds hasn't got a mark on him mums friend had him in the kitchen sick with cool water before I even realised what had happened

Our CC does not serve hot drinks and I hated it because I love my cuppa in the morning. I can't see anything wrong with it and I have never seen an accident.

[FussyElmo]

Pip I think we need a like button on here just for you xxx

Totally agree.

Does it make me a really bad person to admit i have done this - I would be a screaming banshee if I thought my children would do something so silly

[FussyElmo]

This made me grin. My little sister broke my arm when she was 2 and I was 6!!

Then she broke my little finger when we were 12 and 16

My son pulled a cup of tea over himself when he was under a year old but he did it in the right place. We were at my mums friends house and friend was a GP. ds hasn't got a mark on him mums friend had him in the kitchen sick with cool water before I even realised what had happened

Our CC does not serve hot drinks and I hated it because I love my cuppa in the morning. I can't see anything wrong with it and I have never seen an accident.

Did you stay away from her the year you were 22 and 26 to break the tradition

[rickysmiths]

youchers to the knitting needles!!! have you ever told your mam the truth now that you have admitted it to us?

my brother used to beat up on me and in turn I done stuff to my sister...

my nan chopped her friends finger off with a very sharp knife... you know that game people play - normally when they are drunk!... spread your fingers out and you stab a knife fast between fingers..... my nan done that when they were young (around 1912) and she got (in her words) the 'whipping of her life'.... never put her of knives though!!!

Ouch! My Nan Mangled her sisters fingers when she was being stupid with the mangle and my Great Aunts fingers were very bent

[Mouse]

youchers to the knitting needles!!! have you ever told your mam the truth now that you have admitted it to us?

my brother used to beat up on me and in turn I done stuff to my sister...

my nan chopped her friends finger off with a very sharp knife... you know that game people play - normally when they are drunk!... spread your fingers out and you stab a knife fast between fingers..... my nan done that when they were young (around 1912) and she got (in her words) the 'whipping of her life'.... never put her of knives though!!!

Oh yes, she knew...and I suffered for it!

My brother & I laugh about it now

[FussyElmo]

Oh yes, she knew...and I suffered for it!

My brother & I laugh about it now

Why are the funniest memories the painful ones

[madmamma]

My mother and uncle were terrible.

They were having a row once when they were younger and mum, in a fit of rage turned round and threw the chopping knife she was holding at his head.....

He started screaming blue murder at her (as you would) and she just looked at him, dead straight faced, and said 'What you moaning for? It missed didn't it?!' In her words, it was stuck in the door, level with his ear, wobbling, and still making a kind of twanging noise...

If I'd have even thought of doing that I doubt I'd have ever had a bum comfortable enough to sit down EVER

[Chatterbox Childcare]

I cannot see why we cannot drink coffee anywhere as long as the risked are measured. We do it at home don't we? What is the difference?

[onceinabluemoon]

I cannot see why we cannot drink coffee anywhere as long as the risked are measured. We do it at home don't we? What is the difference?

I think the difference is that at home you have one or maybe two cups, you know where they are, you know the children well and you can predict what will happen - in short you can control the situation.
At a toddler groups you may have 20 or 30 cups, some parents just wonder off and leave hot drinks wherever they feel like it or just don't watch them, you don't know all of the children and you don't know how they will act. You have no control over the situation at all.

Surely I'm not the only person who can do without a hot drink for 2 hours?

[Maza]

I think the difference is that at home you have one or maybe two cups, you know where they are, you know the children well and you can predict what will happen - in short you can control the situation.
At a toddler groups you may have 20 or 30 cups, some parents just wonder off and leave hot drinks wherever they feel like it or just don't watch them, you don't know all of the children and you don't know how they will act. You have no control over the situation at all.

Surely I'm not the only person who can do without a hot drink for 2 hours?

Totally agree. The first thing I do when I get back from toddler group is stick the kettle on as I'm gagging for my cuppa by then, but like you say, I know I will only put it somewhere sensible. Yes, we have coffee in coffee shops/cafes etc but you are expecting it there and the kids are not running and climbing about and exploring, they are sitting at a table so the risk is minimised. Not judging anyone who does have coffee/tea by the way, but good to discuss these things. x

[Kiddleywinks]

Am I the only one that can't remember the last time I HAD hot drink whilst working then?

It's not that I don't make them, just keep getting side tracked, and end up drinking it lukewarm/cold

[miffy]

I don't like groups if there's no hot drink for me too, preferably at the same time all the children are seated having their snack.

I hate those sippy cups (sorry, don't know their proper name) they are more dangerous than ordinary cups because they keep the liquid hotter for longer and people assume they are safe and so just leave them lying around.

Miffy xx

[Twinkles]

I have been going to toddler groups for 30 years. First with my own children and now with minded ones.

I have NEVER seen an accident.

I don't doubt that they do happen , just I've never seen one.

At the group I go to we have our hot drinks while the children are sitting at a table with their fruit and drinks.
This does seem to be a good compromise.


It really isn't about managing or not for two hours without a hot drink.
I certainly don't have time to have a hot drink after breakfast. Too busy chasing small people !
I'm MORE than ready for my 10am coffee when it arrives

[Jods]

Hot drinks served at playgroups - what's your opinion?

dont have one - just wished they would hurry up and get a bar with a hot male fitty in to swizzle some cocktails around

[watgem]

Onceinabluemoon I'm with you, at home we are in control, at toddlers we are not. Could we honestly live with ourselves if any child got scalded just for the sake of adults having to go without a cuppa for a couple of hours?