Well that surprised me

The whole issue comes under the heading of common sense. Most parents, the vast majority, have enough sense, not to mention love when it's their own kid, not to abuse a small child with alcohol.

Or any other drug.

Davidhs - (Most people don't realise there is no minimum drinking age, the minimum age to " buy" alchohol is 16 in a restaurant and 18 in a bar. So a 16 yr old boy can buy wine and give it to his 12 yr old girlfriend legally.)

This is factually incorrect and against the licensing laws.

The law states that it is illegal to sell alcohol to or attempt to buy alcohol for any under 18 year old on licensed premises.

The only exception is that a child aged 16 or 17 years old and accompanied by an adult may drink beer, wine or cider with a table meal but they are not allowed to purchase the same. Below 16 on licensed premises is a strict no.

Davidhs, the accompanied 16 and 17 year olds can only drink beer, cider or wine (in the pub) though- not spirits.
Don't think there's an age limit on working there though!

Sorry prestbury you've just said that!

As a child of the 60s/70s Christmas wasn’t Christmas without a Snowball made from a bit of advocaat topped with lemonade and a cherry. A real treat. Plus sips of Babysham if we could sneak them out of sight of the adults

Like Yggdrasil( above), I also have some French family and their quite young children would sneak into the cellar for a taste of wine . Strangely enough it did not develop into any abuse in their later life.
However, alcohol addiction frightens me as a few in my close association have or had problems and I am not sure how to deal with this in respect of the g. children in my care. I pretend to be blasé especially with the 17year old ,nearly 18, when he wants a little beer, but I can't help worrying.

I remember being given a cup of tea with whisky in it on Christmas morning as a child.

My midwife recommended that I drank a glass of stout a day when I was breastfeeding DC1 (1974) and - despite disliking the taste - I did, doing the same when I had DC2 three years later. It was supposed to be good for your milk supply...
My friend's Dad was a publican, and when she was in the maternity home (for a week in those days) he brought her cases of stout in; she kept them under her bed and shared the bottles with the other new mothers in her room - all with the full knowledge and approval of the nurses Times change..!!!

that reminds me of a time i saw a child in a buggy drinking shandy.at docklands chatham.(fun day) was so shocked i told a policeman .who in turn told the parents off. the dirty look the dad gave me,swore at me and said its my kid i can give him shandy.... you could see the child was perspiring and red looking.so policeman called an ambulance as he could see the child was tipsy.language was awful . but got child to breathe hard at the policeman . turns out the child had ,had 4 cans already.!!!...i dont know what happened after that as ambulance set off for the hospital. policeman did say thanks for being observant.

Do cans of shandy actually contain alcohol, or are they just another soft drink? I can remember them being one of the options at the tuck shop at my (very strict) school, and I think the pop man who came round our streets sold shandy too, alongside the dandelion and burdock and cream soda.

Not that I think that giving them to small children is a good thing.

Anyone remember port wine jelly ? Mum used to make the trifle with it.

When my first baby was born (1975), breastfeeding mothers were issued with a bottle of Sweetheart Stout in the evening.

(Mind you, that was when the Bounty Baby Book’s advice regarding drinking in pregnancy was not to drink so much that you fell down, as you may harm the baby!)

I was shocked (along with my daughter) that, when asked what he’d like to drink on Boxing Day, my 9 yr old grandson asked for a glass of Bucks Fizz! I was so surprised and a bit annoyed because we hadn’t got loads of bottles to go round everyone and I wasn’t sure whether it was inadvisable or even illegal!

I doubt if your GS knew what a Bucks Fizz was, Luckylegs. He'd probably just heard someone talking about it.
I would have given him orange juice diluted with soda water or tonic, and maybe a maraschino cherry in it. He wouldn't have spotted the difference!

DD2 had a Harvey Wallbanger on Christmas Eve. I was a bit generous with the Galliano & floated it on the top, as per the recipe.
Her eyes glazed over.
But she's 35

Lol....janeainsworth that’s allowed, just about....

An all age NYE party in the olden days springs to mind where my 11 yr old brother was enjoying the fruit punch.
We thought he was acting drunk and had no idea it was spirit based until he ended up comotose.
Luckily he survived but another hard lesson was learned.