Baby Drinks 1.5 Litres Of Coffee Every Day As Parents Can‘t Afford Milk

For some, coffee is a necessity that they can’t live without. For others, coffee is the last resort.

This is the case for a family living in West Sulawesi, Indonesia who has been feeding their 14-month-old baby coffee since she was just 6 months old.

14-month-old Baby Drinks 1.5litres Of Coffee Daily Since She Was 6 Months Old

This means that the poor baby has been living off coffee for the past 9 months.

The reason? Milk is a luxury they simply cannot afford.

My heart breaks to read about this story.

But that’s not the worst of it. Apparently, the baby, named Hadijah, drinks five cups of coffee every day. That’s about 1.5litres!

It’s not your usual Starbucks Coffee fix either. The coffee she has been drinking is called kopi tubruk, a cheap coffee found in Indonesia made by boiling coffee ground with sugar.

Parents Earn $1.94 Each, Per Day

Their financial situation is the reason why they have to resort to feeding their child coffee. They only earn about S1.94 each per day and this is only enough to fulfil their daily household needs.

Both parents work at a coconut plantation extracting dried coconut flesh. Their job isn’t stable and at times, they would have no work.

The mother says, “We have no choice, our income is not enough to buy milk for her. We’re forced to give her coffee every day.”

What’s more alarming is the fact that the baby allegedly cannot sleep without her dose of coffee. The mother revealed that she would kick up a fuss and ask for her coffee before bed.

She also mentions that her child is active and would frequently stay up at night to play alone.

Happy Ending

Thankfully, this story has a happy ending. The Polewali Mandar Health Agency have visited the family and gave them a supply of milk and biscuits.

They’ve also advised the family to stop feeding her coffee and consuming too much caffeine at a young age isn’t healthy for a young child.

Needless to say, it is important not to give children coffee. This is because caffeine is addictive and can cause withdrawal symptoms, especially for young children.

Besides this, coffee can lead to weight gain and cavities, among others.