What do you do?
You may need to find a compromise; playing 'good' parent, 'bad' parent solves nothing. Find a good time to talk about your concerns with your partner. It's good to read up on the facts about alcohol and perhaps talk to other parents. Then, once you have found a happy middle ground, stick to it. It's your choice but one you have to make together.
Legally, children can be given alcohol to drink at home from 5 years-old in the UK. Allowing or disallowing young children the odd sip of alcohol at family occasions is not harmful, but being vague can be. Your daughter needs to know where she stands, so decide what is and isn't acceptable at her age and then let her know. The advice given by the Chief Medical Officer is to try and maintain ‘an alcohol free childhood’ up to the age of 15, and then to supervise consumption and to make sure it is within the daily responsible drinking guidelines of 2–3 units for women and 3–4 for men. As an adult, supplying an underage teenager with alcohol to take to a party is called ‘ buying by proxy’ and is illegal.
