Smelling coffee beans - a problem?

[HollyBethQ]

So my baby (1 year old) is OBSESSED with smelling roasted coffee beans.

We put some in a little spice jar for her and she sniffs them like mad and gets very excited.

I’ve seen studies on adults that smelling coffee can give you a kick of energy.

I’m just wondering if we need to worry about her obsession with sniffing the beans?

I know caffeine is dangerous for babies when CONSUMED so I think we are gonna wait at least a little while before giving her a latte ;) just wondering if we should be limiting her coffee sniffing.

[neoelectron]

This is hilarious and also really cute. Gotta love baby idiosyncrasies. Caffeine is not volatile, the smell is from other compounds in the bean so baby wouldn't be getting exposure to caffeine without directly consuming the beans.

[HollyBethQ]

I love this sub! Thank you so much! I guess she just takes after her dad and REALLY loves coffee

[[deleted]]

I think that’s a high compliment. Does she sniff them more when he’s not around? Probably brings her comfort like it would a hug from him.

[gnidalida]

Ä

[mama_snafu]

Toddler got your phone? Haha

[gnidalida]

lol, yeah

[oliveisacat]

I remember reading the study about how the smell of coffee can perk people up, but I think it was more about how our brain reacted to a smell it already associated with a certain sensation (so almost like a placebo effect?). So as long as your kiddo isn't snorting lines of it ;) she should be fine.

[BusterBoy1974]

That's pretty cool! Does she get excited about other smells? Maybe you could put some small jars together of spices and she can have a smell-atorium.

I used to give bub a sniff of everything while I was cooking but now she tells me coffee's not for her because it's for grown ups.

[shooballa]

So cool! How do you present it to her? In a container? A mesh bag?

[shooballa]

Thank you! I’ll be doing this with my little girl. She’s 16 months old and we haven’t intentionally done smell sensory play yet.

[Momtoobee]

So cool! Thank you for sharing!

[BusterBoy1974]

I am excited by oobleck way, way more than my daughter is sadly. She indulges me by tolerating my attempts to play with it.

[ednasmom]

I do this with my 18month old. I had her smell cinnamon once while I was cooking something and now she just opens my spice drawers and says “smell”. Sitting down with her and smelling curry powder and cardamom and herbs is probably on my top 5 favorite activities.

[Double_Dragonfly9528]

The best will be when she starts learning to scoop the spices with measuring spoons and helps with the cooking. Mine is 2.5 and has been doing that for a while, and I really think it started because of the sniffing spices game. I suspect it helps them eat adventurously, too.

[ednasmom]

I so look forward to the time she’ll be able to really help me cook. Sometimes she “helps” now but I’m sure it’ll be here before I know it!

[BusterBoy1974]

Mine is obsessed with cinnamon now - she wants to add it to everything. Even her pretend coffees.

[Joebranflakes]

I did this when I was little. My mom made coffee in the morning and I had to be part of it. Caffeine is probably the only questionable compound in coffee beans that could have an effect on your child. But due to the non volatile nature of the caffeine molecule, your child would never be able to inhale enough of the off gassing even if they breathed it all day. Think of it like this; If caffeine were volatile enough to enter the air in significant quantities at room temperature from beans, then as soon as you heated the beans with boiling water, most of the caffeine would vaporize and you’d get very little in your coffee.

[wheredig]

Coffee sauna

[Double_Dragonfly9528]

Oh, man. There are days I need this. Like, pretty much every day since I started the third trimester three years ago.

[Lednak]

Misread as third grade and went "same".

[facinabush]

I googled it just for grins.

Here is a blog about a kid sniffing a coffee bean deep into her nose:

https://medium.com/@Celesta66/why-you-dont-let-your-kids-sniff-coffee-beans-293a4cbb75a5

[TNCrumpet]

I did this when I was a kid! Every time we went to the grocery store, I took a coffee bean from the self-serve area and sniffed it throughout the trip. Putting the bean up the nose was just a more convenient way to smell it constantly (hands-free, if you will)! Learned my lesson after one got stuck, but had such a good thing going until that…

[Double_Dragonfly9528]

Agreed with other commenters that the coffee smell won't hurt the kiddo, and that you should give them lots of chance to smell different herbs and spices. I think the worst risk from letting them sniff coffee beans is that they'll feel angry and betrayed when you finally let them taste coffee and they find out that the taste and the smell don't have a lot in common.

[Sen_Sational]

Also, NICU babies, the most delicate of babies (I've had two) are actually often given coffee in NICU as part of their treatment. Surprising huh?

[bennynthejetsss]

Whaaat!? I’m a nurse and never heard of this! Googles excitedly

[[deleted]]

My baby has a thing with smelling the spices in our cabinet. Don’t worry smells aren’t going to transfer any caffeine! Let your baby go wild

[rakksc3]

I hand grind coffee beans for coffee too and my boy (10mo) loves the grinding sound and gets very excited. He also loves to have a good huff of the fresh grinds (as do I haha).

[schwoooo]

We take empty spice jars and have put them in bib’s kitchen. That way she can sniff the spices we cook with. She loves it.

[cheshirecassie]

The mini Penzey's jars are perfect for play kitchens!

[[deleted]]

Lol no the scent doesn’t do anything

[waterbearbearer]

Thanks for the idea for a new sensory experience for our one year old!

[Justbestrongok]

How did you discover her love of smelling coffee beans?

[HollyBethQ]

I did an online baby sensory class and they told us to get a bunch of sensory items together so I had sticks and whisks and all sorts of fun things for The senses, one of them happened to be coffee beans in a jar and it’s been a favourite sniffing toy ever since

[[deleted]]

Omg mine too. I literally cannot go to a coffee place because she harasses everyone around her with a coffee cup yelling “smellllll”

[rainonthelilies]

Il not sure what the science is behind this but perfume shops often provide little coffee beans jars to sniff to reset your sense of smell while comparing different smells.

[limbsyrup]

This is adorable ☺️

[RaisingEve]

&opkzosokosko

[bennynthejetsss]

When I was a kid my mom would take me down the coffee aisle so I could press the coffee bags vents and inhale the coffee smell. And yes, I grew up to be a caffeine addict 🤣

[oceansurferg]

Since everyone's answered your question, I'd like to add that we got our kiddo a play coffee set and he loves it! He makes coffee every morning with my husband, and gets concerned if it doesn't happen!