Diluting Juice

I've never diluted my 19 month old daughter's juice, except for the 100% grape juice. It's your decision, although watering it down will make your juice supply last longer, and there will be less sugar in the serving, but it's natural fruit sugar anyway.

Hi S.

You never have to stop :)
I still dilute my children's juices, in fact I still dilute my own! Even the natural sugars in 100% juice give my kids diahrea, so I always dilute

Good luck to you.
J.

My son is almost 3 and I still dilute his juice. They don't need all the sugar (even natural sugar) that is in juice. It's best for their teeth and I've even heard kidneys to keep diluting their juice for as long as you can I guess. Now he does have an occasional juice box, etc (at playdates and such) but he still will drink his diluted juice no problem. I also try to limit how much he has. If he's had two cups of juice the rest of the time he'll get milk or water.

My daughter is 25 months old and I still have to dilute her juice. It tears her stomach up and gives her the runs. It's more flavored water than it is juice.
My advice is to go by what your daughter can handle. That's what her doctor said....

At this point its really up to you. If you think she can handle regular juice and you want to stop watering them down then go ahead. If she cant handle you can always start watering it down again. My daughter is 2 and i stopped watering hers down at about 15 months. And shes done wonderful. But we do not give her stuff like hic or hawwaiin punch or that junk either. Its just juice. Mainly v-8 and v-8 spalsh here lately which she absolutely loves.

Since so many juices are so sweet, I still dilute my daughter's juice and she is 8. Many pediatricians now discourage the drinking of juice and suggest giving them water. Their teeth are healthier and they don't need the sugar/artificial sweeteners.

Its really going to depend on how your child responds to full strength juice. We still dilute my 2 year olds juice, its actually mostly water with just enough juice to flavor it (and so he can see me putting juice in his cup ;)
The AAP recommends no more than 4 oz juice per day, so this way we can stretch it out!

I think it depends on what you want (no real timeline)... my DD just turned 3 and I still water her apple juice & sweet tea down!! That way she's getting 1 serving of juice & 1 of water in 1 cup. She's never been much of a water drinker so I sneak it in (along with all her veggies!).

It's better to keep diluting it for a few more years, especially when her teeth are coming in, just to avoid all the extra sugars. And definitely don't put her to bed with a sippy cup or bottle of juice to drink all night, because the exposure to the juices over that long will cause tooth decay.

I stopped diluting juice when mine was about a yr old because I she was constipated with the milk after I quit breast feeding. It didn't work, but I tried it. I dilute some and sometimes I don't. I think it is preferrence. I dilute now because I feel whatever it is my be too sweet. I think that if you want to dilute, you can, if you want to stop diluting that will be fine too.

My kids are 5 and 3 1/2 and I still dilute juice 50/50. They really do not need all the sugar and calories. Most moms I know also still dilute their kids' juice.

Fruit juice generally is not a good food for baby diluted or not. It is much too high in sugar, and will predispose them to diabetes and mood swings. Vegetable juices, preferable fresh juiced would be much better. There is very little nutritional value in bottled juices that have been heat treated, as the natural enzymes that aide the body in healing have all been destroyed by the heat, thus fresh juice made from a juicer is much better. Fresh vegetable juices are an invaluable source of health for your baby. They create alkalinity in the body to stave off disease that can only live in an acid environment.

Does your daughter really NEED the juice?
My daughter has never even had it. Is your daughter under weight or have special dietary needs? My husband and I both have digestive problems husband has ulcerative colitis and I'm allergic to gluten. So we are especially careful with our daughter. My mom insisted on getting my daughter gerber juice when she was that age. We did the research and talked with our peditrician, we found that it is not necessary for proper nutrition and our peditrician said that it is pretty much a money making enterprise by suppliers. Your child needs fruits and vegetables NOT SUGARY JUICE. You are in the greatest position to start your daughter out with healthy eating habits right now! Lessen her appitite for sweet drinks now while you have the influence. In my opinion starting them out with sweets at an early age increases their dependance on them later. Especially when they hit their twos and get their own opinions!
Try just giving her water in sippy cups with ice that they can rattle and play with, so much more fun when they are thirsty. My daughter only gets sweets on special occasions like birthday parties and during the holidays. And when she is really good at the grocery store and such she gets some M&M's. So we are not extremists! I've even seen her pick off all the icing on her cake because she dosen't like all the sugar and says its too "spicy", she means too sweet.
So good luck! Remember that you are developing your daughters eating habits now, especially since you are able to stay at home with her!

Hope this helps!

I have never diluted juice for my son. He drinks milk in the morning and at dinner. The rest of the day, he drinks water. There isn't any real need for juice, is there? As a treat, we fresh- squeeze or press juice for him- but he only gets a small amount, maybe 1 time a week.

Is there are reason you are feeding your child juice?

I stopped diluting my daughters juice before she hit a year old. Dr. said it was fine, just not all the time. She only got juice once or twice a day, she was already eating table foods and still on formula. Mine also drank at least one bottle of water a day as well.

you dont HAVE to water it down now but I still would just so that they dont get a ton of sugars...even if they are kinda good sugars! My daughter is 2 1/2 years old and I still water hers down, I even go as far as making it only a quarter juice and 3 quarters water! I feel that its better for her anyhow, and she doesnt have any objections to it. The longer I can keep her from getting crazy on the sugar the longer she has to be healthy! I know people dont pay attention to the amount of sugar in juices but I use juicy juice and Welch's mostly and in one serving of the juice there is about 37 grams of sugar and thats just 8 ounces of it, so for me diluting it is just something that I feel is best for her! So do what you think is best for your child! Good luck!

I still dilute, and my kids are 8, 6, and 3. I will continue to do so until ??? It's cheaper and better for them. Juices are all sugar--even the "all natural" juices.

At a recent check up my friend's dentist discovered cavities in her 3-yr old's teeth. The dentist told her to always dilute juices as a concentrated sugary juice can do a lot of damage to children's teeth. Granted those teeth are not permanent, but it is a shame to have to fill cavities on a child... plus the expense of fillings.

I guess it is really the parent's preference. I have been giving my son diluted juice since he was about 8 months old (only with his meals)and he is 11 months now. I have started to cut back on the amount of water that I put in it though, but it is still over 1/2 water. With that said, I plan on talking to my ped about it because I'm concerned about it being bad for his teeth (he has 8). But generally I think it is your and/or your doctors preference.

Hi S.,
I still dilute my 17 month olds juice just because even all fruit juice still has so much suger and they can never have to much water plus it makes it go farther but I think you could stop if you wanted too.