Babies First Juice

You might as well just give them soda...... at least with soda you KNOW you're giving them something unhealthy.

If there is one thing I would do differently, it would be to have NEVER let her dad introduced juice or tea to my daughter.

Milk or water only.

Fresh fruit. smash a strawberry, or a kiwi. Bake an apple and smash it up into applesauce. That's how they should get their "juice" - from the juice in the REAL fruit.

3 yrs old. water and milk will suffice after one - before then breastmilk/formula.

NEVER GIVE A CHILD UNDER 1 empty calories (ie water).

How old is your baby?

Babies don't need juice.
Nor water when young.
Formula or breastmilk is enough.

We never gave our kids juice nor watered down juice even as Toddlers.

Wow...apparantly I'm one of the few that have introduced juice to my son. He was first introduced water about 7 months I think...and then probably about 10 - 11 months he was introduced juice/water mix. He's now 5 - doesn't care much for juice, hates fruits - and prefers milk & water. He will get an occasional cup of rootbeer or sprite with dinner maybe once a week or if we go to a restaurant .. and he's perfectly healthy, has no problems with his teeth or his weight.

IMO... Not all kids are going to be addicted to juice if they get the occasional juice/water mixture while still young. I say if you want to try it - go for it, just limit it. It's juice for pete's sake - not like you are dumping a can of coke in his bottle and letting him suck it down.

I wish my daughter hadn't been introduced to juice. My husband is all gung-ho about the juice and now she's at a point that she doesn't want to drink water - which was NEVER a problem before.

Wait as long as you can - seriously - there's no reason for children to have juice if they're drinking water.

Update: I'm confused on your edit. How were you going to give your LO juice? Why would it be different than water? Again, the age matters. They really don't need anything but breastmilk or formula until 1. After that, water in a sippy cup. They say not to give anything other than formula in a bottle so kids don't become dependent on the bottle. They need to learn to drink from other containers, but if you put water or other drinks in a bottle, they won't want to give it up (in theory).

I would introduce water, but NOT juice, watered down or not. What is the point of giving him juice? It's just sugar he doesn't need. If you want him to have fruit, give him fruit. Even for older kids, they say you shouldn't give juice... fruit should be eaten.

I wouldn't give anything accept formula or breast-milk until he is ready to try a sippy cup. Bottles are to mimic the breast. If he's too little to drink without a nipple, that should tell you he's too little for anything that can't come out of a nipple.

That being said, you're the mommy of course, so whatever you do is what you do, and short of abusing your child, it's no one's business. But, since you asked for input, there you have it.

HTH
T.

I'm definitely on the "NO juice" bandwagon. While I agree with Lovemyboys (it's not like you're giving him coke!) there really is NO reason for juice. So really, what's the point?

Here is what I did - nothing but formula or milk in the bottle up until age one. At my girls' first birthday I introduced the sippy cup with water. We just went from there. I don't think it's necessary to give anything other than formula for the first year (is that right? It's been awhile for me!) as far as hydration or whatever.

I know there are juices out there that say 130% of your vitamin C! Just give him fruits to get that. Just my opinion :)

You need to talk to your doc. In WIC we get 100% juice for babies at 6 months. They say it is NOT good for babies to have watered down juice. It should be full strength. 4 ounces is a full serving for big kids so the serving of juice for a baby is a bit less. BUT baby juice is formulated for babies and should not be mixed with anything.

BTW, baby food is over processed goo with a few vitamins thrown in. It has very very little nutrition in it. If you want your baby to have good nutrients then you need to stay away from baby foods and use formula first, foods to teach to chew and swallow, then add your own foods as the baby gets older. Formula first for the 1st year so they can get their needed nutrition.

I think about 3 months and I believe it was apple. But it was a long time ago.

I really can't remember how old my babies were but I *think* they were around 3 months old, and for constipation issues we had introduced juice. Prune & apple juice, watered down.

My daughter had her first juice box at 2. My son at 15 months.

I never introduced juice until after I had them on whole milk and then it was only at one of the two snack times (usually the afternoon one). I used like 25% juice/75% water. I usually used fruit juices like Ocean Spray, Juicey Juice or other similar juices. I generally stay away from Hawaii 5-O or the more "comercialized" drinks. I just saw an article on Yahoo about this...

Good luck.
~C.

Water is cool - we started water when we started sippy cups - around 10-11 months.

Juice (watered down or not) is at 2 years - per our pediatrician. He stated juice before then is all risk, no reward. Any fruity vitamins will be gained from other sources, and it's not worth the risk to teeth/health and only creates a tiny juice addict (my phrase). :)

Um ok, lets see he's on stage 1 and 2 foods, sooooo IMO it's time for a cup, sure formula or breast milk in a bottle, but if they are big enough to eat foods then they are big enough to at least try to use a cup. That being said sure juice is just sugar but it's better than some of the alternatives. Water, juice, or a combo of both is still pretty common practice. I like pear juice to start, it's mild.

Wait as long as you can. Once they start getting juice, most will want it a lot. And it's mostly sugar.

Water in a bottle is fine, but you should probably see if your LO will take water in a sippy cup.

You have to be careful with water. Your baby maybe to young. I started my daughter on water when she was 7 months old but that was only in a sippy cup to get her use to a sippy cup and she got very little water. She was over a year before she just had a cup of water. She didn't have juice until she was over 2, but that was more because she didn't like it until it came out of a box. Talk to your doctor about water. I don't remember what, but I remember my pediatrician saying that too much water at a young age can be harmful to babies.

Honestly, we never really did juices. We stuck w/ water and milk. Too much sugar (even watered down) and unnecessary calories. My daughter's almost 7 now and drinks juice maybe once a month.

Update: Water after one year old. Only milk before then. :)

We just gave my son water in a regular cup. His daycare started working with cups for milk when they were about 7 months old and he caught on fine. We never did sippy cups - why teach them they can defy gravity and then have to teach them again? I think we offered water in a cup if he had drunk more than 2 cups of milk already that day (so maybe around 10-12 months?) My son first experienced juice at probably 3 years of age. It's just not something we do. It is not nearly as good for them as actual fruit, it does not stimulate satiety mechanisms in the same way solid food does and is a significant contributor to childhood obesity. And yes that's the real 100% fruit juice - forget about fruit 'drinks' and soda.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends against juice. For parents who insist on it anyway, they recommend limiting it to 1/2 cup. The healthy alternatives are milk and water.

You should ask your little ones doctor. Babies that are under one year old should only be drinking formula or breast milk not water and juice.

I gave my daughter a little water with prune juice to help relieve her constipation (one to two ounces). My husband gave her straight grape juice for her constipation (Gerber for babies) and she got the worst rash ever!!! She was about 6 months old and her ped told me a little juice with water was OK to help it.

I did not give her un-watered down juice until she was 4. It didn't matter if it was 100% juice or not. It’s ok to give a little juice now and then but water is better.

My daughter hated juice.. I tried several times at different ages.. she prefered water.. still does.

MY son had constipation issues.. so he got an once of pear juice once or twice a week. Pear juice is as good as prunce juice for constipation.

My son was breastfed and would not drink milk out of a bottle.. so he got a juice bottle if I was not home and he had a sitter.

He can have a little bit of water or juice.. sometimes babies get thirsty especially on hot days.. maybe an ounce or two of juice or water..

Our pediatrician, who is great, told us early on: Once they are ready for liquids other than formula or breast milk, ONLY, and in this order:

Water
Milk
Calcium-fortified orange juice (usually watered down a bit)

I quote the pediatrician: "Apple juice has no nutitional value. Lots of parents give it because kids love it. It's worthless, empty calories."

Orange juice has C, potassium and calcium and vitamin D if you buy the fortified type.

But she emphasized that water is the first and best on the list.

As others noted -- check with your pediatrician about the age to start liquids other than formula/breastmilk.

My daughter is now 11 and still drinks mostly milk, water and OJ, along with only one brand of juice box on occasion--an organic, no-sugar, no-colors brand that she really likes. But she never got apple juice or other juices. I think that giving kids juice, even watered, when they're really young only helps them develop a taste for the sweetness of it. She doesn't like sweet drinks and I think the reason is the lack of lots of juices when she was younger. If only she had never discovered brownies....!