What Can I Give My 14 Month Old to Drink?

My boys are almost 5 and 18 months and they drink water, and milk with dinner. WE don't even have juice in the house. ITs not necessary, its empty calories and too much sugar. Once in a great while I'll make orange juice for breakfast, but again they dont' need it, and they certainly don't need soda!

Just stick with water..... test out his palat on new foods, not drinks.

If one shops for there groceries at Trader Joes or a health food stores such as whole foods, there are usually natural juices from real fruit without added sugar or salt (check labels). Regular grocery store have so many unnecessary chemicals, sugar and salt in most if not all there foods. Mom's and dad's don't be fooled and controlled by commercials and media to put messages that the food sold in these store's popular on T.V. are in any way natural food for our bodies. Sure we can eat and drink these products, but they will eventually catch up with us. Real juice is fine for a child, cows milk really shouldn't be substituted for mother's milk (we are not growing to be 1000 lbs. like a calf). If a child is sick, even if intolerant to the mom's milk, one should change there diet for there milk to be tolerated. A mother's milk is the best source for a sick baby or toddler. Ask a dietitian. To much juice could be to much sugar, but it is a good sugar, but again to much isn't good. In addition, try to make smoothies from home, use some of your own fresh fruits or frozen (fresh is best, but when frozen is all you have, than use it :) in your blender. You can even add veggies. Spinach is somewhat of a stingy vegetable, so try to eat this by itself, it stops the absorption of some vitamins and minerals in other foods. Spinach is a super food, so please do not stop eating it. Smooth out your smoothies with banana, taste it with whatever you put in it, if you don't like the flavor, add something more. You can always add to it, but you cannot take away, so if you are not sure about a flavor for your little one, try a little of it first. If you can afford it, try organic. I wish everybody could buy organic or at least see the benefits and pay the difference. My 14 month old and 3 year old suck down my smoothies, veggies and all, as long as I make them tasty of course. I don't use sugar, I use dates, bananas and sweet fruits for the sugar effect. Be careful, these smoothies may make your baby or toddler bounce of the walls (metaphorically speaking of course). Wow, do they, so I only give one a day with some water in there sippy cups and make sure it is not before nap time or bedtime, give them a few hours. Currently, I am attending school to become a Naturalpathic doctor and pediatrician. Naturalpathics treat a person using preventative measures, before one becomes ill. There are not many of us in the States due to all the pharmaceutical (they cover the symptoms, not necessarily treat. Hey, if one get's better, who makes money?) companies working with regular doctors, but that is another story and a regular doctor is still a great source for information, but try to do your own research as well. So Yes, real juice is fine, but a smoothie or mother's milk is best. Oh, be leery of Soy. Good luck momma's & daddy's ;)

I am wondering what your motivation is to try other drinks. Is it for the vitamins? Calories? It seems like adults and kids alike do not drink enough water. Most kids I know refuse to drink something without 'flavor'. At 14 months, it seems like a great time to set up a healthy, regular water drinking habit. Water is the perfect drink and our bodies need quite a lot of it every day. Sugary drinks do more to add to thrist than to quench it. With all of the food and snack choices available, and with the trouble that our culture has with weight and obesity, acclimating a child to prefer a high-calorie drink instead of water seems sort of... well... silly! Just my opinion.

My son is 18 months, he drinks water from a sip cup and milk(not from a sip cup) and very very occasionally orange juice with breakfast. He did get kind of bored with water, so i now on occasion will give him water with ice in it, he loves to shake it up in his sip cup. If you do decide to give your son juice, I strongly recommend not to put it in a sip cup as the liquid will go straight to his back teeth and the sugar in the juice can cause cavities. Juice is an empty calorie and is not recommended or necessary by both our doctor and dentist they say milk and water, especially water.

I totally agree with the last response, water is the best! We do give our 18 month old diluted OJ but the thought of giving a child that young soda of any kind is disgusting to me. This is the time to set up lifelong good eating habits and we need to give our children healthy choices.
I hope your husband makes it home for the birth as well :)

You can give him 100% juice of any kind, although you may want to still dilute it with a little water.

Go ahead and start trying things out. We started giving my daughter sprite and sparkling water at that age. (as a treat in small quantities) We stay away from caffinated things for obvious reasons. My daughter loves Root Beer and will get some as a treat one in a while. But,...why not try things out. You never know what they'll like. And, as long as you're brushing teeth, etc...go ahead and try. We like it, why wouldn't they? Have fun with it. :)

Juice is not an empty calorie drink, it should be in moderation yes, but does count for a serving of fruit (and yes I know that raw fruit is best for fiber and other things)My suggestion is to stick with 100% juices and dilute them with water. I usually give juices with breakfasts and stick with milk and water for the rest of the day and my son doesn't have juice every day either. The long and short answer is your son can have anything you want to give him, just make sure that you give him a variety of things.

Sometimes we give our son some V8. It helps him get those veggies he flat out refuses to eat these days! You can give him anything you'd like now; although somethings he probably shouldn't have (like soda or juice with a lot of sugar in it). Stick to juices that are 100% juice; they are better for him.

While I see many of the other moms are saying that juice is not necessary... I say try what you would like. I have always given my children the same food and drinks that I drink (not soda). I would use 100% juice and probably dilute it pretty close to 50/50. At 14 months you should be able to try just about anything. Water and milk are great but that gets boring. We do milk for our meals, water in between and juice for snack (we only have one snack a day). Occasionally, upon request, they'll get juice other times as well.

I also feel water is best, but we always have juice in the house. We fill a cup 7/8 water and just put a splash of juice in it. She actually likes this warm most of the time. The only time I've ever given 100% juice in serving quantity is in a very occasional juice box if we're out and about. She eats plenty of fruits so I've never considered it a fruit serving. I do not recommend soda. My daughter has had one soda of her own in her 3 1/2 years on this earth, and a few sips here and there. When trying water, try different temps. I'm surprised how much my daughter likes her water/juice combo warm.
I work at a dentist office, and I see too many times what happens to kids teeth due to mostly insufficient brushing. Just be sure that even at this young age, your child's teeth are being brushed 2 times a day. (2 full minutes each time when most of the teeth are in).

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends only 4-6 ounces per day of juice. Even 100% juice has sugar in it...and lots.

I am a licensed daycare provider and recently attended a nutrition training where we talked about sugar intake. The average American consumes 45 pounds...POUNDS of sugar each year...that breaks down to an average of 26 teaspoons per day...so picture 26 of those little teaspoon sized sugar packets on the table of your fave restaurant. The start reading labels. Look for the sugar in grams....take that number and divide by 4...this will give you the amount in teaspoons.....look at ketchup, cereal, milk, juice, spaghetti sauce and noodles, bread, crackers, baked beans, salad dressings and dips (ranch or BBQ sauce anyone??)....do this and you will see how VERy EASY it is to get that average of 26 teaspoons per day into our bodies.

When my daughter was young and done with formula, she was lactose intolerant (which turned into 'sensitive" and is still in place but very minimally now at the age of 12)...and never developed a taste for milk, so we made sure she was getting alot of calcium and vit D in other foods and were offering her Yo-J (was popular then and the yogurt portion of it was easy for her as yougurt has natural enzymes that break down the lactose), water, V8, and anything the Dr recommended (some shake type combos).....definately avoid Kool-aid type drinks and drink boxes and soda. There is a brand...Minute maid I think...that makes drink pouches that are flavored water...5 calories each...or flavored waters like Aquafina..makes grape and strawberry, etc if its just some flavor variety you are after.

Good luck!!

There is NOTHING wrong with letting your child have some juice. Its a good source of Vitamin C and serves as a good serving of fruit if you are on the go or need something kind of quick. I have talked to more than one doctor about that and they have actually suggested to give them a little bit starting at 6 months but from a sippy cup. Juice should not be drank from a bottle if possible. Both my kids started a serving of juice around 6 months. They drank it diluted from a sippy cup. It taught them how to use the sippy cup and they enjoyed the juice. After the juice though I would brush their gums and the few teeth they had quick. It got them used to the tooth brush also. My kids are now 4 and 2 and have excellent teeth, brushing skills, were off the bottle early, they are very healthy, haven't been sick (except my son had RSV when he was very little). So, my personal opinion is to just do what you feel you want to do. Sure others may look at you like your strange or not doing it right but there is no set standards on how to raise your children. Every parent does it different. Some are over strict and try to follow every little "rule" out there like keeping your child on formula until 12 months. Not giving your child a taste of cereal or baby food until they are 6 months, or the let them cry it out rule. There are so many things and standards out there and some people feel your a bad parent if you don't follow them. I personally never have and I have 2 EXTREMELY healthy children. They never get colds, or sick, they are smart, well mannered and actually the doctor has been quite impressed that they don't get colds or anything like that. My kids were off formula by 9 months. They were eating rice ceral by the time they were about 9 weeks old. They were walking and talking early on. Just trust your gut and go with what you feel would be best for "your" child. Everyone is different. If you decide to add juice to your childs diet just make be sure to brush their teeth everyday. And always make sure its from a sippy cup if you can, if you can from a regular cup too that would be better. If at all possible avoid it in a bottle. Ask doctors about it, they shouldn't have it from a bottle. Someone mentioned in here not to use a sippy cup but you should for many reasons. Good luck on your exploration and just remember to do what "YOU" feel is best, not what everyone else thinks. Way to GO! Good luck!

I agree that you should do what you think is good for your babe. but from experiance i would stear clear of Grape juice at least until he can go potty by himself it always gave my son runny poo. Big mess lol:) just stay with the 100% juice juciy juice is a good brand

My son is going on 15 months and he only gets water and milk (milk only at meal time). Don't' get me wrong, he has had juice, but very, very infrequently. It is just so much easier to have water cups out all the time (especially not having to worry about the lost, stinky, moldy cup under the furniture). The only fear I have about store bought juice is all the sugar and with veggie juice, salt. If you are concerned about unnecesary salt and sugar, you can always make your own.....