9 Month Old Will Only Drink Formula - How Can I Get Him to Try Juice and Water?

I agree with the previous post about no juice. My daughter only drinks milk and water. She has had juice before at birthday parties, but it is useless calories and bad for their teeth. If they get used to the sugary juice they may eventually refuse water and milk, which has happened to a number of my friends.

I have understood that little one's really don't need juice as it is basically sugar (per my ped), try real fruit; my daughter loves fruit, apples, pear which is soft, banana. And that water is okay, but milk is best. Keep him hydrated with fruit instead, less sugar and good for him.

My son loved avocado and steamed carrots that were very soft and easy to pick up, also puffed cereal and organic cherrios which pretty much melt in the mouth, As far as the water and juice, just keep offering over and over and he will learn to like both- it took 3 weeks for my son to take to cow's milk in a sippy cup and now he loves it
good luck

I am from the "school" of no juice. It is just sugar, and unless you are making it yourself or buying really expensive juices it is sugar with little nutritional value. Introduce him to the actual fruit.

You can introduce meats now, his body can handle it. My son loves meats. Youv'e introduced him to wheat without a problem, so whole grain pastas are good too.
Honestly, start giving him small portions of your meals. I find that way easier. Children do not need special meals like mac n cheese or easy foods. That is commercialism telling us how to feed our kids.

Doctors have VERY little nutrition training - i think like 1 semster. So they are not the best, unless your doc is nutrition focused.

Check out babycenter.com, parenting mags have great recipes sometimes for family focused foods. And a lot of the mom's on this site have great food ideas.
I can send you more if you want to email me. My boy is more than ready to go on his walk!!

Congratulations on your blessing!!! I am so happy for you!

You're lucky if he doesn't like juice, it is not necessary and is not usually good for us (too much sugar). I only ever gave it to my daughter if it was over half watered down. Just keep giving him good, healthy fruits and vegetables, he'll do great. Sounds like he loves to eat, so put bananas (of course everything cut very small), cooked carrots, etc. and let him go to town. My daughter loved beans... kidney, garbonzo... she could pick them up and eat them herself. I would also put a sippy cup, with handles, full of water there when he eats. He'll have to get thirsty and probably wants to do it himself. He's only 9 months old, I'm sure he'll start drinking his water if you just have it there, easy to reach, whenever he gets thirsty. Take care, sounds like you're doing a great job! C.

In my opinion, juice is OVERRATED!!!! Most of them have too much sugar, and it can start to eat at their teeth if they get too much. My son is 2 and has never liked juice; water is his favorite drink. I understand your frustration, but you need to trust your instincts. If you don't think he's ready, then he probably isn't. One mistake parents make, I feel, is to not listen to their child. They just assume that doctor (or spouse) knows best, and they try to push the behavior on their child/ren.

I've been blessed with a pediatrician who's a little different than others in my experience. Most parents are all gung-ho when it comes to giving their child milk as soon as he/she turns a year old. My son HATED milk; wouldn't drink it. We tried EVERY kind of milk there is, and I finally said, "Forget this!" His doc told me not to worry about it as long as he's getting what he needs through foods. He likes milk now, but I try very hard not to push things on him. I've learned that he will try things in his own time.

As far as foods you can feed your son, he can pretty much eat anything you do. Peanut butter, nuts, orange juice, and eggs being the only exceptions. OJ and eggs after 1 year, and PB and nuts after 2. My son ate off my plate as well as his baby food. I gave him little bits of chicken, pork, even steak, and he loves veggies and fruits!! Literally, anything I ate I offered to him.

I think you're doing great, and I love that you feel blessed to have your son in your life!!!!!!!!!!!

I would only suggest giving your baby milk or water. Don't worry about juice. Most are loaded with sugars and other stuff, give her fruit instead. The water will come in time.

Odd that the pediatrician would be concerned about drinking juice. Juice has too much sugar and is not important for a still infant to be drinking. My kids are older (4 and 6) and I still rarely will give them juice not mixed with water.

Breast milk / formula are most important and will keep your baby hydrated if they are drinking enough ounces per day. Try water in a sippy cup that's easy for your young one to handle (Munchkins makes some nice ones for the little guys) and if you do give juice mix it with mostly water.

As far as solids go, I always liked Earths Best and they offer a really nice variety. Stay with the veggies then introduce fruits. Make sure the peas are VERY soft or you are mashing them. Most veggies can be boiled and mashed for easy feeding- Trader Joe's has a pre-cut packet of butternut squash that both my kids loved- just boil and blend. He sounds like a good eater already. Just make sure you cut things up small and don't try too many new foods at once- 9 months is still pretty young. :) There are some really good books out there for ideas on food for infants/ toddlers: "Small Helpings" was one of my favorites.

This is a fun age- enjoy it while they will still eat pretty much anything you put in front of them.

Best of luck.

Dr. Ari Brown was on a program I caught a few minutes of on t.v. and she said we have to introduce new things up to 12 times before we see our little ones trying them. I've found it frustrating too... my oldest ate and drank everything, but my 11 month old doesn't. I've been offering water in a silicon sippy (similar to a bottle) and textured food at each meal. Slowly he's been picking up the cup and bites of food on his tray. It has been two months of this though and we are finally seeing some progress.

I'm curious why your pediatrician feels it's important your son drink juice. Mine told me it's not necessary. She did say months ago when he was constipated to dilute apple juice. I think you're supposed to dilute it w/ water. I'm also a little confused on the water thing myself. I give our 10 mos. old water and have since 7 mos. in a cup w/ his meals. More for practice, but I don't even know if he really needs it!

My favorite book (I have a 4 year old and a 15 month old) for eating/drinking tips is "Child of Mine: Feeding with Love and Good Sense". The author has lots of great tips - how and when to introduce certain foods/drinks. Including her opinion that milk fed (breast or formula) babies are usually not very interested in extra water to drink and that you offer it in a cup after baby starts solid foods - try when you yourself are drinking some water to offer him some, try giving after a meal, etc. The author is not a fan of juice - once kids turn on to juice sometimes they'd rather drink their meals than eat and it's better to get nutrients from the real thing. But she also recommends if you want to try it to give it in a cup at snacks and reserve the bottle for milk.

Actually - both my kids love sports bottles, so you could try to see if the novelty of a different type of cup type: sport bottle, straw, etc. might get him to try something besides milk.

Food ideas: it depends on how far along in texture your son is if you need to mash stuff up still nor not. I've heard it's best to offer first in cooked forms to see if there's any allergic reaction then you can go raw: But easy fruits and veggies for us included canned or frozen - I usually try to buy the canned stuff in water or pick the no salt/no sugar choices. Veggies (mash with fork or cut in small pieces): green beans, potatoes, squash - my daughter loves the frozen (cooked) spinache (stay away from fresh spinache)- carrots. Fruit: banana mashed or pieces, apple scrapings (apple peeled then keep making small pieces he can eat with peeler). I did find that if you give fruits first they prefer them over veggies, so you might want to try veggies first.

The great thing is, he's getting closer to eating what you cook for yourselves so you're not always making separate meals! Good luck!

my daughter was the same way, she never liked any juices, even to this date (she's just over one now) she'll only drink a tiny bit if any... but she did like the taste of juices when i mixed them with her cereal. You can try that, their cereals dont HAVE to be made with water or milk, you can experiment with some juices too. You also have to be careful to not buy juices that have like pulp or stuff that can clog the bottle nipple. Does he eat fruits on their own?...It could be that he doesn't like them cold, maybe he is used to his bottles being room temperature, if not even hot. Hope this helps

Hello N.,
Congratulations on your baby boy, it's so much fun, isn't it? I'm really surprised your doctor would say you should give your baby boy juice. Our doctor finally said we were a rare case and said we should give our daughter 1/3 prune juice and 2/3 water at 9ish months because she has had constipation problems her whole life, otherwise she NEVER recommends juice, it's just empty calories and added sugar. But, to answer your question, from my point of view, there really isn't much you can do to get him to drink what he doesn't want to drink. Just keep offering it to him, try different types of sippy cups, try one with a straw, my daughter will drink anything out of a straw. You shouldn't have to worry too much about nutrients and water if he's stilling drinking formula or breast milk. Up until a year food and water are just so a baby can experience all the different textures and tastes, he should still be getting everything he needs from breast milk or formula. As far as food, my daughter was completely off baby food by 9 or 10 months. I would give her what we were eating either cut up really small or smashed. I would cook all different kinds of vegetables and give her tons of fruits fruits. I didn't offer much more but fruits, vegetables and tiny pieces of meat until she turned a year.
Sorry this is so long, I tend to ramble.
Best of luck,
C.

Hi N. -

First of all, Pedialyte is DISGUSTING. Have you ever tasted it yourself? I don't blame him for having an aversion to juice, water, something other than formula that he associates with the pedialyte experience - really, it's like colored salt water, and tastes horrible. Many children will not drink it, and my pediatrician always recommends Gatorade over pedialyte: yes, there is extra sugar in it, but when they are sick and you are trying to keep them hydrated, that little bit of extra sugar isn't harmful (as long as you are still brushing their teeth!).

That having been said, now is a really good time to introduce a sippy cup. Behaviorally, it will be MUCH easier to wean him from the bottle when the time comes, and he has/is developing the motor skills in which to use one at about this age. When my daughter was this age, we used the avent cup with the big handles and soft sipee spout (it is pliable, and feels/tastes more like a bottle nipple while not having the nipple shape) and she took right to it. Offer him water or juice in the sippy cup during meals of solid food, in between mealtime and bottles; have one around, ready to go, with juice or water (and if it's juice, you should be partially watering it down; like 2/3 juice, 1/3 water) at all times and with you wherever you go. He is still quite young, and just exposing him to it and offering it to him often will "train" him to use one: don't stress. He's still a baby, and he really DOESN"T need to be drinking juice or water for health at this point as long as he is still drinking his formula regularly and eating foods with a good water content to them.

On the food front, what he should and CAN eat at this age has a lot to do with how many teeth he has. The more teeth, the more textural variety you can give him. At 9 months, my child already had 9/10 teeth so she was eating mostly small, soft table food and stage 3 baby foods. Just think small, soft pieces that - if swallowed whole - will not compromise the airway. At this age, your child does not master the "grinding" motion of chewing as us adults experience, and wont until he is about 4! Soft (overcooked, even) pasta, tiny pieces of steamed veggies, very ripe fruits (you can steam them if the are a sort of fruit that is ripe but not soft) - run out and buy the book "Super Baby Food" - it is an INVALUABLE resource for feeding your baby!

Hi N., I would get another pediatrician. Most, if not all pediatrician's do not want you giving your baby juice or water. (Juice can be dehydrating is full of sugar.)Babies get all the water they need from formula. Giving him juice at night is a big no, it rots the teeth, even if they are not formed. Giving a baby who is not sick, pedialyte is like giving gatorade to someone who is not playing a sport or doing a workout. Unless your baby is throwing up or has loose stools, do not give pedialyte. Also, introducing new foods is great, just make sure you don't give him the ones that cause allergies. Eggs, peanuts/nuts, fresh berries, shell fish, honey. When you introduce new foods, introduce a new one every few days, that way if he has a reaction, you know which one it is to. Be careful not to introduce new ones too fast. Good luck and congratulations on having Adam:-)

The juice and water thing is tricky.........but try giving hiim water with ice in it. All three of mine love the ice thing even at that young of an age. Also if you haven't yet, try introducing the sippy cup to him. That was a mistake I made with my first two (twins). I didn't introduce it until around a year and it took quite a while for them to get use to it and like it. Once they had the sippy cup, the water and juice thing was easy. They kind of associated the cup with water and or juice and the bottle with milk. With my third, I introduced the cup around 8 months and it was soooooo much easier to transition the water and juice thing and the regular milk thing than it had been with the twins. He would get a cup with his meals to "test" out and then after finishing his food I would offer him a bottle of breast milk until he was a year. At a year or even a bit before I dropped the bottle all together and it went great! Maybe that will help.

as for the eating and other foods to offer, it depends on how motivated you are, but being that I had three under the age of three for quite a while, I had to be creative. I usually gave the baby (now 20 months) french toast cubed up, cheerios (just on a plate), toast with butter, scrammbled eggs, waffles cut up, pancakes, and fruit cut up in small pieces (banans, peaches, grapes, berries, etc.) for breakfast and for lunch often a grilled cheese sandwich cut up in small pieces, pasta of all sorts with different spices and or sauces to introduce new tastes, lunch meat chunked up, any type of cooked veggie (carrots, green beans even the canned ones work, squash, etc.) and then for dinner most of the time pretty much the same as lunch type things except for the fact that I do a lot of fish for the rest of the family, so he got a lot of it too. If he rejects any of the things you give him just keep reintroducing it. Like my kids, all three were no too hot on avacado and after introducing it to them a few times they learned the texture and they each eat probably a whole avacado a day!! Anyhow, hope this kinda helps, but really anything you eat they can, just so it is in samll enough peices and it is soft enough depending on how advanced your son is. Good Luck!

Hi N.,

I just wanted to add that you might want to start now, if you haven't, on brushing gums/teeth. We started with a Sesame Street electric toothbrush. We offered them to our girls after meals more for play. They liked the vibration on their gums. We added using an infant toothbrush at every bath time. Now, they are 2 1/2 years old and they love to brush their teeth with Daddy. Good luck.

It's was a surprise to me, but the pediatrician told me that babies get enough water from formula and breast milk. And it's great that he is not interested in juice. All juice has a lot of sugar even when the label says it's natural. (All fruit contains natural sugar.) Babies don't need it. He will probably like it once he gets older. Although my daughter is 4 1/2 and still does not like juice. I'm happy about that and so is her pediatrician.

How about getting a small blender or food mill and simply mushing up at bit of what you are eating? (I think you should look up what foods to avoid until his first birthday such as: strawberries, egg whites, peanuts. I know there are prob. more that all I can think of right now)

Dear N.,
It sounds like you have such a lovely family!
That said, I want you to know that it is not cruel to get your baby used to juice or water. I will say though, that you should never give juice in a night time bottle. I worked for a pediatric dental specialist and you would faint if you knew how many little tiny kids were having their teeth worked on because of juice in the bottle at night. Plain water is the very best in a night time bottle. Meaning, one you will let him have to go to sleep with in his crib.
Try using sippie cups during the day. My kids loved having ice in them because they could shake it and hear the rattle. You can freeze juice cubes and put it in with the water. As they shake it and it melts, they get the flavor of the juice. It's just a matter of getting them used to it. Your baby fusses because he is used to a certain thing coming from his bottle and it's most likely not that he doesn't like it, it just seems strange and it's not what he was expecting to come out.
Try ice cubes, even in his bottle. He may be fascninated by the noise it makes and want to taste it.

You're doing a great job and with a little time, I'm sure you will find a way that works.

Best wishes!

Hi N. - I think you have gotten some very good advice so far but I would like to add that sugary juices are not good for baby's developing teeth, especially if it pools on the gums and teeth buds from nightly bottle. However juices (in moderation) are good to get you baby used to because of the antioxidants which we all need to neutralize free radicles when fruits contain. Here is one idea: Try XanGo Whole Fruit Mangosteen Juice supplement (research wellness benefits on my websites for mom-owned biz: www.referralco-op.com, www.findgreenhere.com). If you would like and you talk to your doctor about XanGo, I can send you XanGo Singles (1 oz servings in a small container similar to Capri Sun packaging) and you can freeze them. I did this when my son (19) had the flu over the summer as a healthy "popcicle" to help him remain hydrated. For a baby then you can cut packet open and put just a couple of very small "crushed ice" type pieces of frozen XanGo to see if he likes it. Since it is frozen juice, it is refreshing, and he might like picking up the cold pieces and putting them in his mouth as opposed to juice/water in a bottle. This could help him to receive the health benefits of mangosteen fruit while also learning to like a "juicy substance". Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or would like to receive samples. I know you will find a solution! V. G. :o)

First of all, I'm surprised your doctor wants you to start your baby on juice so soon. Both of the Pediatrician we have had said not to give juice until after 12 months old and only after they have started drinking cows milk and actually like it. Because if they get use to the juice and like it a lot then they won't want the cows milk and will always want juice. That can lead to dental problems in the long run.

That being said, it is normal for a 9 month old not to really like water. But it is good to put it in a sippy cup at meals and throughout the day to get him trying it. It took my both my children a long time to get use to water. Even now they prefer milk but will drink the water if they must. Giving water in the middle of the night instead of formula might be good to help your little one sleep better if he is getting up in the night. If he realizes that he won't get his milk then maybe he will wake up less. Don't worry too much, it just takes time. Of course it does stink when they are sick and won't take much of anything. You can try to give really small pieces of crushed ice my kids and my nephews loved that. And it really helped when they were sick because they would take it. I would freeze pedialite too and that worked.

I think it is great that at 9 months your little guy wants to self feed. As long as you cut everything up really small the sky is the limit on what you can give him. To make life easier on me for veggies I would go and buy a frozen bag of peas and carrots or the mixed veggies. They give a variety of nutrients and are small already so you don't have to cut anything. Just cook them a little longer so they are soft enough. It sounds like you have a beautiful little guy. Good luck on the water.

I have to tell you that it took a very long time for us to transition over to water and juice in the situations you describe. My daughter is/was very milk dependent, and we had to work on this transition for months. I think it finally happened around 18 months, although we take things very slowly. One trick is to gradually dilute the formula in situations where you want him to be drinking water, until he's basically drinking water. You'd be surprised at how effective this is, particularly if you change the dilution ratio slowly. Also, be careful about giving him juice at night (you said your husband recommended this). This is supposed to be one of the worst things you can do for kids' teeth. It also seems to me that juice at night would give a sugar rush that wouldn't help with sleep. Good luck and hang in there!

hi N.
For my daughter I waited till she was 12 months to give her water and
She hasn't had juice yet..she's 16 months now. At 9 months just drinking
Formula is fine. My doctor said that it was better for her to
Fill up with formula. I also didnt start feeding her solids till 12 months...i was really strict
About this. I also started introducing solids one type at a time...like squash for 5 days, and then carrots for 5 days...and so on until i gave her the basics. I tried to give her water but she didnt like it either...so I just gave her formula...
Try not to give your baby wheat products until after 12 months (gluten allergy fear)
This worked for me. Bye K.

Hi N.! Have you tried putting formula into the juice? When my children started transitioning into juices/water I would add 1/2 the reccomended amount of formula to a mixture of warm- 50% juice and 50% water. They seemed to like it. Eventually I was able to wean them off of the formula. Worked for me hope it does for you! Good Luck...