I Am the Evil Anti-juice Mom

My son has juice if he's at a party, on holidays, or at grandma's. He is also allowed when we go out to eat (once a month) or if we are outside for a long time. I would say that it ends up being about once every other week. He doesn't go nuts for juice, either. He never even finishes the cup. He'd rather have a piece of fruit.

Riley: You do know that juices have tap water in them, right?

I give juice, I'm a juice lover myself. But yep, I read that too, that its completely OK to not give any juice just as long as they eat the daily allowance for fruit at that age.

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Umm... not Cruella, but maybe a tiny bit misinformed. Juice does have nutritional value - vitamins, some natural some fortified. And then there are the juice veggie blends, etc.

That said, several cups of juice is just plain nuts! One small serving of watered down juice is plenty at that age. A nice change from just water and milk. I used to do 3 oz juice 1 oz water, but the ratio is up to you.

Good luck with this.. Oh, it may help to show your husband how many calories are actually in the juice vs.your daughter's nutrional requirements...

You are NOT the evil juice mom, I am. My son had NO juice when he was 2. He is now 6-1/2, When we stay at a hotel, he may have orange juice at the restaurant IF it is fresh squeezed (honestly, what is the point of those sugar laden empty calories if they don't even taste good). We buy a gallon of fresh apple cider in the fall and he can have a small glass each day until it is gone. Since we generally use it for a Halloween party, that is only a few days. If we go out somewhere nice for brunch, he can have fresh squeezed - that is maybe 3-4 times a year. He drinks milk and water and EATS his fruit.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends AGAINST all juice. Their 1/2 glass a day for toddlers is their compromise - read it - it states - if the parents still want to give juice despite the recommendation, this is the limit.

We do not (never have) keep soda in the house and DH has still never tried it. Soda is a HUGE contributor to childhood obesity - why even go there?

OMG - watered down juice. Really? Wouldn't that just taste gross? Sorry - I would MUCH rather drink water than that.

Our water is fine - it is clean, tastes fine and we read the water safety report for our township every 6 months - no problems. Water is WAY healthier than soda or juice. We do NOT drink bottled water because of its HUGE negative environmental impact. The amount of fossil fuels needed to truck water around the country plus the amount of plastic used is truly disgusting. For a product that simply comes out of the tap.

Actually, juice doesn't have nutritional value. All the nutrients are cooked out and the manufacturer adds in vitamins that can't be assimilated by the body. Sure, juice is better than soda and such, but it's not great. Unless you juice it yourself, which we sometimes do. If your husband knew how many apples it took to make a cup of juice, he might change his tune.

My kids get juice when their blood sugar is low. They have Type 1 diabetes and it's a fast bolus of sugar into the blood stream. It serves it's purpose for that, but juice for a beverage spikes their blood sugar even when paired with the exact insulin to carb ratio.

All that to say, I agree with you, E.S!

@Riley, our water tastes amazing and we have had it tested for all the nasty bugs and it comes up clean. Not all water is as fetid as you make it out to be. :)

@ Michelle, I stand by my answer on the nutritional value of juice. Cooked and processed can't compare with raw fruit, even if it's 100% juice, it's still processed. Much like canned green beans aren't even comparable to fresh or frozen. It's common sense!

You are the one doing the right thing. But, I might suggest making a pitcher of watered-down juice and keeping it in the fridge, and let your husband give this to your daughter. Less harm and less fighting.

I'm sorry but just exactly what are you afraid of?

So what if your daughter gets 4 oz of juice a day???? The more you withhold it from her - the more she will want it - it's like the taboo boy - if mama says NO - it MUST be good - so I NEED IT.

It's FLUID for your daughter. Let her have a SMALL glass a day. Seriously. You want her to make wise choices? STOP WITHHOLDING from her so that she doesn't crave it. This happened to me with my daughter - I learned from it. I said NO WAY - the minute she was with friends? She had juice or something I didn't want her to have.

It's called MODERATION. Try it. You might have a happier home life!! Instead of battling with your husband over the small stuff. TEACH her to make good choices and options. But do NOT withhold from her!!! You might be surprised at what she tries!!!

If you are Cruella, I'm your long-lost sister. I worked in daycares that served juice as a serving of fruit, mainly because they didn't want to do the work of prepping produce, and a can of Sysco juice costs less than the apples needed to fill their tummies. We weren't doing the kids any favors. Empty calories.

We *never* have juice in the house, unless we fresh-squeeze an orange.(and that orange is usually being squeezed to make into a bird feeder!) Seriously. My son, at two, learned about 'fizzy whoa' (bubbly water) because we wanted a 'choice' for him, but not juice. We eat plenty of whole, fresh fruit.

And frankly, we notice that his behavior plummets when we offered juice. Usually this was apple juice...definitely a sugar spike. The nice thing is, because we don't offer it, he has tap water, fizzy water, rice milk or cow's milk, or even a cold fruity herbal tea with a little honey to choose from. And he doesn't really ask for or complain about it. He does get a natural soda for the occasional treat when we are out at the pub-- the funny thing is, he never finishes it.

Oh, and our tap water here in Portland is superior (small brag), and we just had Pex pipes installed a couple years ago, because of the gunk. Pretty happy with our water-- it 'tastes' better than bottled.

Our pediatrician said from the start:

"Three liquids in this order: Water. Milk. Calcium-fortified orange juice (for extra calcium, D and C). That's it." She refers to apple juice in particular as junk. No soda-- that's a given.

Water, milk and limited orange juice are all my daughter (now 11) had until she was about six and since then she does have sometiimes an organic juice box or organic lemonade by a brand she really likes. No extra colors or sweeteners. The huge plus in doing this -- as you will find yourself -- is that it does help prevent kids from developing a taste for sweet drinks. My daughter can't stand it when she's given something like a Capri Sun or other juices at an event or someone's house because she says it's too sweet for her. She greatly prefers milk and water to all else.

If kids don't learn to drink water early they will not want it later. My niece was never given water, allowed to refuse it and given whatever she liked, and now claims she hates it and "it's too thin and gags me." But she guzzles sweet drinks all the time and isn't in great health.

Push the water and the milk and get all other juices out of the house so your husband doesn't have anything to give your child when she begs for juice. If it's not there he can't give it, can he? If he starts to buy it on his own just to defy your wishes, well, you have a much larger problem with respect that is another posting altogether....

I would enlist your pediatrician's help here. Talk to the ped in advance and explain the problem, especially his attitude toward portions (several cups a day? No!) and be sure the ped will tell him what you want. Yeah, prime the doctor on this one. But I feel sure most peds will agree that most fruit juices are not good especially as they lack any of the fiber that comes with eating fruit. Then get your husband to agree that he will adhere to what the ped says, since he is not listening to you. And have the ped tell him it's water, milk and limited OJ.

As for the post about how gross tap water is, well, there's always bottled water -- but much of that is just tap water that companies "purify" (ha!) and bottle to sell for more money. Bottled water also does not contain fluoride except in a very few, very pricey brands. You can live with zero food far longer than you can live with zero water. Other fluids don't replace water in the diet. And municipalities have a vested interest in ensuring water supplies are clean. I don't get the paranoia. And believe me, if anyone should be paranoid it's me -- I'm a bit of a germophobe who cleans produce like crazy and even washes the exteriors of bags of veg because they were lying on the grocery store checkout belt!

It's best to give them water so they will like water as a refresher for the rest of their lives. I know so many adults that say "I dont like water". I think that is so awful not to like water. The sugar in juice is addictive. Stick to your guns.

We drink juice, but we water it down.
If your Hubby can get in the habit of diluting it, she'll have several drinks worth but the total volume of juice she drinks will be much less.
We like about 1/3 juice with 2/3 water added to it.
Or you can just dilute what's in the container he pours from and it will all be taken care of!

My 17 yr old daughter is still not a big juice drinker because I never had much around. We as a family never had much so it is norm for her.

She still loves her bottle of water at all times and her milk at meals. Of course she now drinks some sugary drinks, not sodas because we didn't drink them either, with exception of hubby.... He's a huge coke drinker.

You set the tone when they are young. If they start out with good habits they usually continue them.

No you are not Cruella. You are protecting your child's overall health, including teeth.

I didn't read your prior posts as I need to go get dinner ready...however, I'm sure I'm in the minority because my kids have NEVER had juice. I don't really know why, I guess because my husband and I never drank it so we just never gave it to the kids. They only drank milk and water. Still do and they are 12 and 9. If we eat out, they occasionally get soda if it comes with their meal, and just recently this summer I'm letting them have one on occasion with lunch. Other than that, they drink water, flavored water, lemonade or milk (only with meals). The kids never ask for it either.

I say everything in moderation. If you try to keep something from kids, they will search it out in earnest when they can and then likely over-do it. Just my opinion. Good luck!

I always mixed the juice with water. Compromise and mix half a cup of juice with half a cup of water. Otherwise, don't buy it and the problem will be solved.

We liked, juice with breakfast, water for lunch and snacks, and milk at dinner. seemed like a good compromise.

and juice boxes for ease when out and about.

My SD was given un-watered down juice as a baby because her parents were young and didn't know any better. She cried and cried for juice and they got sick of her crying and just gave it to her.

Her baby teeth rotted. She had to have major dental surgery to cap all the teeth. They had to put her out and everything. It was traumatic and expensive.

When I met her, she was an avid juice drinker and would suck down cup after cup! She refused to drink water at all, and didn't care for milk. She was a little sugar addict, always begging for candy and juice.

She came to live with us and I would buy one bottle of juice for the week. It would be gone in 2 days. Then she'd beg for juice, getting upset when I suggested she drink water or milk.

She began to get frequent stomachaches and headaches. The doctor told us that she HAD to drink WATER, and lots of it.

So, I stopped buying juice all together. She couldn't beg for something we didn't have! I also threw out all the candy and cookies. Mean stepmommy, I know. For a while she begged for juice at the store, begged for pop at restaurants, etc.

Fast forward a couple of years: I can buy a bottle of juice and it will last the whole week and the whole family can enjoy some. She now automatically drinks water, and likes to drink milk with some meals. She no longer begs for juice, she will drink a small "juice glass" size for breakfast. She also no longer thinks water is "boring," which is what she used to say when she was addicted to juice.

So you are NOT Cruella, you're just doing the right thing.

I always thought one glass a day (about 4- 6 oz for a 2 yr old) was fine. More if I was worried about dehydration...
You may be cruella but you are not alone.
Try flavored water, water with cucumber, lime or lemon floating in it and stop buying juice altogether if it is a fight.

Our daughter always drank water at that age, or milk. She's 7 now and has juice maybe once a week?? Not big juice drinkers in our house. Wasted calories, IMO.

I'm a recovering anti-juice mom. I now let them have juice at breakfast and occasionally at other times as a treat or when they're sick. I still draw the line at kool aid, though.

One "baby cup" per day. That's it, then it's water the rest of the day, and then milk with dinner. I'm on your side. :)

Neither of our kids EVER drank juice. Not even diluted. They had milk or water. Period.
And they were completely happy with it. In fact, I think it has a lot to do with the reasons THEY did not like sodas for so long. My son wouldn't drink any kind of sodas until he was maybe 5 or 6. He didn't like them. My daughter STILL doesn't like them, and she just turned 11. She WILL sometimes drink part of a grape soda, but that's about it. She does like some gatorade, but not a lot of it.
There is no point and the kids won't care, so why give it to them. It's empty calories. What does he think about them having jell-o? I'm just curious. It is empty calories too.

Does your husband understand that juice is basically the same thing as giving her soda, in terms of sugar content? (And actually, if you drink diet soda, then juice is way worse!)

I'm with you. Sometimes we have juice in our house, but we keep a pretty tight rein on how much the kids get. Have your husband watch Supersize Me if he needs to be convinced any further. A year's worth of calories from juice is a LOT of empty calories, especially for a very young child.

ETA: Riley, have you ever been to a dairy? If so, you'd change your opinion of milk being healthier than water! The cows stand and lay on their own feces all day. The smell is so bad it makes your eyes water. Even Organic farms are like this! I grew up in farm country, and I have no idea how anyone thinks milk is "healthy." Those cows are beyond filthy and are under constant physical stress because of it. How would your breast milk have been if you'd been forced to live in a sewer with a gazillion other women? That's how dairy cows live. (And no, I'm not a PETA nut, I just think dairy is gross!) I wonder, do you not have your family bathe, either? That's the same "disgusting" water that comes out of your kitchen tap, after all! :) And let's not even get into commercial juice production operations... I've been in restaurant construction for a long time, and some conditions that exist in food prep facilities (that have passed a recent health inspection, even), are beyond disgusting. No doubt, water is BY FAR the lesser of those evils.

nope, if you are, i am too. we don't keep juice in the house. i rate it as 1/2 step above koolaid. he might have it at grandma's or at a party or something but that's it....and until recently (he will be 6 in sept) i would try to intercept and water it down if possible lol.

he drank some punch my aunt made (don't know why she made punch for 4th of july but it tasted REALLY good lol) that had ginger ale in it and freaked out because of the bubbles. he didn't like it much lol. this kid has only had one or two sips of soda. i do think prohibition breeds rebellion, BUT i let him know that some things aren't good for him. i try to teach moderation for most things. as he gets older i will allow it more but i don't drink it myself so i'm pretty anti-sweet drinks in general.

I have to disagree that juice has NO nutrtional value as it does have some. But it is higher in calories and sometime contains added sugar. I think you are right by keeping it at one or two. You can find a lot of research to back yo up so maybe google it and show him.

My boys get juice if we go out and milk is not an option. Other than that...we just don't drink it. I don't even think I made a conscious decision, I just would rather have them chomp on an apple and drink water.
L.

Hi E.S.
I'm with you all the way. Not so much juice. Really bad experience happened to my stepson. His mother was like you husband juice won't hurt. By the time he was 18 months he had lost his front 2 teeth. The teeth had gotten soft due to the excess sugar from the juice. I think that was the problem but the juice was the blame. He did get his normal teeth in around 7 yrs. old Just giving an example of what could happen. Hope this helps convince your husband. Good luck and good health for you daughter. H.

I totally agree with you!!! I was a stay-at-home mom so I never really had to battle my hubby on this. We almost always just had water and milk; juice usually was reserved for snack time once a day.

And now that my kids are in high school, since we didn't make a big deal about it when they were little, they're fine with just water and milk.

I guess it's because of the different ways we were raised - my Mom allowed us to have juice or Kool-Aid once in a blue moon; my husband's mom apparently allowed them to have juice (& junk food) all the time - still does!! Hence, he's overweight; I am not! And my kids aren't either!!!

Maybe take your hubby with you on the next child check-ups and have the doctor explain the downfalls of juice!!! If he's anything like my husband, maybe he'll believe it if he hears it from a doctor!!!

Good luck!!

We try to stick with just 4 ounces per day as suggested by our doctor, but we aren't rigid about that rule. My kids may drink 8 oz (or even 12 oz sometimes, but that is rare). They love the juice, but also love fruit and a variety of other drinks such as milk and water. Often when they are playing hard, nothing beats ice cold water to quench thirst so it isn't too much of a battle. I do try to watch their sugar and salt intake but believe me, we are not saints when it comes to following that rule. It is in flippin' everything!
A.

I wouldn't make this the hill you die on. My kids are 9, 7, and 5 and all 3 of them still water their juice down by 50%. I but the Mots for Tots apple juice still and we water that down too. Juice is a healthier option than soda, so I see no problem with it if it isn't all the time.

Zero. No juice for kids until a few years older at our house.

I buy juice boxes for outings. I'll serve juice if we are having a special breakfast. I even bring Tang packets with us when we go camping, because sometime the water doesn't taste so nice. Mostly my kids get milk, chocolate milk or water. If I were you I'd save the juice for outings. I'd rather my little one get used to water. A while back my sons had a couple of friends over for lunch. I asked the six year old if he wanted milk or water with lunch. He answered "juice". I said "we have no juice, milk or water?". He answered "soda". Again, I said "we only have milk or water." He started to cry. His brother informed me that they "don't have to drink milk or water at home." Not a good habit to start!

I give my son (2) a cup of watered down juice everyday. He likes a bit of apple juice with his lunch and I personally see nothing wrong with it. Empty calories or not. He drinks water or milk the rest of the day.

Everything in moderation!

Hear, hear, evil cruella. At two, no juice. Four diluted. Five, depends on what we're doing, but mostly no, except when we're at the beach, hiking or she's sick.

We live in a place where temps of over 100 degrees are are more frequent in the summer than not..

And so, lots and lots of water, but also some watered down juice for variety..

We are encouraging our children to drink something every 10 to 15 minutes because when out side they sweat so much.

Your doctor could clear this up easy! I think it's 6oz a day? They seem to put it in the same category as soda...

I would say this is not one of those things that is not worth fighting with your husband about. You probably spend more time with her, so just limit the juice when you are in charge.

When he is in charge, let him do it his way. You will likely have bigger fish to fry with him over more important matters in the future.

Even though I'm currently cutting back on juice, my family are juice drinkers and we are all healthy and slender.

Sometimes V8 Fusion is the only way both of my kids get their recommended amount (or close to) fruits and veggies. We offer fruits and veggies as snacks and with meals, but sometimes they just won't eat them. So while I give it as an 'added' nutritional value, I do not give it instead of offering fruits and veggies. I also almost ALWAYS water it down and limit it to about 4 oz (usually half water).

We do the same thing with chocolate milk, yoo-hoo, sweet tea, etc. Everything in moderation!! I prefer they drink water or milk most of the time.

I'm with MzKitty. My kids are pre-teens now and STILL will only drink milk and water. They have never liked juice and still have no interest in soda.

This, of course, is perfectly fine with me. Saves us tons of money and trips to the dentist! :)

My thoughts are that you can only do so much. When your kids will get older, they will make choices that are healthy or not healthy regardless of what they have been taught. I'd prefer to teach them moderation so they don't go nuts once they are out on their own.

I agree with you, if you are against it, don't keep it in the house. Out of sight, out of mind...

I'm like you. With our son (our first) we didn't ever buy juice. I think he only had water and milk till he was 2. As he got older he started getting juice at birthday parties. He never really cared for it and he usually asks for milk. He is 8 now and still is a milk and water guy. Our daughter who is 2 is a juice fanatic. She also is offered milk and water but she BEGS for juice every single day, all the time. We now buy juice and she is allowed one cup of juice a day. She never wants milk. My husband is like yours...he'd just happily give her juice all day long if I did not make him follow the one cup a day rule. It's just unneeded sugar that will fill them up and then they don't want real food.

I get WIC, which is set up by nutritionsts. We get 5 containers of juice a month that is meant to be spit between my dd and me. I usually dont get any, she goes through a jug of juice a week, so however much that is a day. She also drinks water and milk. My issue is more with soda. At least juice has vitamin C, and some of the OJ has calcium added.

My kids never had juice at age 2. Now at ages 9 and 14 they don't particularly care for it. My kids are huge water drinkers and they like to flavor it with lemon or lime. (They would drink soda all day long however and I never gave them soda at age 2 either:). I agree juice has no nutritional value... Just empty calories.

We don't buy juice, unless we happen to need some for a recipe or mixed adult beverage, lol.

My kids have never drank juice, maybe a glass every couple months. They eat fruit and drink water. They are 8 & 10, very healthy, and haven't missed it. Stick to your guns.

I allowed my daughter all the undiluted fruit juice and whole milk she wanted, and she never had a weight problem, her teeth didn't rot out, and I never had difficulty getting her to eat meals.

Hello, Evil Anti Juice Mom. I'm also Evil Anti Juice Mom. Nice to meet you! Fortunately my hubby is Mr. Indifferent to What the Child Drinks so we don't have any problems thus far. He's going to create an "I want Juice!!!' monster and then it will be too late...

Water is gross. Especially chemical filled, bacteria and virus contaminated -from the tap- water. (swab and culture your sink taps and you may just throw up... Feces, rotting food articles, e.coli, anthrax, amoebas... The average kitchen sink has over 100 pathogens festering and colonizing in its tap. The average toilet has far less and in lower volume... Aka it's cleaner to drink from your toilet than your kitchen tap in nearly all cases). While many people clean their sink daily, even more don't... And almost no one takes apart the faucet (that's being splashes with hands being eased, dishes, raw meats, etc.) and sterilizes that.

I'm FAR from a germaphobe, but most people who would be grossed out by drinking from their toilet don't even bat an eye at their faucet. Seriously. Unscrew it and wipe a Q tip around the rim. Get any slimy brown? Yum.

(Gag)

And that's just the contaminates from your own home. City water has additives and 50-100+ year old pipes that are being added to the water, plus chemical spills, sewage crossover, etc. my aunt was on the water board, and you do NOT want to know what's in city pipes!!!

But it (nearly all) tastes disgusting as well. For people who arent super tasters I don't know how to describe it other than noxious. Also REGIONS vary in water taste. On top of its natural flavor, southern water is brackish, northern water has a vomit note or melted/burned plastic note, SoCal water tastes like dirt (actually, fill up a pool but leave the filter off and you'll get a couple inches of silt in the bottom, so at least it's 'honest' dirt flavor), Seattle water tastes like garbage on a sunny day, Illinois/Montana water tastes salty... The list goes on.

Do I offer my son water? Heck no, not if I can help it, although I'll get bottled water from time to time. Milk or juice, sure.

The upside to juice, is that the tree filtered the water to a fair thee well, and companies have strict cleaning and pasteurizing protocols that kills off the yuck from pipes, taps, etc. Go ahead and sample juice/milk/soda... Even the 'worst' of them is less gross than tap water.

The only juice i give is orange juice. Any other juice is for spe ial occassions or outside the house.

My kids are 5 & 8. The rule in our house has always been 1 glass of juice (100%) maximum per day during a meal. They must have milk for 2 of the other meals. Water is what they drink between meals and whenever they are thirsty.

My son is 2.4 years old, we rarely give him juice. Sometimes if he sees it and he asks for some, he gets it (watered down depending on which juice). I don't think children this age (or perhaps any age) NEED juice. Not including juice in his diet goes some way to save his teeth and/or getting a "sweet tooth". We feel the same way about giving him sweets, desserts, cookies etc. Its occasional, fruit for dessert. He doesn't miss it and rarely asks. When he does ask we usually give him what he has asked for so its not forbidden, which may cause problems later in life. So he doesn't feel totally unheard or different he can eat and drink what he wants at birthday partys.
By the way i think i helps that we don't have juice or soda in the house as we don't drink it either.

Simple answer to your question:

We don't "restrict" juice for our son (now 4), but only offer him water. We have juice in the house and if he asks for it, we give him a small cup of juice that is seriously diluted with water. As a result, he prefers water or milk and doesn't drink much of it because he doesn't get that "sugar kick" from it!

Just a thought... agree to some juice, but insist that it be at least 50% water. If it doesn't taste like sugar, she won't really want it.

My daughter would have 2 to 3 small sippy cups a day of diluted calcium fortified orange juice when she was that age, but she was also on a "milk strike" - she was going through a phase where she didn't want to drink milk. The juice was only in the morning, and she would have water the rest of the day. She did eat cheese and yogurt, so when I ran it by her pediatrician, she didn't see anything wrong with this, since she was getting the calcium she needed and she wasn't sipping on juice all day long, AND we were religious about brushing her teeth. And guess what? SHE'S FINE. She's not overweight, she's got perfect teeth, and she still drinks juice in the morning, but then milk or water the rest of the day. She's never had soda or lemonade or other similar sugary drinks - she doesn't even like them. But the juice hasn't hurt her any.

Seems to me, based on this, and your other posts, that hubby likes to tweak your buttons! :)

Have him come with you to the next pediatrician AND dentist appointment.
Sometimes men need to hear it from the professionals :(
My husband mixes one part real fruit juice with two parts carbonated water, which is something the kids always liked. It was bubbly, natural and just a little sweet. Maybe that's a good compromise?

"no nutritional value" sounded crazy to me, so I did a google search and found this...

http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/family-nutrition/juice

According to that it depends on the 'juice' your buying.

another
http://www.livestrong.com/article/306526-nutritional-valu...

Well I agree with you if that makes you feel better! My daughter was never one to be that interested in juice but when my son was about 2 he discovered it and would not leave me alone about it! I stopped buying bottles of juice and just went to juice box (which I kinda hate b/c they are so wasteful in terms of packaging) and I keep them in the garage where he can't see them and we only take them on picnics or to the pool, and we don't even do that every time!

I would say on average, my kids (2,4) get juice once to twice a week, and that is average b/c there are some weeks they don't get it at all and then sometimes if we're on vacation or around big groups of friends, parties, etc., it might happen a couple times in a week. So I'd say keep up the good fight!

I just wanted to add that although I do understand the theory of mixing juice with water, I personally think if you're going to give juice, you should just give straight up juice and teach your child that b/c it's sweet they only get one cup a day, not 2-3 cups of watered down stuff, but that's just me, I know people who do the other way and I'm still friends with them! ;) haha. And yes there is some nutritional value, but as you said fruit is better!

Buy juice boxes! Then only give 1 a day. Tell hubby they are expensive and only buy the 100% juice kind! My kids drink water all the time. They will have a juice box at school about 1x a week and almost none during the summer. There was an article a while back that said that kids that drank 1 juice box every day tended to be heavier than the kids that had none or only 1 a week. Juice is also hard on the teeth! There are reasons to limit juice. Maybe you just have to approach the husband with here are the facts behind why I don't want her to have juice without the atilla the hun confrontation! Good luck!

They say that juice ruins it for water and even milk, so I never offered it. My daughter is 4 now and when you ask her what she wants to drink, she always chooses water or milk. She will have the little juice box at school, but she doesn't really care for it. OJ is the best one for them to have, and I have always kept that in the fridge, hoping one day she will like it. Anyway, No, you are not Cruella, you're smart!! :)

We do have juice in the house but it will last us a long while. Mostly because we did not introduce it until our youngest was 3. With soda/pop we do not keep in the house at all...we took them bowling about a year ago (kids had never really had soda, maybe an occasional sip). Hubs bought a pitcher of root beer thinking it would be fun to have.

My kids shocked us both...both of them poured the root beer back into the pitcher walked over to the water fountain rinsed out their cups and filled them full of water. Why? "I don't like the bubbles in that stuff"...

It's all about moderation, all about setting good examples. I say find a compromise with your husband that he's willing to adhere to.

I don't think you're Cruella. My parents let me have soda when I was a kid...I actually gave it up in my early twenties and in my thirties I will have maybe one a week.

Have you shown your husband articles about this? Here's one:

http://articles.latimes.com/2009/nov/08/science/sci-juice8

My daughters are now 5 3/4 and they still drink only milk and water daily. Juice is for parties or special occasions. They ask for juice all the time, but I put my foot down about this.

If your husband refuses to go along with your wishes, maybe you could at least get him to agree to watering it down 50-50. At 2, I just don't see why you would want to condition your daughter that something must taste sweet to quench her thirst. It may not be bad now, but it sets her up for problems down the line. But you know that already!

Good luck!

No struggle with that in our household! My MIL is a retired dental hygienist who holds a Master's in Public Health. She has been on us for oral and physical health reasons about giving DD juice since birth. While my husband might not take me seriously all the time, he ALWAYS listens to Mum:^)

Anyway, DD is now seven, with weight and height in the average range and (to date) no cavities, so there you go.

i give milk and water. sometime i'll give them a juice drink, but it is not a common thing around my house. i like enough 'bad' foods (my kids love candy. i also limit the sticky kind. Chocolate is better for the teeth than starbursts in my opinion.

My kids have never had a cavity (i can not say for sure it is from limiting juice and no soda).

I'm the same way. I can't control everything they intake since they are at camp and grandma's sometimes. 4 oz of juice a day maximum; I water it down. Apple juice is good for helping them poop. The Trader Joes watered down juice boxes are what I send to school. It's the only way I know my older kid is drinking anything at school. He is not much of a drinker.

Now OUR problem is that the older one won't drink white milk so he gets chocolate, but I "water" it down with white milk.

When they were 2, I didn't give them any juice for the most part.

Show him a food serving guideline that shows that a serving of juice is either 1/2 cup per day or 1 cup per day depending on the age of the child.

And BTW, he could be drowning the kid in pop or chocolate milk. There are tons of worse things that 100% juice. I do keep our juice servings to the letter and don't go over. But we do go over in milk. The kids just love it and I am a milk/dairy person too so I let them have all they want.

I think juice is such a non issue. It could easily be something much worse.

We don't keep juice in the house usually (water or milk for the kids here) but if we do have it and the kids want some they get watered down juice. At least a 50/50 ratio but I usually put more water in than juice but it is not a daily occurrence.

My kids just turned 10 and 8 and they STILL only get juice once per day at lunch, milk with breakfast and dinner and the rest of the time is WATER!
there are exceptions of course and more than I'd like now that they are older, but the norm is once per day and they don't mind one bit!
Can't stand to see little kids sipping juice all day! It's too much sugar and fills up their bellies where good food should be!
So I guess I'm evil too!

When your daughter gets older and she gets cavities from juice because her teeth have grown together he will change his mind. My kids never had cavities until they started kindergarten and I gave them Capri sun (like a fool !) . This year they will get water in their lunch boxes ;0)

I am an anit-juice mom as well and totally agree with you. My daughter is almost 3 and we only do juice boxes on "special occasions"-birthday parties where they give juice boxes. We don't keep juice in the house. My thoughts-while I can control it, I will. Soon enough my daughter will be going to school and making food choices and if I can encourage her to ask for water and drink that (and milk) I am going to do it. I am on your side mama!

I'm worse than you . . . there is no juice in my house!!