Juice - Manasquan,NJ

Hello I.,
I have a 5 month old girl, so I can't really say if I would give her juice. You should ask her pediatrician. This is my first child, therefore, I tend to ask more experienced parents or her doctor on what I should do.

J.

I know i am late, but I would def not do the tang. I give my son 100% juice and water it down a little so it's not so sweet tasting. He does sometimes get full on apple juice. My mother has once even tried to give him soda. I made it perfectly clear that that was NOT OKAY under any circumstances. Motts has a Motts for Tots juice box that is pre-watered down. He is over 4 and I still buy them as much as possible.

Hi I.
Sounds like you are trying to feed your son healthy nutritious food. Read the label on the Tang. Chemicals are not real food.

I use Tang to clean out my dishwasher & it does a great job, therefore not something I even think to give my baby, or drink myself by the way.

Old enough to be your mom, talk to her--- times have changed alot and knowledge about the harm things are doing has increased greatly. The long term effects are what you are trying to prevent. Mom probably knows, thinks that calories are important especially if she perceives your little one as little. Of course milk(or milk substitute)is the drink of choice in most cases, but bring what you want him to have. When all else fails talk to the MD and get his opinion and use "the MD says to give him_____" Moms like to hear you are concerned enough to ask the MD.

God bless you and your decisions.
K. SAHM married 38 years --- adult children 37,coach; 33, lawyer, married with 9 mo, and twins 18, in college after homeschooling.

I wouldn't use it because of the weird dyes and other unnatural ingredients. It's better to get nutrients from veggies etc than the enriched Tang. I say stand your ground because you are the one in charge and need to make that clear early on.

Every day our bodies are being bombarded with toxins. Especially children who play on the ground and have faster respiratory systems are even more vulnerable. This is the most important time in life to give ONLY good clean, chemical-free food and drinks. Anything that comes in a package is not going to be beneficial to the body.

Drinking Tang now can set up a life-long junk-drink addiction. My daughter was given (against my wishes) pop and black tea with milk and sugar and to this day (she's 17) she has a very strong pull towards these things even though this stopped when she was a toddler.

There is absolutely no need for your child to drink juice or tang. My son never had juice until he was over 2 years and someone gave it to him and he decided he liked it. We still try to give just water and milk and juice watered down as a special treat - not every day.

if he is not getting much on a daily basis, then i would not make it a big issue, if she is giving him a lot of it, then i would make a compromise with her. my granddaughter would not drink her bottle at times and now my husband is known as the best vanilla milk maker in the world, He makes the grand children warm vanilla milk at bed time and they sleep soundly very quickly. makes them relax and grandpa their hero, he uses a little bit of vanilla flavoring and a little bit of sugar. Not a lot. I personally don't like tang, but i don't like koolaid or soda either. I am looking more at the family relationship here. If Mom is determined, is it worth family problems. I have been on both ends of the family feud, and the kids don't understand and get hurt.

Sounds like pretty solid advice here, but definitely avoid Tang and other unnatural drinks and foods. I doubt it would do any direct harm once in a while, but there is no reason to introduce unhealthy treats like that. I only caved on giving juice when my 2-year-old was pretty sick and his doctor wanted us to keep him hydrated and suggested even allowing 50/50 apple juice and water to get some calories in with the fluids. He also strongly discourages juice as a regular beverage. When other people watch my kids, I just let them know that they can only drink water during the day and milk with meals, but I do allow them treats on special occasions. You could always offer to bring some 100% juice popsicles for warm weather so family can offer a special treat without encouraging the juice monster. :)

I.,

There is NOTHING wrong with water. I don't know how you feel about additives and whatnot, but the sugar alone is not something he needs.

It is rare to have a baby that PREFERS water. Enjoy it while you can. It is so much better to have water over filtered fruit juices and sugary drinks and soda.

Stress what you want your son to have. Make it no question.

You really have 2 problems here - babysitter and Mom (gMom) doing what you don't want. Family attitude/practice is harder to change than someone you pay.

Good luck,
M.

I.,
water and milk. Period. Tell your mama you don't want him to get tang, end of story, no ifs no buts :)
I cannot imagine introducing sugar to a child unless I have to. Juice fills him up, that's it, may ruin hunger, therefore causing difficulties with mealtimes. Just a no no at this age. After two, sure, You'll need to as he'll see other kids drinking of of these 'cool' boxes etc etc. Right now, no need.
good luck

I gave my kids Tang at that age and it was fine. My daughter was lactose intolerant and could not tolerate regular fruit juice so she started on Tang before she turned a year old and she was/is fine. I also gave it to my boys.

T.

I would give the 100% juice before I would give my child Tang.
Tang has a lot of artificial garbage in it.
So if you are worried about what you are giving him, stick with the pure and natural sugar in 100% juice and skip the Tang!
If your baby likes water, then just give it to him.
Point out to your Mom that Tang is artificial and Chemicals!
Maybe she is not aware of that?

Always your call as the mama, you know what's best. I do give my son juice, 100%, watered down usually a bit more than 50% just enough juice for acquiring different flavors, he drinks alot of water too, and milk.

I do Juice for a couple reasons, and he only gets it once or twice/day before 2pm, never late in the day....but i give it because when I was little I only got water or apple juice, and 40 years later, I still won't even try different things, i think it's important to expand their palette when we can. I use either Juicy Juice or V8 Fusion (all natural fruits and veggies, no chemicals, preservatives or refined sugars, and they get a 1/2 serving of fruits AND veggies in every 8 ounces.) I stay away from TANG, HI C and any thing else like it's poison. Even though he does get juice, if you put candy in front of him, he says I don't like it mommy, chocolate too, just doesn't want it. Whatever you decide is best, but my little guy seems to fair pretty well.

I wouldn't allow it. I'm fine with juice. I give 100%, no additional sugar added and try to get the calcium fortified. I know its got natural sugare in it, but I'm ok with that, I can't be totally insane. Sometimes I give it straight sometimes I add water if I think my son is drinking to much. Recently though my son has preferred milk over anything and he will drink water from a water bottle or straw - he's 2 though - but sometimes its just a matter of how I serve it to him. Regardless - thats not your issue, if your son is drinking water and likes it then stick with it. If you don't want him to have tang then just state it - your the mother! He's only 13 months old - he doesn't need tang - ESPECIALLY if you don't want him to have it!

In my opinion, if he likes water, why give him juice? Soon enough he will be old enough to want/ask for juice. At that point, you may want to. But why give him juice now? There is no benefit to it at all. My daughter is 2 and she still only drinks water and milk. When she gets older, if she wants juice, she can have it.

What is your mother's reason for wanting to give him Tang? Why is she insistant?

Tang isn't juice, there's no need for a child to have fruit flavored beverages like Tang, Hawaiian Punch, HiC, really they are closer to a soda than to a juice. Juice has natural sugars, TANG and those other things have table sugar. Children dont' need juice for their nutrition nor do they need fruit-flavored artificial beverages. He doesn't need a drink other than water or milk - the others fill him up and don't give any real nutritional value, so he's not as hungry and may eat less of the food that should be providing the nutrition. Good luck. If mom wont' listen, tell her that the pediatrician said absolutely no artificial fruit drinks.

Throw it out so she can't give it, and understand she's from a different time. It's very unhealthy, all that sugar, water is the best. My pedi said no juice at all, he'd rather her have the real fruit.

No Tang! You're right- it's way better to avoid sugary drinks. And unsweetened juice is ok, in moderation. (4 oz a day or less.) But Tang is not juice, it's vitamin-fortified sugar water.

Your son can get vitamins from healthy foods and vitamin drops. But once he gets used to drinking sweetened drinks like Tang, it'll be hard to keep him happy with water and occasional fruit/veggie juice.

I didn't even know they still made Tang!!! I agree w/ most other posters. While some watered down juice every once in a while isn't terrible, Tang can't be that great for a kid with all the chemicals. Plus, it fills them up, making them less hungry for nutritious food. I think the first time I gave my children juice was when my son was almost two. They gave it to him at the hospital after a sedated echocardiogram.

I.,
If your child is fine with water& enjoys drinking it there is absolutely no reason to enter juice or anything else sweet like that into their palette. My Dr. Says not to give my daughter juice until she is in school & even that is only so she doesn't look like a 'freak' by not drinking it. Generally, ppl give juice as a way to give kids water when they won't drink water (so they drink watered juice). I believe kids get all the nutrients they need from their mill & food.
Best of luck with everything, I'm sure you will get a million different responses. But, whatever you do it'll be the right thing because you're the mama :-)
All the best,
J

I.,

Buy some organic oranges and apples and use a juicer and make juice for your baby yourself. You can even add a juiced carrot in the apple juice and they will still love it. Make it in the morning and put it in a bottle. Tell your mother and babysitter he already has juice.

You should start putting vegetables in a food processor also and freezing it over night. Babies eat anything especially if they don't have too many choices.

I am against all fake juices. Water or freshly squeeze. If you do this daily you will see the differences in your babies hair, skin, and teeth.

You baby will practically glow in the dark - just kidding;)