When Is It Ok to Give Juice?

I started my son on juice at about 2 months. Sounds like you coulda started a long time ago. Hope it goes okay. I also watered it down at first.

My first daughter, I started on juice at about 5 months. I only gave her about 4oz. with breakfast instead of milk/formula.
My second daughter I have found, can not tolerate the sugar in juice. As soon as I give her juice within one to two days, she has BAD diaper rash.

I started at 15 months with about 1/4 of a cup of juice and the rest water. I know you can start earier but my son was breastfed so he didn't need juice for nutrients reasons and liked water, so I just skipped it until recently.

If your daughter can sit by herself (which i'm sure she can) then it is okay to give her juice to drink

a little bit of 100% fruit juice is ok on occasion at this age, however, make sure you dilute it (1/4-1/2 juice, the rest water)

I do agree that juice is not necessary, EXCEPT if your baby is constipated. Our son is sometimes and although we have not tried it (he loves prunes and can put away a whole kiwi at one sitting) our doctor did suggest it if we need to.

I started my children on juice when they were about 3 months old, apple juice at first and watered down 1/2 and 1/2. I know the sugar is high but you can get 100% natural juices which is what I used and it is natural sugar not added sugar. All of my children drink water every day too and enjoy it. In fact my 10 year old would much rather have water or tea than juice most of the time.
Naturally my children (28 and 26) and the 10 year old I am raising now love juice which is great with me.
P. R.

My doctor told me at 6months I could start giving juice. I have found personally that the GERBER baby juice is better than the juicy juice(doesn't cause him as much diaper rash) but I suggest doing half water/half juice... And no more than 4oz of juice a day.

I read in a book recently that the American Academy of Pediatricians (or whatever their governing body is called) currently recommends no more than 4 ounces a day of juice, and that rec was for older kids. If your child doesn't need it (for constipation) I'd skip it. She won't know what she's missing.

I had my second son eatting off the table at 6 months. They can eat and drink fruits at this point

My daughter is 13 months and she has a mixed juice (half water half juice) maybe once a week. We have bad teeth that run in our family and so I am nervous for my kids to get cavities. Juice is when they can't go to the bathroom. We are a water family.

If you daughter is already on stage 2 food, it is fine to give her juice. I gave my 5 month old son juice once a day, after his stage 1 food.

its ok to start your child on juice now. They do tend to choke on it pretty easy though. I would give 1/2 juice and 1/2 water. Be careful....there is lots of sugar in juice. Never give juice at bed time. The sugar will eventually cause tooth decay.

Oh My yes ...give this baby some Juice or water to drink, giving it Formula all the time might put a bunch of weight on .
Also you can cook Oatmeal (instand), cool it down first !!!! put a little bit of sugar in it and feed it to your daughter.

A.

My doctor said it was fine to introduce juice to babies after 6 months. She told me to give my baby 2 oz juice twice a day. Not orange or citric juices but others are fine. My daughter likes it but doesn't know how to drink from a bottle so it is hard to get it down. But she enjoys whatever she manages to swallow though.

My 1st didn't have juice until she was almost 2 years old; and then, only watered down. She is almost 4 and still drinks it watered down when I can (not in juice boxes). My 2nd had it sometime after he turned one.

Juice is not a necessary drink. The Vitamin C that it provides can be gotten from much more nutritious foods, like broccoli and real fruits. Also if you do give juice, be sure it is 100% juice with no high fructose corn syrup.

Hi L.,

It's ok for you to go ahead and give your daughter juice. Our pediatrician said give 2oz of juice and 2oz of water. Just delute it a bit.

I have a 15mo old whom I started juices at about 5 months. He loves juice! But, I only give it to him once a day. I can't say I agree with the other responses because my son still loves his milk and water in his sippy cup. Maybe you could just test the waters to see what your daughter likes. :)

None of our kids had juice until well after their 1st birthday unless they were constipated - and then just an ounce or two or prune juice. Juice is just like soda with some vitamin C thrown in. There's nothing healthy about it. The sugar overrides the fact that there's vitamin C. There's no reason to start a baby on juice habit but once in awhile probably won't hurt. Give water instead - much healthier habit but a harder one to start later on. My 9 month old drinks a couple ounces of water from a sippy cup 3 times a day at each meal. On hot days, I'll leave a sippy cup of water laying around near where she's playing so she can take a sip whenever she wants.

I did the same thing with my older 2 kids. Once they were a year old, they almost always had a sippy cup of water nearby when playing so they could drink whenever they wanted. After a year old, they got milk at 2 meals a day and water at all other times. Juice was a special treat they got once or maybe twice a week. Now they are 2 and 5 years old and continue to shock their friends' parents by always turning down juice and soda (we've offered orange, root beer and sprite to my 5 year old a few times in the past year but he doesn't like the taste and carbination) and just wanting water to drink instead. Now I don't care if they get juice more often and if they ask I'll usually give it to them, but I'm happy they prefer water and I hope it lasts a long time... most adults don't even prefer water over soda/juice and they know better!

I gave my dd juice at 9 months. We watered it down, about 1/4 juice and 3/4 water. She's 16 months old, and I still do 1/2 and 1/2. I know lots of people say there is no need for juice, but I don't see a problem with one cup a day. We give it to her at snack time. You can give her water though. We were told to just give our daughter plain tap water. Just make sure you're giving her 100% juice.

I just asked my doctor the same question and she told me not to start them at all while they are infants. She said really all juice provides is empty calories and sugar. Plus if you start them on juice then they will most likely not want to drink water again (which is obviously the best thing she can drink besides her formula). However, she did tell me that it won't hurt her if I start her on juice so ultimately it's your choice. If you do start her just make sure you watch for allergies. Good luck.

I started my kids on juice occassionally when they were about 7 months old. I would only give it to them once in a while. It wont hurt any if you start giving her juice once in a while now.
D.

A Little About Me- I am 31 and have been married for almost 12 yrs. My husband and I have 3 boys ages 10,7 and 4.

With children obesity and juvenile diabetes headed in the direction it is headed, I asked my pedicatrician the same question. And she said NEVER. Children do not need juice. It is all sugar anyways. I have never given my daughters ( 3 1/2 yrs and 17 months) any juice. Just recently my 3 1/2 year-old has started drinking sugar free 'crystal light' when she does not want to drink water or milk. Kids learn eating habits from their parents and if you do not give it to her or have it in your home, she will probably never even care. And when she gets older, she can choose whether or not to drink it. Just advise, but you're the mom and have do what you think is best. S.

Honestly, juice really isn't necessary. Plain water would be just fine.

my son is 7 1/2 months old and he's been on juice since he was 4 months old per when the doc told me to let him have some, but I mix it with water. I buy 100 % juice no sugar added and i put in 2 oz of water and 2 oz of juice or 1/2 and 1/2 just depending on what size bottle I am using. I even just started with the V8 fussion and he likes that but I usually only give it to him in the morning and with his meals he gets water. But it's really just up to the parent when they feel it's okay. Good luck.

I agree with the no good reason to give juice. My son is 18 months and still very very rarely gets juice. If you'd like to experiment I would definitely recommend diluting it with lots! of water.

At about 6 months it's okay to introduce a little juice. No more than four ounces a day mixed with water is what I was told by my doctor. I followed this advice with all my three children, all of whom are willing to drink water as well as juice now and won't drink sweetened drinks at all. I think that it is thanks to the diluted juice that they prefer drinks without too much sugar and I'd say that's a good thing.

Hi L.! I have a baby girl who just turned 7 months the other day, and I've been giving her diluted juice for several months. She loves it, but I only give her a couple ounces every few days. It really helps if she has problems going to the bathroom. I'm sure your little one will be just fine!

Our doctor said not to give juice til they are older or if their bowels are backed up. That it is pure sugar and not good for them.Read some of the labels.There is like 36 grams of sugar in like a 4 oz.glass.
Talk to your doctor and see what they say. Good luck and God Bless.

I started my daughter on some juice at 6 months. I always dilute it...half juice, half water...and she loves it.

Out of curiosity, why do you want to give her juice? Is she constipated? I think she could have it at her age, but its not really necessary for nutrition. It can, however, help with constipation.

Our doctor said to not give our 11.5 month old juice too often- it's mostly sugar and not that healthy. We have used some Gerber pear juice to help with constipation, but he still mainly gets formula, milk or water!

My doctor has been having me give my daughter (now 1yo) water since she was 3 months old. I boil tap water and let it cool. I've tried at several stages to give her juice, but she only drinks it once in a while. I am told that since juice contains quite a bit of sugar, its not really wise to push it anyway. However, I would consider more water.

It bears repeating there is NO good reason to give juice at all, it's just a bunch of sugar, water is fine to drink, you also run the risk of baby not wanting to drink water once you start juice and it can be a hard habit to break later. most docs and such do say that around 6 months you can start juice, but if you are going to do so, buy the baby juice and dilute it half and half with water, and keep in mind they should only get 4 -6 ozs a day.

There is no need to give your child juice. It is empty calories and they will then not want to drink milk or water. My child who is 3 has maybe had juice about 10x's. The only time he ever gets it is if we are at a party or his grandmother who he doesnt see very often gives it to him. Otherwise is it just milk or water in our house.

Hi L.,

I am a mother of 2, an almost 3 y/o and a 7 m/o and we switched to a new ped when we moved to northern Indiana - my son was 18 m/o. Believe it or not, our peditrician said to avoid juice all together. Of course my immediate reaction was, why?? I get tired of drinking same stuff. But what he said made a lot of sense. He said that all juices (OJ, grape, 100% drinks....) have no real advantage (sure there is some, but not in comparison to other things) and they are just extra calories we are giving to our kids. When I mentioned I water down the drink for my son he said if you are going to give juice, it should only be 100% (no caprisun, punches...)give it full strength because what little nutrients it does offer, you are taking that away and now it just becomes sugar water. He said the best thing you can do for your kids is give them milk (formula when little) at meal time and then water the rest of the day. If you want to give them juice have them sit down and drink it at once, not throughout the day and only once a day. Then offer water the rest of the time. As far as when to introduce it, if there isn't a need (constipation, not drinking anything else, dehydrated...) I would recommed staying with formula and water.

My 7 m/o only gets formula and an occassional water, but no juice as I don't want her to start to reject the good stuff (milk/formula/water) for the sugary drinks. It took a while to get my son from wanting juice all the time, but now that we have made the switch he now asks for water when he is thirsty instead of juice. Hope this has helped. I know where you are at with silly questions, but I know all of us are always needing advise on something, so glad you asked.
A.