Baby drinking juice - when did yours start?

Emeraldsmom wrote: So the doc says that Emerald can drink juice now. But she hates it. I first tried in her bottle and she gagged. Then I tried letting her use a sippy cup which she has not done before and she doesn't get how to use it so she just bites it. I have tried all kinds of gerber juice (apple, grape, white grape, and pear juice.) How old were your babies when they started drinking juice? Should I just keep trying? Also I have tried just water too and she gags. She only wants to drink formula. Thanks in advance for any advice.

mom21kid2dogs replied: Our ped told us that juice was totally unnessary so he left it up to parents as to making the decision "To juice or not to juice". We choose not to juice and supplemented with water in between feeding. Olivia, at 4, still loves water as her drink of choice. A recent study linked juice to childhood obesity but IRL, I haven't seen that correlation played out among the children I know.

If you was to continue to try it with Emerald, maybe watering it down even more than you are can help her aquire a taste for it. You might go back to a more stiff nipple (restrict the flow)and see if that helps with the gagging. Waiting a while and reintroducing in a few weeks is also an option.

HollyJo replied: DD Hope had to start drinking juice at 2 months because of constipation problems . Ped had me give her about 2 oz (50/50 mix of juice and water) every day to help her go to the bathroom.
I started giving Hailey juice about 4 months.

Holly

Josie83 replied: I think we gave it very diluted to Cassie at around six months. We stil only give her it half and half now! xx

coasterqueen replied: Actually they really don't need juice at this age. Formula and/or breastmilk should be the number one source of nutrition for the first year of life with solids complimenting that. Water and juice just have wasted calories that baby really needs to get from the formula. So that's good she doesn't want anything but htat

My DD was over a year (almost 18 months) before she really started getting juice. And even now I limit it to about 8 ounces of juice a day, not every day.

texasp3 replied: We're in the "no juice" group here. My ped says it's just sugar water - granted, it may be fruit sugar and not refined sugar like is soda pop... but nutritionally not much different.

I agree, especially since most juices on the market today are primarily sugar water left over after the flavor and nutrients have been extracted for other purposes. They can even call these drinks "100% fruit juice" because technically, they are.

So, that's sort of a preachy way of saying that we don't "do" juice. Gabriel's not too sure that water is for drinking, but I give him some every day and he certainly enjoys playing with it. He still adores his bottle and his formula.

Emeraldsmom replied: Thanks for your replies. All of my friends babies were drinking juice or water at this age, so I thought it was necessary. But if she only likes formula, thats fine w/me. Thanks the info really helped.

mommy2owen replied: alyssa got juice starting a 5 months...Owen started at 8 months

iluvmysweetiepies replied: My girls never liked juice that much. Even today they only drink water and milk for the most part. I don't think it's necessary to include it in their diet.

Mommy2BAK replied: Well, Blakely's ped said we could start a few months ago or so, but I tried giving it to her and she didn't like it so I will probally just wait a little while longer. She is 8 months now.

My2Beauties replied: I started Hanna on juice at 4 mos, but it was mixed half and half with water. She only gets one thing of juice a day, the rest milk, and then at night after 7:00 pm she gets water (milk upsets her belly at night )

TeagansMom609 replied: Funny you asked about juice. I was going to ask the same thing the other day. I took Teagan off of formula about a month ago and started giving her whole milk. But her ped said that she should only have 16 oz. of milk a day. Any more is too much. We were giving her more like 30 oz. a day! Ooops.. So Ive been trying to get her interested in watered down juice for awhile now, or even just plain old water and she HATES it! She doesnt want anything but milk. But milk makes her very constipated to the point that she doesnt go for a day or two and when she does she screams in pain and I have to practically "deliver" her poop. So now im stuck going back to formula just so she doesnt get constipated.