Juice? - When to start?

stella6979 wrote: I was just wondering how old your kids were when you started giving them juice?

1lilpeanut2love replied: About 6 months.... I diluted it with water and still to this day dilute her juice with water. She doesn't like juice much though. She LOVES milk!

ETA: Use 100% juice. It's best. Also, I will add that I wouldn't give Apple Juice. IF you do, NOT in large quantity because it usually breaks them out and/ or gives them the runs.. Sorry TMI

mom2my2cuties replied: I think I waited until she was 5-6 months to start juice, she never really liked it so I quit giving it to her until here recently. She LOVES it now Cranberry Black Cherry or Cranberry Raspberry is her favorite

C&K*s Mommie replied: I was not sure, but I think too we waited until 5 or 6 mos. It was definately diluted with water since the citric acid gave the girls horrible rashes.

Calimama replied: The doctor told us we can at 6 months as long as we add water.

stella6979 replied: Oh ok. Well Avery is 7 months so I guess I could start her eh?
I also read somewhere not to give it to them from bottles or sippy cups because it's not good for their teeth, so my only question is......what the heck am I supposed to put it in?

Simplebeliever replied:
Giving her juice in a sippy cup is fine. Just make sure you don't let her take it to bed w/ her.

mom2my2cuties replied:
I agree - And as far as taking things to bed - NOTHING but water is really safe for kids to take in bed. The sugars rot thier teeth before they come through making them weaker.

stella6979 replied:
Ok, thanks a lot everyone. Avery doesn't have teeth yet, but I will be sure to keep her juice intake to a minimum. I just hate that all she has to drink is formula.

mom2my2cuties replied: Even if they don't have teeth, formual, Breast Milk, Milk, Juice etc can affect thier budding teeth below the surface. Which it isn't good for them to go to sleep drinking anything, they tend to hold that stuff in thier mouth and the sugars get into the gums/teeth. Even though they haven't pushed through, those teeth are still there and growing. And our gums absorb so much of what we take in our mouths. That is why most peds will tell you to even brush your babies gums before they get teeth and stuff.


Edited because my brain goes faster than my fingers most days.

stella6979 replied:
LOL! Ok, thanks a bunch! I'm not a fan of giving kids ANYTHING at bedtime, so that's not a problem. I just want her to have something other than formula to drink.
Thanks again!

MyLuvBugs replied: If you can never give you child juice that's best in my opinion (high sugar content with no fiber like a piece of fruit would have). But juice is better than soda's most definately.

Lorelei can't handle juice straight. Gives her the runs. We started her with Pedalyte at 2 months old to help with her constipation, and gave her that for a LONG time (almost a year). Now she gets 1-2 oz of juice mixed with 6 oz of water. a couple times a day.

ediep replied: Jasons ped said I could start diluted juice in a sippy cup when he was about 6-8 months old. He spefically said not in the bottle, but He never liked it. I gave him water in his sippy cup and he liked that. To this day, he is 4, he hates all juice.

holley79 replied: I started giving very diluted juice to Annika when she was about 6 or 7 months old in a sippy cup.

CantWait replied: Around 6 months. I was the opposite though, I found orange juice gave the runs with the kids. Apple juice was fine, bout about 1 oz with every 3 oz of water.

coasterqueen replied:
Actually breastmilk IS safe to drink before going to bed or anytime during the night.


To answer the OP regarding juice, the girls didn't get juice til 1 year of age. The ONLY times they got it before is if they were severely constipated and nothing else (massage, etc) worked, but that was only once or twice.

I know most say 6 months, though.

Boo&BugsMom replied: I think Tish was referring to IN bed. Although, I can't speak for her, but I think that is what she was referring to, because taking bottles, cups, etc. to bed could cause "bottle rot" (decaying of the teeth and gums due to sugar sitting in the mouth while the child sleeps).

We gave Tanner juice at around 5-6 months I think. Before that we gave him prune juice every once in awhile too, directed by his doctor, because he was severely constipated as a baby.

coasterqueen replied:
I see what you are saying A lot of people will think because a baby cannot have breastmilk in a bottle at night that they can't nurse a child at night either. I get that one a lot. Although anytime our sitter has given the girls a bottle before napping/bedtime she just gives them sips of water to wash it down.