Your thoughts on juice, please...

[aimeeL]

(Please move me as you see fit.. but I just couldn't decide which board to post on, so landed here...)

We introduced sippy cups and regular cups to DD at around 6-7 mo.. she got the hang of tipping it and putting it in her mouth right away, but has never really been a big "drinker".  Likes to play with the water - or soy milk or diluted orange juice - and fill her mouth full and just let it all dribble out.  Sometimes she'll take a sip or two, but definitely not much.  I try to offer a sippy of water throughout the day as well as during meal time, but again - not a whole lot of success... Have concluded that she just doesn't "get" what drinking is yet and so just the other wk, I was telling DH that we really need to try to offer it more, so she can have more practice time..   Anyways - just a couple days ago, I put some very diluted juice (I think it was white grape juice..) in - and what do you know? - GULP, GULP, GULP!  Have given it to her at dinner the last couple of nights, and she chugs almost the whole thing.. granted, it's still not tons - maybe 3-4 oz?..  So apparently - we DO know how to drink, we just haven't WANTED to...

So question is - how addicting is juice?  How much liquid does she really need?  (I'm still bfing 4x/day) Should I keep giving it to her?  Or do the cons of unnecessary sugar and empty calories and such outweigh the benefits of her drinking from a cup/sippy?

TIA

[Mrs Coops]

Hi
A friend of mine gave me some advice to never offer my LO juice when she was a baby, no matter how diluted.  Her son (now five) flatly refused to drink water when he was younger and still turns his nose up at it now!
 My LO is now 13 months old and weaned off the breast completely three weeks ago. She has never had juice and drinks water by the bucket load. I tried just about every single type of sippy cup designed, until my child minder gave her the most basic flip top Tommy Tippee cup (from about 9 months) that she absolutely loves.  She always has one available in between meals and she drinks from it as and when she feels like it.  She has a doidy cup with meals and that was introduced at six months old.

I personally would avoid juice totally. We don't give our LO anything sweet, but on the rare occasion we share a tiny piece of cake she can't shovel it in her face quick enough! Babies love sweet stuff, breast milk is sweet so they are bound to love juice!

 I would say as long as you are still breast feeding she is still getting fluid. Just keep checking for wet nappy's.  She is still only young and they do recommend that milk is the main dietry intake until they are one.  I would keep offering water throughout the day and with every solid feed, she'll get used to it eventually.

HTH
xxx

[Mashi]

I don't believe that juice is the evil that many people do.  I used juice to get DS to drink as well - diluted at a ratio of 1:8 and then more and more diluted as time went on. I did this when he hit about 10 months and it was sweltering hot out and he was sweating loads every day but wasn't drinking water.  Dehydration is worse than a bit of juice IMHO.  Over time I diluted it more and more and he eventually started drinking water. Now he gets juice about once a week, diluted about 1:6 and I give him 2-3 ounces of it. The way I see it is that I drink juice, my husband drinks juice, why can't my son drink juice? There is sugar in it, but it is not refined sugar, we're not talking cola here!  He's not dependent on it, he doesn't drink ONLY juice, water is his main beverage, and he eats a good diet. 

My 2 pennies!

[nelliestar]

I was like you -  when DS was 6 mths and starting solids we had a heatwave and I was so worried about dehydration because he wouldn't drink water so I added the tiniest amount of apple juice and he drank a lot better! He gets very diluted apple juice at nursery once a day but at home we only give water now. He drinks more on some days than others but i don't worry too much as he still has milk and a varied diet.
I think you could add a small amount of juice and gradually reduce it until it is just water. and I do agree with pp that dehydration is more serious than having a small amount of weak juice.
HTH,

Nell xxx

[bennysmama]

...and my two pennysworth too:  I don't think you should beat yourself up about having given a bit of juice.   You're not giving loads and, when you get right down to it, juice IS fruit

I'd keep offering lots of water as well as teh very diluted juice.  DS likes the tommee tippee cup too.  In our house, it lives on the table and he just reaches up to get it whenever he fancies a drink (or drinks his bathwater  ).

xx  

[aimeeL]

Wow-wee... thanks for all the quick replies!  I really like the idea of diluting further and further until it's basically water.. (After reading your ratios, I don't think I've been diluting nearly enough!)

I know breast milk is still the main liquid/nutrition... but her 1st birthday is fast approaching, and I've been nervous about how she still doesn't drink much..

Tommee tippee.. hmmm.. maybe I'll give that a go...

[~inbalance~]

Aimee, seriously T did not start drinking out of his sippy until at least a year, so I wouldn't worry too much about it.

I wouldn't beat yourself up about juice either, especially if it's diluted, but personally I avoid it and am waiting for awhile yet before I give him too much.  He only gets a bit of OJ in his smoothie at the moment.

But I don't think it's a huge deal either way.  If it were me I'd look for low or no sugar juices or even make my own, but that's just me.  If you're diluting it there'd be very little sugar anyway. 

Just my two cents! 

[bovi]

DS is one year old and I have not given him juice. Only water. I still BF 3-4 times a day and many of the meals he gets is quite puree he also loves soup so I dont  worry about liquid. Not sure where you are at, but if it is not hot I d  not worry.

I do have to offer him many many many times water, and he refuses often pushes my hand away with the sippy cup. I tend to insist when I suspect he is thirsty and I put the sippy in his mouth anyway and then surprise! he drinks a lot. my conclusion is that it is boring for him but if I insist he is like "aha! I am reeealy thirsty! this feels good" I think this is a learning process for him to study that when we are thirsty we need water. 

If you decide for the juice, make your own and you would not feel guilty, b/c fresh fruit juice is very healthy

I dont know whether I make sense. So I will give him fruit juice later, it is great and healthy (specially fresh) but first I want to see that he knows that when we are thirsty we need water.

xxx
Viktora