Hi Ladies, My B/G twins are 17 months old. What age is appropriate to start juices and soda drinks to kids. Thanks in Advance
I have no idea. Mine are 18 months and still only drink water or milk. I don't think it would hurt them to give them juice and soda, but I don't see the need to give them either since they are fine with milk and water.
I give my kids up to 4oz of juice per day and usually in the mid-morning (as it helps with BM). I dont plan on starting soda EVER. LOL theres no nutritional value. Maybe when they are teeenagers
I only allow 4oz of 100% juice a day & that is still even restricted to mainly hot days when we're outside. As far as soda, I have no intention to giving them empty calories or caffeine any time soon & hopefully will not start that habit as they get older as well.
i don't see any reason that children need to drink soda or juice! juice is full of sugar and less of the benefits of the actual fruit. maybe if my children refused fruit at some point i'd think about giving them watered down juice (i've also given prune juice at times when things were 'stopped up').. soda is, well, soda! nothing in it that chidlren need at all. that's just my opinion and i'm really opinionated about nutrition--so take it for what it's worth.
My oldest ds still only drinks water and milk... he's tried soda once but didn't like it, and he's almost 9. The twins on the other hand drink at least 4oz of juice a day (totally watered down).. but that's due to constipation. Mine love water and milk (with a drop of chocolate) ...
Alice likes to steal my diet coke cans and drink what she can get out of them. I gave them both a bottle of Pepsi on their one year birthday. I see nothing wrong with it as a once a year occurance.
my kids are 10, 7 and 3 y/o. I only have soda in the house for parties or special events so that is the only time they drink it and I hardly ever buy juice. Just empty calories and sugar they don't need. We are a water family here. I don't think my kids had juice or soda until well over 2 y/o.
I (personally) only give a little juice when needed… extra fluid due to colds, no poop for a day… but otherwise milk and water (this went for DS as well)… now soda… I stay away from, and ds didn’t have it till he was 6 a b day party were all the kids were dinking it… it was total flash forward to his hs days I’m sure … I told him… you’re not gonna like it (because of the bubbles) and he sipped it (I know he hated those bubbles) and had a pained look on his face and said… “no, I like it”… um sure you do buddy… peer pressure at its best <_< … now he is only allowed 7up (though not good for you in any way and a waste of calories) it doesn’t have too much junk… “never had it… never will ”… when we go out to eat… hey if I can have a beer at a pizza place he can have a 7 up :drinks: Elizabeth
We have not given our twins soda yet and have no plans to in the near future. As for juice, we mainly give it for constipation reasons, plus they still are not huge fans of juice. They really love water (go figure) and like milk.
I don't know either. Not a big fan of sodas here and I'm neutral when it comes to juice. Although a friend of mine used to get the frozen juice [concentrate] and just water it down and give it to her daughter. Her daughter loved it and it was a change from plain ole' water and milk.
Mine have juice a couple times a week, but it's really just juice-flavored water. No soda here either. I'm sure I'll let them have it on special occasions when they're much older, but not routinely.
You can probably give them a little bit of watered down juice here and there whenever you're ready. Just keep an eye out for diaper rashes and loose stools. All four of our boys didn't digest it well at all, so we don't usually let the little ones have it. And, you can always ask your pedi what they think. As for the soda... I guess that's a personal decision, but I wouldn't. They're too young and it's nothing but empty calories and sugar. I don't know about you, but my kids are already bouncing off the walls without it! :lol: Our oldest is nine and we still only do soda in moderation, if at all. If I don't drink it, I don't give it to the boys and that's pretty much my rule of thumb. Again, personal choice...
We did half-strength juice around 18m. Now they get full strength juice on occasion (out for dinner, out of milk, etc.) Mostly their at-home juice consumption comes in the form of a treat like orange julius or a smoothie. We are a no-soda house. I think it's a bad habit, and water is better for you. The kids did manage to get a cup of someone's ginger ale punch at a Xmas party this year (30m) and they handed it to me and said, "This juice yucky. It spicy." I'm glad they don't like carbonated drinks...I have no intention of ever encouraging them to pick up that habit.
My kids loved juice and still do. At age two they had it with their midday snack and sometimes in the late afternoon. Always freshly squeezed/blended at home. Now for school they get a juice box (100% juice) twice a week, maybe more, and I throw in the occasional regular fruit juice too. I've allowed a taste of soda now and then (from around age 3) but they don't like it at all. If they're out, they might drink a small cup of orange soda (they hate Coke & Pepsi), but that's about it. I keep soda in the fridge (for guests) but the kids always go for the milk/water or juice. QUOTE I gave them both a bottle of Pepsi on their one year birthday. I see nothing wrong with it as a once a year occurance. :good:
QUOTE(happychck @ Apr 28 2009, 12:47 PM) [snapback]1291724[/snapback] i don't see any reason that children need to drink soda or juice! juice is full of sugar and less of the benefits of the actual fruit. maybe if my children refused fruit at some point i'd think about giving them watered down juice (i've also given prune juice at times when things were 'stopped up').. soda is, well, soda! nothing in it that chidlren need at all. that's just my opinion and i'm really opinionated about nutrition--so take it for what it's worth. ditto. mine only get milk and water. they don't even know there is juice or pop so whats the point.
I do give diluted juice, but only so I can hide some probiotic powder in it. They don't like it in their almond/rice milk. I know it is mostly sugar, but at least it has some vitamins. Mine will never get soda, as long as they live with me.
Ours only have juice when they're sick (because we need to keep them hydrated and try to "flush" the germs out). A lot of times I will dilute it with water, too. As for soda, they still have never had any. (Except for the one time our DS snuck a quick sip from my soda can. This turned out to be a great deterrent because he complained that the carbonation "hurt" his tongue and mouth. Now he has absolutely NO desire to drink it again.)
I only drink water and tea (I recently gave up coffee), so we don't keep juice or soda in the house. DH has an occassional diet coke, and I think he let the girls try it once and they didn't like it at all! So thats my perspective, since I don't drink it I don't serve it to my kids. They have water, milk, and an occassional yogurt smoothie as a snack.
I started giving them juice at about 2 years, but just as an occasional treat. (I might have offered it once or twice when they were younger, but they didn't seem to really like it.) Recently (starting around age 3) they've been asking for OJ at breakfast a few times a week, and we give it to them. But for the most part they drink milk or water. They've had a taste of soda a few times, but I consider soda about as healthy (and as necessary) as Twinkies, and considerably less healthy than ice cream or chocolate (both of which they get occasionally).
Just milk & water & juice here (or as they call it 'dooooooooce'). I did let Sydney sip on my straw of Diet Coke once & she spit the whole sip out & kept her tongue sticking out like it physically hurt her :laughing: I want to keep them away from soda for as long as possible...don't want them to end up like me, because I am a Diet Coke addict!!!!
I'm hoping I can keep them away from juice and soda as long as possible, lol. Of course it's fine in moderation (although not sure about soda....), but I figure they can't miss it if they've never had it...
My kids all get a tiny splash of juice in their water, and it helps keep away constipation. It's a really small amount of juice, though. No soda. I think Nadia has had a few sips of Sprite or something at a restaurant, but she doesn't like the carbonation. She occasionally gets a lemonade if we're out, which is a huge treat.
milk or water about 75% of the time here...although with it being hot milk gets a bit limited because if my kids drink milk and get overheated they puke...so when it's very hot they'll get either juice or Gatorade or flavored water (think Aquafina Splash).... they've had sips of soda our of our cans but we only drink diet...the ONLY time they've ever had their "own" soda was once when we were out for pizza and they were out of milk! It was caffiene free diet soda...
I give juice-but it's always watered down-just a splash here and there. I do at times give them plain water, sometimes they drink it, other times they don't. My two are HUGE fans of milk. LOVE it! As for soda-dh and I drink it-bad habit, and one I do NOT want my boys to get into. Honestly-growing up, I only had it at special events/occasions, etc. Once I met dh...that's when I started drinking more of it. So-personally, I do not want my boys having it-and especially at this young age. They don't need it, imo.
