when to start giving juice/water

hi, my girls are 3month old now, at this months checkup i asked the doc to start some juice or water for my girls but he told till 6months nothing except milk...... my girls were in nicu for 25days is that the cause or they don't give anything till 6 months? i'll be visiting the doc after 3 months.... should i wait till then or start giving some .......

 

I would wait - your girls don't need juice at that age - it is wasted calories and they don't get anything from it. My girls are 21 months and I still don't give them juice daily. Formula is the best for your little ones.

 

QUOTE(gaboli @ Feb 7 2008, 07:39 AM) [snapback]610266[/snapback]
hi, my girls are 3month old now, at this months checkup i asked the doc to start some juice or water for my girls but he told till 6months nothing except milk...... my girls were in nicu for 25days is that the cause or they don't give anything till 6 months? i'll be visiting the doc after 3 months.... should i wait till then or start giving some .......

Like PP, I give no juice to my twins. I would wait as long as possible, and if I could get away without ever giving them juice, I'd try! Mine don't even get water very often. When you do get to the juice stage, be sure to water it way down because the kids don't need all that sugar and they'll develop a taste for it if you don't water it down.

Sotto

 

I only gave juice to my girls on the rare occasion we needed it to straighten out poop issues. We started water in sippies at 6 months, just for learning purposes.

 

I agree with the previous posters! Juice is just empty calories. We added a little bit of water after we started solids just to aid digestion! I've heard of some babies who liked it so much (who wouldn't?) that they had a hard time drinking formula/milk. Juice, at least in toddlers, can also mean a diaper rash (per doctor & experience). My mom is a huge juice giver much to my dismay and I"ve had to listen to 'babies' scream because their butt was so sore. Not worth it.

 

We only use watered down juice on the rare occasion that one of our bugs is plugged up (although now we're going to just feeding straight prunes...which I think works better anyways). We give water in sippies with each "solids meal" & they LOVE IT but we didn't introduce that until 6 mos. Water, prior to 6 mos, can be harmful b/c a baby's kidneys aren't developed.

Like pp, we don't intend on giving juice for a long time unless needed again. I'd rather they drink milk or water. Better for them!

 

I only gave formula until around 11 months. I started giving juice and water mixed around then when they could drink out of a sippy. I never gave juice in a bottle. My doctor said not too.

 

I don't think they need anything but BM or formula for at least 6 months. I just started my babies with some diluted apple juice this wk. I know they say it's bad for you, but I have a child that will only drink water and needs to gain some weight. I don't want to have to have 3 like this. The bottle also keeps them busy for a few minutes in the day. I'm not really certain that they like it anyway. I probably diluted it too much
I'd really wait for a few months. Looks like most the pps would too. Hope that helps.

 

Ditto all the pps. I've given sippies with water since 6 months but they are only now getting the hang of it. I do give some juice now during snack time but it's diluted down 3/4 water and 1/4 juice, and only in the sippy. Otherwise, they get water in the sippy during meals and they have 3 bottles of formula.

 

agree! I started water with their evening meal in sippies just so they can learn ... at 6 1/2 months ... and only an ounce or two a day ... I don't want to impact their nursing.

 

thanks to u all, actually one of my friend's doc suggested her to give juice when her baby was 4months..... i also agree that if babies tummy is filled with milk she will not take a good amount of milk.. so i'll wait

 

I would wait. We didnt' give my girls water until around 6 months and even then it was tiny amounts for "practice" with the sippy cups.

They have never had juice!!

 

Babies don't need anything other than breastmilk/formula for the first 6 mo. Like pps said, juice is empty calories, and even water might fill them up and take away from the bm/f they should be getting.

Lots of moms offer sippies of water when they start solids - that's a good time to do it. With most babies, it takes a while before they "get it," and that's fine.

 

Per the recommendation of a registered dietician at our Children's Hospital, we started giving juice about a week ago (8 months). Ours are eating the recommended amount of formula, so now we are working on increasing solids. We offer juice with their solid meals, but they are still learning how to use sippy cups so they drink maybe 2 ounces daily. Ours are a little low on the growth chart, so empty or not, juice offers the calories they need to grow.

 

I just wanted to add what I found on the website of the American Academy of Pediatrics, at http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/c...rics;107/5/1210.

QUOTE
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that breast milk be the only nutrient fed to infants until 4 to 6 months of age. For mothers who cannot breastfeed or choose not to breastfeed, a prepared infant formula can be used and is a complete source of nutrition. No additional nutrients are needed. There is no nutritional indication to feed juice to infants younger than 6 months. Offering juice before solid foods are introduced into the diet could risk having juice replace breast milk or infant formula in the diet. This can result in reduced intake of protein, fat, vitamins, and minerals such as iron, calcium, and zinc. Malnutrition and short stature in children have been associated with excessive consumption of juice.

After approximately 4 to 6 months of age, solid foods can be introduced into the diets of infants. The AAP recommends that single-ingredient foods be chosen and introduced 1 at a time at weekly intervals. Iron-fortified infant cereals or pureed meats are good choices for first weaning foods. Because foods high in iron are recommended as weaning foods, beverages that contain vitamin C do not offer a nutritional advantage for iron-sufficient individuals.

It is prudent to give juice only to infants who can drink from a cup (approximately 6 months or older). Teeth begin to erupt at approximately 6 months of age. Dental caries have also been associated with juice consumption. Prolonged exposure of the teeth to the sugars in juice is a major contributing factor to dental caries. The AAP and the American Academy of Pedodontics recommendations state that juice should be offered to infants in a cup, not a bottle, and that infants not be put to bed with a bottle in their mouth. The practice of allowing children to carry a bottle, cup, or box of juice around throughout the day leads to excessive exposure of the teeth to carbohydrate, which promotes development of dental caries.

 

Formula is best for them. I didn't start water until they started solids, and then it was only a very little tiny amount (like an ounce or less). I mainly did it to get them started using a sippy cup.

Not until they were about 15 months old did they start getting any substantial amount of water. That was their first summer off bottles and they got water to stay hydrated in the heat of summer. And I do give them 1/2 juice 1/2 water once a day with their afternoon snack. Otherwise, it's milk or water.

 

Like pp mentioned, wait with both, especially the juice. :good: Mine are 20 months old and haven't had juice, water is plenty for them. Formula/breastmilk is all they need for now.

 

They just don't need it, that's why the doc is saying to wait. You don't want them to fill up on drinks without nutrients when they should be drinking milk.

While you can often start a little bit of water during meals after 6 months old, juice should probably wait until older. Even 100% juice has a lot of sugar and no nutrients that your baby isn't already getting elsewhere.

 

my doc said 6 months but only to give them water - that they don't need juice. he said there's little nutrition for them. like soda for us, he said...."you can drink it but it's not doing you any good."

 

QUOTE(TwinLove @ Feb 7 2008, 02:04 PM) [snapback]610841[/snapback]
Like pp mentioned, wait with both, especially the juice. :good: Mine are 20 months old and haven't had juice, water is plenty for them. Formula/breastmilk is all they need for now.


Ditto!

 

One BIG reason I have waited to give any juice with my two is that my SIL started juice with her ds at 6 months and he will now ONLY drink water if it is spiked with some juice. I want my kids to be able to drink plain water. Plus, skinny kids are not bad, no point IMO on trying to "add" weight by adding in juice.

 

There is no reason to give any baby juice or water before 6 months (longer if you ask me). Babies that age should not have anything except Breast Milk or Formula and giving them juice or other foods is linked to increased allergies, obesity, diabetes and many many other heath issues. The exception to this is babies with severe reflux who are prescribed (yes prescribed by a physician) a small amount of cereal. Breast milk and formula contain more than enough water to maintain your babies hydration and giving them additional water just takes up space in their bellies so they are not getting the nutrients they need from breast milk or formula.

Also, just to add my 2 centsabout juice... I never gave my daughter juice until she was about 2.5 and then she only got 1 ounce of juice mixed with water! Juice adds a lot of sugar and empty calories to a child's diet and teaches them to crave sweet tastes more. If you only offer water and Breastmilk/formula they will learn to add the appropriate foods to thier diet. They need whole fruits for the fiber and nutrients found in the actual fruits and those are not found in juices.

 

I started giving them water then they started eating solids. As for juice, they have had it watered down a couple of times, but I don't like them having the sugar and they really don't need it so they very rarely get it. Also our ped said not to give it to them b/c they don't need it.