Skip Juice Completely?

Erika&Brian

Did anyone skip juice completely? There is really little to no nutritional value so I'm thinking of skipping it completely.  DH and I also do not drink juice. Guess I prefer to save my calories for real food :-)

 Am I missing something, why do so many people give juice?

 

 

KellyMichelle

DS didn't have juice at all until he was 2 and even then it is rarely.  I don't see any purpose in him having it.

M&M614

We didn't give Mia juice much at all.  We really started because she needed a little help in the #2 department.

Even now, at 2 years old, she gets no more than 1/4 of the cup (usually less) and sometimes none at all... just if she needs it.

charlotteL

Joshua doesn't get juice except as a very rare treat.

CallMeKel

The only juice we've ever given K is the V-8 fruit stuff, which we dilute w/ at least half water. That or the Roaring Water capri suns (low sugar, low calorie--mostly just a flavored water).

However, once your child starts going to birthday parties, playdates, they will be surrounded by it....so in our case, we obviously do let her indulge in "real" (i.e. full on sugar) juice from time to time. It's just realistic.

I didn't give her any juice besides prune until she was well over a year, however.

mom2ll

we let Luca have juice..  It is full of vitamin C.  He only gets and oz or 2.  He doesn't eat "junk foods" so it's his treat.  The # of calories he gets from juice are insignificant and it keeps him regular.... We dilute with water.  We've also found it encourages water consumption...

horn_jm@hotmail.com

We usually have juice boxes around for a rare treat or when he's sick (and not drinking enough fluids) or needs help in the #2 department. ?DS drinks milk and water well and eats fruits well, so I don't see a real need for it for him. ?He also takes a multivitamin. ?Plus, my brother drank a ton of apple juice as a toddler and had stained baby teeth due to it. ?DS already has a sweet tooth, so I'm trying to avoid him getting used to most of his drinks being sweetened. ?I wonder if it had any impact on my brother's major soda addiction!

savannah11

Our pedi told us there was no reason to give juice so we skipped it altogether. ?We don't keep any in the house. ?He does get it as an occasional treat at parties or when we're out but it's not a regular part of his diet.

rayskit10

we only give juice b/c Tru won't drink milk. my pedi suggested giving him calcium fortified juice to make up for it. juice isn't completely void of nutrition b/c they add calcium and C to kids juices. we only give him no sugar added. even though we give it to him, it's very little. if the Dr didn't suggest it for the calcium, we probably never would have gotten in to it...

kjr

I don't buy juice for Alex, but if we go to a bday party or to someone's house and they have little juice boxes or something, I will usually let him have one.  (But only if they have no added sugars, I just don't think he needs it!)

kbv

DS loves milk (almost too much) and water, so no need for juice.  But, if DS wasnt drinking enough fluids then I would def give him juice.  DH and I dont drink juice either so its never in the house.  I'm sure that will change once he is more exposed to it at school, parties etc. 

KKMMex

We give diluted OJ.  It's a good source of vitamin C.  DD drinks plenty of milk so I see no harm in her having juice also.

melrrr

all this "stress" about juice makes me laugh only because at Christmas my aunt graciously informed me that "you have to be careful when putting coke in sippy cups because it fizzes a lot."

They have two sets of twins under 5--the younger girls are a little over 2 and they were having coke in sippies with dinner. One of them had apparently dropped their cup in the half bath spraying coke all over my parents' pale yellow wall...

lilycat

Lucas waited to start juice. He had his first when he was sick and we needed him to drink some fluids. He was over a year old at the time.

He gets watered down juice once a day since he requests it, now. We try to trick him with Tap Juice <aka water>.

He's wise to me, though. He points to pictures of water and says, "Water. Tap Juice." Like, ha, ha, mom, I know the score!

TexasSmith

I am LOLing at tap juice. So funny!

We haven't given Natalie juice. She is a water addict, and does just fine with that. Juice just seems to be unnecessary sugar to me, but if she has trouble with cow's milk, we'll revisit.

opallover

what about making your own?  would be much more nutrious than bottled juice that's for sure!

IMFun

we didn't want to give him any juice but he had major constipation and the pedi recommended apple juice. 

We use Mots for Tots which is already no sugar added and barely sweet...  then we water that down.  So, he is getting maybe 1/3 apple juice and the rest tap water.  

but... he also hates milk.  

rayskit10

opallover:

what about making your own?  would be much more nutrious than bottled juice that's for sure!

how so? if you get apples and juice them how is that better than no sugar added, 100% juice apple juice? not to mention the fact that many store bought juices add both calcium and Vit C to their product, which we can't do at home.

MrsMGR

rayskit10:

opallover:

what about making your own?  would be much more nutrious than bottled juice that's for sure!

how so? if you get apples and juice them how is that better than no sugar added, 100% juice apple juice? not to mention the fact that many store bought juices add both calcium and Vit C to their product, which we can't do at home.

Ditto...and who has time for that?!