D.C. Area Babies
Options
Is juice the devil?
OK, you know I'm exaggerating. I'm normally not a big juice drinker, except when I'm pg. Right now I am currently spending all my free time thinking of how I can guzzle more grapefruit juice.
So I've noticed that offering DS juice (and we water it down 50/50 if not more) increases crack monkey behavior. Should we water it down more? Cut it out? The occasional apple juice is now DS's favorite thing in the universe. After Cheerios.
What say the Bumpies?
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Is juice the devil?
Oh! Good question. I am also curious what Bumpies think. We never drink juice. Never even have it in the house. But if we do, it is allll C can think about. And we water it down a whole lot, but still.
Perhaps worse - I've also created a chocolate milkaholic. During the mopey hurricane weekend, I added a splash of chocolate soy milk (what DH and I put in our coffee) to his milk and now there will be some days where he straight up demands it.
The biggest problem for us is that he still doesn't understand the "treat" concept. He throws a total fit when the juice or choc. milk is gone (exactly like this cartoon). Honestly, it's just easier not to give it to him at all but that sounds so sad.
We don't do juice at all. No judgement, just what we do (or don't). J drinks water or milk, and gets all the fruit/nutrients from actual fruit.
I read somewhere that drinking a glass of apple juice was the equivalent of eating four apples--but you don't get any of the fiber and other good parts from eating the actual fruit.
TTC #2: BFP 12/17/11, m/c 1/7/12 and D&C 1/12/12
baby blog/cooking blog
DD gets the occasional Capri Sun. I actually always have one with me when we are out and about because it quells any tantrum, any desire to get out of the cart, any impatience at all! So, the juice is more about my sanity
.
I'm sure that DS would gobble up any juice we offered him.
But I figure if it doesn't provide good nutrients why should he have it? He has no idea what he is missing. I'm trying to delay his inevitable sugar addiction as long as I can...
Off to the beach
DS 7/18/2010
Handy 2.0 Due Early August
2011/2012 Races
12/17/2011 Christmas Caper 10K
2/11/2012 Have a Heart 5K
3/17/2012 DC RNR Half Marathon
4/22/2012 10M Parkway Classic
10/28/2012 Marine Corps Marathon
That's how we were until like 4 months ago. Eventually, they realize what things are and ask for it. And sometimes I have to remind myself - it's not crack. It's just juice. In our case, usually 80% water, 20% organic juice.
It's our job to teach them that even though there is junk in the world, it's okay to have a treat now and then (and this is where we struggle. . . ).
Juice doesn't hype up DS, but it's the devil because of the end result...he gets a bad upset stomach from the sugar.
But he loves his juice, so we keep capri sun waters on hand--like PP, for meltdown purposes.
this is us at home. My kids eat a lot of fruit so there is no reason for fruit juice, too much sugar! When we were in Cancun, I let them have juice b/c I was afraid to give them non-bottled-water. After a few days, I just went to the bar and got a bottle and poured that into glasses.
A lot of kids will stop drinking water and milk after tasting juice. And I personally don't like my calories to come in liquid form so I only drink water (and occasionally, milk).
Cancun was DS's 1st time ever tasting juice, he's 15mo. DD has had it before at b-day parties. We don't keep juice at home.
We rarely drink juice at home, but I will ocassionally make myself a "fake soda" by mixing sparkling water with a splash of cranberry or pomegranate juice. M wants to drink whatever I'm drinking, so he's had some sips of that. It's literally about 1 TBSP of juice mixed with 8 oz of sparking water, so I don't even know if it counts, but it does give some flavor.
He's also had sips of lemonade when I've gotten some at the farmer's market. He loooves that, but it's a rare treat.
we don't typically have juice at home, so i don't see sprout having some anytime soon.
when he starts to know what it is & asks for it, then we'll probably be giving it to him. right now we have enough tantrums when he eats the last banana!
I wasn't ever going to do juice but then I did buy some for DS several months back. He didn't like it, even watered down. So that was easy plus, I hadn't wanted to get on that bandwagon anyhow. Like PP said, its just sugar, no real nutritional value.
When we go out to eat now, I am typically getting DS one of the kids meals and try to get milk, but have gotten juice. Again, I usually end up drinking it because he's "meh" about it.
Right now I've got a little sore throat and I downed the last little grape juice we had...I do love grape juice.
As for us, we both drink mainly water and milk. Every now and then I'll make sweet tea and I keep little cans of coke and gingerale for migraines and upset stomachs.
My kids both prefer milk but we do juice and water as well. I water it down for Molly since she drinks a lot more in general than Maggie. Also they get one sippy of it and then water if they say they are thirsty. I think it is fine in moderation. Also it helps with the constipation issues we have around here.
My pedi isn't opposed to it either he said his kids grew up with it and they are fine and not overweight. I don't think it should be the only thing they drink and I would prefer they drink water but I have no problem with it.
While I probably won't have a total ban on juice in my house once little one is running around, I will try to not make it available for daily consumption (ie - juice boxes). I think we're going to try to treat juice as a treat, something special, rather than something regular because my husband is worried about blood sugar levels, crazy sugar-addict behavior, etc. So home-made juices & the occassional glass at grandma's house will probably be it.
This is mostly in response to my husband's concerns rather than mine but I've put my foot down on OJ for sick kids because I think it's important.
This exactly!
We don't keep juice in the house except orange juice which DH drinks from time to time.
I keep some juice boxes on hand for when/if Warner gets sick...I always have a hard time getting him to drink more fluids when he's sick and since juice is a treat, he's more likely to drink that than water or milk. Also, if we go out to eat, sometimes I'll let him have some juice.
But on a daily basis, no, juice is not a part of his diet. I figure that he doesn't need the sugar (he goes nuts) and he gets far more benefit from just eating fruit.
I've heard stories about how dentists have been seeing a number of kids getting cavities in their baby teeth and they tend to blame it on too much juice. That was enough to convince me right there, but now that I know how crazy Warner gets with even a little bit of sugar, it's a no-brainer. Very little juice for us!
eta: but to your point about wanting juice yourself while being pregnant...DH and I drink OJ in the mornings and I usually only have a little (like half a juice glass), but lately I've been chugging a full glass of it. can't get enough! I really hope I don't end up with gestational diabetes this time, I would miss that juice :-(
Thanks for the thoughts. I normally wouldn't have juice in the house, but I have.to.have.it right now. And now that he knows apple juice exists, we've been hearing all about it. Hopefully we can keep it just a treat (thanks MPD for the funny link) and redirect him.
Juice is fine...in my opinion, everything in moderation. Luckily, DS loves milk more than life itself (though DD loathes it), and both my kids think water is OK. They mainly drink water during meals and if we're out running errands. Both adore banana-based smoothies.
DD has never been a big drinker, but then again I have to remind myself to drink enough during the day, too. If she hasn't had enough liquid in a day, I sometimes give her a watered-down cup of cranberry juice. And if DS sees her doing it, he wants some, too - but he doesn't really ask for it on his own. She'll chug it with no obvious adverse side effects (like behavior changes). I buy the healthiest stuff I can find and limit them to one small cup a day (or less...I don't provide it unless it's asked for). Both love real fruit, so it's not as if juice is standing in as a substitute...I think that's key.
I would've avoided juice as long as possible (while still figuring its introduction was inevitable), but DD's lack of drinking was causing some "slowing of the lower tract," as my mom would say, which became a bigger issue during potty training. Her doctor told me it was fine to give her juice if that's what it took to get her on a better schedule. Also, we had to use Miralax for a while, and the only way I could be sure she'd finish the entire dose was if it was in juice. I usually mixed it into watered-down prunce juice...gag. But she loved it.
If you know it increases his crazy behavior, cut it. We don't give it - if only because I know too many kids who just flat out won't drink anything else after having juice. We try not to give DS too much stuff with added sugar, although he does have snacky stuff once or so a day (crackers, Teddy Grahams, etc). Otherwise, it is fruit, unsweetened applesauce, etc.
I DO give him a treat periodically because I don't want him to be that kid that goes insane when he does get a piece of cake.
T wants anything we drink, and I let her have maybe an ounce of OJ on the weekend - I make her wait until my glass is almost empty and she can have the rest. (I'm not sure whether she likes the juice or drinking out of an actual glass more, since she only gets the glass when I can watch her closely for spills and it ends up being a treat.) She starts asking for it sometimes on Sunday/Monday when it's fresh on her mind but usually forgets all about it by Monday night or Tuesday. So I don't think an occasional juice as a treat is the devil. It's hard to keep a toddler from wanting what you're drinking.
Does N like your grapefruit juice? If not, I'd totally lie and say that's the only juice we keep at home
i can't remember when tomas started drinking juice, but i think it was close to 3yrs. we never did watered down juice, my thoughts on that subject are if the child is too young for 100% juice, give fruit and plain water instead.
now, he has a 100% fruit juice or lemonade every now and then as a treat, about 1oz of orange juice every morning and water or milk for all other beverages.
audrey is almost one (EEEEK!! what happened to the time!) and hasn't had juice and won't for a long time.
We are an everything in moderation household. I don't often buy juice, but when I do, DD usually asks for it. I water it down 60 juice/40 water. DD is almost always happy with milk and water. DH and I are not juice drinkers anymore, too many calories for our lifestyles. At preschool they only serve milk and water, so in essence it has become a treat. DS hasn't had juice yet, at 8 months he's still a little too young.
We don't mind giving DD foods/drinks in moderation. While there are some juices that we would never ever give her, we buy Honest Kids (made by honest tea) all organic and low sugar (organic cane sugar) juice boxes. They are about 40 calories for a pouch and taste great (not overly sweet, kind of like watered down juice). I actually drink them from time to time and I am not a huge juice drinker. She doesn't get them every day and they are more of a treat to her. I also notice that she doesn't get hyper after drinking this juice. We made the mistake of getting her apple juice at a restaurant and oh my the sugar rush was unreal!