Why do people give their kids juice?

[Anonymous]

Isn't it just sugar? My 2 year old hapily drinks water but MIL keeps trying to give her juice and I won't allow it. I don't understand why she keeps pushing it, what are the benefits?

[Anonymous]

Um it tastes good?

[Anonymous]

My DD gets juice because it helps to keep her from getting constipated. And, she likes it, so I don't see anything wrong with it as an occasional treat (even if we weren't giving it to her to keep things moving.) I think the "no juice" thing is a recent phenomenon... in your parents' generation, juice was viewed as a nutritious beverage since it was derived from fruit. Now the tendency is to favor whole fruit and water instead of juice.

[Anonymous]

To annoy you, clearly.

[Anonymous]

My children happily drink water. They also happily drink juice. Don't you drink a variety of beverages?

[Anonymous]

I don't give it either. No reason to.

[Anonymous]

also when your kid is sick and won't drink anything but juice, you'll happily give her juice to escape dehydration.
but variety too. my kid has juice 1-2X a week. not a big deal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To annoy you, clearly.

[phone]

[Anonymous]

its the gateway drug to coke, and we all know where that leads: rum.

[Anonymous]

I, too, was anti-juice. Not my kids, I said. Then I had a fussy little girl who woke up in the morning a total bear and nothing would change that until we started giving her diluted orange juice. Low blood sugar maybe? It certainly was a gateway for us as we, about once every two weeks--gasp--give our kids a 100% juice box to help keep them hydrated on a hot day. It isn't crack, honey.

[Anonymous]

Our 4 year old drinks juice every day, multiple times a day. He also drinks water and milk every day, multiple times a day.

I drink more than just milk and water, so see it as variety for our child, too. I tend to fall in the everything-in-moderation camp, so see no problem with juice on a regular basis. It's not the only think he drinks....just one of them.

[Anonymous]

I have no idea!

[Anonymous]

We don't give juice either. Not sure what the point is, so we skip it. I've had the same argument with my mom, over and over, about how we're denying DD juice and how it's necessary for her.

[Anonymous]

Because we don't love our children as much as you.

[Anonymous]

Does your 2yo EVER eat cake? On her birthday? How about ices? Or ice cream? Does she EVER drink anything but milk or water? How utterly boring. Taste buds develop with choices. Mango, orange, pineapple, cranberry, red grapefruit, the list goes on and on. Unless I want to by 50lbs of fruit, and only let DS eat it when it's in season, I'm going to buy fruit juice every once in a while. He's in the 30% for weight. He's certainly headed for obesity.