Homemade baby juice- do or don't?

[Anonymous]

After converting to the juicing and raw food lifestyle, I only feed my 5.5 month old homemade puree ( of course BM too!). I plan to make all of his homemade solids, instead of using jar food. I was researching and thinking of making homemade juice too. I feel it will be much healthier for my little guy.

Has anyone made homemade juice for infants? How did it turn out?

I plan to start with the normal apple juice, and progress into orange, cranberry, etc., as he gets older. Of course, I will be doing the 3:1 ratio ( 3 parts water, 1 part juice).

[Anonymous]

Hmm. I never have any juice to my kids until sometime past 18 mon. At 5 and 3, they hAve juice about twice a week ... They drink water and milk. Just doesn't have any nutritional value - juicing takes out the fiber and concentrates the sugar. I think it's fine to juice for your kid, but I wouldn't make juice - home- made or from a box - a common drink.

[Anonymous]

No, I don't give my kids any juice (ages 1 and 3). Too much sugar and juicing strips out the fiber found in the fruit pulp or flesh. Children should only have milk/BM or water. Juice is a very bad habit for kids. They should eat fruit not just drink the juice.

[Anonymous]

Why would you give an infant juice?

[Anonymous]

My children do not have any juice at 2 and 4 unless constipated and then we give 2 oz of organic pear juice mixed with 4oz of water. Babies should not have anything to drink other than BM or Formula until a year.

[Anonymous]

I've given my 1.5 year old juice once or twice. He didn't care for it...probably too sweet! Our daycare provider does whole fruit when the USDA menu calls for juice. Like PP's said, you don't get near the nutritional value you do from the whole fruit. Plus the concentrated sugar is bad for teeth, especially if you put it in a sippy cup.

I enjoyed this article after one of my co-workers was spouting off about "juicing" and its amazing benefits. Just eat some fruit. http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2013/11/juice_cleanses_not_healthy_not_virtuous_just_expensive.html

While we're at it, do you only feed your child raw foods? Many foods are hard to absorb the nutrients when not cooked some. How do you puree raw foods?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My children do not have any juice at 2 and 4 unless constipated and then we give 2 oz of organic pear juice mixed with 4oz of water. Babies should not have anything to drink other than BM or Formula until a year.

Not really. You can start giving them a little water alongside their solids at 6 months. Helps with constipation, incidentally.

[Anonymous]

My pediatrician said to start giving him juice in a sippy cup.

This will also be like him eating an apple or orange. It isn't processed or sugar added. Its purely juicing the fruit.

[Anonymous]

Juice for baby. Not baby juice!

[Anonymous]

We started introducing water at 6 months which is the perfect age to start introducing it. Wasn't enough to fill him up or change how much food/milk he drank, but kept his system running well. At 14 months, he's never had juice. I really don't see why you'd want to introduce it to your baby.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, I don't know about juice for baby - too much sugar. If you do it, I would do it with a Vitamix or a juicer which leaves pulp in, that way there is more fiber. But why not wait till at least 12-18 mos and stick with purees for now?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've given my 1.5 year old juice once or twice. He didn't care for it...probably too sweet! Our daycare provider does whole fruit when the USDA menu calls for juice. Like PP's said, you don't get near the nutritional value you do from the whole fruit. Plus the concentrated sugar is bad for teeth, especially if you put it in a sippy cup.

I enjoyed this article after one of my co-workers was spouting off about "juicing" and its amazing benefits. Just eat some fruit. http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2013/11/juice_cleanses_not_healthy_not_virtuous_just_expensive.html

While we're at it, do you only feed your child raw foods? Many foods are hard to absorb the nutrients when not cooked some. How do you puree raw foods?

I buy organic produce, steam it and put in a blender. Then I store it in ziploc bags. I've done extensive research and jar food is cooked at such high heats, all the nutrients and vitamins are cooked out. There have been many studies showing fresh homemade food is better than processed jar food.

I will not get into the whole jucing controversy, as this is not the topic at hand.

[Anonymous]

Be careful. Make sure to avoid putting the apple seeds into your juicer. Crushing the seeds is where you get the arsenic that is in apple juice. And if you don't take them out, you can unsafe levels of arsenic. Granted this is the organic arsenic which some think is not harmful, but tests are inconclusive and many tests admit that even the organic arsenic may be harmful.

[Anonymous]

I will hold off on the juice. My ped said not to give him water until he is a year old. So what do I put in the sippy cup then?

First time mom and I've read many people giving their 6-12 month olds juice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Be careful. Make sure to avoid putting the apple seeds into your juicer. Crushing the seeds is where you get the arsenic that is in apple juice. And if you don't take them out, you can unsafe levels of arsenic. Granted this is the organic arsenic which some think is not harmful, but tests are inconclusive and many tests admit that even the organic arsenic may be harmful.

Thanks. I am very aware and remove the apple and lemon seeds from my daily juice.