I also am amazed at people giving kids juice frequently. Even once a day is too much! It's also setting up a habit.

Alternatives: water, fresh fruit, something with protein, almost ANYTHING. Well except soda.

I do give my daughter a little juice or soda but it's like once a week if she sees it and begs me (a little tiny bit is not worth a fight). And I sure water down that juice. It's more like flavored water at that point.

Anonymous wrote:I actually do agree with the OP. We have not dealt with the constipation issue but other than that I can't see a good reason for giving juice. My kids are 7 and 4 and we've never served it and they don't like it. I can see a little OJ in the morning, but the kids I see drinking juice are mostly drinking apple juice and fruit punch and that kind of thing, which seems like candy with vitamin C to me. And I know no one on this board is this kind of parent... but more parents than you think give kids -- and babies -- bottles and sippy cups of juice all day long, and then have to deal with cavities and extra weight.

i know a mom like this -- my SIL, who gives her kids (4 and 1.75) juice all day long. seriously, the last time i saw them the under 2 yo had grape juice, a ring pop, and those "fruit" jellies all at the same time (11 am, btw). those kids have more sugar than any 10 kids need and she sees nothing wrong with it. i hate it and can't ignore it because she offers it all to my kids, who just don't get that kind of crap (but so get other crap, to be sure).

I actually do agree with the OP. We have not dealt with the constipation issue but other than that I can't see a good reason for giving juice. My kids are 7 and 4 and we've never served it and they don't like it. I can see a little OJ in the morning, but the kids I see drinking juice are mostly drinking apple juice and fruit punch and that kind of thing, which seems like candy with vitamin C to me. And I know no one on this board is this kind of parent... but more parents than you think give kids -- and babies -- bottles and sippy cups of juice all day long, and then have to deal with cavities and extra weight.

Because straight vodka would be wrong.

I don't 'prohibit' juice and kids can have it when it is available at friends, etc. But why would I offer it as a normal drink? OP asked the benefits and it seems that is the right question. I don't think not giving my kids certain things is a punishment. We give them tons of things they love (even if they are not strictly speaking considered treats) and other things on an ad hoc basis. We could also feed our kids McDonalds every day, but the fact they have never had it means they don't miss it.

If I want my kids to have vitamin C, I give them fresh fruit. My kids drink water and milk. And they love them both.

Anonymous wrote:I don't give my baby juice, either. I guess I'll see where things take us, but I don't see any point in it. And my mom NAGS me like crazy to give him juice. I think juice was a big part of our lives way back when before the sugar/diet/health craze (Mott's, kool-aid, grape juice, etc.). We drank it all of the time!

I believe we are all talking kids. Please don't give a baby juice.

I don't give my baby juice, either. I guess I'll see where things take us, but I don't see any point in it. And my mom NAGS me like crazy to give him juice. I think juice was a big part of our lives way back when before the sugar/diet/health craze (Mott's, kool-aid, grape juice, etc.). We drank it all of the time!

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

this.

Because it's tasty!! Sure water is good for you and all, but dang, don't you think it gets boring after a while?

Anonymous wrote:Um it tastes good?

Yes. And it's fine in moderation.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

Jeez, defensive much? It's a fair question from someone who clearly knows that juice is just concentrated sugar, nothing more and nothing less. If her kid is happy with water, great! Most kids aren't, but why try to undo a healthier habit?

ugh. why did you have to revive an 8-day old thread? if you are looking for something interesting to read, check out the asparagus thread in off-topic.

Anonymous wrote:I'm another juice denier, though I'm not as dogmatic/judgmental as some of the PPs, and DD will drink it at parties/in school. She's almost 3, and she's consistently at the top of the weight chart, so she doesn't need the extra calories. She'll gladly eat fresh fruit, enjoying the benefits of delicious taste, vitamins, and all the fiber in the pulp and skin that juice lacks.

Despite all this, my mom insists that we're horrible to deprive her of the essential nutrients in OJ, which she served me every day growing up. I think that for her generation (she's in her 70s), juice was a way to get nutrition before such a wide variety of fruit was available year-round. To her own mother, a poor immigrant, it must have felt like a luxury and a privilege. To some extent, I think she reads my statement that it's a bad health habit as an indictment of her parenting -- I mean, I know it's not a big deal, and she was doing what conventional wisdom advised at the time.

As many times as I've reviewed the arguments that dentists and doctors make about eschewing juice in favor of fruit, she pushes back that it "isn't fair," and we're needlessly "mean." (Who sounds like the 2 yo now??)

This is a good point. My parents are only in their late 60s, but I do remember that there was not nearly as many varieties of fresh fruit available, and certainly not year round, when I was a child.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you the mom at the birthday party that won't let your kid have juice box?

good question. If all the other kids are having juice at a party, do you make your kid have water?

I don't have to make my kids have water. They have never had juice at home and they don't like it and won't drink it when it is offered to them. They ask me for water. (They are 5 and 3, so this may change at some point, I acknowledge).

My kids do have treats regularly. Ice cream, cookies, etc. But I still don't see any reason to give juice. In my opinion, the palate is trained at an early age to expect that beverages will be sweet, and that led, for me personally, to a many years long Diet Coke addiction that I only kicked relatively recently. I would rather my kids be used to drinking only beverages that are not sweet while they are young, and maybe they will not be addicted like I was to the sweet taste. Sweet beverages in particular are more likely to lead to obesity because calories from beverages are not as filling. The science on that is pretty well documented. (And yes, breast milk is sweet, so I also acknowledge that it is human nature to like sweet beverages. That was fine when they were not readily available; not so fine now that we have to work to escape them).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:why does juice help with constipation? i know fruit does because of the fiber, but i've never understood why juice does because i thought sugar had the opposite effect. yes, i could google it, but i am hoping that a mom will help me out.

I think prune juice helps because of the fiber in it. I am not so sure about filtered apple juice. OJ with pulp might work.

The sugars in the juice draw water into the lower intestines, which allows for what would be otherwise hard, dry stools to bulk up and become easier to pass.

Anonymous wrote:I do give my 18 month old orange juice only. She loves it and she is difficult about drinking water so I give her OJ probably once a day. I dont want her to dehydrate in this weather. I water down the juice, though -- 1/2 juice, 1/2 water.

I know juice is sugar, but isn't fruit too? and I do not deny my child fruit....That being said, I only give her pure OJ, I dont do those other apple juices, etc.

Well, some people limit fruit too...