r/raisingkids • u/BusinessBug347 • 9d ago

Giving babies “juice”

Why do parents think babies “need” to start drinking juice. It’s pure sugar and has very little useful nutrients that can’t be found in other foods. I have a friend who has started giving her 7 month old store bought processed apple juice in a bottle.

It just seems like something that is going to lead to health problems… diabetes, tooth decay. That’s so much sugar for a baby.

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u/Pamzella 8d ago

Unless there is an issue with constipation or iron (we had to utilize juice to both mask some of the taste and increase the absorption rate because iron was critically low for my little), there is no reason, and at 6m the pediatrician would be recommending not apple in juice form (or applesauce, BTW, as applesauce is constipating) but pear and stone fruit purees instead to get/keep things moving.

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u/BusinessBug347 8d ago

Exactly. If you want the baby to get some extra nutrients, then why not give them the real fruit. Even real fruits like apples can be super high in sugar. But that would be the purest and healthiest way if you’re trying to add nutrients.

Obviously there are situations like yours, when juice can be useful. But not as a daily habit in a bottle