Here's Why You Shouldn't Give Fruit Juices To Your Baby
They aren't healthy as you think.
Posted on
23 July 2017
Once parents begin their baby’s weaning phase, they immediately turn to fruit juices as a healthy-ish replacement for breast milk but experts are advising otherwise.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) strictly prohibits juice intake in the first year of baby’s diet. AAP’s earlier recommendation allowed juice intake for babies older than 6 months, but now the organisation has added stringent limits, suggesting that fruit juices should be banned from the baby’s diet the entire first year.
AAP’s reasoning is simple – fruit juices have no nutritional benefits for infants. The only reason they’re so popular is their high sugar content.
Here are some other recommendations from the report.
- Instead of juices, encourage your baby to consume whole fruit that’s mashed or pureed.
- After one year, parents can add fruit juice as part of the diet but it should only be 100% fresh or reconstituted.
- Avoid feeding juices in bottles or big glasses to limit the consumption throughout the day
The right quanitty of fruit juices for different age groups
1. The quantity of juice should not exceed the following limits, set by AAP’s report:
- 1-3 years old: 4 ounces
- 4-6 years old: 4-6 ounces
- 7+ years old: 8 ounces
