Once you have given birth to your little baby, you become engrossed in motherhood, your world revolving around the little angel. You feed him, clean him, play with him and put him to sleep, while rejoicing the new things that he does every day. For the first 6 months of life, your baby gets all the nutrition from breast or formula milk, and there is nothing else to supplement the baby’s diet with.
Till your little one becomes six months of age, it is always advisable to stick to only milk – breast or formula. However, as he or she grows older, you need to introduce solid foods and juices too. Wondering if can you give packaged fruit juices to your baby? Read on.
Introducing your baby to vegetable and fruit juices by the time he is around six months to eight months would be ideal. The best time to begin your baby on juice is when he or she can drink from a glass or cup. The baby should also be able to sit up straight and has sprouted his first set of teeth.

Can you give packaged juices to your baby?
Key points to consider when you feed juice to your baby
Homemade juices for your baby

Can You Give Packaged Juices To Your Baby?

While packaged juices are safe in some ways, there are quite a lot of apprehensions and talks regarding feeding your little one with packaged juices. Given below are some of the ill effects of feeding packaged juices to your baby:

• It can trigger off tooth decay in your little one
• Moreover, he may develop a preference for sweets due to its high sweet content
• It may cause energy imbalance
• Your baby may be deprived of the perfect quantity of nutrition and thus in turn become malnourished
• It can also cause obesity in your baby
• It can also trigger diarrhea in your little one

For the above mentioned reasons, it is always best to prepare fresh fruit and vegetable juices at home which are absolutely safe for your baby. But fresh fruit juice is never pasteurized. You need to feed your baby with 100% pasteurized products which ensure that all germs are killed. Packaged juices are safe in this aspect. Remember to check the label before you buy these packaged juices to ensure they are totally pasteurized and their expiry date is not over.

Key Points To Consider When You Feed Juice To Your Baby

Mentioned below are some useful tips which need to be followed while feeding your little one with juice.

• Ensure you choose only fresh vegetables or fruits which are seasonal
• Make sure you wash, clean and peel them properly. Since one cannot boil juices, you need to be extremely cautious as far as hygiene is concerned while preparing juices for your baby
• Introduce only one fruit or veggie juice a week. Never burden the little one’s digestive system with too many new things together
• It is advised to introduce your little one to a vegetable juices in the beginning. Since fruit juices, being sweet, will easily be liked by your baby. Once he gets the taste of sweet juices, he may not be willing to drink veggie juices
• Never feed chilled juices to your little one. Make sure they are served at room temperature
• Also ensure you feed the baby as soon as the juice is made not later than ten to fifteen minutes of it being prepared. This avoids any kind of bitterness or bacterial formation which can occur if the juice is left out for a long time

Homemade Juices For Your Baby

Now the next question is what fruit or veggies juices are best for your precious baby.

• Tender coconut water: This is an ideal drink, which is rich in Vitamins and Minerals and is least harmful for your baby
• Carrot Juice: Chop carrots into a juicer and strain the liquid. Make sure you dilute the juice with water in the proportion 1:10
• Stewed Apple Juice: Apple juice is rich in calcium and magnesium apart from folate and Vitamin A. Stewed apple juice is something which is good for your little one. Just boil a cup of chopped apple pieces along with water for around a couple of minutes. Strain the concoction and try feeding this to your baby
• Musk Melon Juice: Add deseeded and chopped musk melon (around half a cup) into a juicer and strain the liquid. Make sure you feed the little one immediately after making the juice
• Water Melon: Blend half a cup of deseeded and chopped watermelon pieces in blender and like all other juices strain the mixture. This juice is ideal to be given only after your little one turns one year old

Whatever be the juice you plan introducing your baby to, it is absolutely imperative you consult your baby’s pediatrician. He will be the best person to advise you. Whether packaged or home made, make sure you never feed your baby juice in a bottle but only in cups. There are baby food companies which have a wide range of packaged fruit juices for your baby. Just ensure they are proven safe and healthy in every sense of the word before trying it on your precious bundle as your baby’s digestive system is extremely delicate and anything mildly harsh can also cause havoc in them.