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Giving Fruit Juices To Babies
4 min read
Breast and formula milk will nourish your baby till the first six months of her life, and meet all her nutrition needs. After six months, when your baby starts solids, you can introduce her to pureed fruits and vegetables. If you prefer, fruit and vegetable juices can also be included in your baby’s diet. However, fruit juice should be offered to a baby prudently, as it can affect the intake of milk, the vital need of your baby.
Is Fruit Juice Good For Babies?
Fruits are a good source of vitamins and other nutrients which growing baby needs. It is good to add some variety of fruits to baby’s diet. However, babies less than six months old do not need anything other than breast milk or formula. Older babies can be given fruits and vegetables in pureed form as well as like juices. Offer your baby a variety of textures and flavors, so as to embark her on a journey of taste.
Can I Give Fruit Juice To My Baby For Constipation?
If your baby is over the age of 6 months, you can offer your baby a beaker or a cup of fruit juice. If the baby is younger than 6 months, you must consult the pediatrician before offering fruit juice to her.
Can I Give Homemade Fruit Juice To My Baby?
Though home made juice cannot be 100% pasteurized, and the likelihood of pathogens is there, make sure you follow optimum hygiene routines if you are making fruit juice for your little one. Ensure that the fruit is fresh, cleaned, washed and is not overripe. The processor or blender used should also be clean, preferably the blades be boiled. If the fruit has seeds (like melon) deseed the fruit first before making the juice.
Adding salt, sugar or chat masala may not be good for baby’s digestive system so let her enjoy the natural taste of fruit juice. Fruit squashes should not be offered to the babies due to its sweetener content. Always taste the food (juice, fruit or anything) before you give it to the baby.
10 Tips When Giving Fruit Juice To Baby
If you want to give juices to your baby, follow the given safety measures:
- If offering packaged fruit juice Give 100% pasteurized juice to your baby. Avoid giving fruit drinks, squashes and other such liquids.
- Go for seasonal fruits or vegetables rather than choosing packaged cold stored ones
- Do not give juices in bottle and at bedtime, offer it in a cup to your baby during meal times. Drinking juice before bedtime or in a bottle increases the risk of tooth decay
- 3-4 ounces of juice per day are sufficient for your baby. Giving more juice may reduce her appetite for other foods
- Dilute the juice well by mixing one part of juice to ten parts of water. Diluted juice helps body to absorb iron from the food
- Offer one fruit juice at a given time, mix the flavors gradually
- Opt for fruit and vegetable juice combos like carrot-apple, tomato-carrot so that your baby gets all necessary nutrients. If you offer her fruit juice first, she might detest the vegetable juice owing to the sweet taste of the fruit juice
- Never give chilled or cold juices to the baby, serve juice to your baby at room temperature
- Never keep prepared juice for more than 10-15 minutes as it may develop harmful bacteria
- Do not force your baby for any particular juice if she does not like it at all
Can Fruit Juice Cause Dental Problems In My Baby?
Fruit juices do contain sugar, which needs to be controlled as exposure to sugar can cause dental problems in your baby. Undernourishment can also happen as babies tend to like sweet taste of juice and refuse to have other foods. Sugars in juice can also result in obesity in children from a very young age. Since fruits are generally considered healthy, parents tend to ignore the harmful effects of fruit juice sugars. Fruit juice should never be given to a baby in a bottle at nap-times as this can result in dental decay. Always wipe your baby’s gums, teeth with a soft washcloth after giving her fruit juice.
Can Fruit Juice Be Harmful For My Baby?
Giving too much of juices to baby may harm her/him in the following ways:
- If a child drinks too much of juices, she/he does miss out many essential vitamins, minerals or nutrients presented in other foods. It may cause anemia or malnutrition
- Too much of apple juice may lead to lose bowel movements or diarrhea
- Fruit juices that contain high level of fructose may result in gas, stomach problems and restlessness in babies
- Sugar in fruit juice can result in dental caries
At first, you can try feeding your baby by steaming the fruits so as to get rid of pesticides. Once your baby is used to the taste and does not show any reaction or allergies, you can go for raw fruit juices straight from the blender.
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