How long should you do it? My daughter is potty trained (yay), so diaper rash is no longer an issue. She is almost 3 and I'm wondering if I should stop watering down her juice. She drinks just fine and she'll drink regular water and milk fine, just wanting to know for myself I guess. :)
****Thanks so much for all the responses! I was wanting to wait, but I wanted to see what other moms do. She gets VERY little juice and mostly water. I, too, do not want her to develop a sweet tooth and I don't want her to consume too much sugar. I'll keep up what I'm doing. :) Take care!
I would still water down the juice until 5yr old. By 5yr they start to lose their baby teeth and their new adult teeth come in. You will want to keep the baby teeth and gums healthy as much as you can until then. :)
I actually gave my kids 1/2 water and 1/2 juice until my son was 5 and I still do it for my daughter who is almost 5. They don't drink much juice but they really don't drink water so I feel this way they get a little. They are more milk drinkers and capri suns now b/c of school lunch but even with that I buy the capri sun that is mostly water.
I don't think watering down juice provide the nutrients they need. I could see watering down orange juice, because of the acidity but limiting how much juice they get seem like a better option if you're concerned about sugar. Sugar from the fruit is natural versus sugar from juice concentrated or sweetened with high fructose syrup.
My girls are 5.5 years old and 4.5 years old, and they do not drink juice with the exception of once a week or so, when we eat out.
I do not water it down then, unless it's lemonade at a restaurant. They know at home that their only choices are milk and water, and they don't really complain. I didn't want to give them the empty calories and sugar, when they love fruit so much. :)
You can keep on doing it for as long as you want... It's better for her. I water down juice for myself too! Straight juice is just too sweet, doesn't quench my thirst with all the sugar taste, even if natural, it's like a concentrated wallop of like 25- 35 grams sugar if you read the label. I give my 7-yr old juice sometimes, but it's about 1/3 water, 2/3 juice. Otherwise he drinks water, or milk, soymilk, and fresh fruits are more refreshing and you get other nutrients in the "live" food rather than juice made in a factory months ago and stored in a warehouse.
i never watered down my daughters juices. the ped told me their is no reason to. and plus i tried it once NASTY!!! but at 3 you should be fine b/c even as babies they say theirs no reason
I stopped watering down juice when my daughter was around 5. I only watered it down because I didn't want her to crave the super sweet stuff. Now she is older and it is more trouble than it is worth since she gets her juice in juice boxes. That said, juic eis a treat fo rus. She gets juice like lees than one time a month.
My pediatrician told me, to water it down for as long as my son will take it. I know, that's not a specific answer! BUT, he said it's better for their teeth, to water it down...even if he's 5 or 6.
I do it for my 2.5 year old and plan on watering it down as long as she'll drink it, I mean why not? They don't really need the the sugar. My daughter doesn't like water so I feel like I have to give her juice or she won't drink anything.
I have an almost 8 yr old that still gets watered down juice when we are at home. I figure, why not? He knows I do it and doesn't mind and it is better for him.
my daughter is 7 and I still water down her juice. she doesn't like full strength anyway ☺
As long as you can. It keeps the sugar intake down AND saves you some $ because you can make the juice stretch :)
My son primarily drinks water at home, now (he's 4). He'll occasionally have a cup of milk. He doesn't even like juice much, and I wonder if having it diluted helped him not develop that sweet tooth early on (he doesn't really like sweets of any kind).
HTH
T.
I stopped around 2.5 but, given the chance to do it again, I would have done it much longer. I have always limited the amount of juice that my daughter gets, and at home she gets a serving of water between every serving of milk or juice.
Besides diaper rash, urinary infections can be exacerbated by too much juice. Not too mention, aside from the Vitamin C, most juices offer little in the way of nutrition...it just empty calories. As my daughter gets a little older, I try to treat it more as a treat.
If she'll take it watered down...keep it watered down.
I water down my 5 y/o's juice simply because of the sugar content. Even 100% fruit juice is high in sugar... but when I get the juice boxes, I leave them un-diluted and use them for a treat.
I water down MY juice, it's too syrupy for me straight out of the bottle.
Just my opinion...don't give her the juice. Like you said she drinks water and milk, just give her those. The sugar content in juice is sky high and not good for kids. I do give my kids juice but only on special occasions and during the day they mainly drink water, sometimes milk. If I'm feeling really "generous" sometimes I will let them have a cup of lemonade with dinner or lunch or if they've been playing really hard outside I'll give them a juice box. Otherwise, they don't get juice and they are totally fine with it. They love water!
as long as you can! I still water down my five year old's
