confused

At Sage's Dr appt today she said I could start introducing juice in a sippy cup now.

Do I NEED to give her juice?  I feel like if I do she will get hooked on sugar.  I do want her to get used to the sippy cup, I was thinking water?  Anyone not give their LO juice.  If I do give her some I wanted to make my own.

This stuff is so confusing!

 You don't need to give her juice. If/when you do, you might want to water it down.

I remember when my 9-year-old was a baby, I was told to give him white grape juice. I tasted it first - it's super sweet! I was worried about the sugar too, so I watered it down.

With Elyse, I give her water in a sippy cup. I have given her little sips of apple juice, but not very often.

Melanie

Please, please, please make water her drink of choice for life. No obesity, tooth decay, to worry about. It's cheaper and a ton better for her!!! 

My kids are 6 and 8 and we NEVER gave them juice. Now that they are school aged they do take a V8, capri sun, fruitable juice, ect in their lunch but when they were toddlers-nope!

Good luck! Sippy cups rock!~

Tristan got/gets water that sometimes has a little (maybe 25%) juice in it. He will drink straigh****er just fine. I buy 100% juice (mostly apple) and then cut it alot. My pediatrician said that they shouldn't have more than 6oz of juice (stright) per day. He parrots that it is empty calories and since I am (and you probably are worried about sage too) worried about a genetic weight issue there is no neccessity for juice. Juice is like a treat for him. He doesn't get very much of it, except when he's sick b/c we have to cut back his milk (he gets that cut too) b/c it makes him cough worse.

PS if you're worried about tooth decay, you can and should start brushing her teeth/gums now. That way when she needs it and has teeth she'll be used to it and it won't be a hassle.

jayson maybe gets 9 oz of juice a day.. hes 2.... jaylyn gets none... no you dont need to give her juice.. gerber makes a flavored water if your interested... ohh.. jaylyn gets whole milk in a sippy... thats right.. omg.. whole milk!

I agree w/everyone else - juice is not mandatory.  I'd guess that giving her juice in a sippy might just be to help her learn to coordinate drinking from a sippy cup.  I'd give her water instead.

I DESPISE water and thus have to force it down - or flavor it w/Crystal Light or something or I stare at it all day and don't drink it.  I didn't want my son to have the same problem, so as a baby I gave him water - in his bottle, in a cup, whatever...and he's 15 1/2 now and LOVES water. He also loves juice now...but doesn't drink vast amounts of it either and prefers water over juice most of the time. 

As one of the pp's said...juice is pretty much empty calories with a little vits etc - save that until she can eat real fruit - even apple sauce - and get some fiber and other benefits from it.  If you do give her some, dilute it at least 50% with water...since she's little, she'll never notice the difference.

If it would make it easier for you to know what to feed her - to avoid her facing the same obesity problems so many of us had - are there pediatric nutritionists that you could talk to who could point  you in the right direction on what to feed her and when?  Or is there a book you could get from the library?  It might help and make your mind at ease?

My son will be 9 months this weekend and we started the sippy cup right around 6 months, but he has never had juice. He LOVES ice water!

I've alerady started giving Mia water in a sippy cup (she's just over 5 months) and she takes it without a problem. I won't be giving her juice anytime soon. She LOVES water, the colder the better! lol Infact when I am drinking it out of a glass she tries to steal it, I have given her sips out of the regular cup too and she does just fine.

LOL Sage tries to steal my water all the time.  I give her some in a straw in her mouth.  She seems to like it.  How is Mia doing with the sippy cup?  What kind do you use.  I bought Sage a playtex one that says 4-12 months and she just stares at it like what is this?  Do you feed it to her or does she do it herself??

I got one made by "Munchkin" at Target, it has a silicone nipple. I give it to her to hold (ok well drop LOL) but I hold it so she can drink out of it.