Giving a 5 month old fruit juice?

Question

I was wondering if it is safe to give my 5 month old some juice added to his water. if yes how much??

I just want to give him a little treat after his afternooon nap

Answer 1

I think that giving him half juice and half water would be fine. That's the age that I started giving it to my son. I would do 2 ounces of water and 2 ounces of apple juice. He loved it. If you don't dilute it enough the juice causes him to go to the bath room more than usual.

There's no harm in just trying. :o)  

Answer 2

I wouldn't give it to him before a nap as fruit juice has sugar in it and it will start rotting his teeth faster like milk. It might start a bad habit

I'd suggest give it to him with his meal and before his bath so you can brush his teeth later. I'm not sure if your's has teeth yet but mine had his at 4mths.

Answer 3

A 5 month old doesn't need fruit juice....any baby or toddler doesn't need fruit juice. As they get older, fresh fruit is much better than juice. If they don't know what it is, then they don't know what they are missing out on.

It's full of empty calories, and is bad for their teeth (when they get them).

Your 5 month old will be fine without a little treat, they don't know what a little treat is. Water is perfectly fine...but even that should wait until at least 6 months.

Edited to add:

Ummm....why do heinz put them on the shelf......TO MAKE MONEY! And the power of advertising makes people think that their baby needs it.

Oh, and FYI....it is recommended that babies have only breastmilk or formula for the first 6 months...too much water CAN be bad for a baby.

Answer 4

Sure its ok.  Give him apple, pear or white grape juice mixed with at least an equal portion of water.  It's recommended that you don't give infants more that 2-4 oz. of juice a day so try to start him on 2 oz of juice mixed with 2 oz. of water and see how he takes it.

I dont know how WIC works in other states but here they add 15- 4 oz. bottles of Gerber infant juice to your checks every month starting when the baby turns 6 months.

It's also recommended that you only give juice out of a cup...but my daughter drank it out of a bottle for 2 months before she figured the cup thing out.  My son figured out the cup by 4 months by taking his sisters and trying to drink it.  So I would try to give him a cup and see if he can figure it out, its fun to watch them learn how it works.  Gerber Sip n Smile cups work GREAT! They make them with handles and a soft spout for easier transition.  Plus...THEY DONT LEAK!

Answer 5

I think its lovely that you want to give your little one a treat in the afternoon. It may be a good idea to give him pureed fruit rather than juice, I agree with some of the other answers that there's too much sugar in fruit juice to give a baby at that age. If your baby is drinking water then thats great. My bub hates the taste of it so it will be a bit of a shock when he needs to take it when he starts solids!!!

If you do give him juice then dilute it a lot, he wont know the difference between full strength juice & watered down juice. You could even make your own fruit juice which is even better than ones bought off the shelf.  

Answer 6

I do about 1 ounce with 3 ounces of water...  It needs to be pretty diluted at 5 months, at about 8 months I'd switch to half and half...  But start off small and increase it as he gets older and more used to it!

Answer 7

my god-daughter is 5 months and her parents have started giving her juice once a day added to her water. she seems to be doing fine. they only give her a small amount though.

Answer 8

What I use to do with my gurls was while I was perparing their fruit and veges (I couldnt afford can foods and stuff for my kids so I would buy a little bit of fruit and always had veges) for the next day or something I would put the juice to the side and give it them later on that day or even the next day... I just found that being a new mum and all i wanted to make sure that I knew what my babies were having.....

So there's a suggestion for you... The juice usually gave me about 50mls... And it already had water in it..

Answer 9

Not a good idea.  Too much sugar, not enough nutrition, bad for brand new teeth.  Ask your doctor

EDITED TO ADD:  This is the problem with looking for baby care advice on internet message boards.  From your additional comment, it appears that you aren't looking for good, sound advice.  You're looking for someone to validate what you're already doing, and you'll always find that on the internet.

I repeat: ASK YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.  You probably won't like what you hear.

Answer 10

I suggest fruit rather than fruit juice. I do not reccommend giving fruit juice to any child under 6 years. Due to cavities, and it isnt as nutritional as fruit.

But if you must...dilute it 75%water 25%juice. And only a tiny bit. But I dont think it's a good idea,

Everyone puts a ton of things on the "shelves" because people will buy them! Just because something is sold with a baby on it, DOES NOT mean it is at all healthy. You are the one doing a disservice to your baby, by not taking our advice..as lightly as you want, opening a new tab, going to google and researching it yourself. Instead you are making a pointless comment of why would they put it on the shelves> Just proves to me, you are pretty clueless. ANd no water is NOT good for babies under 6 months! They are on a liquid diet, and for you to replace their only nutrition with clearly empty calories, is not healthy. They will not get dehydrated whatsoever if they are fed the appropriate amount of formula/breastmilk.

Answer 11

A 5 month old baby does not need fruit juice.  It is full of sugar and empty calories.  You are teaching your child that sweet is a treat.  Plain water or fresh mashed fruit would be a better alternative if you must give a snack.  If you want to add to your child diet than I suggest you ask your pediatrician for recommendations. It is probably safe but unhealthy.  

I did not say it was bad I said they just don't need it at such an early age.  Products are sold because people will buy them.  If you did not want anyones opinion then you should not post a question.