Fruit juice for babies — it sounds healthy enough, doesn’t it? Yet giving juice to your baby is not as beneficial as many parents believe.
Health organisations worldwide, including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Food Standards Agency in the UK, recommend that babies receive no supplemental fluids during the first 6 months of life. This means no juice OR water — breastmilk or formula alone are sufficient for your baby’s needs. If you give juice to your baby before 6 months of age, you may find that this “fills him up”. This will then result in him consuming less breastmilk or formula, depriving him of the nutrients which are crucial to healthy growth and development.
Even in older babies, drinking too much juice may be harmful — a baby who consumes juice before a solid meal will very likely eat less of his meal. This means he will be consuming less essential fats, vitamins, proteins and minerals than his body needs.
Another very important point to consider is that an excessive intake of juice can cause the body to absorb less carbohydrates — this can sometimes lead to malnutrition.
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