8 Month Old Menu Question

juice is totally not needed or recommended. He absolutely shouldn't be getting it before bed and NEVER out of a bottle. Juice is LOADED with sugar, which will sit on the teeth all night long and cause tooth decay. I don't even know of any pediatricians that recommend giving an 8 month old juice. Ours said it was ok at a year and only if it was watered down. There is NO nutritional value in juice. IF you feel that your child has to have it, water it down significantly, give it in a sippy and do it sometime between lunch and dinner. Also, just a few ounces at a time.

I personally would not be giving juice at this age unless you have constipation issues. But that is just me. The rest sounds pretty normal.

for the first year.. all of the nutrition comes from formula.. baby food is just practice for eating later..

he should be getting at leat 24 oz of formula per day..

soon he will be eating table foods.. small bits of whatever you are eating.. once he starts to taste real food.. he will lose interest in those bottles..

good first food... small bits of bananas.. cheerioes.. canned fruit and vegs cut up small.. once they taste real food.. . they love it..

I also agree with not starting your little one on juice quite yet. And when you do, make sure to cut it with water. If you have a happy, growing baby, you're doing just fine with the menu.

There is no nutritional value in juice. I would not even introduce my child to juice. They should be taught to eat the whole fruit (when they are old enough). Juice contains a lot of added sugars which is a path you don't want to go down.

Formula/breastmilk should be the main nutrient the entire first year. You should not be looking to cut down there.

Breastmilk or formula is *primary* nutrition for the entire first year! So there is no place for you to cut out a bottle and give juice instead. No place.

Juice never belongs in a bottle. Period. And if you offer any at this age it should be a very small amount heavily watered down. But again, you have to be careful with amounts because breastmilk or formula is primary nutrition for several more months.

You would be smart to start offering baby a sippy cup so that you don't have a fight on your hands to get rid of the bottles later. I have a non-breastfeeding friend that has her little ones off the bottle by around 9 months. Mine never really got a bottle so that was never a worry in my house ;)

Everything seems pretty typical. I would start very slowly offering more food and less bottle, starting at around 10-11 months. Also, you could start as soon as you want to, with transition to formula in a cup. It makes getting rid of the bottle SO much easier.

Like others said...juice before bed, is a big no-no. And just in general, at this age. I would not substitute juice, for a bottle ever. Just give him water and fruit instead. he will benefit so much from fruit and not so much from juice. I started giving my son a little juice (like 25% juice, 75% water.) around 13 months. At 18 months, we still water down the juice he does get (which is infrequent still). I would only give water, or formula to your child. Especially, before bed. If you can do it without waking him up, you should brush his teeth just a little before bed...even for formula.