Question for all you fellow moms out there... I should know the answer to this, but I honestly just don't remember from my oldest two children. (That is what happens when you have more kids after 40!) When is it okay to start giving the little ones water to drink in their sippy cups? The twins just turned one last month and have transitioned to sippy cups. We do lots of milk and some juice, so this would just be as an "extra" here and there......... Thanks!
Water is far superior to juice and a great choice. Giving them water instead of juice will set them up to make that choice when they are older as well. (IMHO) Juice is really empty calories. We did watered down juice after we gave my daughter water. SO Yes! :)
Unless they have problems with constipation, I'd say cut out the juice and give them water instead! My daughter never has juice except when she's constipated.
I totally relate to you comment "That is what happens when you have more kids after 40!"
I gave birth to baby #5 at 37 and have forgotten a few things here and there regarding raising a baby, after a 7 year break.
I never really follow many child rearing rules with the ittle ones because they are so brilliant and usually let us know what they need (they are not yet bombarded with commercials yet convincing them that they need xyz....)
I don't really remember when I started giving by babes water, but my youngest (15 months) definitely loves it. If you get your children started with water early, they will learn to love it for a life time.
I've been giving my daughter water in her sippy cup since she was 6 months old. Why not give them water instead of juice? When my son was over a year old, I gave him a sippy cup of water with each snack and when ever he said he was thirsty. He got milk with his three main meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner).
After one year it is fine as an extra.
My theory with water is that it just fills them up and doesn't provide anything in the way of nutrition. Because little ones aren't eating a nutritionally balanced solid food diet yet and may even be done nursing and no longer taking formula, I prefer to stuff nutrition in there as much as I can, which means I offer milk at that age instead of juice/water. If they are going to fill up on liquid I would prefer it to be milk or breast milk in my case verses water.
That said, if you want to give them water there is no real reason why you can't, it certainly won't hurt them but it's not providing any nutritional value either.
Hope that helps.
They are using tippy cups for other drinks they need water too so just start giving it to them.. Mine likes ice in it to make it taste really good.
I am going to get on my soap box here, juice is not empty calories. If it is then an apple is empty calories with a little tiny amount of fiber, a peach is empty calories. A serving of 100% juice is a serving of fruit, and if you don't believe me then refer to the food pyramid put out by the Government. Read the label, a serving of 100% juice is about 8 ounces per day. Two 1/2 cup servings.
Here is a link to a web site that has good information. Both about what juices are healthier and which are higher in sugar.
You can give a child water to supplement their liquid intake at 6 months of age.
Water is better than juice any day!
You are fine to do it now especially given how hot it starts to get. My son is 5.5 and he still gets his juice cut with water. He and my daughter both get splashes of juice in their water thru the day so that way they get a bit of juice and the water that they need. :)
So all humans require water, including children. My peds doc said to only put an ounce or so of juice and then fill the rest of the cup w/water as soon as they were getting juice. Juice is just empty calories. You should do same with milk but I admittedly do about a half and half mix of milk & water. My kids eat cheese, yogurt and cereal so they get tons of dairy. I know i did the wrong thing when they were kids and didn't give them straight water on occasion... I really wish I had. I can get them to drink it now with ice sometimes. But usually the only water they get is in the mix or at preschool... Both of the schools they have gone to serve water with snack. Train them early! Water is the number one thing we all need more of to be happy and healthy.
These articles are where I got info on feeding water and how much milk to give babies and toddlers (too much can be a bad thing). Top one is for water and juice, the bottom one has the milk guidelines on page four if you want to check it out.
Water is good to give them, it gets them used to water from the start, doesn't fill them up and get in the way of them eating other foods to get balanced nutrition, and keeps them hydrated. My son drinks several glasses of water a day, and has since around year old. Juice is the extra, only as a special treat. Cow's milk I limit to 2 glasses a day. Most people (myself included) don't drink enough water and tend to be somewhat dehydrated all the time.
Hope that helps! :)
http://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/baby/f...
http://kidshealth.org/parent/food/general/toddler_food.html#
I started offering water in a cup around 5-6 months. It certainly wasn't a big part of her fluids since she REALLY liked the breast, but she had fully mastered a sippy/straw cup by a year and we got rid of the bottles of breastmilk at daycare with no problem.
Assuming they are eating a wide variety of foods, they are definitely old enough to have several ounces of water a day.
We started giving our twins water in sippy cups at six months old. One year is fine.
I usually give my girls milk at the main meals in a sippy cup and water any other time. The docs want them to get enough milk, but not too much. Always a fine line :-) When they get tired of plain water, I add ice or a splash of lemon or even watered down juice. have fun!
