im just courious?

Question

Why is it babies cant have juice till they are 6 months of age?

Answer 1

too much sugar and not enough nutritional value

Answer 2

I am an MD. But I am not a pediatrician. Nevertheless, I would like to say that it is not as if juice is poisonous or anything like that. It is just that juice has a lot of sugar and little or no other nutritional value, other than vitamins. In the first 6 months of life, the baby's brain is supposed to almost quadruple in size. It really grows explosively. This requires a lot of calories and protein and fat to accomplish this properly. (Otherwise the IQ of the child will suffer as an adult). Juice has none of these. Furthermore, have you ever tasted human breast milk? It is remarkably sweet, much sweeter than cow's milk. Human babies just love the sweet taste, and if given juice, they will begin to prefer juice over milk, and a screaming baby's wishes are rarely left unrewarded, sad to say. So the baby gets his juice, and then suffers for it later. Juice also tends to cause diarrhea, which can be very dehydrating, making the baby more prone to other problems, such as infections and viruses.
But the good news is that 6 months is not all that long to wait, and at six months, we are taught that baby can have anything that you eat, without exception. (I was once in Mexico and I saw a young mother feeding her one year old some corn which was drenched in hot pepper. This would be prosecuted as child abuse in the USA). I hope this helps.

Answer 3

Well, there are many reasons why an infant/baby/child shouldn't have juice at a certain age, here are some reasons;

-curves hungry which stops proper breastfeeding or bottle feeding
-studies have shown high sugar content at an early age can lead to childhood obesity, which can then lead to adult obesity.
-empty calories
-too acidic
-their bodies cannot process sugar properly at this age and can become very fussy and have trouble sleeping
-acidity can cause bad diaper rash and face rash
-allergic reactions and sensitivities
-the first foods into babies mouth should be savory, not sweet.
-early tooth rot, specially if given in a bottle
and I am sure many more!

I am personally going to wait until baby is 12 months old before introducing juices, and when I do, they will be made at home without any added preservatives/sugars/etc and waterer down 1 part juice 3 parts water.

Answer 4

Juice contains higher levels of acid than milk. The other reason is that fruits and juices can cause diarrhea which we want babies to avoid, of course. A babies stomach is very sensitive and could respond to the acidity by causing severe heartburn, burning esophogus and with just the natural laxatives, lose important nutrients through diarrhea. The third reason, which I don't really subscribe to,is that it can eat the enamel from their teeth as babies tend to hold things in their mouths longer than older children.

Answer 5

Giving baby juice before 6 months of age
Both the American Academy of Pediatrics and the UK Foods Standards Agency state that you should not give your baby juice before he is at least 6 months of age.

Up to this stage, he is getting all the nutrients he needs for healthy growth and development from breastmilk/formula. Feeding baby juice can make him feel full and cause him to accept less milk, which will deprive him of these essential nutrients.

Answer 6

Digestive tract isn't ready to cope with the acid and sugar in juice. Even now, the WHO recommends giving water only and leaving the juice out entirely.

Answer 7

Their tummies are so little and things are harder for them to digest. Juice isn't that good for kids anyway. Your baby is getting all the nutritional value he/she needs from formula. I still water down my children's juice age 3 and 19 months.

Answer 8

because there is really no nutritional value to it and they need to get as much formula as they can get for the 1st year. i have a 7 month old and her doctor is still saying don't bother with juice because of the nutritional value so she still hasn't had it!

Answer 9

not really!!! my baby is 3months and i started giving him orange juice because his doc. told me to. i started giving him the juice when he was about 2 and a half, he had troubles pooping so the doc told me to give him juice, i put a little bit of sugar because of the acid!!!!!!!

Answer 10

I'm thinking because of juice's acidic quality!

Answer 11

BECAUSE OF THE ACIDS IN JUICES AND IT IS MORE IMPORTANT FOR THEM TO GET THE NUTRITION FROM BREAST MILK OR FORMULA