How do I introduce juice and in what container to my purely breastfed daughter of nearly 6 months?

Question

She has had the occasional bottle but refused juice from it today - do I just perservere? Should I try her with a beaker already?
She has been having some solids once a day for 2 weeks now but only really likes 2 flavours I have tried her with - do I try and try again?
Any weaning advice greatly appreciated!

Answer 1

She doesn't need juice at all the first year, the sugar content even in 100% juice is high. Also never put juice in a bottle, the sugars collect at the silicon lid and can rot her teeth, even if they haven't popped up yet. Try water in a sippy cup.

Answer 2

You introduce juice very slowly, literally put a very small amount in boiled water and slowly add an extra amount say each week. I would never give more than 50/50 I am assuming you mean pure juice not squash. Pure juice does affect babies stools quite severely, so beware! When my kids were young they had herbal granules to add to water, I used these as I could control exactly how much flavour I gave them.

At 6 months though I would offer just boiled water in a feeder cup. Try to keep to water as long as possible, she has her whole life to try all the flavours on the market and the sugar/artifical sweetner wont do her any good. You do have to perservere with any change keep offering foods she appears not to like and even offer her foods you dont like, she may like them.
With weaning the secret is small steps and keep trying!
Good Luck :)

Answer 3

I'd say start her off on a sippy cup. It's totally different, so she's not "offended" by the artificial nipple (probably why she's refusing the bottle).

Babies that young can even be weaned directly to a regular cup, but it takes perserverance, and a lot of moms like the in-betweener. Especially considering the fact that you aren't talking about wanting to wean a four year old from a bottle to a sippy cup (browse on here, that's a serious concern to a lot of moms, apparently), it would probably be just fine, and a LOT easier, to wean her to a sippy cup.

Answer 4

six months is waay too young to be giving a child juice. If anything try her on water and always give her formula/ breast milk. juice is one of those things you can introduce after you stop giving her formula and once she is on solid foods, right around about a year old. Right now, introduce her to cereals like rice and oatmeal. I wouldn't try her on the more veggie stuff for a few months. Apple sauce is a great first food to try right now. If she doesn't like them, keep trying every week until you know for sure that she isn't going to eat it. She may just not like the texture and is still deciding if she will eat it. At about 7-8 months that's when I would start her on mashed foods, and go from there. Good Luck

Answer 5

My daughter is now 21 months and still doesn't take juice. She was breastfed for 6-7 months and although she sometimes asks for juice now (because her friends at toddler group drink it) she doesn't like it. I'm happy she just takes water. She gets the vitamins she needs from her food and I don't need to water down fruit juice for her. Give her cooled boiled water in a bottle or beaker. If she's quite happy with that, you should be pleased! :) xxx

Answer 6

My daughters 10 months and never had juice so i wouldn't worry, its not vital, my girl has 10 oz or more of water out of her cup. Just to add i've only just got her to drink properly out of it in a few days even though shes had a cup since 4 months so you don't need to rush it just yet.

One thing i will say is never give juice in a bottle, it rots their teeth & makes it harder to get them off the bottle. My nephew is 3 & his teeth are rotten brown from juice out of a bottle.

With weaning advice just try little & often, your doing it right. After a month of weaning we had her on half a jar at breakfast, lunch & dinner. By 7 months she was off baby food and on the food adults eat, except junk food & salt. We didnt puree after 7 months as it discourages them to chew ( even without teeth they chew well) but your aim is to get her onto 3 meals a day with snacks inbetween, they don't eat a lot so once she's past 7 months she can have almost anything except honey,salt & nuts.

Have fun ,messy fun :o)

Answer 7

Firstly dilute the juice well and warm it slightly, my breastfed son would not take anything cold. Also it had to be diluted because he did not like the sharp taste.

My son wouldn't take anything from a bottle - the only thing he would drink out of was a Tesco "Bottle to Cup Trainer" which has a bottle shaped base, a wide, bottle-like spout and handles. After he got a litle bit more used to that we tried him with a Tommee Tippee cup (sippy cup with a lid and a spout). He doesn't like anything that you have to "suck" from because the method used to suck liquid from a bottle is different to the method used to suckle from the breast. The sippy cup is fairly free flowing so its easier for him.

At nine and half months he will take a few sips of diluted juice or water with his meals. He's not a big drinker and prefers to get most of his liquids from his breastfeeds but its a start.

As far as solids go, breastfed babies are notorious for being difficult weaners apparently. My son at his age will still only eat stage 1 purees and very small amounts at that. I have been getting myself relaly stressed because "all the books" say that they should be eating proper little meals at 9 and half months and the most I can get down him is half a jar of stage 1 puree! But his weight is fine and he's still getting plenty of goodness from breastfeeds so I'm trying not to worry. Let your baby dictate the pace.

Answer 8

You should be introducing the sippy cup around now, but it may be a while before you find one she'll take and she learns to drink from it - my son is 11 months old and still won't take one.

In regards to feeding, you should keep trying with foods she doesn't like. Once it becomes more familiar, she should be willing to take it. Pick one food and try it at each meal until she takes it, then when she's familiar with it move on to the next one.

Juice should be diluted to 50% in water. If you tried to give her pure juice, that could be why she rejected it.

Answer 9

You shouldn't give juice until after 12 months, ideally.
You should keep with breastmilk until she is past the point of needing breastmilk or formula and can have cow's milk or juice... that being said, I wouldn't suggest switching from breastmilk to formula, either.

If you don't want to put her to the breast consider pumping. Remember that you won't be doing it forever, and in the scheme of things, 6 more months is absolutely nothing and in a year you'll barely remember you BF for so long.

Answer 10

just your milk is enough, if she wants more give her a short drink, she will only drink her fill and then stop. she doesnt need juice. boiled water is another alternative. keep feeding her and with solids feed her before feeding solid food. if she only like 2 things now just use these 2 things and introduce more later. no hurry. dont stress about feeding her solids. my friens baby is 7 mths and dosent want any solid she is just happy with mums milk. my baby on the other hand has booby and anything solid she can get her hands on. the two babies are the same age.