fruit juice for 18mnth ds

[addictedtolatte]

my 18mnth old ds drinks about 9cups of drink a day. he eats plenty so its not hunger he must just be a thirsty baby. i have mentioned it to hv but she seems to think its ok. i just never mentioned to hv its not water he drinks its sugarfree cordial that is very diluted. about 1tsp to each cup. will this still rot his teeth and if so does anyone have any alternative suggestions cos he will not drink water. he will drink flavoured water but i am not sure if this is as bad as cordial. any wise mothers out there.

You'd be better off giving him watered down fruit juice than cordial. Sugar free stuff is usually full of crap

To be honest I would cut out the cordial and give him plain water only from now on - the reason he's drinking so much is not because he's thirsty, it's just because he likes the taste. My daughter's exactly the same - she could drink gallons of squash/juice but only drinks water if she's genuinely thirsty.

At this age he's probably getting most of the fluids he needs from milk, so don't be worried if he won't drink much water.

I would never give sugar-free stuff to a child, I would far rather they had sugar than artifical sweeteners. Having said that, I'm trying desperately to wean myself off Diet Coke I would say that if you don't offer him anything except water or milk then he will get used to it in time.