Is it wrong to give 1 year old sugar free juice?

[cherrycola66]

From 6 months I was trying to give my DD water, I thought she couldn’t use the cups properly, I’ve bought every single cup I could find and still had no luck getting her to drink.

I tried completely sugar free juice (just a dash), and she drinks the whole cup, so it’s water she doesn’t like, I know she should be drinking water but I have tried everything, is it ok to give her the sugar free juice as this is the only way she will drink. Please don’t mum shame me.

Not mum shaming but the fact it’s sugar free means they’ve made it with chemicals.

How much water do you drink? My daughter has always just wanted to drink out of my water bottle.

If she doesn’t see you drinking water, she’s not going to want to drink it either.

I don't think it's a great idea tbh; artificial sweeteners aren't recommended for children. Could you put a squeeze of the juice of an orange into her water?

You can give her whatever you want. Not sure what you want from the thread- obviously water would be better and of course if squash didn’t exist your daughter wouldn’t die of thirst. On the other hand, lots of people give their kids squash and the sky doesn’t fall in. Up to you.

I would persevere with water. Have you tried letting her drink from your cup? Sometimes they're more interested in what we're having even if it's the same as what they have.

It would be better to give a dash of fresh apple juice or orange juice rather than sugar free squash. Or you can put chunks of orange/cucumber/lemon in the water for flavor.

Some people do not drink water no matter how thirsty they are

Artificial sweeteners are worse for your health than sugar. If you persevere she will eventually drink water. You could consider adding lemon or lime to the water to give it a flavour and I second the PP, let her see the adults around her drinking water

A splash of pure apple juice would be a better option than squash with sweeteners.
Another option, which some babies love, is cooled herbal teas such as peppermint, camomile, or fruity ones.

Personally I’d go with a dash of fresh apple juice in her water that’s not been chemically messed with over the squash. Or try adding cucumber slices and a wedge of citrus. But really it doesn’t matter so long as she’s hydrated and healthy. The last thing you want is her ending up constipated because she’s not drinking enough- that can make potty training really difficult. Over time you could dry diluting it more and more until you’re back at plain water, because school will likely have a water only rule, but that’s so far off I would just be thinking about what gets her to drink right now especially with summer coming up.

I mix a bit of juice in with water, works well.

I assume you mean squash? It's just chemical shite, don't do it.

As pps a dash of juice, or high quality natural sugar cordial would be preferable. I don't drink water unless I'm really thirsty so I get it. Also some people just don't need lots of hydration.

I'm older, so our children drank all sorts of things, squash, cordial, tea etc, the difference between then and now is that it was "natural" sugars, rather than chemical sugars, which despite being "sugar", was probably better.

Have you tried these cups, my 1 yr old GS wouldn't drink water but he loves this cup.

Never artificial stuff for a child that young. It gets harder to avoid, the older they get, but at this age, as pure as possible. A little pure juice with mostly water maybe. But not cordial/squash. Too many chemicals.

They get a lot of water through the diet, and they are small, they don't need much. Don't give anything but water. It's a myth that drinking loads of water is inherently healthy.

My GP said 2-3 Oz of fruit juice a day wouldn't hurt. I diluted it in my little ones cup and they learned to drink that way. Slowly decreased the amount until they drank straight water. Only thing is to be mindful of teeth as it can cause cavities as they form.

Have you looked at the ingredients? If there’s no sugar but it tastes sweet there are artificial sweeteners in it that are way worse than sugar. Either ask for advice or don’t, mentioning “no mum shaming” is manipulative and daft. We all make decisions in parenting that are better or worse but don’t do something you know isn’t great and ask people not to confirm what you know.

She should be drinking milk and water, she doesn’t need anything else.

I echo everyone else with doing diluted fruit juice rather than squash.

Id also maybe try a few different shapes of cup/beaker to see if she prefers one as ultimately you’d want them having just water.

NO. Water or milk only. Stick some lemon or cucumber slices into it if you absolutely have to.

Even normal squash would be better than sugar free, not that I would recommend that either. I drink the sugar free myself but it really is awful , it’s chemical crap really , I wouldn’t give it to a child .

Is she drinking a lot of milk at the moment? It may be that she just isnt that thirsty and as her milk consumptions drops she will naturally make up the lost liquid with water. She drank up all the squash just because she liked the taste. If she's really not getting enough liquid then I'd do 10% cloudy apple juice topped up with water. That's what my cousins hv recommended when they were struggling to get her baby ds to drink.

She'll only be allowed water at school, so giving her a taste for squash now could be storing up trouble for both of you.

Agree with pp that if she's still having milk then she might not be that thirsty.