When to Give a Baby Juice

A. The American Academy of Pediatrics, in their policy statement on The Use and Misuse of Fruit Juice in Pediatrics makes it clear that 'there is no nutritional indication to feed juice to infants younger than 6 months.'

They also recommend that juice be given only in a cup, not in a bottle, and that if you do give your older infant juice, then 4-6 ounces of juice would be more than enough for the entire day.

Keep in mind that this is really a daily limit though and not necessarily an endorsement for drinking juice. Since most kids drink too much juice and drinking juice can be associated with having cavities, diarrhea, not eating well, and being overweight, you would be better off giving your older infant fruit instead of fruit juice.

If you do give your child juice, do follow these tips from the AAP:

• when you give your child juice, it should be 100% pasteurized fruit juice and not fruit drinks and you should offer it to your infant in a cup only and not a bottle
• infants under 6 months of age should not be given juice, although many Pediatricians do recommend small amounts of juice for children that are constipated
• younger children aged 1 to 6 years should have only 4-6 ounces of juice a day.
• older children should be limited to 8-12 ounces of juice a day
• instead of juice, children should be encouraged to eat whole fruits