How Much Juice Does Your Toddler Drink?

[Fiddle-Faddle]

A friend of mine has a 2-year-old who shows classic signs of celiac: fussy, watery bms, little to no weight gain, off the bottom of the charts for height, etc.

Of course, I've been suggesting a gluten-free diet. But she is looking into other food issues, and she may be on to something.

First, she took him off soy, and noticed some immediate improvement (but not all the way) with diarrhea and the cramping, and a small improvement in weight gain.

She took him to the pediatrician today, who asked how much juice the kid is drinking.

Apparently, he's been drinking about 30 ounces of juice a day.

Well. That would give me diarrhea, too! (Not to mention heartburn!) The pediatrician told her--no more than 8 ounces a day of juice, maximum.

The reason I'm posting this is, we are all so quick to assume that it's a gluten problem. I know I tend to forget that there could be other equally simple food issues going on!!!

[hannahsue01]

Holy crap that is allot of juice. The ped is right when saying no more than 8oz. One way to make it go further is to water it down. My daughter use to take it 50/50. To much juice can cause diareah. The juice that appeared to be the worst for her was apple juice though I don't know why.

[AndreaB]

Wow!

Mine would split a whole container of juice if I let them. They have apple juice with their cereal which I'm thinking is causing some problems.....maybe I should water that down. Other than that I let them have a glass of calcium fortified orange juice a day. I already water down the orange juice a little bit.

Thanks for the heads up Alison.

[Michi8]

A friend of mine has a 2-year-old who shows classic signs of celiac: fussy, watery bms, little to no weight gain, off the bottom of the charts for height, etc.

Of course, I've been suggesting a gluten-free diet. But she is looking into other food issues, and she may be on to something.

First, she took him off soy, and noticed some immediate improvement (but not all the way) with diarrhea and the cramping, and a small improvement in weight gain.

She took him to the pediatrician today, who asked how much juice the kid is drinking.

Apparently, he's been drinking about 30 ounces of juice a day.

Well. That would give me diarrhea, too! (Not to mention heartburn!) The pediatrician told her--no more than 8 ounces a day of juice, maximum.

The reason I'm posting this is, we are all so quick to assume that it's a gluten problem. I know I tend to forget that there could be other equally simple food issues going on!!!

Wow! Not only can that much juice be hard on the system, it's full of sugar (and somewhat empty calories) and a big risk for dental caries!

Michelle

[chrissy]

and those empty calories can dampen their appetite for other foods, which can help explain the poor growth.

[penguin]

What really irks me is when I see juice in baby bottles and the toddler running around with it in his mouth all day.

No wonder the kid is sick.

[jerseyangel]

And it dosen't do their teeth any good, either

[Mamato2boys]

My son doesn't drink juice at all - it gives him diarrhea. Whole fruit is better for them anyway.

IKWYM about juice in the bottle bugging you - I've seen kiddos that have tea or soda in their bottles - that REALLY irked the crap out of me !!

[wonkabar]

At absolute most, my son will drink 8 oz of juice if he drinks any at all during the day. I never believed in giving him, or my daughter who is now 21 months, juice when he was younger. To me, a juice box was empty calories. In fact, over the summer, I *just* started letting him have the Apple & Eve's Sesame Street juice boxes...he's 3 1/2. He'll go days without it at home. He usually has one at school during snack...it's a 4 oz box. He's also offered water which he often takes. I've always pushed water and milk. I don't even let them overload on milk. I'm a HUGE water drinker-I don't like soda-so I've subsequently passed on that habit to my kids.

My feelings towards juice had nothing to do with being a poor eater or failure to thrive. Both of my kids are excellent eaters and have always grown appropriately. I always joke around and say if I ate as healthy as I feed my kids, I'd drop 20 pounds!

IKWYM

What does this mean? (I'm not very technically astute!)

[schuyler]

Wow, that's a lot of juice!!

The boys are only allowed juice (watered down) on special occasions. Other than that, they only drink water and/or rice milk. I don't see the need to add juice to their diets, plus they eat plenty of fresh fruit, which I think is healthier.

I know what you mean about seeing young kids drinking juice and soda from bottles. I about died the other day at work, when I saw one of our clients at work giving her 9 month old a bottle filled with soda. When she saw my horrified expression, she quickly reassured me that it was diet soda; like that really changes things! She's pumping junk into her daughter's body during an important time of development.

What does this mean? (I'm not very technically astute!)

IKWYM= I know what you mean

[happygirl]

I think my teeth are rotting just thinking about it.

[2kids4me]

For any that are interested - I found these articles. The problem with apple juice is the sorbitol.

Open Original Shared Link

Gastrointestinal symptoms occurred in more than 30 percent of children consuming pear juice, apple juice, and sorbitol, but in only 10 percent of those drinking grape juice. Chronic nonspecific diarrhea resolved in three of the seven children after fruit juices were eliminated from their diets. These data suggest that carbohydrate malabsorption after fruit-juice ingestion is common and that these juices may perpetuate symptoms in certain children with diarrhea.

Open Original Shared Link

Chronic nonspecific diarrhea (CNSD) remains a common pediatric problem. Previous reports have suggested disordered small intestinal motility, food intolerances, dietary fat restriction, and excessive fluid consumption as possible contributory factors. We have recently encountered a subset of children with CNSD in whom nonexcessive apple juice intake seemed to cause their diarrhea. In five subjects, ingestion of 240 mL of apple juice disclosed evidence of significant carbohydrate malabsorption by breath-hydrogen testing and resulted in diarrhea. Withdrawal of apple juice from the diets of these subjects was curative in all cases. Before embarking on an expensive and time-consuming evaluation for CNSD in otherwise healthy children, a brief restriction of apple juice intake may be warranted.

Open Original Shared Link

The child's diet must be evaluated. Fluid intake may play a factor. Studies have shown a link between excessive fluid consumption and toddlers diarrhea, as well as high carbohydrate, low fat diets. Excess fruit juice intake - especially apple juice - is often the cause of mysterious diarrhea (apple juice contains sorbitol, the "active ingredient" in prunes). If the child is being given any natural remedies or health foods, these need to be mentioned to the doctor and probably stopped to see if there is an improvement in the diarrhea.

[Mamato2boys]

What does this mean? (I'm not very technically astute!)

IKWYM = "I know what you mean"

[wonkabar]

IKWYM = "I know what you mean"

Thanks!!

Just as a funny side note...the very first time I met my husband he shared with me what he did...network manager at a university. I nicely replied with, "I hate computers!" After we started dating, he told me that, although stunned by my candor, I presented him with a challenge in a cute way. We've been married six years. He's now the network manager of a hospital system, and I *still* have no idea what half of these things mean!

[loraleena]

I work with infants and toddlers in their homes for Early Head Start. The recomendation is 2-3oz per day for 6 months- 1yr. and 3-6 oz. for 1-2 year olds. Real fruit is much better than juice!!

[Izak's Mom]

I share others' amazement - 30 oz. is HUGE!

Izak hardly has any juice, because when I give it to him - even seriously watered down - it gives him D. Some are worse than others...we stay totally away from apple and orange, but if I really water down some pear nectar it's sometimes OK. But otherwise, he's a vanilla soy-milk, water, or really weak herbal tea-kinda guy (and the latter only when he's not feeling well and has boogs, usually I give him really weak chamomile or apple-cinn flavored caf-free herbal tea).

[Mango04]

If you're friend's child really likes juice that much, maybe she should consider investing in a juicer. She can make small amounts of fresh veggie juice (sweetened with a tiny amount of fruit) for her toodler. That would be a much healthier option than pasteruized/processed bottled juice.

[Fiddle-Faddle]

What a great idea!

[vampella]

That is a ton of juice.

Giving that much juice puts their children at high risk for diabetes as they get older.

Also sever tooth decay. 1 glass of juice has as much sugar and sometimes more than a soda drink. When you have a sip of juice or soda your teeth are literally attacked for 20 MINS by cavity causing bacteria....from juice. NOT GOOD.

I do not give my kids juice. Even for school 99 % of the time I will send bottled water, I'm sure I am the laughed at uncool mom but I don't care. My kids almost 7 and 4 have never had a problem with their teeth, where as their friends have had cavitys and caps and teeth pulled. We know a 3 year old who has had 2 teeth yanked, a bunch capped and a bizzilion filled. that's not right.

Char

[2kids4me]

Giving that much juice puts their children at high risk for diabetes

Just wanted to add that the notion juice can create increased risk of diabetes is false.

Type 1 diabetes is autoimmune / insulin is not produced.

Type 2 has high genetic component - and insulin is produced but does not work effectively.

Your pancreas will produce as much or as little insulin it needs to handle the food eaten. Obesity is the risk factor - this results from overeating - be it juice or donuts or bread or potatoes.

I say this because I am tired of being accused of feeding my kid too much candy when he was little - and THAT is why he has diabetes.

He has islet cell antibodies - that is why he has diabetes.

I breast fed him exclusively until he was 11 months old. He never had juice til he was over a year. Since I am diabetic - we didnt have a ton of sweets around.

Guess I am sounding defensive - I want to point out inaccurate info when I can

[vampella]

Actually it has be found to be a factor is developing diabetes as they get older, or so some studies show. I'll see if I still have the artical about that study, if I do I will post it. doubt I still have it but I will look around.

Either way, it leads to obesity and obesity can lead to diabetes. so like I said, that much juice can cause a child to be at increased risk for diabetes, correct? whichever way it's put it still can lead to diabetes.

We are told here in manitoba, by Dr's, dieticians and so on that juice is unhealthy and that new studies are showing that there is an incresed risk for diabetes not to mention the fact that all that sugar is not healthy and causes other problems. I am sorry that people have told you that it's your fault BUT I am not the one who did, NOR do I believe that to be true. I am sorry that someone was so cold hearted to say such a horrible thing to you.

I am at risk for diabetes, I had gest diabetes with my youngest. It's something you deal with and I changed my diet to make sure that my risk is lowered, I do not drink juice or give it to my children but that's me. I choose to listen to my doctor and dietician.

Here is one I found not FJ but soda, not the one I was talking about:

Women who drink more than one sweetened soft drink a day are more likely to develop diabetes than women who drink less than one a month, according to a new study.Harvard University researchers.

Researchers found that women drinking one or more sugar-sweetened soft drinks a day were twice as likely to develop diabetes as women who drank fewer than one a month. Even when they considered such factors as weight, diet and lifestyle differences, the researchers still found that women drinking sugary sodas were 1.3 times as likely to develop diabetes. so really, what is the difference between pop and juice, they contain the same amount of sugar?

Char

[2kids4me]

I guess its the statement that juice specifically can cause diabetes - any diet high in high glycemic index foods will cause weight gain /obesity / poor health = Type 2 diabetes risk.

I dont drink juice much either - and if I do, I avoid apple juice as it is highest in carbs per ml. Same for my son. Fruit in its natural state is better than juice.

The diabetes team at Childrens, my own endocrinologist who researches diabetes have always been clear that Type 1 is an autoimmune disease. Juice cant trigger autoimmunity.

Ther are many contradictory articles and papers out there. I only know what works for myself and my son : low glycemic index food, variety in the diet, fiber and exercise alll contribute to health. Even if someone eats all the right things, doesnt drink sugary drink - they may still get autoimmune disease or heart disease.

Whats the difference between sugar derived from rice pasta and 30 grams of sugar from a juice? It looks the same to the metabolism once its broken down to sugars.

Anyways, I dont want to have this thread be about whether or not juice causes diabetes. I dont know for sure myself, we each have different information and its probably all correct to a degree. If this sparks someone to research on their own - that's great.