When a baby breastfeeds the first milk that comes out (foremilk) has a higher water content, more like a hydrating drink. Once the baby is at the breast for awhile, this slowly becomes hindmilk, thicker and richer in fats and proteins, addressing the food hunger. Breastfed babies for the most part do not need any other source of liquid in the first year (obviously this can vary, but it a general principle). Even once they are on solids, most on-demand breastfed babies do not need water or juice, b/c they will continue to drink the foremilk for hydration.

In addition, through the first year, ‘solids’ or ‘real food’ are experiential, meaning the primary source of nutrition remains breastmilk or formula. If a baby seems less interested in breastmilk, it is most likely b/c the mom/caregiver is offering after the solids, when the baby is full. Best practice is to offer breast first, then solids, so that baby gets used to eating, but is still getting most of their nutrition through breastmilk/formula.

Finally, breastmilk is a laxative, formula constipates. Before I would give juice to a breastfed baby, I would breastfeed more to see if that helped. Obviously if necessary go for the juice, but I agree that since there is little nutritional content, I would rather my baby gets the laxative effect from breastmilk which is also nutritional.

LOL! My MIL talks about how my husband came home from the hospital taking 3 8 oz bottles a day and 2 full bowls of cereal…The lady has got to be on crack becuase he was 5 pounds 9 oz at birth! Oh and according to her he was 6 weeks OVERDUE! HAHAHAHHAAHA shes an idiot…but thats a whole ‘nother post..:)

Amazing how times change…isn’t it?

well if Britney’s mom gave her apple juice maybe that’s why she’s not so quite ripe upstairs! lol just messing!

well yeah my mom said she used to give us all kinds of crap as a kid and gave us solids at 3 months. She said doctors didn’t do all those studies back then like they do now. She says I raised you based on what my mother said and what her mother said and guess what your alive so I must of done something right!

Yeah a bit of juice once in a while won’t hurt him. Plus anyway I bet it was probably her mother who suggested/okayed the apple juice because she probably fed that to Britney back when she was a baby! (I remember seeing bottles of Gerber apple juice, which you could screw the baby bottle nipple right onto, in the babyfoods section of the grocery store back in the 1980s…so I wouldn’t be surprised if Lynn Spears ever bought that for her kids back then.)

And speaking of bad habits, branding, and toddlers, I remember back when I was about 3 seeing a Coca-Cola sign on a store while I was in the car with my mom. Then when we got home, I remember begging for Coca-Cola in my owl baby bottle!?! (I was very articulate even at that age.) I think my mom tried to appease me with a generic version of cola, but I wouldn’t take it because it didn’t come from a Coke 2L! I was also an only child at the time, and apparently terribly spoiled…lol

(If I can remember that about my childhood, imagine the tales your child will tell about you!)

I think the bottom line is that your child isn’t going to melt away from having a “bit” of juice. I had juice as a kid – I’m fine. All my cousins and nephews had juice as babies – they’re fine. And nobody is overweight or unhealthy! But every parent has the right to do as the wish when it comes to thier child. I personally don’t think my children will have juice until after a year but then again that could all change. I can’t predict what I will or won’t do.

Danielle – once your daughter starts solids your going to realize that she might want the breast alot less (that’s what alot of moms tend to tell me). Food just seems so much more delicious to them! lol
And when you do give Anya her first taste of fruits have a camera ready to show us!!

From what I see, it could be tea as well. My sister used too give tea to her son from 8 month onwards and it looked similar to that in the bottle.
I would not really mind the touching of the nipple of the bottle…I mean, you also touch your child, and there are a lot of doctors telling people that you should not overprotect your child, because hey need to build up an immune system, which cannot happen if they are always kept away from everything.
That`s just what I heard though.

My oldest daughter has severe constipation and i was first told to put karo syrup in her bottle. That didnt work so we moved to diluted apple juice. That didnt work so we had to give her straight apple juice…4 oz at a time. She was 10 weeks old at the time. We also had to do enemas. Our choice was either do what we were told by a ped or face the chance that she could end up with an impacted bowel. She was given juice regularly and it did finally work. By 1 she was doing much better and weighed a whopping 15 pounds. I sure am glad she did’t get fat from all her “junk food”.

As a child care provider for a long time and someone who helped raise her two sister’s kids. Juice wasn’t introduced until at least over the age of 8 months, unless we were told by a doctor for constipation or something and we only gave it to them in a cup. I did the same thing with the other kids I took care of, sometimes it was for medical reasons at a younger age. It all depended on the child. I noticed that Britney is holding the nipple with her fingers. That’s a no no and as a child care provider even if the binkie (that’s what we called it) fell on the floor it was always washed, same with the nipple on a bottle, it’s only common sense to never hold a bottle that way with your fingers, expecially if your hands weren’t washed. If any of the kids got juice it was watered down, even the kids I took care of, even if the parents didn’t know that I would take the juice they gave me and water it down slightly. Unless it’s used for medical purposes I don’t recommend juice in a bottle. If you give it in a cup watered down with a meal or as a treat then they will still drink their milk, well that’s what I did. My neice and nephew never got juice in a bottle when they were babies and ready for a cup. I guess to each is their own.

We live in Florida, and although I nurse my daughter I had to start giving her water at about 7 months (Doctor’s orders) because she was still getting dehydrated even with being exclusively breastfed (didn’t start solids really until 9-10 months).
She rarely gets juice (only when I drink it) and I always water down my own juice (way too sweet for me).

I don’t think that giving juice is terribly wise either, but also respect that Britney is probably just trying to do her best for her situation, so reserve judgement.

My personal experience (not a judgement on those who do things differently at all):
With my 4.5 year old daughter, I don’t think I gave her juice until about a year old when she was having sippy cups etc. She was formula fed and was moved to cow’s milk then and was predominantly on solids. But I still had it *really* watered down and only Lower GI juices like apple. She has juice now in the morning wiht her breakfast, and it is the Multi-V, fortified juice that is low in added sugar.

With my 5 month old, I don’t give him juice or water – haven’t needed to so far. Again, he is formula fed and on solids, but I don’t drink juice so I don’t see why my kids should. But, if he is constipated, plain old boiled water does the trick.

With babies that are breastfed, it is my understanding that they get all their “liquid” nourishment from breastmilk alone and you dont even need to introduce other drinks until 12 months or beyond if you dont want to. The timelines for things, in my experience, seem to be different for breast babies and bottle babies.