You’ve read all the articles. You’ve listened to the experts. And still, when you’re baby is crying, or sick, or just thirsty, you give him the one thing sure to poison his mind, body, and soul. You know what I’m talking about.
Just try it, you’ll like it …
Apple Juice.
It has arsenic! It is literally poison! Not to mention the sugar that will rot your kids’ teeth right out of their heads!
Sigh.
Our whole experience with apple juice started just a few weeks ago, when my son got his first ever 2 week long stomach bug. The nurses actually recommended that we give him apple juice. Water, Pedialite, juice, anything to get fluids in him and keep them down. We tried watering the juice down, but too much water and he refused to drink. We figured as long as he was keeping it down it was fine. He never got dehydrated, so we figured we were good. Until all he wanted was juice.
Now, he pushes his water cup away, with an expression on his face that clearly conveys “What is this crap? Give me my juice!” I figure, we’ll try not to give him juice at home. Eventually, he will go back to water.
Simultaneously, we’re also trying to reduce his afternoon bottle. So, I figured, why not substitute it with juice? He mostly wants it for comfort’s sake anyway, and he doesn’t really need the formula if we give him a snack. It would make the transition away from bottles easier, for him
and for the babysitters at daycare. It seemed like the perfect plan. Or so I thou
ght.
I love all the teachers at my son’s daycare. They are wonderful, loving women who really know what they’re doing. I respect their opinion, because the fact of the matter is, when it comes to taking care of kids, they’ve been doing it longer. I freely admit that they know more than I do. But I still felt like crap when I asked if they could give my son juice at snack time and was told that they don’t give juice to babies.
Ok, I guess I understand why – if you give them juice, that’s all they’ll want, and parents are quick to blame any bad habits their kids pick up on daycare. I get that. But the way they said it made me feel like the worst parent in the world. Like, “You give your kid juice? What’s wrong with you?”
Who knows, maybe they’re right. We’ve probably been letting the kiddo have to much juice lately. Maybe we do use it as a crutch. But still. It’s not like we give it to him all the time! And there are worst things in the world. Right?
Well, maybe I’ll go read that arsenic study again. It’s like watching a scary movie. Even if you’ve already seen it, you still won’t go down to the basement after the credits roll without a damn good reason.
Or maybe I will give myself a break. One month of drinking some juice will not kill my baby. As long as I’m a responsible parent, I’m sure everything will be fine. Hopefully.
Mommy's Morning Coffee 
My grandmother recently relayed the story of how she gave my uncle orange soda in a sippy cup every night before bed. Not really sure what she was thinking, but as parents we’ve all been there and done that. He turned out okay (he’s a triathlete now). I always told myself I wouldn’t bribe my children or have “crutches,” but then I had children…
Exactly! I used to tell myself the same thing! People say parenting is the hardest thing you’ll ever do, but until I had my son I had NO idea. And there’s just ONE of him (at least for now).
*hugs* Breathe deep, and if it worries you, buy the ‘organic’ 100% juice no sugar fancy crap they load up in stores. At least he’s trying something new! Tabby refused to drink anything from a bottle. and all juice. We finally got her to drink regular milk or water from a sippy cup, but it was maddening when she was sick and the ONLY fluid she wanted was breast milk.
You’ll be fine!
Thanks! 🙂 That sounds so hard! You must have never gotten any sleep when she was sick!
Sleep is something I snatched when she napped, but there were some long days.
So I guess I was the worst mom in the whole wide world because my kids drank apple juice like water for most of their childhood! Opps! I only found out later . . .much much later, that I did something wrong! Oh well. My kids turned out great so I’m not going to worry about it!