At what age can babies drink juice?

How many months should babies be able to drink juice? Many people have great doubts about this issue. In the process of parenting, it is inevitable to encounter many setbacks. If you don’t know how to feed your baby, then the baby’s physical development will not be good. Especially in terms of feeding children, it must be treated reasonably. What children should eat and what they should not eat are all very important. So how many months can babies drink juice?

It is not advisable to add juice to breastfeeding too early

For a long time, people have been accustomed to feeding fruit juice to babies 2-3 months after birth, believing that fresh fruit juice can be used to supplement the baby's needs for minerals and vitamins. In fact, doing so will have the exact opposite effect.

Studies have shown that babies who are exclusively breastfed do not need to be fed fruit juice before 4 months of age. The nutritional components of breast milk are most suitable for the growth and development of infants, and are sufficient to meet the needs of infants under 6 months old in terms of calories and water. Although the minerals contained in breast milk, except iron and copper, are less than those in cow's milk, it is sufficient to meet the needs of infant growth and development. In particular, the absorption rate of iron and zinc in breast milk is several times that of cow's milk. The ratio of calcium to phosphorus in breast milk is more suitable, making it easy for babies to digest, absorb and metabolize. In addition, although the content of vitamin C and other vitamins in breast milk is not too high, it does not need to be heated and will not be destroyed. As long as the mother's diet is rich in vitamin A, there will be enough vitamin A in breast milk. The only thing that is insufficient in breast milk is vitamin D, but vitamin D cannot be provided by fruit juice and must be obtained from fish liver or by getting more sun exposure. Therefore, mothers with sufficient milk can safely breastfeed their babies for 4-6 months under normal circumstances. Only in the hot summer, when the baby sweats too much, has diarrhea or takes sulfa drugs, does he need to be fed additional water.

Feeding fruit juice to babies too early will not only squeeze out the baby's intake of breast milk, but also lead to a gradual decrease in the secretion of breast milk. Moreover, when feeding fruit juice with a bottle, the large holes in the rubber nipple are easy to suck, which will affect the baby's sucking ability and is not conducive to the secretion of breast milk and the establishment of the lactation reflex.

In fact, babies can drink juice when they are very young, it just depends on whether they can digest it. If the baby has a good digestion degree and digestive function, then they can drink juice. Drinking juice can improve the baby's physical fitness, but if there is milk, it is best to give the baby breast milk, which is the best. Juice can be drunk when the baby is older.