Toddler LOVES Orange Juice

Hi! My daughter is 2 and a half and she LOVES orange juice as well! She drinks like 8 ounces in thee morning, every morning and sometimes asks for more! She will not drink milk at all and she likes apple juice but not as much as oj. I want to know to if too much acid is involved! Please let mee know if you talk to the pediatrician. Thanks and good luck

How about switching him to oranges? Does he like those as well? They are much better in that the sugar does not enter the bloodstream as fast, the fiber and extra nutrients that are not in OJ, especially processed OJ. If not, then I would do fresh squeezed OJ, get a citrus juicer as at least its fresh and cuts down on the acid level from concentrated juices. Also try the juice pops, made from fresh squeezed juice. Kids love those and would take him longer to eat.

Its a good problem to have! At least its not junk food or candy he wants to eat all day ;>

A.

Like with anything sugary... be sure that your son's teeth are brushed and cleaned very well, multiple times a day if possible. But in addition to the sugar, the acid in the OJ is damaging to the enamel... just like any other acid would be.

Oops.. .Kathleen is right! I forgot that... you are NOT supposed to brush away acids. It can cause more damage. Rinse very thoroughly if you can. I would insist that he rinse with plain water twice and spit in the sink or something (that would encourage him to want to do this... spitting would be fun! )

Hi Tine,
Obviously you want the best for your child and the orange juice isn't necessarily the problem, it's how are you buying it? Most parents are buying juice from concentrate with is loaded with bad sugars and are not good for you or your child. if he loves juice so much then invest in a small citrus juice ($12 at Walmart) and give him real fresh juice. Even with that you should try and keep it to 1-2 glasses a day or dilute it with water and give @4 cups.
Best of luck!

Too much orange juice can cause a lot of medical issues. Acid reflux, bladder problems, stomach problems, diabetes and much more. You can actually go to the Federal Health Site and it will tell you what he should be having at his age. Also too much orange juice can rot his teeth. A lot of the health issues may not show up until later in life. I would wean him off of so much orange juice and give him more water.

Hi T.,

Any concerns re children can be sent to pediatrics.com, and a dr. will answer, with regards to adults try WebMD.com

Also, maybe you can add a little cranbery to the orange juice, or maybe a little tomato juice.
God bless yu and yours,
D. P.

Hi T.,

If your little one's tummy is working right it should be digested fine. Orange juice is a great antioxidant and a great source of Vitamin C. I would give him the pulp as that will help with fiber but I don't think you can OD on OJ :)

Regards,

M.

My first child loved OJ too and now she has tooth enamel problems. Also any juices dump sugar into the blood stream and should be chased with something high in fat. Consider raw whole milk and making frozen popsicles with pureed fruit, plain yogurt and a small amount of powdered sugar. This may appease the sugar addiction and will help the fruit to slowly enter the blood stream.

I would be more concerned about the consumption of dairy. He's not a cow, doesn't need to be consuming the pus laden mammary gland excretion of a cow.
How about old fashioned water?

Have you seen the Orange V8Fusion? I can't remember the exact flavor but you may want to try that to cut down on the acidity and it's 1 serving of veggies in addition to fruit! I think as long as you are diluting it, then it is fine. Or buy the low sugar or something like that. If he starts having diahrrea, I would cut it back. This happened when my husband started giving our daughter 2 bottles of straight orange juice!!

Dear T.,
Hello, my littlest loves OJ also! I also worried about the high acid context, so eventually I have gotten her down to just 1 8oz. cup a day; and into juice boxes with punch. Especially the coolers with a little Orange juice in them mixed with more fruit juices. She is now 5 and still loves her OJ; and has no effect from drinking it. She used to only drink OJ, but she is exploring other flavors also. I'm sure your little man will start explore more tastes soon also! The vitamin C is good for children & adults! I'm positive he will be fine. God bless your family!,
Kathy N.

It's good you are watering it down because it is sugary.

When my daughter was three we could not keep enough OJ in the house. I did water it down, but I also bought "low acid" OJ. She did fine with it. Interestingly enough, now she is five and will not go near a glass of orange juice. I wish she would. Talk to your Dr. but I think as long as you dilute it and but low acid your fine. There systems tend to tell them what they need.

I doubt there are problems with too much orange juice aside from the fact that it's pretty sugary. My 3 year old really loves it too. I try to limit her to 2 small cups a day (so probably 8 oz all together). I don't dilute it either. As long as your son is also drinking plenty of water, I probably wouldn't worry about it. I'm sure drinking too much of ANY fruit juice is probably not a great idea just because of sugar and empty calories.

Hi T. - I'm so glad you asked, I wish I'd asked the same question 4 yrs ago....my dghtr wldn't drink milk out of a sippy cup when we moved away from the bottle. In order to make sure she rcvd enough calcium we moved to OJ & I didn't dilute it. (She also ate yogurt.)

I also asked our ped. if drinking OJ all the time was okay & she said it was fine (she only had a max of 16oz/day).

What I didn't know then that I know now it that OJ is very acidic on the teeth, can wear away the enamel and is very sticky on teeth! I'm pretty sure all these things were the main causes of my dghtr already having 6 cavities (at 6 yrs old)! It doesn't help that her teeth have very deep grooves that trap the tiniest plaque (that cause cavities), but I didn't know abt her teeth when I was giving her the OJ for so long.

If you continue giving him OJ just make sure he rinses with water really well after he finishes the OJ. I also thought running a plain toothbrush over all the teeth after OJ wld be in order also, but a friend of mine who is a dental hygienist said that is actually a bad thing due to the acidity of the OJ, a toothbrush would just rub the acid OJ further into the teeth, etc.

K.

Hi, T.. Don't worry, if the juice were messing up his tummy, he would complain. He would hurt, because he would have an acid stomach with burning, and he would have cramps and diarrhea. As long as he doesn't complain about his tummy hurting, and he's not producing massive amounts of loose stools, he's fine.

Keep diluting that OJ. Also, see if you can get him to drink a couple of glasses of water each day because he actually needs the water more than the OJ.

Peace,

Syl

Im not sure about the acid content, but V8 Fusion has an orange juice that is a full serving of fruits and vegetables plus its all natural. I think it tastes just like regular juice but with the added bonus of the veggies. Just a thought. :)

Hi T., It's the sugar in the juice that he loves.How diluted is the juice? My little one would drink juice all day if I let her! If he isn't having rash or runny stools he is probably fine but I think that it is good for them to get used to drinking just plain water and milk most of the time. Eventually sugar can hurt teeth and if they are used to drinking sweet stuff as toddlers it might influence their choices later. Of course just my opinions but Most Dr.s say to limit the amount of juice.