Juice for babies and toddlers

Juice is everyone’s favorite snack. We drink it more in summer to keep our bodies hydrated. It is also very good for our body and immunity. But do you know that juice is not recommended for babies under one year of age? Homemade juice or fresh fruit juices are also good to avoid before age one. Even after one year, the quantity of juice that you give to your child should be very little. Whole fruits and plain better are best for babies and kids.

The reason why doctors don’t recommend juice is that it has a high risk of causing tooth decay and babies like them so much because of its sweet taste that they don’t prefer drinking plain water and they fill up their stomachs with juice instead of having all the healthy meals. Juice lacks the fiber which contains in whole fruit.

 

Avoid giving soft drinks, packaged drinks, juice with sugar, etc. If you want to introduce juice to your baby’s diet then you can prepare fresh homemade juice with fresh fruits without adding any sugar for babies above one year of age. Remember to give a few sips of water after your baby had juice or any kind of sweet. This prevents tooth decay.

In this article, I will tell you fresh fruit juice recipes which are very easy to make and healthy for your baby. You can also check out some other articles related to this:-

• Oranges contain vitamin C and antioxidants. They boost immunity and are good for your baby’s skin. It also helps in preventing constipation.
• You can introduce orange juice to your baby in small amounts when he is 9 to 10 months old.
• If your baby is sensitive to acidic foods then you have to wait till your baby turns one year because oranges and all citrus fruits are acidic. Or else your baby might get rashes.
• It’s always better to ask your pediatrician before introducing any new food or juice to your baby.
• To make orange juice first wash the oranges in water.
• Cut them in half.
• Squeeze them with the help of a juicer or with a hand.
• Remove the pulp from the juice and then offer the juice.
• Don’t add honey or sugar. You can add honey or sugar if your baby is one year old.
• You can feed them with a spoon or if your baby is old enough you can give them a straw or a sippy cup.

• Ragi contains iron, calcium, and proteins in high amounts.
• It can be introduced as early as 6 months of age. You can make ragi porridge for your baby.
• To make a ragi milkshake you will need 2 to 3 spoons of ragi flour, 500 ml of boiled milk, and 2 to 3 spoons of jaggery.
• Take 2 to 3 spoons of ragi flour and mix it in half a glass of water and stir it completely. Make sure there are no lumps. The water shouldn’t be hot or cold. It should be at room temperature.
• Now take a pan and add the water mixture to it and turn on the stove on medium milk.
• Add 2 to 3 glasses of water and cook the ragi until it becomes thick.
• Now add the milk and stir it without any lumps.
• Add 4 to 5 spoons of sugar.
• Cook it for 10 minutes or till the milk becomes a little thick.
• Now take it out in glasses and serve warm or chilled with some dry fruits on top.
• You can also cook a ragi milkshake with jaggery if you don’t want to eat sugar. But the process will be slightly different.
• You have to cook jaggery first in another pan and make a syrup out of it and then add it to the milkshake when it is at room temperature. Or when you cook ragi first you can add the whole jaggery at that time so that it cooks and dissolves in the ragi porridge.