Dad Shows How to Make Juice Box Cocktail Funny

Aug 28 2011 by | Filed Under: Resources |

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Let's Try A Different Straw

Thanks to Gretchen's recommendation of the litterless juice box, Noah was trying out a new cup tonight. This one is slightly easier to squeeze to get juice out than our previous cup. It took him a minute to figure out what was going in his mouth, but as soon as that juice shot out he was trying hard to figure out how to suck from the straw. He was starting to get fluid up by himself towards the end. I was pretty impressed with this juicebox and would recommend it for first attempts with the straw.

 A Pediatrician's Two Cents On Juice

He wants that juice!

Just because juice is named after fruit does not mean that it is healthy. In hact it is LOADED with sugar. During my clinic while I was a resident, I frequently saw kids for obesity. Juice is usually a child's worst enemy when dealing with weight. Parents will come in with their overweight child and I find out they are drinking 24 ounces (3 cups) or more of juice per day. That is over 300 calories. A child should drink 4 oz of juice per day, yep you heard me correctly, 1/2 cup.

I always give the kids options for goals they should set to help with weight control. The first goal they usually choose is to elimnate ALL calories from things they drink. This means NO JUICE. Flavored no calorie water (or low calorie) is a great substitute for juice. Five calories vs 120 is a pretty impressive change. Just cutting out juice would save the above child over 2100 calories per week!!!

"Give me more mommy."

I am sure that you have heard, eat the fruit rather than drink the juice. Kids can see a significant change in their body mass index just be doing this one step. By eating the fruit they will get the nutritional value for much less calories, if there was any true nutritional value in the juice in the first place.

Children should never be encouraged to lose weight unless advised by their pediatrician to do so. The main goal is to maintain a weight while they grow taller. This is why the body mass index is helpful as it puts weight in relation to their height. If you look at a growth chart, you will see that if a child were to maintain their weight as they get older they would cross into lower percentiles. We want to halt the acceleration of growth that is making them surpass into higher and higher percentiles.

A Juice "Bonus"

Another fun present that too much juice can give your toddler is diarrhea. Juice typically contains sorbital. Some of you may recognize this name as it is the sweetner used in sugar-free candies. You and your toddler can't digest this form of sugar and when it is left in your GI tract it also draws in water and thus you end up with diarrhea.

What Does This Mean For A Child With Down Syndrome

All done. And very happy.

Children with Down syndrome are at risk for obesity. For one, they usually have a slower metabolism (meaning they will not need as many calories to maintain their weight) and two they tend to be less active due to either physical restrictions or there is nothing offered for them to do.

I don't know about you but we faught for Noah to gain weight at the beginning, and I find it slightly funny that we will eventually be changing our view of trying to keep weight off of him. We as parents have to make a major mental change when it comes to our child's weight. Hmm, maybe that is another reason our little guys struggle with weight 🙂

Some of your ears might have perked up with the idea of juice causing diarrhea. Juice can be a helpful tool with constipation as well. The juices that are most helpful tend to be apple and pear (and yep they have a high level of sorbitol). However you should use juice in limitation to help with constipation, 4 oz or less per day. The better way to help is that once a child is able to eat fruits and vegetables to use that rather than juice to help with constipation.

Has your child tried to drink out of one of these juice boxes, or tried a straw?  How did it work for you?  Also, how much juice do you allow your little one to drink?

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Source: https://noahsdad.com/fruit-juice/

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