Ladybug's (almost 23 months old!) nutrition is very important to me. Because we are continuing to breastfeed, my concerns for her nutrition may be different than for other toddlers.
First of all, we continue to breastfeed for several reasons. 1) It's good for both of us. Extended breastfeeding reduces my risk for certain types of cancer. It also provides up to 40% of her recommended daily allowance of protein. 2) We both continue to enjoy it. It's great downtime for us in the midst of a busy day to sit down and nurse. 3) It continues to help her immune system. Yes, we have all suffered with colds this winter/spring, but I really do think that Ladybug has not been as sick for as long because we continue to breastfeed.
Because of all this, Ladybug's choice of beverages are simple: water in a cup, or breastmilk from Mama. She may occasionally have juice at Mom's Morning Out, although I have asked them to give her water instead. I know that she does receive juice however. We restrict juice for two reasons: 1) she does not need the extra liquid calories; and 2) we do not drink juice at home except on special occasions. Hubby and I drink water, (cow's) milk, coffee, and tea.
I've never been a big fan of juice for kids anyway. It is always much better to eat an apple than to drink apple juice. There is lots of good fiber in apples that is not in apple juice. And drinking your calories is an easy way to pack on extra pounds because juice is not as filling as an apple.
Now, I'm not judging parents who give their kids juice. These are just my objections to making it a regular part of a child's nutritional intake. Hubby and I have struggled with our weight most of our adult lives. We were both "chunky" as children, although looking back at pictures, I don't see that we were an chunky as we thought. We want to help Ladybug learn good habits now that do not set her up for a lifetime struggle with her weight.
The great thing about having a little one and trying to teach her good eating habits, it has affected our own habits too. We do not eat as many sugary foods as before. We know that we need to be good examples to Ladybug.
I will continue to share how extended breastfeeding impacts our nutrition choices for Ladybug in future posts. This is just the tip of the iceberg! For more great posts about kids and food, don't forget to visit Tara at Feels Like Home and Gracie's Kitchen Friends carnival.
We don't let Hailey drink juice either- for the reasons you have stated. And actually now, when she is offered juice at an outing- she will not drink it, she doesn't like it.
ReplyDeleteI do the same thing with Shiloh. She almost never gets juice. It's milk or water. She doesn't need the empty calories and sugar (natural or not).
ReplyDeleteYou've inspired me to write a post about kids and nutrition. I don't know when, but I'm going to write it.
I totally agree with you about juice. My family members constantly give Grace juice and pop, and it drives me crazy. We're at the point now where Grace is reluctant to drink water. We're working on, but it's a hard road already.
ReplyDeleteStick with the water. You're doing LB a huge favor.
String Bean will not drink juice at all. She was dehydrated awhile back and the doc suggested pedialite or gatorade. (I wasn't going to pay for the cost of pedialite.) We managed to get String Bean to take a couple of swigs of Gatorade before she realized it wasn't water!
ReplyDeleteYep, 17 months and still breastfeeding here! Although at 18 lbs 1 oz (as of last week) I don't think this child will ever have a "too much weight" problem. We have the opposite problem!
I am often the lone ranger in my mommy group too: no paci, no sippy, ext. BF, no TV...so I feel ya and your previous commenters. Oftentimes it's hard and lonely to do the right thing!
ReplyDeleteWIC gives us SO much juice, which, if you talk to the staff, they wish they could give us vouchers for produce to have the apple rather than apple juice, as you've stated and for the same reasons. I've made trades with other moms, get and use V8 for cooking (veg. soup, spag. sauce), and cut the juice with water if we drink it, which is not too often. This summer I may use it for healthier popsicles.