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What are the new guidelines? DS (almost 3) has never had juice, at least to my knowledge. He eats a decent amount of fruit and consumes enough sugar without adding juice in. I wouldn’t be happy if our daycare did that.

Our daycare is anti-juice, the kids get water and milk if you bring it in. Parents aren’t even supposed to send juice in at all. Lo1 is almost 4 and for the longest time only had juice at Birthday parties; now she occasionally gets it at restaurants or if she asks for it while grocery shopping, we will buy a small one. She prob drinks a cup 2-3x/week

This is pretty surprising to me because they usually say limit juice so your kid doesn’t fill up on it over fruit or food and then there’s the other negatives that come with juice. I give my kid the 100% juice juice boxes sometimes, but I would be uncomfortable with someone giving my kid juice on a regular basis and would prefer it was watered down. I’d just ask them not to give your kid juice just water. There isn’t any reason for them to be drinking juice in my mind.

It might present a problem if all the other kids are drinking it and they don’t get it. Or if they never drink anything and juice is the only throb they’ll drink.

DD’s school serves what you send. If you don’t send anything they provide water. They have juice a few times a year at holiday parties. That said, DD loves milk and all forms of dairy. I recently had to introduce a cup of apple juice 3x a week to keep her diapers soft enough. I wouldn’t mind if she got juice at school 1-2x a week. ETA: she’s almost 2.5.

@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: The FDA wouldn’t make regulations regarding how much juice a kid should drink. That’s not their area. I found these guidelines from the AAP: https://www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/aap-press-room/pages/american-academy-of-pediatrics-recommends-no-fruit-juice-for-children-under-1-year.aspx

Definitely no juice at daycare - I think the only time they have it is at the Christmas party. It’s milk with lunch and water otherwise at my daycare.

I have worked in several daycares and have friends who work in others and have never heard of anything except milk or water. And it’s usually water offered with the snacks and milk with lunch. Water accessible at all times as well.

I also never heard that juice aids with constipation?? I would have thought only prune juice would help. Do people that use it for that find it makes a significant difference?

@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: My LO’s day care feeds based on county guidelines because they get some nutrition grant. They served better food before they switched to this program (tradional Chinese food with vegetables from her garden). Now it’s just checking boxes to make sure the kids got enough servings of everything. Maybe your care provider is working with similar local level guidance.

I don't think our day care serves juice a lot, but they make a ton of... ummm, OK, I don't know the word for it, but it's like a fruit tea - boiled fruit + sugar. It's not quite as sweet as juice. They also serve warm tea with lemon in the winter because everyone's coughing and the extra vitamin C can't hurt. Water, of course, but not a lot of milk for kids that no longer take a bottle - they have a lot of dairy instead. Just as well, milk made the kids' tummy problems worse so it was nice to be able to cut it out until they were doing better.

Anyway, juice isn't evil. I've been giving some to the kids since they started solids because they're prone to constipation. Some of them are actually pretty nutritious if you don't overdo it.

@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: Oh mine eats tons of fruit too. At least 2 servings daily (berries, apples, watermelon, grapes, etc). And 2-3 servings of veggies (every day he has carrots, cucumber, bell peppers, peas, broccoli, edamame, etc).. It’s definitely not a substitute for whole fruit. I think he just has a sluggish digestive system (my husband does too) and the juice seems to help. I heard at some point somewhere it’s actually the sugars in the juice that help move things along.

I hadn't heard of this.... Our pediatrician has always recommended avoided juice entirely, he said the same at LO's last physical a month ago. My older son is so picky he only likes to drink water, so that was easy. My younger son will probably LOVE juice, but we just avoid giving it to him for now until he discovers it when he's older.... I actually love juice myself, but don't buy it because I don't need the extra calories & sugar

I know this is slightly off topic but I don’t like referencing things without a source so I found what I read.
https://www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/aap-press-room/pages/american-academy-of-pediatrics-recommends-no-fruit-juice-for-children-under-1-year.aspx

“Parents may perceive fruit juice as healthy, but it is not a good substitute for fresh fruit and just packs in more sugar and calories,” said Melvin B. Heyman, MD, FAAP, co-author of the statement. “Small amounts in moderation are fine for older kids, but are absolutely unnecessary for children under 1.”

The new recommendations state that 100-percent fresh or reconstituted fruit juice can be a healthy part of the diet of children older than 1 year when consumed as part of a well-balanced diet. Consumption, however, should be limited depending on a child’s age.

The policy statement recommendations include:

Intake of juice should be limited to, at most, 4 ounces daily for toddlers age 1-3. For children age 4-6, fruit juice should be restricted to 4 to 6 ounces daily; and for children ages 7-18, juice intake should be limited to 8 ounces or 1 cup of the recommended 2 to 2 ½ cups of fruit servings per day.
Toddlers should not be given juice from bottles or easily transportable “sippy cups” that allow them to consume juice easily throughout the day. The excessive exposure of the teeth to carbohydrates can lead to tooth decay, as well. Toddlers should not be given juice at bedtime.
Children should be encouraged to eat whole fruits and be educated about the benefits of the fruit as compared with juice, which lacks dietary fiber and may contribute to excessive weight gain.
Human milk or infant formula is sufficient for infants, and low-fat/nonfat milk and water are sufficient for older children.

My son drinks two kinds of juice, plain apple juice and Bolthouse C Boost. He didn't have any until he was 2 and he started the birthday party circuit.

For a child that eats normally, I don't think juice in moderation is a big deal.

No. No juice whatsoever at daycare. No sugary treats or junk food or cookies or anything like that at all. Even for birthdays they ask that parents bring at most, a tiny muffin for each toddler! I am lucky though that my toddler doesn't like juice anyway.

Just to pop back in, like stated before the AAP guidelines are because the USDA says 100% juice can equal a serving of fruit. Most people don’t know how to accurately identify 100% juice AND from a dietary standpoint juice is not a fruit equivalent. Most drinks in the juice aisle are not 100% juice, and for the average person it’s difficult to identify 100% juice and easy to get duped (like by containers that say “100% Vitmain C”—when you’re in a hurry you’ll just notice the 100%). Gerber and Motts also created a fake market for juice drinks for kids. I was outraged when Gerber introduced that juice for babies, “For when you’re ready to start introducing juice to your 6+ month old.” FWIW my kids get watered down 100% juice at home a few times a week, and more when they’re sick (non-sick times about 1/4 cup of juice and 1/2 cup water). My feeling is that schools should serve well-balanced meals and snacks and leave decisions regarding sweets and junk food up to parents. If this was my school I would offer the AAP guidelines to the director and also suggest maybe they could offer fruit instead (since they suddenly have money available to spend on juice—that would be a flag for me because our daycare is on a shoestring budget). You shouldn’t have to ask for your son to have water while his friends “get” to have juice.
BTW I just get so fired up about this topic so pardon my rant! Thankfully it’s actually my line of work so I have somewhere to channel it.

I am not anti-juice. I think sometimes parents will bring in juice for kids birthday and stuff. At home we water down the already watered down juice haha. I'm okay with anything as long as it's in moderation and as long as they otherwise have a balanced/healthy diet.