Juice Trumps Milk, But "Baby Coffee" is Still the Favorite.

The good news is that Gianna has kicked her bottle habit. However, there’s a new monkey on her back: chocolate milk. I only have myself to blame—I shamelessly bribed my two-year-old with it in a variety of cartoon character cups to help her give up her bottle of milk.  Now, it is the first thing she asks for in the morning, before she goes to bed and sometimes she talks about it in her sleep at 2 a.m.

I am not clear on how much milk a toddler is suppose to drink. Is it supposed to still be whole milk? My pediatrician said 2 percent is fine for a two-year-old and anywhere from 16-24 ounces is acceptable. Gianna likes milk so much that when we pass Starbucks, she immediately says “Oh Mommy, baby coffee?” (If you ask nicely most Starbucks will give you some warm steamed milk in a ‘baby’ cup. I add a little sugar and cinnamon and we both get to enjoy an afternoon pick-me-up—despite the looks I get from passersby who think I give my daughter real coffee.)

Though we won’t be giving up baby coffee any time soon, I did want to curtail Gianna’s growing chocolate milk habit. In addition to plenty of water, I’ve begun offering her juice. Yes, juice. I know there are a lot of parents wincing at the thought. A friend of mine (who happens to be a doctor), said recently that he’d rather give his kids diet soda (?!) than sugar-laden juice. In my book, juice—100 percent juice—is ok as long as your child is not drinking a gallon of it daily. (Gianna is allowed one juice box a day.) I think it is fine for kids to drink their fruits and veggies especially when there are some all-natural, no-sugar-added juices out there. One surprising favorite is an organic import from Switzerland, called Biotta, who offers a 100 percent fermented carrot juice. They also produce a Breakfast Juice mixture of orange, grape and banana juice sweetened with agave and honey that Gianna likes and I even drink on the run. And, believe it or not, mixed with a little water in her new Mini Mouse cup, Gianna devoured the beet juice too.