Toddler Who Won't Eat Anything but Fruit

Will he drink fruit smoothies? You can fatten those up with whole milk, peanut butter and even sneak some veggies in them. Jamba Juice has a new kids menus for ideas.
http://www.jambajuice.com/menu-and-nutrition/menu/jamba-k...

okay, I'm Old School: if there's no medical/sensory issue present, then the child has to be taught to comply with the parent's wishes. Sorry.

Soooo, start with an assessment. Make sure you're not dealing with any issues requiring additional help. Then stand your ground & do not allow your child to throw food. I recommend you watch the "1-2-3 Magic" video to give you some idea of how compliance can be brought about within your family dynamics.

This is not cruelty. This is not you being a hardhead & insensitive to what your son perceives as his needs. This is YOU being in charge of how you & your family lives.....with Peace & compliance, with a child who knows right from wrong & does not act out with defiance over something as simple as food on his plate.

Forget the short-order cook routine. Forget the smoothie method. Teach your child to listen to you &, at the same time, enjoy what is given to him. My rule of thumb has always been: one bite for each year of age. So your son would be required to try 2 bites of each food item on his plate.

To make this easier, I allow the child some autonomy in both the decision-making & food prep of the meal. As with all in life, I limit the child's choice between 2 options....makes life so much easier! So, give him the choice between 2 vegies. You decide between 2 meats (in front of him). etc etc. Let him be a part of the meal, & hopefully it will go easier.

Yep, I feel strongly about this issue! Parents should be parents, not caterers!

Kids go through periods where they won't eat some things or only eat certain things. What does he drink? Give him milk...it gives him the dairy, fat and calories, and nutrients he needs. Try not to let him drink a lot leading up to meals. Can you get him to eat peanut butter (on toast, a bagel, celery, applies, bananas, anything?)? If so, that gives him some protein. Will he eat meat if you let him dip it in ranch dressing? That works for my daughter.

*Edited to add: I do what the poster above me does with offering things I know she'll eat, something she might and something she normally flat refuses--however, lately (she's 22 months) if she can sit in my lap and eat off MY plate, she'll eat just about everything we are eating...I'm not really going to argue at this point, I want her to get into the habit of eating full meals and then we'll transition into having to sit in her own seat and having to eat off of her own plate. (we aren't quite as small as you weight wise--about 15%, but we're not even on the charts for weight-for height--my two youngest are both 15-20% for weight but over 90% for height so they are SKINNY, but growing and I was the same way as a child)

I agree with most of what's been said, except that that AAP says they can have peanuts as young as 6 months as long as it's in a form that's not going to be a choking hazard.

I have a picky one...she eats fruit, breads/crackers, fish/shrimp, nut butters of all sorts, and oddly enough, loves refried bean dip (refried beans, salsa and cheese--she eats with a spoon or crackers).

start with your pediatrician and ask about a feeding therapist in your area to see if evaluated if they think you need services...then do some research on food chaining. food chaining begins with the food they like, then moves to that food with dips, then different dips, different textured dips, a food that is similar in texture and taste and then it with dips, then a new food also similar in texture and taste, but still slightly different....you just keep moving on away from the starter food until you are on something you want them to eat.

so apples with peanut butter might be a start, then offer apples and crackers with the peanut butter, then bread with peanut butter on it, then a pbj sandwich, or pbb sandwich (if he likes bananas) and moving on in that fashion with other foods he will tolerate.

Well, my first thought is the food throwing. Is he tossing the food and then getting what he wants? If that's the case, stop reinforcing that behavior.

Are you certain it's not a sensory issue? What does the pediatrician say?

If fruit is really the only thing he'll eat. Work with that for now. Try dips. Maybe if he can dip it into sunbutter (too little for peanut butter if memory serves) or yougurt or whipped cream, he'll open his horizons and eat more.

My son wasn't a picky eater, but he also fell off the weight chart. His pediatrician told us to add melted butter to everything to add extra calories. We didn't do it to everything, because I didn't want him to suddenly think that veggies were yucky if they weren't slathered in butter...we did it sporadically. So try adding some butter to get in some extra calories.

Avacados are full of good for you fats too.

Have you tried veggies in different forms? For instance, canned green beans...but serve them cold like his fruits. Or cold meat sticks? Canned beans, served cold like the fruit?

With our son, he wasn't a picky eater and food diaries showed the pedi he was eating plenty. He just started out with an extremely high metabolism. The one thing that helped him gain the weight were milkshakes we made using chocolate pediasure instead of milk. We did one of those a day before nap time and THAT's when we saw the weight gain. You can hide and add lots of things to smoothies and milk shakes.

Keep trying. Keep introducing. Include him in cooking too. Even at less than two, he can stir and mix for you. Sometimes if kids have a part in it they are more likely to try new things.

Good luck mama.

Both my kids went through a fruititarian phase, not exactly to this extent, but close. I think you just gotta keep on keeping on! Keep giving him the other stuff and give him the fruit too. Will he drink a smoothie? If so then I'd do that sometimes with some extra stuff like yogurt, milk, protein powder, peanut butter, whatever.

I would guess that he'll go back to some of the other stuff fairly soon. Maybe you could try to get him to dip fruits in things?? Like yogurt or chocolate, peanut butter, shoot, even marshmallow fluff might not be bad if you feel like he needs to put on some weight. You can make a fruit dip with equal parts cream cheese and fluff, it's pretty good.

Good luck!

Mine eats one thing one week and something else the next week. Some days he doesn't want dinner, other days two bites of breakfast and done. I just try to offer a variety and let him eat. He is a milk drinker though. Try things that are similarly texture and just put together and you might get lucky. You are not alone though!

Added. He loves frozen fixed veggies, but not so much if.they are cooked.

If he throws his food, I would take it away, tell him we don't throw food and he can be hungry. Toddlers won't starve.

I'd try to make sure he eats a good breakfast (get good cereal and not sugar ones). Will he eat it with milk? I'd encourage milk or water over juice b/c that's a lot of sugar. I think it's become (becoming?) a power struggle. I don't force my kid to eat and reheat her plate over and over and over, but if she's not going to eat at dinnertime, then she doesn't get to raid the fridge later. My DD would turn into a fruit if we let her, so we tell her that if she eats x bites of whatever's on her plate, she can have x pieces of fruit. I usually offer her something she will eat, something she might eat and a wild card. And I model the food I want her to eat. She used to like her tacos deconstructed - does not like stuff mixed up. Whatever, no problem for me. But sometime after she turned 4, she started imitating us and making her own tacos. It just took time.

I would also look at vegetarian recepies and see if any of those will get him the nutrition he needs without the meats he won't eat. Beans are good protein.

Will he eat it cooked? You can sautee it with lots of butter to get weight on him. Then you can try to pair it with other things like with pancakes, in a pie, ect. My son will only eat fruits and veggies raw but if your child will eat them any which way, it will be easy to pair it.

If you're allowing the child to throw the food and then get down from the table, you are encouraging that behavior.

If I were you, I would make the child get down and pick up every piece of food from the floor, table, wall, etc. EVERY PIECE! It will take time; he will not like it; you may have to take his hand in yours and guide him to do it, but I would make him do it.

Then, he would get another plate and go right back to his spot at the table. He can tell you he doesn't want to eat something, but throwing it is completely unacceptable.

Once he finds that he's not going to be rewarded for throwing his food and that it really is a problem since he now has to clean it, he may start coming to the table with a different attitude.

Good luck!

Try fruit smoothies (made in the blender). Add a tiny bit of clean filtered water or coconut water only if necessary. If he will drink that, then start making them with some raw veggies thrown in. I have learned we can eat a multitude of veggies raw! You can even throw in raw cacao and Gogi Berries for added nutrients.

But better yet is to really concentrate the nutrition by making fresh organic veggie/fruit juices. Don't water them down, but you can use that instead of water as a base for smoothies. You can find tons of recipes for interesting juices and smoothies. I have found I LOVE foods this way that I'd never even tried before (I used to be the picky eater of my family). For instance, I love fennel in my juices. Fennel!!???!!! What is that??? It took me till I was 56 years old to even TRY it!!!

These juices and smoothies can help get him slowly adapted to the taste of veggies. And these FRESH organic juices (with veggies - think carrots, cucumber, celery, romaine lettuce, kale, fennel, etc) have a lot more protein, live enzymes, and nutrients than I realized! Gogi Berries are a complete protein, but if you are worried, there are some high quality protein powders.

My younger daughter and one grand-nephew refused meats as toddlers. Guess what, as older children and adults - they still rarely will eat meat. I WISH I didn't like meat!! But that's OK. People live a healthy life even on raw foods (look that up). My daughter who grew up not big on meats is now in dietetics (Master's degree).

However, of course, fruits alone are not the greatest thing. For now, give lots of fresh organic berries... although that is not so easy in the winter. Give tarter fruits, like Granny Smith and Figi apples.

Consult with a Registered Dietitian! Note- that is not a "nutritionist" - a Registered Dietitian actually went to college and has degrees, and went through practicums and medical internships, and licensing exams.