Worried toddler isn't eating enough fruits & veggies

[YouAreTheFocus]

My little one just turned 1.5. Up until recently, he would happily eat blended/pureed fruits & veggies. This made it really easy for us to get a large quantity of these items into him :) For example, he would eat a 6 oz jar of veg plus a 4 oz jar of fruit in one sitting. Then a couple wks ago, something snapped, and now he won't touch anything pureed, not even "regular" applesauce.

We have been feeding him bits of fruits & veggies since he was 1, maybe earlier. The problem is, he eats such a small quantity of these. He'll eat like 7 peas, or 4 tiny bits of broc. Meanwhile, he'll chow down any type of meat, cheese, crackers, bread, eggs, cereal by the fistful. We're just worried that since he stopped eating the purees, his diet has become unbalanced. Is this normal? Any advice? Is it already time to start "hiding" fruits & veggies in other foods?

[alexmommy]

My DS has been big on self-feeding since 8 months. He is a good eater in general, but does much better with veggies if they are shredded. Right now he is eating shredded carrots and shredded green peppers. He loves the shredded carrots, but threw the small pieces of carrots on the floor. We also will liberally douse his salad with Ranch dressing or Thousand Island. For fruits, IDK, try other fruits? Keep offering? Have him watch you enjoying them? My DS loves mango. Sometimes we put some fruit (pineapple usually) in cottage cheese. DS is 23 mo btw. GL!

[YouAreTheFocus]

This is interesting--I never thought of shredding them! I assume you mean raw, right? We always do well-cooked until soft. I'll try this tonight, we have apples & carrots at home. Thanks for the idea!

Can your son pick up the mango w/ his fingers, or does he use a spoon? My son has trouble picking up things like mango, peach, nectarine...too slippery!

[Beth24]

This is interesting--I never thought of shredding them! I assume you mean raw, right? We always do well-cooked until soft. I'll try this tonight, we have apples & carrots at home. Thanks for the idea!

Can your son pick up the mango w/ his fingers, or does he use a spoon? My son has trouble picking up things like mango, peach, nectarine...too slippery!

I can't remember where I read this, but in one feeding book I read it suggested coating slippery foods in rice cereals babies can grab them more easily. I think they suggested it for tofu cubes but I don't see why it wouldn't work for slippery fruit as well.

[TwoBees]

I can't remember where I read this, but in one feeding book I read it suggested coating slippery foods in rice cereals babies can grab them more easily. I think they suggested it for tofu cubes but I don't see why it wouldn't work for slippery fruit as well.

I was actually thinking about doing this with banana and crushed cherrios, since DD hates the texture of banana.

[wendibird22]

I was actually thinking about doing this with banana and crushed cherrios, since DD hates the texture of banana.

We did this...or at least tried it...with DD1. We'd crush up cheerios and coat pears, peaches, etc. But, DD1 would just suck the powdered cereal off and spit the fruit back out. :6:

I also received the suggestion to put slippery foods in one of those mesh feeders. Going to try this with DD2 who rejects all wet, mushy things if she has to touch them.

[Pinky]

You could also coat the slippery fruit in oatmeal... We do that and it makes me feel better because she's getting some fiber in as well.

Good luck! We have a one year old that won't eat any vegetables unless then are jarred and it's always a battle to try to make sure she has a balanced diet.

[eh613c]

If your DC loves pasta, you can add a bunch of veggies in the sauce and then just puree it. I add carrots, squash and zucchini (plus the tomatos).

[doberbrat]

dd1 was just like that. What I did/do is that in anything w/ground beef, I puree spinach and or greenbeans and add them to the meat. Mashed potatoes got a dose of cauliflower.

We'd give her a few peas or carrots w/dinner. or 1 greenbean etc. eventually she started accepting more veggies.

My kids LIVE on fruits though.