My 15 MO only likes fruit and cheese. Help.?

Question

My daughter quit drinking a bottle at 7 mos. We had a hard time getting her to drink since she had no desire to suck. At 15mos she still eats pureed foods, but hates anything chunky unless it's fruit, cheese or bread. Hates chicken, beef, pork and rice cereal so I am having a hard time getting her the iron recommended by her Ped. Any suggestions on foods, feeding techniques that may help.

Answer 1

funny, my two year old will only eat fruit some veggies and cheese. her pediatrician said it's fine as long as she continues to grow well. alot of young children are picky eaters. at this age they are trying to controll some aspects of their lives. forcing your child to eat something they don't want is not a good idea. the only thing you can do is offer a wide variety of healthy foods to try. if they don't eat it, take it away but try again at a later date. the more you try to force her to eat something the more she will refuse just to gain some controll. don't worry to much about iron. alot of foods theses days are iron fortified like most types of fruit juices and cereals. i was concerned about iron at her age so her doctor did an iron test ( just a little prick on her finger to get a drop of blood) and it came back fine. you could ask your doctor to check her iron to be on the safe side, or talk to him about a vitamin supplement if you are still concerned.

Answer 2

One, if you're worried about her iron intake, try half a packet of carnation instant breakfast in her milk in the morning.

I don't know what to do about the picky eating part. I never had that problem with my kids. My suggestion is to put her highchair up to the table. Give her very small amounts of whatever you're eating for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. When you're done get her down. (Unless she's miraculously still eating.) She still needs snacks, so one in between breakfast and lunch, again between lunch and dinner, and perhaps again before bedtime. She may boycott you for a meal or two, but when she gets hungry she'll eat. Don't MAKE her eat, and don't insist that she eat something she doesn't like. Just offer her whatever it is you're having. If she won't eat it, fine. Try again at the next meal. I bet at some point during the day, she'll get the message. Also, keep in mind, that toddlers go a few days without seeming to eat much at all. Then they seem to binge for a day or two, eating constantly. By not forcing her to eat, you're teaching her to listen to her body. She'll eat when she's hungry. And she'll crave what her body needs.

Good luck, and Happy New Year. I hope this helps.

Answer 3

Don't sweat it. Her tastes will change. In the mean time perhaps melt cheese onto other foods or mix fruit along with other foods that contain the minerals/vitamins she's lacking. Remember however, you and not your child is in charge. As she gets older you should take the stand that when a meal is placed in front of her, she will either eat it or not. If she doesn't eat it, then she skips a meal and the kitchen is closed. Don't let her train YOU to respond to her whims.

Answer 4

Also--try adding rice cereal to her pureed food. My son is 16 months and I still add a bit to rice cereal to his applesauce every morning just to up the iron intake in his diet. I know you said she doesn't like rice cereal, but maybe she won't mind it as much if it is mixed with applesauce or pureed banana or other fruits. I don't give it (rice cereal) to my son straight.

Also-you might start gradually making her pureed foods more chunkier bit by bit. Alot of kids struggle with adjusting the sudden texture changes in their foods.

Answer 5

Im sure once she gets a little older taste will change in the mean keep trying to get her to eat different foods shell give in soon enough.

Answer 6

If she is still eating pureed foods, I'd try pureed Swiss steak - it is a kinds of stew with beef and tomatoes, then grind it up. My son ate that until he stopped letting me feed him. Now we are all finger foods. Actually, he loves "once-frozen" tofu. It sounds gross to a lot of people who don't like tofu, but freezing it really changes the texture to rubbery, and it is one of my son's favorites. You cut a firm or extra firm hunk of tofu into bite sized cubes, freeze, then thaw as needed. He also loves broccoli, but not plain - steam it, then drizzle with olive oil and garlic salt. I also used to try to get iron into him by mixing fortified cereal into apple sauce and spoon feeding. But be wary of constipation with too much rice cereal -- that reminds me I used to give him prune juice in cereal to keep him regular, and prune juice is also high in iron. Finally, for meat finger foods, we mostly do cut up chicken nuggets. His cousin will eat cut up meatballs (simmered in spaghetti sauce, yum!), but mine won't.
Good luck - others are probably right that they eat what they need, but it is good to try to broaden their experience anyway.

Answer 7

My daughter was the same way.......she would only eat fruit and vegies.....hated any kind of meat....I bought Pediasure drinks for her

Answer 8

smashing the food might help
♥ Best wishes

Answer 9

try baked eggs...good source of protein, and it's soft too...and ask her ped about iron drops

Answer 10

try finger foods like dry cereal, pretzels, finger jello.. etc