# Toddler won't eat anything but fruit, peanutbutter and yogurt!



## AJandElijahsmommy (Sep 11, 2008)

Can someone please help me? I am at my wits end trying to get my 1 1/2 year old son to eat. He will only eat fresh fruit, (natural) peanut butter and yogurt. Not that those are bad things but I think he needs to eat more vegetable and grain! Anything else I try to feed him (ex. rice, corn, peas, carrots, pasta) he takes one bite and spits it out. It seems to be a texture issue still. He gags on avocado, I figured that it would be ok because its kinda the same texture as the bananas he eats. But he hates it. The kid doesn't like cheese! What child doesn't like cheese! Hates grilled cheese sandwiches, hates mac and cheese. Won't eat any meat at all. Ok, its fine if he is trying to tell me he wants to be a vegitarian, BUT YOU HAVE TO EAT VEGETABLES FOR THAT! What do I do. Force him to eat? He will eat baby food vegtables out of the jar but if I make it mashed the same way he won't! Isn't he getting to old for jar food? I hate feeding him that anyway, I 'd rather him eat homemade. I don't think I am that bad of a cook. It tastes good to me when I make it. Anyway, any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.


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## Norasmomma (Feb 26, 2008)

I think that sounds pretty typical for a toddler his age, my DD went through a period where all she would eat was bananas and milk. I felt like she should eat something else, but she wouldn't. She still hates avocado, gosh I hated them until I was 20 or so. She has also gone through periods where she'll only eat veggies, then pb&j, then yogurt. I think it sounds totally normal and not that bad, those are all healthful foods, he's getting protein. As long as he seems ok I wouldn't be too concerned.


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## 425lisamarie (Mar 4, 2005)

You never need grains! If he's getting protein from the nuts, and yogurt is great...I seriiously wouldn't push food at all. Never ever. Pick your battles, and at 1.5 food is one you should avoid









For 1.5 your lucky if your kid eats 2 bites of food.


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## cristeen (Jan 20, 2007)

Is he getting any BM or formula or milk or anything of that sort? How long has this been going on? At that age, I know a lot of children seem to live off air. I would NOT force-feed him anything, as that's just setting up a lifetime of issues.

Will he eat potatoes or sweet potatoes? Does he eat his PB on bread or off a spoon?

More veggies would possibly be a good thing, but not at the expense of his protein and fat sources (PB & Yogurt).

I happen to believe that we rely overmuch on grains, so they would not be on the list of things for me to worry about. So long as he was getting sufficient amounts of protein and fat, along with the basic vitamins you find in produce, I wouldn't worry overmuch about the limited selection.

As for the baby food, are you buying the kind with added sugar or salt? Are you feeding it to him directly out of the jar? Either of those things could play a part in his preference.

I know you just had a new LO, so you're still in your babymoon. Don't freak out too much about this right now, it is a work in progress, he's still very young. It may be that he's still just forming his tastes, and he doesn't like any of those things yet. At 18 mos, it's a little early to be worrying about limited food choices. Keep trying to introduce the new foods every month or so, and see what changes.

HTH


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## AlwaysByMySide (May 4, 2007)

I agree with a pp that I wouldn't worry about the grains. If you are really worried about veggies, puree some raw spinach (or whatever) in with the yogurt. It'll turn it green (which is fun for most kids), but it's still yogurt, and he won't taste the spinach...he REALLY won't taste it if you toss some fruit in there with it.

My 3yo will MAYBE eat grilled cheese. It's hit or miss with her. I don't know how she didn't inherit my love of cheese.


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## Sydnee (May 1, 2004)

With my experience, it's just a phase.







As long as you continue to offer new foods, and he is eating something (and not junk) he'll do fine!







My youngest is 2, and she just started becoming Miss Picky. I haven't changed how I feed her though, she'll eat when she's hungry!!


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## just_lily (Feb 29, 2008)

Could be worse.... he could refuse to eat everything but hot dogs and lunchables!

I would keep offering different foods, but not force him to eat anything. Maybe add a multi-vitamin if you are concerned that he is deficient in nutrients. Kids come around eventually.


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## guestmama9904 (Jul 6, 2002)

my DS is now almost 7 and to this day will not touch cooked cheese. hates it, hates the texture. he will eat parmigiano regiano though and that's great as it is very high in protein per ounce compared to softer cheeses and it is raw and therefore has the living enzymes intact. grains are really not at all critical to human health imho. in fact your son may instictively be avoiding them as perhaps his digestive system is not ready for them. how about some cooked egg or chicken meat? also if he is breastfeeding or getting formula he is probably getting a great portion of his nutritional needs from that alone. at 1.5 my son loved very well cooked and soft black beans. just make sure to soak them 12 hours prior to cooking or they will give your baby gas. fresh fruit is great and peanut butter is pretty healty too. how about trying to introduce other nut/seed butters? almond butter is yummy, high in fiber and protien and vitamin e.


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## deditus (Feb 22, 2006)

For new foods, my dd has to see it at least 3 times in a short period of time before she will eat it (like, serve the same vegetable as a side for 3 days in a row). She has never liked purees, still won't even eat applesauce. She also loves flavorful stuff like cauliflower roasted w/garlic or beans and salsa.


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## Llyra (Jan 16, 2005)

Give it time. My now-4-year-old went through a long, long phase where she lived on whole wheat pasta, peaches, and yogurt. She wouldn't touch meat until she was 3, and even now she's still not the most adventurous eater, but it does get better as they get older.

It's actually a fairly balanced diet, if you think about it. Vary the fruits as much as you can-- that way you'll get a greater variety of vitamins in there. Try tomatoes, yellow peaches, ripe plums, bananas, and cantalopue. The peanut butter is a source of fat and protein, as is the yogurt, and the yogurt has good probiotics for gut health. The only thing I'd worry about would be iron. Are you opposed to giving an iron supplement? That gave me a lot of peace of mind about nutrition at that age. And if you're breastfeeding (or even giving some formula) you really don't need to worry at all. If you put good food in front of them and let them choose how much of it to eat, they will usually eat exactly what their bodies need.

Will he drink a milkshake? Why not make yogurt smoothies? You can use the yogurt and fruit he likes, but then sneak some steamed veggies in there, nothing too strong tasting, and puree the whole thing in the blender. I drink them myself. Try carrots, squash, kale, and spinach. That's what we use, and it blends really nicely with some banana and strawberries. Just watch that the fruit pulp doesn't clog the valves, if you use a sippie cup. A straw works better.

And I agree not to worry about grains. I've seen too many processed-carb-addicted toddlers, and they're the ones I really worry about.


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## Ruthla (Jun 2, 2004)

I have to agree with the others about grains- really, nobody needs them. Both DD1 and I are eating different diets (mine with more fat, hers with more carbs, based on how we feel when we eat different foods) but both of us have lost weight and improved our health by cutting back on grains. It's not a food I'd encourage a toddler to eat, knowing what I know now.

There's not a single nutrient found in vegetables that can't also be found in fruits (of course the fruits being higher in sugars) so I woudln't worry too much about the lack of veggies if he's eating plenty of fruit.

He's getting plenty of protein and fat in the yogurt and peanut butter- I'd make sure to offer him full fat yogurt, or at the very least the lowfat kind. Nonfat yogurt isn't a good choice for growing toddlers.

Just keep on offering him a variety of healthy foods, and trust him to consume what his body needs. Eventually he'll start eating a more varied diet, but for now he might get 99.9% of his diet from his usual foods and only have a bite here and there of something new. Don't worry about it.


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## becoming (Apr 11, 2003)

I would *kill* for my 14-month-old to eat the things yours eats! I really would not worry about it at this point. It seems like he has a very healthy diet.


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## AJandElijahsmommy (Sep 11, 2008)

Thanks for the replies. They were very helpful. Thankfully now that I am a new mamma again the milk factory is open for business again. When I got pregnant again, my supply went real low so I had to take DS off the breast. I have been giving him whole milk for the last 6 months. But now that I am a milk making machine again I am pumping for him. So that eases my mind a bit about his nutrition. My main concern is all the sugar from fruits and yogurt. But I guess like you all said it is just a phase. Thanks ladies.


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## guestmama9904 (Jul 6, 2002)

naturally occuring sugars in fruits are not bad for you or your son. sugar in yogurt? try giving plain wholemilk yogurt and stirring in some organic all fruit-juice sweetened jam, or a bit of honey or maple syrup. these sweeteners are assimilated a bit differently by our bodies and have nutrients that regular sugar does not.


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## BonMaman (Sep 25, 2005)

Congratulations on your new LO! My 18mo DS2 is basically living off yogurt (primarily YoBaby







) and I've resolved to make our own smoothies so as to reduce the sugar and up the nutrients. I'm about 26 weeks pregnant with bambino #3 and my milk is all gone







so DS2 is not getting nutrients from BM. He, like your LO, likes fresh fruit (mainly strawberries, blueberries, and bananas), and has been eating a few bites of peanut butter the past day or so. I bought some Greek yogurt for him and he really liked it. It was the organic vanilla kind Stonyfield Farm makes, so I'm going to try making smoothies with it, bananas, whole milk, and a little bit of honey ... wish me luck! Good luck to you, too!


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## Mama2Kayla (Feb 12, 2005)

Don't feel bad mama, my son is almost 17 months old only eats a few foods reliably. Avocados, egg yolk, scambled eggs, fruit, raisins, meat, cucumbers, broccoli, and the occasional cracker. He doesn't like grains very much and hates yogurt which drives me nuts.

Some days he eats like a pig and other days, he just nurses.

Good luck!


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## BeingMe (Oct 25, 2006)

What if you ran out of those 3 things? I did one day and my daughter saw the fridge was empty and decided that an avocado and frozen peas looked great.


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## nancy926 (Mar 10, 2003)

Toddlers are funny little people. You cannot *make* them eat.

Let it go.


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