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sophiestars
28-02-2011, 11:25 PM
I have had mindee for 15 mths and she has just turned 2. Until beginning of feb all mindees brought their own packed lunches and teas, but at the start of Feb I began to offer lunches for £1.
Obviously I strive to offer a healthy lunch which always includes fresh fruit, but this particular mindee is just refusing to eat or even try any of it. I have offered banana, apple, melon, grapes, pineapple, blueberries, strawberries, oranges, pears, cucumber, tomatoes, etc.
She is a 'larger size', shall we say, and so is Mum, although the lunches she used to bring were fairly healthy - usually a homemade dinner that had been whizzed in the processor but with lots of veg. But she never brought fresh fruit, just those fruit puree pots which although seemingly healthy are very concentrated and therefore quite sugary and sweet. She still brings one of those AND a fromage frais for pudding at tea time.
The annoying thing is I have watched her eat little pieces of grapes, banana and apple at toddler group snack times but she refuses point blank to eat them at home, even when all the other mindees are wolfing theirs down!
I think she is certainly being offered alot of the wrong sort of foods at home and has a taste for them - eg she brings quite a large pot of snacks everyday full of crisps (ok they are the Goodies 'toddler' crisps, but crisps all the same, biscuits etc) even though I provide all snacks. I have been sending this pot home untouched to try to hint to Mum but I think she just lets mindee have it on the way home :rolleyes:
Other than just keep offering her fruit at mealtimes I don't know what else to do. I don't think making purees or smoothies out of the fruit would help as I think she needs to get into the habit of eating and enjoying fresh fruit as it comes. I am so unused to it as both my own boys love fruit and have always eaten very healthily. It is just very frustrating!!!

PixiePetal
28-02-2011, 11:33 PM
I started one of mine off by letting them dip slices of fruit in the fromage frais or dropping raspberries/blueberries in it - have you tried that?

mushpea
01-03-2011, 07:08 AM
I had 2 children like this,, we eat sandwichs then fruit then as long as they have eaten the sandwich and fruit then they can choose somthing else like crisps or dessert,,, if they dont eat their sandwich or fruit then there is nothing else till snack time which is also generaly fruit. both children are on the large size,, on choose to eat his sandwich and refuse anything else and the other afte a couple of days of realising that she would go hungry then started to eat her fruit,, I dont see my way as being cruel because if they were hungry they would eat the fruit and sandwich and I know that the first child would have far to much for breakfast and dinner so never really ate much in between anyway.
I personaly offer the sandwich then when thats eaten the choose a peice of fruit , if they dont eat the fruit thats fine but then I dont offer anything else,,

merry
01-03-2011, 07:15 AM
It sounds like you're doing all the right things to encourage her, and having fruit to dip in sauces, yoghurt etc is a good idea, but if you really don't want to go down the route of whizzing fruit into milkshakes etc, there may be little you can do. If she eats it at other places then it's not because she doesn't like it, maybe she just realises that there's absolutely no chance of anything else at toddler group, whereas at home she's used to having it in a different form that she prefers. Have you tried serving it in exactly the same way as toddler group does? I must admit that I don't like fresh fruit as it comes, I'd rather have them in a smoothie, milkshake, stewed, tinned or baked in a pie or cake, it's still fruit :)

:)

Hebs
01-03-2011, 07:23 AM
my daughter who is 14 will NOT eat fruit, none at all,

when she was 5 i got her a fruit puree pouch (pure fruit advertised as a sweet :blush: i was desperate) and whan she had a little bit she had an allergic reaction :eek:

our nurse told us that its not unusual for a child to refuse to eat something then when they do to be allergic to it, it was like she knew :eek: :eek:

i dont worry about it cos she LOVES her veg so its a compromise :thumbsup:

angeldelight
01-03-2011, 09:19 AM
I would leave her for the time being

If she does not like it dont let it become a problem

Focus on other good foods that the child does like

I dont like fruit much and its done me no harm ..... well maybe thats why I eat chocolate instead but thats a different story :laughing:

Angel xx

Dragonfly
01-03-2011, 07:41 PM
I have a 7 year old that comes and she wont touch any sort of fruit,part of life Im afraid we're all different.

sophiestars
01-03-2011, 08:13 PM
Thanks guys for your replies. Angel I am totally with you on that one!!

It's true we're all different, I suppose, but I just believe that children should get into the habit of eating healthy stuff like fruit what with the looming obesity crisis and all...

However, today she ate 6 grapes at toddler group so I know she definately likes those, and at lunchtime she had a carrot and cucumber stick plus some apple, THEN at snack time this afternoon I put a couple of pieces of strawberry and kiwi on her plate which is what the others were eating and she amazed me by eating the lot and I would have put a bet on her not even touching it!!

So it would seem that just offering it to her will work and I am happy with that. Like some of you said, we don't all like everything.

Tealady
01-03-2011, 11:43 PM
Could you make a pud of wizzed fruit but then have bits of fruit in it? You could slowly decrease the ratio of whizzed fruit and increase the pieces? you could then offer plain whole fruit at snack time so she gets both at your house

Cazz
02-03-2011, 12:50 AM
I think you're being a bit harsh to assume that it's the parents fault and they must be giving their child "junk" and no fruit at home.

My own 3 year old daughter refuses to eat any type of fresh fruit - has done since soon after weaning. It does frustrate me and I had hoped that having other children here may help - I offer it to her when the other children have it but she will take some and put it on her plate and refuse to eat it (occasionaly lick it which I praise her for) - she just doesn't like it. She would rather go hungry than eat it. She does the same thing at pre-school.

She most certainly doesn't have loads of junk food though! I do give her one of those fruit tubes that you mentioned and also fruit smoothie drinks and a packet of fruit flakes some days which I know have sugar in but they also have several times their own weight in fruit. She's not overweight - at her 2 year check she was exactly on the average line.

She used to eat every vegetable you can imagine but she's going through a phase of not being keen on anything other than carrots which she eats loads of. Even though I know she probably won't eat them she gets vegetables on her plate every evening like everybody else. I make meals with fresh vegetables in them so she doesn't realise she's eating them.

It would seem, as already mentioned, that some children just don't like fresh fruit - please don't assume it's because they're only offered junk food all the time (although I know this may be the case at times).

P.S. Sorry if I sound a bit abrupt with my reply - but this has hit a nerve because on many occasions I've got the impression that some people assume I only give my daughter rubbish and that's why she won't eat fruit!

mushpea
02-03-2011, 06:58 AM
I dont assume the parents give junk to their children,,, in the case of my first mindee parent told me he what he eats for breakfast and its certainly far too much for his age and definatly not healthy then for his tea he eats his and his parents too so again far too much,,, the 2nd mindee parent admited that when child gets home the first place they go is the fridge and eats cr**p so again dont need to assuem there.
I know what is like to have a fussy eater as my son is fussy ,,, it has been a real battle to get him to eat certain foods with different textures etc he has always loved his fruti though and would rather eat fruit than meat and 2 veg, i used to have to hide the fruit bowl when he was younger cause he would eat then not want his main meal!

Twinkles
02-03-2011, 08:48 AM
You are doing the right thing. Be consistent ( as you are ) offer the fruit and take it away without comment if not eaten. But don't offer anything else.

I personally would chose veggies over fruit any day although I do eat fruit cos I is a good girl.;)