Letting my toddler eat too much fruit?

[Cadar89]

How much fruit is too much for a toddler?
Today so far toddler has had 3 bananas, a whole apple - core included because he just eats it like a horse, a satsuma and a little bit of rhubarb (no sugar added but I’m honestly surprised he ate it!)
he eats his meals well especially his veg, always eats his veg first, and is not interested in cake/deserts/chocolate etc.

but it’s not even 2pm and I know he’ll want more fruit. And writing this down it seems a ridiculous amount.

AIBU letting him have this much fruit?! He’s 17 months.

My almost 4 year old has always loved fruit and while that does seem alot, it's not really "bad" especially if he's having meals too. As someone upthread says, we try to do a "one of each" thing so he doesn't have too much of one type.

Also, a banana before bed can sometimes help them wind down/sleep because it's filling and has a good magnesium content.

An adult shouldn’t be having 3 bananas a day due to the high potassium content, let alone a toddler. I don’t even let DD have two bananas a day, she’s limited to one. She loves bananas, they’re her favourite thing but I just tell her that more one a day hurts her tummy. I can tell how well the day is going by when I’ve had to give her a banana.

Me neither. That satsuma alone would finish me off.

Insane amount of fruit, so much sugar and acid, not good for enamel. Banana intake, could cause constipation, but perhaps not with the rhubarb 😂

Fresh fruit naturally contains it's sugar intracellularly, which means it is not cariogenic. Boiling fruit, drying it or for e.g. blitzing it with milk to make a smoothie, releases the intracellular fruit sugar which is cariogenic. Too much natural fruit eaten between meals can be erosive but shouldn't be conflated with dental caries. Natural fresh fruit intracellular sugar is not the same as free sugars.
3 bananas per day is far too much potassium for a toddler. An adult shouldn't eat more than 2 bananas maximum daily.
6/7 portions of fresh fruit before 2pm is too much.

Thansk you everyone so much for commenting and advice.

mill try to answer everyone best I can-
he does eat other proteins and carbohydrates- he’s very good with that. He’ll eat many types of grains and whole grains. He really does love food and and is not very fussy (apart from things like desserts/cake /chocolate etc he freaks out at those lol But has a sweet enough tooth for fruit anyway!). He only likes plain yogurt and the only cereals he has are weetabix or shredded wheat. We are very conscious he loves fruit so much so we really try to limit sugar elsewhere.
his nappies are very regular 😂 so at the moment the banana does not seem to affect that but he eats alot of fruit in general! So it won’t always be 3 bananas but might be lots of something else.
today was pretty typical as in how many portions - lately he has been having two portions of fruit for breakfast. Then 1 mid morning. 1 with lunch. And 1 afternoon. But today was obviously more and I’ve panicked and I feel it has been increasing gradually and I need to control it better.

I don’t give fruit after dinner - only plain yogurt. I started that on purpose w while ago so he wouldn’t be having sugar before bed but now I’ve gone totally bonkers with it during the day.

Omg, 3 bananas! My DD wouldn't poop for a week if she ate that many bananas! 😅

Some very hyperbolic responses on this thread. This is not an 'insane' amount of fruit by any stretch of the imagination, and as for the adult who wouldn't be able to manage all of this in a day... 🤔
Fruit is generally very good for kids, OP, and it sounds like he has a balanced diet overall. I'd limit the bananas as that many could be constipating, especially if underripe (althought the other fruit will probably counteract this); there is a very low risk of dangerously high potassium levels unless the child is eating far more bananas than that per day, or has kidney disease.

Bananas are the only one to really worry about as they have a lot of potassium, I have actually nursed a little boy who had a mild arrhythmia and it turned out he was having 5 bananas a day!

Too much potassium can be an issue, so watch the banana consumption. I one read about a toddler who, in the post war/rationing period, ate 3 bananas in quick succession and had a heart attack and died because their body couldn't handle the potassium.

I'm sure that's a very unusual occurrence, but it's stayed with me and I'd be nervous about 3 bananas. The rest sounds fine.

Cut back on banana because of the potassium.

TBH I'd be worried about the fact that he seems to be hungry all day! What are you feeding him with at mealtimes?

Sounds ok but also sounds like he'd happily eat other snacks if given! I also have a fruit monster. Here is what he ate today (14months), on a day when I was trying to limit the fruit a bit and get some veg exposure (also he usually eats 4 times a day and today was just demanding food between meals so ate 6 times which is a record).

Oats, milk, peanut butter (porridge), grapes, raspberries

Bite of cucumber, babybel, sips of hot chocolate

Lentil and sweet potato curry soup, small bread

Pasta, broccoli, cauliflower (spat out), carrot (spat out), feta,avocado

1 pear, 1/2 a boiled egg

Toast, cauliflower cheese (almost untouched), 1.5 bananas,
pepper (spat), raw carrot (untouched), cucumber ( a bite)
Yoghurt & blueberries (a LOT)

So that totals:
Carbs (types - he's a bread fiend so trying to count the variety not quantity): 3
Veg eaten: 4
Veg tried but not eaten: 3
Fruit: 5
Cheese: 3
Plus Yoghurt, egg, pulse, nuts

Funnily enough I just made this list as I was wondering how his diet looks when written down and looked at in total. I was pleased with the big bowl of soup and am going to try more stuff like that.

Oh my goodness it has been a year since I posted this!
and my toddler still eats a lot of fruit 😂
but it’s no more than what it was a year ago and never finishes a banana now. He doesn’t even always finish his other fruit…
loves to snack on peas, cucumber, string beans, asparagus, broccoli, and any green veg basically.
current favourite treat are ice lollies but I make them myself with the littlest bit of fruit juice - they are practically ice blocks but he loves them.
not such a hoover now, takes longer to eat.

basically I think overtime he growing to his diet.
the health visitor is not worried and the dentist said his teeth are perfect.
he’s never had trouble moving his bowels but soemtines the opposite and I thought it was all the fruit but turned out he is dairy and soy intolerant so after changing that movements are much more normal.
he is active.

basically he still eats loads of fruit, but it’s I think it’s similar to a year ago?!
So doesn’t seem so insane now, but perhaps still a bit much…?

My Gdcs always liked slices of red and yellow peppers - which strictly speaking are ‘fruits’.

I thought you were meant to limit it to one banana a day, due to the potassium. 6 fruit by 2pm seems like a lot, are there other snacks you could switch to? Mine has cucumber or carrot sticks, which is similar but with less sugar.

Oh no I've done this twice now recently 😂 apologies for restarting the thread I must learn to look at the posting dates!

That’s ok 😂

Oh I was thinking it was the same amount as a year ago but thinking about it it’s not the same - it’s probably more like an average 4 portions the whole day. … 🤷🏻‍♀️
In posted that a year ago and I think it’s slowly getting more normal.
he can also build duplo for ages and will often do that now while I prep dinner (used to constantly be on at me for fruit during that time too)