how do I get dd to eat veg and fruit?

[yingers74]

Help my 18 month dd will not eat fruit or veg, apart from sweetcorn and occasionally potatoe. In regards to fruit, she will only eat dried fruit and odd grape, nothing else. I have tried all sorts of fruit and tried hiding vegetables, ie, rissoles, bubble and squeak, omelettes. i got her some veggie fingers and she pulled out the visible vegetables!!! Anyone know any full proof recipies?

pasta sauce (blended)
soup

fruit smoothies
ice lollies

will she eat cooked fruit eg apple puree

Vegetable soup - or any soup really but blend it so she cant see the lumps and serve it with bread or dumplings
My DS wouldn't eat any fruit for ages. he was 2.5 before he started to eat banana again and then only in the last 6 months has he been trying friut after seeing his little sister scoffing it. he is nearly 4 now. Thankfully I didn't ever have a problem with vegetables

Oh and fruit puree added to weetabix or other breakfast cereal

I can't get my two to eat vegetables. Fortunately they love fruit. But the veg soup idea is a good one. My dad made vegetable soup and Caroline (almost 5) said, I don't want any vegetables in my soup Grandad. He said OK, blended all the veggies into the soup so it was a puree and she ate gallons of it!

Tried soup on her today, she took one look at it and walked away! Did manage to get some orange down her by mixing it into her yoghurt, will have to be more stealth like in the future.
She did eat fruit puree before so will try giving her that, perhaps mixed with ice cream! It is such a worry especially as I am the only one who seems to worry about it, my dh thinks her food appears out of thin air, I honestly think that if I did not feed her she would starve.

I am not sure how healthy dried fruit is, someone told me it is as good as the fresh stuff?

They do say that it takes at least 6-20 attempts at this age to get them to eat something new so don't give up at the first hurdle Yingers. Keep on trying things out and eventually she will try them.
As I said it has taken 2 years of me eating fruit in front of DS and always offering some to get him to eat it - but as I knew he would eat pureed fruit it had to be the texture and not the taste - for instance he still won't eat raw apple of pineapple (too stringy) or oranges yet he will drink the juice by the gallon. Will she drink fruit juice?
Your DD looked fairly healthy to me when we met in the bunny park so it cant be all bad and there are loads of vitamins in milk assuming she is drinking it/eating dairy products?
The blended pasta sauce is a good one - it was how I got meat into DS (not the vegetables)

We have lots of dried fruit in our house, I'm sure I read somewhere that it is just as good as long as not coated in syrup/sugar. My 2 think raisens and sultannas are as good as sweets, there aged 4 and 17 months. Have you tried just giving her a whole bannana and see what she thinks of it. (sorry don't know if you have boy or girl)

I have to say I've never seen a young child who doesn't like bananas. Does she like them?

My DS1 (2y8m) has just started eating peas. Apart from that the only vegetables he eats are chip shaped (or smiles and letters). He does eat fruit though. I sympathise yingers but I have no advice I'm afraid except that I wouldn't let it worry you too much (she says after 2ys and 8m of being really stressed about it and finally not worying about it too much )

I happened to cathc a bit of Richard and Judy today and they ahd Annabel Karmel on talking about children who wont eat fruit and veg and they (R & J) want to hear from any parents of such children. They're also going to be issuing a helpsheet but I think that's not planned until next week. Check out their website perhaps.
AK did have some quite good ideas for hiding fruit and veg and they all worked for teh child who was featured today.

good luck yingers74

Have you tried raw veg like carrot sticks and dip or cherry tomatoes? dd2 who's 17 months likes them in picky mode or packets, she won't eat anything mushy now at all. She loves brown rice, and eats it grain by grain! Means I get loads of jobs done though.

will look at the r and j website. Spent a fortune in a health store buying dried apple and chewy banana, papaya and mango - she is eating them! Have tried her on normal banana, and it was the first fruit she refused, she has never liked it, I think it might be the texture! Have been more stealth like today, I blended up mushrooms and celery in a pasta sauce and put raspberry puree in her yoghurt, so far so good!!! I feel like a secret agent!
Thanks for the advice and support.

My friend said to me 'my brother grew up on hot dogs and he is fine', i guess that is true but when every book says BALANCED diet, you can't help but worry! Will do my best not to think about it 24/7 though!

I used to puree bits of strawberry and other soft fruits by mashing it through a teastrainer into yogurt etc.

that's great yingers74. And from what AK was saying yesterday, once she gets the taste for them disguised in sauces etc, she may well then eat them whole as well.