DD (4) will now eat NO fruit and NO veg

[OrangeSpacedust]

What the hell do I do?? Her only concession is tomato sauce which she'll have with pasta, but she can identify anything green that I try and put in it. Unless I need a really good blender or something? Any tips?

Fruit-wise, she used to be happy eating apples, bananas and grapes; now: nothing. Even a fruit puree in yogurt won't work ? too many bits. She'll only have the ultra-smooth, very pale fruit yogs which probably don't have much fruit in them to start with ...

Other than that, it's bread, bread, and more bread ? HELP!!!!!

my ds is nearly 6 and is going through the same, refusing to eat veg and fruit! He used to eat loads of both when he was younger. i have resorted to serving him meat, yorkshire pud, mashed potato, carrots and gravy on a sunday saying if he doesnt eat his carrots he will get peas as well next time. he eats them complaining all the time. In tomato pasta sauce i blend in carrots, onions and mushrooms, once mixed up with mince for bolognaise he never knows the difference. I also tend to make homemade pizza and add finely chopped veg to the topping (he loves pizza so he will eat it without any questions. Fruit is a bit more complicated. I tend to make fruit loaf with mixed fruit, and finely chopped apples in it. I also make a home made banana loaf (not sure if these two count!). for breakfast i always give ds a glass of fresh orange so he is getting some fruit - stretching it a little there i think though.

Innocent smoothies are good (in little carton with straw)

If you also puree fruit as though you were feeding it to a young baby (ie totally smooth), could you mix that into the yog to avoid the bits problem?

This is a thread I started after getting professional advice about my ds eating.

You have to be strict, but it really, really works.

Today ds diet is unrecognisable from 6 months ago and life is much more relaxed for me. He is still not crazy about fruit, but eats lots of vegetables so that's fine.

After following the regime for about a month we were able to stop as his diet had improved so much.

HTH

Macherie, that is genius. I thought I was the only person whose child didn't eat fruit or veg. Whne she was a small baby she'd eat anything (except avocados), she gradually eliminated virtually all veg with the exception of potatoes which don't really count. I saw my own daughter in the OP, she still refuses lumpy yoghurts which is a PIA as they are a staple food in Switzerland.
I am definitely going to try the approach you posted about.
My DD will refuse just about everything, she takes a piece of fruit to school which either I or she prepares the night before so peel and slice the apple, peel the satsuma etc but I can guarantee that it will come home. She will eat mangos and rambutan but they are pretty hard to get. She did eat some strawberries and some cherries when we had picked them, but won't eat the ones I buy from the farmer.

Some problem with my dd23, who is four next month. I agree with the strict approach: for example I have made her eat half a banana and three grapes today before she could have a biscuit.

just read that macherie, I had kind of started doing that with dd2? trying to get her to eat veg. I will persevere with that as you describe.

I should clarify, my DD is very thin and has no appetite really. She's said she feels hungry three times in eight years. I don't want to make a big thing of this because she has a really poor body image. Imaginary fat on her thighs etc. All this comes from school, I've never dieted and don't comment about my big fat bum to her.

DD (5) never liked fruit, even as a baby. I always wondered if she was sensitive to fructose (yes, it actually exists!) as she is lactose intolerant - babies usually love fruit!!!

Now that she's older she has started to accept a few things - strawberries, watermelon, orange juice. In her case I'm not pushing much (besides offering fruit daily as an option), its working - slowly.

(My DS can't get enough of fruit - go figure!)

OMG Macherie that thread was fantastic! I have told DD that we're going to do this from Monday, that it's a "new food game, like Charlie and Lola!". Well, that's how I'm going to try and sell it to her anyway. I'm a bit concerned because she's so much younger than your DS, but I will persevere.

To be perfectly honest it kind of goes against the grain to me to deny food if they don't eat something ? I hate the threats-and-bribes type parenting ? but to me this regime is milder (only ONE spoonful, fgs!), more consistent, and I think the long-term gain will outweigh any reservations I feel.

Crokky, I agree with you about the smoothies, she does take them when offered, but they're just so darned expensive ...

It seems that most DC have a stage of being fussy, but DD has always always always been like this so I can't actually imagine her eating mango, carrot, aubergine etc ? the thought seems totally surreal to me!

Very excited now though ? thanks!

Also, I know from a democratic POV it's best to have EVERYONE at the table taking a bite of the "new" food, but I just don't think I can force DD2 (2) to do this as well, so I'm hoping DD1 won't feel singled out if her sister doesn't have to. Of course, am hoping it might influence DD2's eating as well ... (she's fairly fussy but not nearly as bad tho, so am not too worried)

If she likes smoothies, why not make them? I whizz them up most mornings for my 3 yr old DTs - a banana, some peach slices (from a tub), some raspberries (frozen are cheaper) and anything else that's about to go off, then blitz it up. I tend to push it through a seive if I've used raspberries, to avoid "yuk! bits!" scenarios, then add some orange or apple juice and whizz it up again. Much cheaper than the Innocent ones. I started doing it when they started to refuse fruit purees with their cereal - this was the more "grown up" alternative (I usually have some too) and they went for it.

I know, I know, Kemble ? I should. It's just the thought of chopping and blitzing and sieving and taking blender apart to clean and all that in the morning, while I'm also desperately trying to get socks on, teeth cleaned, hair brushed, etc, etc, and to nursery on time ... but I know, I just need to get up at 5.30am every morning so I can get it all done ....!!!

Orangespacedust, why don't you make it into a special thing for you and her, make her feel like a big girl doing something grown up with mummy. At her age you could also combine it with a star chart and give her some stickers or a comic or something if she tries something new everyday.

I got these tiny little ramekins to put the 'new' food in, just to emhasise how small the amount we had to taste, often we had 2nds or 3rds if they liked it!

I found that we really just needed to get ds into the habit of trying something different, so he realised that he wasn't gooing to be poisoned by one bite of a new food.

We have just had lunch and he has had chicken, potato, carrots,peas, brocolli, baby corn and mange tout! He would NEVER have done that if we hadn't used that approach.

Let us know how you get on, even if it takes a while to get into the idea persevere, easier to sort out now than when they are older. Good luck!

Hiya not much help here I'm afraid as my 3YO DS is the exact same.

Just wanted to say though how about getting her to help you make fruit smoothies?

My DS loves doing this and started drinking them too, all we do is put a few different types of fruit on the table (ready peeled and chopped), along with a tub of ice cream and about a half pint of milk.

Now the part I've found gets my DS is that he will try a teeny bit of the fruit if you tell them to make sure it tastes nice enough for the drink.

Just chuck what she wants in a big bowl get her to add a scoop of ice cream and some of the milk then using a hand blender (we have a £5 asda one) mix it all together.

Get a nice cup for her and one of those plastic twirly straws after a while she will be wanting to do it all the time

Thanks Macherie, I'll let you know! I've been thinking about it a lot, and am hoping to be able to do it without any negative "If you don't eat this, you won't get that"-type language, if at ALL possible ? though maybe that's wishful thinking! I do try a lot to word things positively as it's easier to come out with the negative flipside IMO. So we'll go down the "When we've each had our one bite, THEN we'll start our dinner!" Fingers crossed ...

Mamadiva, thanks, I don't think I could do all that at breakfast time, but will give it a try later in the day ? even the promise of a teeny bit of ice cream might get her doing the fruit thing first ...!