fruit? good or bad for 16 months?

[sungirltan]

i have blw dd (16 months) successfully imo. most of the time she east really well and is good at trying new food. if she is fussy and either refuses/chucks food on the floor i use a rule of 3 - i offer 3 things in turn and if she rejects them all i take her out of the highcahir and try again later. it rarely resorts to that because the last thing i offer is fruit. i offer either cherries or grapes or blueberries or strawberries - whatever is in season really but not bananas as shes a bit contrary about them. i let her eat a portion of fruit and then assume she will catch up her food intake at the next meal which i think she does as shes on the 50th centile and has been for about a year.

dh who is often away, has just criticised me and said i shouldn't do this - that too much fruit is bad for her/will rot her teeth and that she must have 60% carbs 30% protein and 10% fat (he initially said in one meal but has changed this to over a day which i suppose IS inline with my approach). i think a balanced diet is really important and i try really hard with dd but what else can i do if she wont eat the carbs??

if i am wrong and too much fruit is bad then i will accept it and think of other things to give her but i really need to know.

tia. i will be asking my hv but i like to have a mn verdict beforehand :-)

but fruit is carbs, isn't it?

I suggest you let dh feed her for a couple of days and see if he is still so strict on the proportions. Where did he get this from anyway?

Fruit is a lot healthier than what a lot of 16 months old kids eat, it sounds to me like you are doing fine. You can't force feed her can you?

If you're worried you could ask your GP, and if there are indications then get blood tests for anaemia etc but if she seems healthy to you then she probably is.

fresh fruit won't roth her teeth and is good as a snack or at the end of a meal. Fruit juice may roth teeth because the sugars are a bit more concentrated. Fresh fruit is important for vitamins, specially vitamin C that strenghtens the immune system and aids iron absorption.

If she eats other foods at different mealtimes I wouldn't worry at all. She will get what she needs.

I think your DH is a bit bonkers.

You should be looking at her food intake over a week rather than stressing about individual meals and days.

Let him feed her for a few days and then see if he is still so hung up on percentages!

thanks folks :-)