Help! My Daughter Will Not Eat Fruit

[lbsteenwyk]

My 3 yo daughter has been refusing to eat fruit since she turned one. She simply will not put it in her mouth. The only way I can get her to eat any fruit is to put mashed bananas or applesauce in muffins. Recently she also started to accept a few raisins - although often she chews on them awhile and then spits them out.

I have tried everything I can think of to get her to try fruit. I have begged, pleaded, offered bribes. We always eat fruit with dinner and my son eats it at all 3 meals, so we are setting a good example. I have put sugar on it, offered her honey to dip it in. She will not even taste it! When she was much younger, I noticed she would start to gag when she tasted fruit, so maybe there is something else going on. I'm just so frustrated! She hardly eats any vegetables and I am concerned that she does not get enough good quality nutrition. (I do give her a multi vitamin, but there are a lot of phytochemicals, etc in fruits and vegetables that a multi can't offer).

Does anyone have any ideas on how I an encourage her to eat fruit?

[angel-jd1]

Have you tried making smoothies?? Or use the fruit pure as an icecream topping.

Just a glass of juice would be better than no fruit at all.

Always remember that kids are not going to starve themselves!! They go through phases where they don't/won't eat things. They may eat hotdogs for two weeks straight, but they ARE eating. Keep giving the vitamin and hang in there.

-Jessica

[KaitiUSA]

Yeah smoothies are a wonderful idea

[gf4life]

Have you had her tested for a fruit sugar intolerance. I think they can test for this with a breath test. It may be that she is instinctively avoiding something that hurts her tummy. If this is the case and she can't digest the fruit sugars, then the doctor can order her some digestive enzymes that will help her to be able to better tolerate fruit.

Or she just might not like fruit. Three year olds are picky eaters and their tastes do change as they get older.

Does she drink juice??

God bless,

Mariann

[Guest ajlauer]

It may be that she is instinctively avoiding something that hurts her tummy.

I find it amazing how kids know what they can't eat. When we found out everything that my daughter was allergic to, I was overwhelmed with guilt at all the food arguments I've had with her! She would always reject pancakes, french toast.... only eats the frosting off cakes and donuts.... will only eat Rice Chex cereal.... eats the cheese and pineapple off the pizza, no crust. She's allergic to practically every ingredient in those foods that she won't eat. Oh, and when she gets a happy meal, she only eats the french fries. For awhile, that's all she was eating was french fries and fruit. It's amazing what our kids could tell us, if only we knew how to listen!

[lbsteenwyk]

The fructose intolerance is an interesting idea. She does seem to have a definite aversion to fruit. She does not drink juice. Occasionally she will drink a few sips. She will not even eat jelly. She loves honey, though, and I believe that is mainly fructose. I have tried smoothies in the past, but we haven't tried them for a while, so I think we will try them again.

Thanks, everyone for your ideas. I will talk to her Ped about testing for fruit sugar intolerance.

[Carriefaith]

try making fruit fun!

There are fruit pizza's which are fun. (although I don't know a gluten-free recipe I can look if you are interested). A fruit pizza is just a pizza but instead of tomatoe sauce there is a sort of a cream cheese sauce and all different kind of fruits are placed on it like a pizza.

Try making gluten-free peanut butter sandwich's with bananna's on top, but make the bannana's into a smile!

Grapes and cheese are really yummy, maybe try offering grape juice with grapes, cheese and gluten free crackers on a plate.

Try adding blueberries or bananna's to gluten free cereal.

Eating fruit with whipped cream is also really yummy. Melons are good for dipping in whipped cream.

[Carriefaith]

I though of something else, fruit, especially berries, mixed in with yogurt or ice cream may be appealing.

[ianm]

Certain high-fructose fruits do not agree with me. Any tree fruit like apples, pears, oranges, grapefruits, plums tend to come out as soon as they come in. Berries and grapes have less fructose and don't bother me in small quantities. You might want to try some different kinds of fruits.

My son (9) is a very picky eater and will only eat 2-3 different things for weeks at a time. Then one day he will switch to 2-3 different foods for several weeks. He will also go through periods where he eats very little. His pediatrician said that as long as he is growing and making progress then don't worry about it.

Our bodies still function in a primitive hunter/gatherer mode. Not too long ago humans would kill a mastodon and just eat that until it was gone. They would then move to an area with fruit trees and just eat that until it was gone. In between they would have nothing to eat. This hunter/gatherer instinct is something that adults will grow out of. Children are just eating the way they are biologically programmed to eat. No child will starve if food is present. Just make sure it is good food.

Ianm

[Guest taweavmo3]

My daughter will not eat fruit either....she never has. Although, I am lucky in the fact that she does like apple juice. I've always wondered if fruits upset her stomach, because just like someone else said....she has instinctively only eaten foods that don't make her feel bad. They understand so much more at this age than they can communicate. I expected a huge battle with the gluten-free diet, but Emmie has taken it all very well. I think she knows it is making her feel better.

I have to sneak veggies in Emmie's food. I could do better at this than I probably am, but I'm trying. I recently chopped up carrots and hid them in some meatloaf, or my porcupine meatballs. Even my 6 year old didn't realize they were in there. I'm also going to try putting pureed baby food (out of a jar) into some of my sauces and mixes to get veggies in that way.

She still won't any any fruit, but I figure veggies are just as good, and she can get her vitamin C from juice or something else. So many different things are fortified with calcium and vitamin C these days, so that helps.

[tarnalberry]

Fruit isn't that important if she's eating veggies, but you can try smoothies, mixed in with yogurt, diced and served over pancakes, made into a salsa, dried, or so forth. She might just find it too sweet (particuarly if she's avoiding it when you put more sugar on it), so you might find that the less sweet fruits work better in these instances, or by using an addition that reduces the sweetness (like apples and peanut butter!).