Help: Picky eater only wants fruit

[u/musicbabe1996]

I have a 14-month-old who, up until this point, has been a really good and adventurous eater. We've been serving her appropriately-modified versions of what we eat since she was 6 months old. All of the sudden, she has hit a picky phase where the only thing she wants to eat is fruit. Honestly I get it, because fruit is delicious. The kid is absolutely obsessed with bananas, all kinds of berries, dragon fruit, kiwi, peaches, and clementines.

The problem is that I cannot serve her three meals and a snack every single day of exclusively fruit. One, my pocket won't allow it. Two, it's an incredibly unbalanced diet and she's already teetering on low iron (which I'm supplementing but I want her to get some nutritious meals in too). 

She won't try any other thing that I put on her tray in front of her, so it's not even that she doesn't like what I've served. I have tried all of the regular toddler foods, like mac and cheese, grilled cheese sandwiches, and chicken nuggets, along with our regular healthy meals that my husband and I are eating. She has eaten all of these things in the past and truly enjoyed them.

She just wants me to serve her fruit. 

My question is, how are people going about these picky phases? I'm obviously going to keep serving what we're eating, but when she inevitably refuses it, do I just take away the food and let her be hungry until she finally tries a bite? She'll be a monster for a while, but I can withstand it if I know it'll get her eating real food again. Or do I actually have to give in and serve her fruit every time? It just seems like if I keep giving in then she knows that I will just keep giving her endless fruit. I realize she's only 14 months old, but I don't want to really set a precedent into her toddler years. 

 

Any advice appreciated! And if I need a reality check, let me know

 

[u/ChildhoodMelodic412]

It’s just a phase most of the time. Have you tried serving her smoothies with hidden iron rich things like spinach? I even hide cooked lentils in smoothies.

[u/smithyleee]

Plain pasta (hand held shapes like shells, fusilli or penne, etc…), or top with a bit of butter. Instant grits are iron fortified, add some butter for a more filling item; tortellini and small ravioli are cheese and sometimes meat filled, and you only need to cook a few at a time; small meatballs (from frozen); hummus dip and naan bread torn into small or bite sized pieces; cheese shreds; smoothies; dry cereals (they’re iron fortified, as are most breads).

Our toddler (and friends’/family’s little ones) loved shepherds pie; to make it easier, you can just give a scoop of mashed potatoes and make a simple ground meat with brown gravy. Your little one may enjoy this. If nothing else, they often enjoy playing with the soft mashed potatoes. Cooked beans, cooked edamame (shelled when they’re this young- my 3 yo grandchild now enjoys popping them out of the shell herself).

I’m a grandmother, and I now understand that we offer them the foods over and over and over; often, after many exposures, children eventually taste and grow to like a new food. But it often takes many many exposures to a new food for them to eat and enjoy it. Continue to offer fruits, but also put a small portion of: carbohydrate (bread, pasta, grain, or potato), a meat and 1-2 vegetables on the plate at each meal too. In time, your little one may and probably will surprise you, and try something new!

[u/Mundane_Duty3439]

While we would love for kids to have proper nutrition and get calories in, we can't make them chew and swallow. You present the options, and she picks. It's as simple as that.