My 2 year old son refuses to eat fruits and juice, HELP!

[Armin]

Hi every one, i have a very fussy eater here who have always refused all kind of fruits and its juices can any one help? plus i have to mention that he dows not chew which makes it a lot difficut for me to get him to try every thing as all he wants to do is to galp every thing down and swollow with out a single bite or chew (((((
He dose not have a speech problem nor reflux but just wont eat any thing hard. what should i do?

[rachaelmae]

I would keep offering, hide stuff in other foods aswell, maybe offer only fruit as a pudding? if hes hungry he will try it.

What does he eat? when you say he doesnt chew, do you mean at all? is this a new thing? could it be his teeth hurt? what does he do with soft foods?

sorry thats alot of questions!

[Jennig]

Trying giving it to him in a icecream form... heres something i make

Frozen banana
Frozen strawberry

Whipped cream (no sugar)

Blend frozen fruit, until you get a slush fold in some whippped cream until you get an icecream looking consistancy

and ENJOY!

My son LOVES this. But he does also love fruit

try to stay away from fruit juices not great for their teeth!

[Armin]

Hi, sorry it took a while to reply !!
Well, he has always been like this and never wanted to chew.. i have tried top teach him but it gets him off of it.. he even feels bad and sick when i try to chew with mouth open for him to see !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
He never liked icecream.. when ever i try to give him, he just says " coldy coldy" and refuses to eat.
I make soft food for him but NOT blended, he likes to swallow the full food as i give so it has to in small lumps i even tried giving him the fruits before breakfast like banana , it worked for 2 days but now he just run away from me!
I am so tired and exhusted from trying and cooking the same type of food all the time (((((((((((((((((((((((((

[Janebug]

I was just wondering whether you'd tried putting fruit in any savoury dishes ie grated apple, mango, bits of apricot, plum etc!? These go nice with meaty stews and might introduce these flavours gently. In the meantime I'd keep up with the veg.

How many teeth does he have? How is his speech? If you are concerned about anything else mouth/oral orientated I would consider speaking to Doctor/HV just to check. This might give you more confidence in making/sticking to a plan.

I would persevere. How is he with savoury finger foods like oven chips, sandwiches, scrambled eggs, steamed broccoli/cauli florets etc. These have a bit of bite but are still quite soft?!!? Maybe it sounds like he will always be a quick eater?

At 2 years old he could help with some easy cooking. You could find a simple biscuit dough recipe or oatcakes are good as they have no sugar in and it doesn't matter if they eat the raw dough. Would this tempt him to try them and maybe chew them?

[Armin]

Thanks Jan, YES i have tried and still putting apricot, apples, raisin in his red meat foods and he eats without any problem but when it comes to giving him a small shred of apple, he'd get sick and throw it up.. im also adding banana and some times mango in his youghurt after his meal and he has that too with no problem i cant get him to bite on any thing or to chew
He has full set of teeth which makes every one wonder why he just refuses to use them !!!! he talks too so no issue on that side too.
His Doc says its normal and some kids take a long time to develope their chewing and biting but its becoming a issue for me as i cannot give him normal snaks like other kids have, i cannot offer him fruit, biscuits, rusks, chips.. nothing he just wont chew and get sick
Yesterday we tried making cookies together so he would be involved and might eat it, but all he wanted to do was to wash his hand clean after touching the dough!!!
Im out of ideas now

[matilda s mum]

sorry if I am repeating anything already said but I am being too lazy to read through all your replies first! Also please excuse typos as some of my keys do not press too well!

You could try making milkshakes with fruit and milk and a sweet flavoured yogurt - berries and bananas all great.

Or try a smoothie using a nice sweet fruit like peach or mango whizzed up with apple juice.

If he won't drink a smoothie, maybe try freezing it into lolly moulds - Tilly loves ice lollies and has no idea mine are all fruit - she thinks that are a treat! You can whiz up fresh fruit or tinned - tinned mango and tinned strawberries make fab lollies!

Cut a ripe banana in half and push a lolly mould into it and freeze. Is yummy to eat straight from the freezer as is like a mini milk sort of lolly.

what about making banana bread with a mix of choc chips and raisins in it?

or trying toasted cinamon and raisin bagels

if he like chocolate, you could try and fool him with Poppets whichare raisins in milk chocolate

what about a chocolate fondue with fresh fruit on sticks to dip in the chocolate sauce

or try a fruit crumble with custard

or banana custard

or pureed fruit (ie, heat up apple and blueberries with water and sugar and blend) and then stir into porridge/ Ready Brek/ Weetabix...

pureed fruit also fab on pancakes or even on ice cream!

and try sneaking things like chopped apple into a chicken curry, or apricot in a lamb stew...

Hope that helps xxx

[Janebug]

I take it you eat together?

Have you tried eating from the same plate and taking turns to share a sandwich or similar? Not sure if this is a good idea in terms of habit forming but a change in how things are done might help?!!? What about sharing some very well cooked spaghetti?

I would keep up with the cooking together or go back to it shortly. Maybe clean his hands without making a fuss. His attitude to that might change.

What about grated cheese? That can be kind of sucked/chewed but is still quite soft if you pick the right one?! Does he like baked beans?

Does he spend time with anyone else who might be able to serve something up to challenge him? If the doctor is saying that there is no physical cause then is he getting into a pattern of behaviour to get a reaction? I guess he would have to give it a shot if you just served up chewy stuff and stuck to your guns?

Just some more ideas.

[Jennig]

IMO I personally would stay away from dipping things into chocolate!!

Actually Jo frost has a program on right now about parenting and her first show she had someone who woldn't eat anything but sugar try watching it very informative.

Children wont starve themselves.. but you need to be persistant. and you need to not give in.

He will learn to chew if he gags.. and gagging is PERFECTLY normal... and natural i baby led wean and thats how my LO started to learn to chew.

Start off by offering toast... or avocado... cooked carrot sticks... things like that will be easy thereis a GREAT book out there.. Baby led weaning... You are basically back at square one here..

Dont get frustrated and keep giving it to him.

[Janebug]

Different angle, what about something like this:

Melissa & Doug Cutting Fruit: Amazon.co.uk: Toys & Games