I have several questions

[kathy45]

I am watching a 17 month old and I have several questions. Most are about eating so here goes. Her mother says she can not have any fruit except manderaine oranges and bananas. I would like to find out what else I could give her that would have nutrition. My other question is this, the toddler is over weight and I was wondering if anyone else has this problem with their toddler.

[Alyantavid]

Any fruit has nutrition. Did you ask why she can only have those?

How big is this child that you think is overweight?

[Megan73]

Originally Posted by kathy45

I am watching a 17 month old and I have several questions. Most are about eating so here goes. Her mother says she can not have any fruit except manderaine oranges and bananas. I would like to find out what else I could give her that would have nutrition. My other question is this, the toddler is over weight and I was wondering if anyone else has this problem with their toddler.

It's great that you're concerned about this little one and ALL fruits have nutrition.
But - and this is a big but - it's not up to you to decide what this toddler eats. By all means talk to her mom about a balanced, varied diet but it's up to her to decide what's on the menu.
If you're worried about the LO's weight, I bet mom would be THRILLED if you encouraged lots of active play outside.
Kudos to you for having this little girl's best interests at heart!

[claras_mom]

The food thing could be anything. But what comes to mind is either food sensitivities/allergies or not wanting anything that's a choking hazard. Bananas and mandarins are both pretty safe--and clearly tested/trusted by the mom.

Really, you should talk to her about this stuff.

[pianojazzgirl]

I agree that if you have questions you need to address them to the mom. Why only bananas and mandarins? Is the mom open to having her dd try other foods? If so which ones? It could very well be that she has tried lots of fruits but those are the only ones her dd likes. Or that her dd has shown sensitivities to other fruits. Or maybe she has some other reason. Whatever the reasons might be it is definitely important that you have a conversation with the mom before trying new foods with her dd. Maybe you could brainstorm some healthy foods that you think the girl might like and then ask the mom if it's ok if you serve those to her (at that age some things that my kids liked were: avocados, cooked green beans, cucumber, cheese, non-sugary yogourt, apple sauce, whole grain toast, etc).

And as for the toddler being overweight - are you sure that she is? Has her mom raised concerns about this? A lot of toddlers are chubby and then thin out as they get older. As long as you feed her healthy foods and make sure she gets a lot of chances to get outside and be active then I think that's as much as you can do (as a caregiver).