fruit cups?

sharinfaith

how unhealthy are those? dd likes the del monte prepackaged fruit cups (peaches/pears/mandarin oranges) and will eat an entire one (or two) for lunch. they're convenient and soft enough for her to gum. they're only packaged in water and absorbic acid.

i do realize that fresh fruit has more nutritional value and such, but am i doing more harm than good? she doesn't like fresh peaches, pears are too hard, and oranges are kind of a pain to peel (and she doesn't eat it all).

she does get fresh avocado, banana, broccoli, peas, and apples daily...

 

thoughts on fruit cups? 

csharpe636

I buy the Dole brand.  They are packaged in 100% fruit juice.  She gets either pears or peaches daily and has for awhile.  She loves them!  I'm gonna try the oranges next time I go grocery shopping for something different.

rlyttle

We buy the Dole 100% juice fruit cups. DS is a fruitaholic!!!! Have you tried the "cutie" little oranges? They might be tangerines or something. DS LOVES those & they are very easy to peal. DS can even peel some of them. Bananas are always an easy fresh fruit. 

MrsI

rlyttle:

We buy the Dole 100% juice fruit cups. DS is a fruitaholic!!!! Have you tried the "cutie" little oranges? They might be tangerines or something. ** clemintines **DS LOVES those & they are very easy to peal. DS can even peel some of them. Bananas are always an easy fresh fruit. 

I also try to buy them in 100% juice but DH doesn't always look so occasionally she gets the syrupy ones .  No harm done yet.  I also get pineapple tidbits, tropical mixed fruit, and the new apple/pear ones.  DD get 1-2 a day(sometimes lunch and usually dinner).  We also shop at walmart and get their veggie cups.  They have peas, carrots, geren beans, and corn.  Its way cheaper than gerber and she loves them!  DH and I aren't the best about eating veggies with dinner so when we don't have one she gets a veggie cup, the perfect serving size.  She gets them for luch a lot too.

christyjane17

I do the mandarins oranges fruit cups I drain the juice and rinse them. I give them 34 times a week. As for fresh fruit ideas...apples and pears can be grated with a cheese grater. DS loves them like this because he's not a great chewer yet. Berries and bananas are also a big hit.

dairygirl19

Not the best. Not the worst. I give them to LO sometimes. I buy the ones in 100% juice. My mom brings the syrup ones when she visits. Meh. Whatever. She eats a 100 other things in the course of a week it doesn't matter to me. I usually give them to her when she asks for "treat." Way better than a fruit snack or the like.

They come in handy for sure. I live 20 miles from a grocery store so constant fresh fruit isn't always an option.

I do buy frozen fruit more though. It's a lot fresher, tastes better and isn't in juice of any kind.

lkm2006

We also buy the Dole brand.  His favorite are the pineapples and he has then at least 3 times a week!

mamastich

pears are hard  until they are ripe.. maybe wait until they are ripe to feed them to lo? they will be super soft.

jmw222

I buy the ones packed in water.  I send them to DC with her a few times a week.  Last night, all she ate for dinner was a mandarin oranges cup and two itty bitty bites of chicken.  

AimeeL85

DS has them about 3 times a week with either his breakfast or lunch. I buy the ones that say No Sugar Added....I think they're Del Monte?  I buy fresh fruit every week, but his favorites (berries) don't usually last through the end of the week.

CLL1001

I buy the Dole peaches, mandarin oranges and mixed fruit in 100% fruit juice. DD gets one cup a day after dinner as her little "dessert" and she loves them.

Karen1998

mamastich:

pears are hard  until they are ripe.. maybe wait until they are ripe to feed them to lo? they will be super soft.

Actually, they're ripe when they're sweet, fragrant and still hard.  They're going bad and past peak ripeness when they go soft.  

OP try steaming your pears.  I bet your DD doesn't like those fruits because she always gets them in the cups.  Fruit is sweeter tasting in the cups than it is fresh.  You'll have to gradually transition her over.  I had this issue with DS when we transitioned from purees to whole foods and found that steaming/quickly microwaving them bridged the gap well.   

As for your question on whether they're bad, they're not awful (assuming you're using the kind that's packaged only in fruit juice), but not the absolute best choice.  We will periodically use them when we either don't have or can't find good quality fresh fruit.  Like one of the other PPers, I use frozen fruit as backup for fresh.  

blu-eyedwife

LalaMama81:

I buy frozen fruit, but not those cups. 

If the kid in the OP can eat a fresh apple, why can't he eat a pear? Pears are much softer than apples IME. That was one of the first whole fruits DD ate, at 7  months or so.

It's definitely better than some options, but it is probably the lowest ranking fruit option. I just don't get why you'd get them when they are more expensive and more wasteful than fresh or frozen. I don't like very much individual stuff for those reasons.  

We're the same way. I'll give frozen fruit and dried fruit, but not fruit cups.  I'm not a fan of the sugar used as a preservative.  Then again, my kid adores pears,(which are always soft and juicy) and begged for a fresh persimmon today, ate the whole thing, and whined for another.

amberpro

We give them. I think they're fine.