My toddler only eats a few foods

Despite the limited variety of food your son eats, he has at least chosen a good balance of nutrients. His diet doesn't sound the least bit like it is severely lacking, so don't spend time worrying about that. Instead, concentrate on working on expanding that variety to further ensure he is getting a nutritionally adequate diet.

A diet of cheese sandwiches, cereal, milk, bananas and orange juice includes fairly adequate protein from the cheese, a generous supply of carbohydrates from the bread and cereal, a source of vitamin A from the orange juice and the milk, a great source of vitamin C from the orange juice and lots of B vitamins and potassium from the banana and grains. The one nutrient that I would be a little concerned about is iron. At 20 months, your son still needs iron from his diet. If the cereal he is eating is iron-fortified then he should be OK.

To get your son to eat a larger variety of foods you will need a lot of patience. He is deep in the midst of toddlerhood, which is characterised by a dislike or fear of new foods. Familiarity is the key to acceptance. The foods that you think he would like and are child- and age-appropriate you should serve at family meals over and over again. At each meal you should include at least one thing you know he likes and will eat. You wouldn't dream of serving a dinner of only things your husband doesn't like and your baby requires the same consideration.