Please help me get my son to eat vegetables!

T

thanka2

Registered User
My 3-year-old son refuses to eat almost any fruits and vegetables. I love fruits and vegetables and eat them a lot. I especially like dark green vegetables like spinach and eat it almost every day. I grew up eating a lot of vegetables as my dad was a gardener and most of the vegetables I ate were raw--pretty much straight from the garden. It stresses me out that my son won't touch any vegetables. The only vegetable he'll eat is broccoli and it has to be cooked. As far as fruit goes, the only fruit he will allow in his mouth are apples but he doesn't eat those much now either.

I really need some ideas on how to get him to eat vegetables and fruits because I am very concerned about his health at this point.

Thanks for any tips.
 
My 4 year old is the same although he is getting a bit better, but before he wouldn't touch any veg apart if it was in a soup(well blended NO bits). Every time i would have to lye to him saying that it was potato and sweet potato soup... It was actually loaded with carrots,leek , suede etc... And he loves it go and figure. he won t touch carrots if they re in bits...
For every 4 spoons of soup he gets a piece of bread with cream cheese or melted cheese.
For the past 2 months I have started telling him what s in the soup AFTER he s finished and he s fine with it. It s like a game now before his diner he asks me "is it sweet potato soup??" "yes it is" "are you lying?" "yes I am...".
I know maybe I shouldn't teach him to lie...:)
 
In the short term, can you sneak them into things i.e. making a pasta sauce with pureed carrots hidden in it, or muffins with applesauce, etc? Actually I remember there was a cookbook published on this exact thing by Jessica Seinfeld.

That's obviously not a long-term solution because he will have to learn to eat veges eventually. I would start by getting him very involved in food preparation (if he's not already). My 3 year old 'helps' in the kitchen almost every day and he gets very enthusiastic about eating the final product.

If you can, get him interested in where they come from i.e. visit one of the small farms out in the NT and show him the produce growing. Then use it in your own cooking so he sees the full 'life-cycle' of the produce rather than just the plastic wrapped version from the store. Or, failing that, take him to the wet markets and show him all the glorious fruit and veges on display!
 
i have the cookbook mentioned if you want to borrow it, thanka...it actually worked wonders for us... took the fight out of me. i still served veg. now, i have 2 veg and the kids MUST choose one.

my son will reluctantly choose one and my daughter does so much less reluctantly. she LOVES ceaser salad! (especially the croutons, but if it it gets her to eat the rest, who cares?)
 
penelope, she did you mean by suede? (suede is the skin of a cow, the opposite of leather).... i know it's a miskake, but you've picqued my curiosity.
 
ozmerc said:
In the short term, can you sneak them into things i.e. making a pasta sauce with pureed carrots hidden in it, or muffins with applesauce, etc? Actually I remember there was a cookbook published on this exact thing by Jessica Seinfeld.

That's obviously not a long-term solution because he will have to learn to eat veges eventually. I would start by getting him very involved in food preparation (if he's not already). My 3 year old 'helps' in the kitchen almost every day and he gets very enthusiastic about eating the final product.

If you can, get him interested in where they come from i.e. visit one of the small farms out in the NT and show him the produce growing. Then use it in your own cooking so he sees the full 'life-cycle' of the produce rather than just the plastic wrapped version from the store. Or, failing that, take him to the wet markets and show him all the glorious fruit and veges on display!
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The funniest part is that he is always involved in food preparation and likes to see how things are made and help as much as we'll let him. And we live right next to a farm in the New Territories (walking distance) and we go there and pick our own vegetables and strawberries. He loves all of this--he loves to participate and isn't grossed out by the vegetables. In fact, he kept telling me for weeks when the strawberries were ripening, "We're going to go pick strawberries, right?" So, we took him to pick strawberries--he picked them with us and had a great time and then when it came to wash and eat them he wouldn't let a strawberry touch his lips. My husband finally got him to try one by promising him chocolate milk--he nearly spit it out and only took a tiny nibble and refused to eat any more. We had even gone with his best friend and his best friend was eating them and he had no inclination to try them himself. :(
 
carang said:
i have the cookbook mentioned if you want to borrow it, thanka...it actually worked wonders for us... took the fight out of me. i still served veg. now, i have 2 veg and the kids MUST choose one.

my son will reluctantly choose one and my daughter does so much less reluctantly. she LOVES ceaser salad! (especially the croutons, but if it it gets her to eat the rest, who cares?)
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I have that cookbook as well and we use some of the recipes. But, my problem is that the way the veggies are prepared to me seems to be killing all of the nutrition--steamed, baked, blended, frozen, mixed, reheated--hmmmm....

But, I do have some of the recipes in our monthly meal plan. So, he is getting things like pumpkin in his macaroni and cheese as well as cauliflower in his eggs--things like that. We also make him alphabet soup at least once a week (all pureed) using a recipe from the back of the organic noodles we use in it. I'm just worried that he doesn't get enough raw, fresh veggies. In fact, since I eat salad a lot my son says, "Mama eats salad and the bunny eats salad but I don't eat salad." :(
 
This is what I'm thinking about doing:

My point is I want my son to be eating raw or steamed veggies on a regular basis.

So, I'm going to try to rework our menu to include a vegetable "appetizer" before every meal. I'm going to start off really slow and simple. Like two baby carrot sticks (y'know, the tiny ones?) with salad dressing to dip in. I'm going to make sure I eat every meal I can with him and if not ask the helper to eat with him so he has a role model to follow.

This appetizer will be presented before the meal and he'll need to finish the appetizer to get the rest of the meal. This sort of ploy actually works pretty well with him on other things--like getting him to finish food he's not wild about. I'm going to make it a very small amount at first--if it's like spinach it will literally be like two leaves--again with salad dressing if he wants it.

If he refuses to eat the appetizer he has the option of choosing to come back later when he's ready to eat. I won't make him sit there until he finishes but will let him get down from the table and go play and then when he says he's hungry he'll have to eat the appetizer before the rest of the meal. I figure, eventually, he'll get hungry enough and since it's a very small amount it shouldn't be a big deal. If he says he's hungry later he'll know that he has to come back and finish the appetizer and the meal. This is what we do when he tells us he's not hungry at dinnertime--we don't force him to eat. I just tell him, "Well, this is dinner and if you get hungry later, you'll have to come back and eat this." Then at bedtime when he tells me he wants a snack, I reheat his food for him and he eats that.

If need be, I'll teach him how to plug his nose and eat his veggies (what I used to do) because the point for me is that he eats them--at least tries them and hopefully it will become a habit.
 
Dips might help, as it is fun. Our son likes cucumber I think cos it's crunchy. He also like the japanese salad dressing, sesame ones.
Would you consider fried vege, like tempura?
Our son, and I heArd lots of small kids, don't like leafy greens as they are hard to chew.
Other ideas, strawberry dip in chocolate? Blueberry pancake, berries cheesecake, fruit shakes.
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actually, many vegetables are BETTER for you after they've been cooked. i was watching a thing the other day about carrots. if you grate carrots and put them in the fridge for a day or two they are more nutritious as the good stuff gets "released" by the grating... also read somewhere that cooked tomatoes are better for you than raw tomatoes...
 
Also we use a juicer at home and that is a good way of squeezing lots of fresh fruit and veg into one glass. If he likes juice, maybe try that? Start with the sweeter, more kid friendly fruit like apple and orange and then add in some carrot, celery and the likes later down the track if he accepts it.

I've seen TV programs where they have ADULTS who won't eat fruit or veg, and they take a very slowly slowly approach rather than introducing a whole bunch of new stuff at once, which freaks them out. They did one thing at a time and when that was accepted they tried another. A few months down the track they were eating most things. I've heard with small children it can take something like 10 or more tries before the new food is accepted...sounds like you are on the right track anyhow.
 
carang said:
actually, many vegetables are BETTER for you after they've been cooked. i was watching a thing the other day about carrots. if you grate carrots and put them in the fridge for a day or two they are more nutritious as the good stuff gets "released" by the grating... also read somewhere that cooked tomatoes are better for you than raw tomatoes...
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Yes, but cooking and freezing and re-cooking again?
 
ozmerc said:
Also we use a juicer at home and that is a good way of squeezing lots of fresh fruit and veg into one glass. If he likes juice, maybe try that? Start with the sweeter, more kid friendly fruit like apple and orange and then add in some carrot, celery and the likes later down the track if he accepts it.

I've seen TV programs where they have ADULTS who won't eat fruit or veg, and they take a very slowly slowly approach rather than introducing a whole bunch of new stuff at once, which freaks them out. They did one thing at a time and when that was accepted they tried another. A few months down the track they were eating most things. I've heard with small children it can take something like 10 or more tries before the new food is accepted...sounds like you are on the right track anyhow.
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Nope, doesn't like juice--not even apple or orange juice. Only likes water and milk and we don't give him soft drinks or other sweet drinks. I used to make a green drink for him that had apples, celery, spinach, ginger and cucumber and he used to love it up until he was about 2-years-old and now he won't touch it.

We've been trying bit by bit for a long time it seems. :(
 
surely, any veg is better than none? even if it has been frozen and reheated, that's better than what he's eating now...nothing?

i can only say that my first was exactly the same. and her cookbook was a godsend for us. once he realised we were sneaking veg in, i started offering him a choice. he always gets 2 to choose from. and he always chooses. i don't make him eat a whole bowl, rather 3 or 4 pieces. that way, i'm winning the argument and he's getting used to eating some of the veg. he now loves: carrots, corn (in sauces, fried rice, on the cob, as a side), mushrooms. will tolerate: peas, long green beans, romaine lettuce, choi sum, bak choi...

fruit: strawberries, bananas, apples, grapes, watermelon (but only the juice in sago), dried mango (not fresh mango)...
 
would have to agree with carang...some is better than none. my niece is the same - she LOVES her meat but not her veg...seems like she's on the Atkin's diet herself! she eats apples / carrots only - but whenever she wants MORE meat, she has to eat 1 piece of veg first....her choice!

and yes...cooked tomatoes are more nutritous than raw ones - can't remember why though, but definitely true.

and the japanese sesame sauce someone mentioned works wonders for my niece who hates her veg...she will eat cucumbers dipped in that.

i tried steaming veggies for my 10mth old and she won't touch them! she will eat the same veggies mixed in with her bolognese sauce / other sauces..she'll even eat onions and leek! ha-ha! :) maybe hiding them for now just for the sake of getting the veggie intake and then slowly develop more of an "interest"
 
thanka2.. do let us know how you find a solution to this.. Our 3yo is exactly the same, she hates fruits and vegetables, and if she sees veges in somebody else's plate she'll tell them also "no,no, don't eat vegetables". Tired of trying now.
Good luck.
 
Some suggestions:

1) insert the veggies in whatever his favorite food / style of food is: Our 3 year old loves congee, stir fry and noodles. Whenever we introduce a new type of food it's usually through one of those ways of cooking as he isn't focused on what's in it, but what it looks like. He's familiar with what it looks like so he's not scared to try it.

2) eat your dinner with your child: i know many kids eat earlier. My son eats at 5:30-ish and we actually eat at 7pm, but I usally eat a small portion of dinner with him so he sees me eating the same foods he is. Usually my son will want to try and eat what i am eating so I also make sure everything on my plate can be eaten by him too or it's just a smaller portion of his actual dinner.

3) Loves what daddy eats: For some reason my son loves whatever my husband eats....if we want him to try something new, we sometimes introduce it when his daddy eats it as a snack. My husband plays like it's his food and pays no attention to my son until he actually comes up and asks for a bite. For example we wanted to teach my son how to eat an apple not in slices, but as a whole and with skin on. My husband at it in the afternoon, my son watched, then asked for a bite....now we don't have to go around cutting those darn apples for him when we travel.

Perhaps your child often displays some of these behavior and you can use them to your advantage too!
 
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