Getting A Toddler To Eat Vegetables

[Otrere]

Can anyone help me? My 2 1/2 year old daughter won't touch veg. Never has done. She looks at it like you are trying to poison her, puts "whatever" in her mouth and then spits it straight out. I don't know if its the texture or taste that she doesn't like but I am struggling.

I've made Annabel Karmel's Hidden Veg. Tomato Sauce which she loves but I can't keep making that/giving her that all of the time ... and I hide some (like finely chopped spinach) in omelette.

I've told her that broccoli are trees etc. etc., covered them in cheese sauce, but she's not having any of it. She'll eat baked beans and mushy peas (but only mushy peas from the chip shop?!) and that is about it.

We nearly always sit down as a family and eat our evening meal together and we always have the same food.

Yet she'll eat the meat, a bit of the potatoes and completely disregards the veg.

I'm really scratching my head for some ideas as to how to encourage her to eat more veg. or more ways in which I can serve them (I've tried making faces etc. out of them as well) to make them more interesting and appealing to her. Or just any way I can get them into her!!

Please can anyone help???

[woofgang]

Why can't you keep giving her the hidden veg sauce if she likes it??

does she eat fruit? The only veg I like is asparagus and as a kid would only eat tomatoes. I am 51, healthy, fit (well fittish)

Give her vitamin drops and don't worry!!

[Otrere]

No the only fruit I can get her to eat is apples and not very often. I tried her on vitamin drops and she didn't get on with them (they made her constipated).

I can't keep giving her the hidden veg. sauce cause (a) it'd cost me a fortune to keep making it and I don't always have the time and (b) she'd get bored of it every day.

I do worry cause she is constantly full of cold - she's had one for nearly 7 weeks now.

[woofgang]

try giving her the vit drops without iron, its the iron that has the bunging up effect

[silly moo]

Does bribery work?
Only give tiny amounts of veg and if she eats that she can have an extra sweet or piece of pudding?
My daughter used to cover the veg she wasn't keen on in tomato sauce.
I also had to eat 1 small piece of carrot (which I hate) - so that both children and adults were treated the same.
Both children are now in their 20's and both are more adventurous eaters than either of their parents.
Don't make it into a huge battle though - there will be some foods that they really do not like.
By the way did she eat prepared baby foods and did she eat all flavours? I ask because a friend's daughter always spat out the carrot in any jar of baby food.

[silly moo]

P.S.
Have you tried juicing fruit and / or veg?
She may prefer that.

[Gef]

I wouldn't worry and there's nothing wrong with baked beans or mushy peas. My own children were all different at that age - one ate everything; one ate a few veg and one ate none. Now they eat everything and are all very healthy. One thing they couldn't resist though was home made soup with as long as it was blitzed to get rid of the lumps.

[ursula62]

My sister had fussy children... she used to get them to eat vegetables by pureeing the veg and using it as pasta sauce - any veg will do, not just tomatoes.

She also mashed veggies into mashed potato and then gave the mash an imaginative name. e.g. green peas pureed into mash became "alien mash", carrots pureed into mash became mashed tigers, beetroot pureed into mash became blood mash! 

They also loved making salads with raw veggies - for some reason they would eat broccoli raw but not cooked (watch out for the smells though!).

My niece and nephew also loved sweetcorn fritters :-
Whisk up a batter out of 3 oz self raising flour, a pinch of salt, an egg and the juice from a tin of sweetcorn, topped up to 1/4 pint with milk if necessary.
When it's smooth, pour in the corn. Fry spoonfuls of the batter until it is golden brown on both sides. Serve hot. Yummy with sausages or grilled chicken, or just on their own with some home made tomato sauce.  

[Scarlett]

I believe Iceland used to do "chips" made with vegetables!! May defeat the object, though!!

You could also make sweet potatoes like roast potatoes, and serve both at once? I think a lot of kids won't eat veggies, but very few adults do. As a child I refused to eat onion, which made life very difficult for my poor Mum. she would have to make spag bol in 2 halves! I thought the chopped onion looked like woodlice. She could have grated it and I would never have known. Now I can't get enough of it!!

[calleach]

Ive got 4 kids 3 of them eat veg no bothr and 1 is a wee B.I found lying to them was the best method.ie beans make you fast cabbage makes your muscles big potatoes will make you good at soccer. Any convenient lie will do.

[kick3m0n]

you could make a huge batch of the hidden veg sauce and freeze it in ice cube trays. just defrost one or two cubes at a time.

I wouldn't try to push any other veggies on her just now to be honest.  If she becomes aware of how much importance you place on the eating of other veggies, she may never do it.  At this age, even the best eater can go off ceertain foods, or have odd phases of eating behaviour.   If she's eating peas and beans, you've not actually got that much to worry about, cos they are both packed with goodness.

I'd just let it go, not make an issue out of it. Use multi-vits minus iron if you're worried. Carry on letting her see the rest of you enjoy veggies and fruit, and she may come round in her own good time.  My brother ate only beans as a child, right up until adolescence, and was never keen on fruit.  He's now a big strapping fireman and eats pretty much any fruit or veg put in front of him.  Just don't worry about it.

[kick3m0n]

p.s. sorry!  Have you tried giving her liquidised soup...maybe with added pasta or rice (or even torn up bits of bread)?  This thickens the whole thing up (so ti doesnt' look too soupy, which some kids associate with veggies) and disguises any veggies quite well.

[Eeeek]

Hi there, as the mother of a 2.5yr old I sympathise. I do a lot of what ursula62 has said. Whatever meal I am making I will always whizz in some "invisible" veggies. One of her favourites is mini sausages with mash so the potato always has a tin of carrots whizzed through them although I have never thought of calling it Tiger Mash! Thats brilliant. This method works for me and to be honest I use it for all sauces including pasta, spag bol, soup, risotto even macaroni cheese. Good luck and let us know how you get on.

[floss85]

Why dont you try colouring different foods?? Im sure she would find it much more fun to eat bright pink cauliflour and purple swede!!!

[Hammer]

Tell her she can't have it because she's not old enough yet. I bet that makes her want it!

[catra1]

i like hammer's reverse psychology and if i knew how to reccommend him i would.
When i was young i had a vitimin K deficiency which meant that i had to eat bowls of brussel sprouts which i hated when i was about 5 years old. My parents told me i needed to eat them or i wouldn't feel very well, this helped convince me a little but they also used a bribary method- eat all your brussels and we'll give you X, Y, Z (usually chocolate!) itworked and now i love my brussles. despite crying and tantrums- i always wanted the chocolate and knew my parents would not give it me (not even a bit|) until the bowl was clean of brussles- i am sure there was a great character building lesson inthere too!!!

[Otrere]

Thanks all so much for your replies. I'll give some of your suggestions a try and let you know how I get on!

Thanks again.

[sharonlouise]

hi my son is the same he used to eat everything until he got a really bad stomach bug when he was 2-3 yrs old then it was down hill from then on.i get different veg chop small then put it through the blender and then add it to minced beef and gravy then put mash on top to make a shepherds pie the kids love it and dont realise they are having lots of veg.this is a boy who will only eat potatoes baked beans he loves tomatoe soup so i add some pureed fresh boiled toms to it and he hasnt discoverd anything yet also hes now only just starting to eat sweetcorn if its on the cob.my son is 9 1/2 and hes been fine just on these veg alone i used to have lots of sleepless nights and lots of fights up the table.word of warning though my brother was forced and i mean forced to eat veg at school by old dinner ladies and he has never touched a veg now he has kids of his own whereas now we have stopped trying with my son but with little hints like each meal we have veg i still put only 1 or 2 pieces of carrott or what we are having and just let him know that it would be nice for him to just have a tiny nibble so gradually we are getting small pieces in.please dont force as it only puts them off.hope this works.

[Otrere]

Christ I wrote that nearly 2 years ago and she's coming up to 5 now!!! How come its popped up again. Bizarre things have been happening - I have been getting replies to messages I posted months and months ago!!!