I have a 22 month old little girl who refuses to eat anything healthy. I want to be a responsible parent but how can I get her to eat her fruit and veggies? My 4 year girl loves fruit and veg! How is this possible?
She used to eat stage 3 fruit and veg but in the last 6 months she has decided she no longer want to. I am also trying to wean her off baby rice cereal but what else can I feed? Mealtimes are getting increasingly frustrating as all she wants to eat is bread, crackers and cheese. She won't even touch fruit/veg let alone have it anywhere near her mouth. She's a very healthy weight (33lbs) but I think that's just from eating non stop carbs!! Please help.
Ladies, Thank you all for your very helpful advice it is much appreciated and I will definately try these suggestions but I don't think I explained my problem succinctly enough, I can't get my daughter to even hold a piece of fruit/veg let alone put it in her mouth. We are a family that eat very healthy. All carbs are brown and the only white carb in our house was her rice cereal! We all eat lots of fruit and veggie so she has grown up around these food items. She hasn't drank milk since her 1st birthday and has now started refusing yogurt too. I have regularly tried to feed her F&V and milk but have always had to throw them out as she refuses to have them anywhere near her. Her peaditrican has told me to wait until she turns two until I try the dastirc measures of withholding food until she eats her F&V. I'm just so frustrated as I feel like I have been waiting forever for her to eat the same food as we do. Is there some little trick you may have tried to get your little one interested in these foods without hiding them amoungst their meals? Surely there has to be an easier way! Thank you once again to all that replied.
Make a soup and smash up the veggies as you feed it to her, maybe put in some chicken & noodles. You can give her cereal like cheerios with milk, egg.
Get her involved in the preparation process...let her help you make decisions (shall we have green beans or zucchini tonight? CHicken or Turkey??).I think if she is able to do some of the "cooking" ( measuring, tearing lettuce for salads, etc etc might make her more interested in eating food that SHE has prepared!!! At 22 months of age she should be able to eat just about anything that you have at the dinner table for the rest of you. If she has been eating "stage 3" canned foods...possibly she is reacting to the different textures and feel of the "people food" that you are offering her.
Try to think of things that are closer to the texture that she is used to...steamed veggies that still retain their color and freshness...maybe a bowl of fresh fruit...with yogurt for her to dip it in. How about Hummus and baked chips?
Infant Rice Cereal at 22 months of age? Sounds to me like she needs to learn the joys of cheerios...oatmeal and scrambled eggs!! Little ones are not going to spread their wings and enjoy new things if we let them just stick with the same thing day after day....help her learn to love good food.
Try feeding her only veggies and fruit. She will eat when she's hungry. I used to feed mine veggies first and not anything else until the veggies were gone. THey ate them.
I also made zuchini bread and pumpkin breads. Also try mac and cheese, homemade with veggies, or alfredo adn pasta with veggies
Try spagehetti sauce and put stuff in it.
Serve frozen mixed veggies, they have to eat two colors then as they get older thay eat three colors.
Serve Fruit pizza, take a sugar cookie tube, bake it in a pan, like a jelly roll or round baking stone, 1 brick cream cheese, sugar, maybe a 1/2C and some lemon juice, spread on top of cookie, then cut up fruits.
Kiwi and strawberry will sometimes be too acidic, but my kids love this.
My neighbor dumps cherry pie filling on hers.
Try V-8, mine never liked this, but now they have some that taste like orange.
Thing is if you don't have the junk food in the house, she can't have it. Have you tried home made hummus with carrots, celery and cucumber? What about smoothies made from almond milk, nuts (raw), some kale and frozen fruits? Also add some hemp seeds they are rich in omega 3,6 and 9. Have you tried quinoa? It's an awesome grain that's a complete protein. Make some sauces to dribble on veggie, squeeze some fresh lemon on. There is a really good book for fussy kids called Vegan Lunch box, check it out from the library.
See WestonPrice.com, and Feingold- get all sugar, and white wheat out of the house- other grains.
See Eat Right 4 your bllod type for her, and have her beneficials there.
And having said that- then don't worry about - my granddaughter didn't eat anything I'd call healthy, and to my wonder she is healthy,
best, k
She is old enough to be in the kitchen helping you with things. Kids love that! And, they are often more likely to try what they helped out with.
No offense, but stage 3 baby food is not all that enticing to a child who really should be eating basically whatever you are eating.
Give her melon chunks, orange slices, diced pears and peaches. Give her fresh string beans, carrot sticks, broccoli, cauliflower, snap peas.
Introduce her to other things.
Let her help you make zucchini bread. She can help by handing you the measuring spoons and cups, she can help stir the batter.
She won't try anything else if you continue to give her the "only" things she will eat.
Just my opinion.
I agree that she is a bit old for purees, but if she was getting fruits and veggies that way then I guess it worked for that. I would just continue to give her a variety of fruits and veggies at every meal. I would go with the old stand-bys like grapes, blueberries, strawberries, peas, green beans and carrots. She's not yet 2 so it will still take her a while to adjust to eating these things, but she can do it. Kids need to see something and/or try it something like 20 times before it becomes a regular food they wil eat, so just keep at it. She can eat regular oatmeal too...or cream of wheat. Cream of wheat looks a little bit like baby rice cereal when you make it so maybe start with that. I fix both my kids (3 and 16 mos) instant oatmeal all the time. It's healthy, fast, and easy! I'm pretty sure they have instant cream of wheat now too. Don't force the issue, just continue to offer things at each meal.
Veggie juices? Fruit smoothies with yogurt?
She is really too old for pureed fruit and veggies. All the kids I cared for started eating soft cooked fruits and veggies by 10 months and were on all table food by 12 months. To up the health value of what solid pieces she will eat, make sure you give her whole wheat carbs only--she might slow down since they have more fiber and don't melt like sugar in her mouth! Make sure you give her natural cheese and not processed as well. Try planning a daily or weekly menu--at this age she could understand if you showed it to her and could even incorporate pictures glued onto cardboard for each meal so she knew what to expect. Don't deviate from the menu as you have set it. Breakfast = 1 carb and 1 fruit , Snacks = choice of 2 of the food groups (protein and fruit or veggie and carb) Lunch and Dinner = 1 carb, 1 protein, 2 veggies or 1veg and 1 fruit. Present the protein and veggies/fruit first. You could try a one bite rule of each of those before letting her have the carb. Also--make sure you are eating with her at each of those snacks/meals to set a good example. I notice my daycare kids eat better together because they see the other kids try things and me try things when I have a chance to eat! It may take a lot of time but try to keep things low key and give her healthy choices. If she eats the carb only at a meal, tell her you will save the rest if she is hungry before the next thing on the menu. You could also have her help plan the menu regarding which fruits/veggies to have at a meal once she starts to let down her resistance. Hope this helps!
If your 22 month old is still eating baby food there is a sensory processing issue going on. Take her to be evaluated by an occupational therpaist or speech pathologist who specializes in SPD. You need an oral motor program to wake up her mouth and senses. Baby food is usually refused when the child is 10-11 months of age.
