Getting Toddler to Eat Her Vegetables

J.; well first of all, its great you have given her the vegetables in her baby food, many mothers do not do that, so you are to be commended, what you can do is offer them first to her when she is first hungry, lots you can do to serve them, my favorite was frozen peas, just eaten frozen, they taste like candy, but they thaw fast so just a few, ahahah also corn mixed with mashed potatoes, is also really good, also give smaller portions on the plate, and give small portion of veggies also, and when all is eaten on the plate then she can have more, of whatever she likes, also raw broccoli , my sons used to call them little trees, and dip them in ranch or veggie dip, make smiey faces with corn and green beans in the potatoes, or something else, just have fun with it, and she has to see you eat them as well, just enjoy life and keep up the good work, D. s

I just read the book DECEPTIVELY DELICIOUS. By Jerry Seinfeld's wife. One thing she says you can do is cook mac n cheese and add peas to it. And/or you can puree coliflour and freeze them in icecube trays. Melt two cubes in micro and add to mac n cheese. My little one year old loves mac n cheese cause it is soft. I also bake an sweet potato and cut it up in little cubes.

See if you can get the book Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron from the libray. She does an excellent job of toddler friendly recipies.

Anytime Xander (14 months) doesn't like something, adding a handful of shredded cheese does the job! I swear kids will eat anything that has cheese on it!

Try frozen corn kernels microwaved with a little butter, kids seem to love their veggies- broccoli, carrots, etc- with a little butter. Just like us grownups. Or raw ones dipped in ranch, that always worked at my preschool.

Hello J., children do go through stages, we can or freeze most all our own vegtables which I think helps the taste. However my daughter loves peas, green beens, on other vegs, we add cheese, try mashing up frozen vegs, mix with potatoes and cheese for peas, in other words trick them into it, sometimes it's the way they look rather than the taste. Best of luck to you, mother of 4 girls, very picky eaters.

My daughter used to have no problem eating veggies but recently "cooled" on them. So I started sprinkling just a little bit of parmesan cheese on top. This has helped a lot :) And it's probably easier than pureeing the veggies if you're interested in trying...

i would try the juice that has veggies in them, also am not sure if you have tryed it but daughter likes pasta so i make chick. alf. with peas in it, or chick. gravy over mashpot. with peas, carrots in it. also it sounds silly but if i tell her that her grandpa likes something she always eats it. good luck

J.,

A few quick tricks that I have used are to just puree whatever veggies we are eating and mix a few chunkier pieces in until they get used to the texture. Another sneaky thing is to put cheese sauce over the veggies, or just put the pureed veggies into the cheese sauce and then pour over whole steamed veggies. The last thing I have done is to make casseroles and include the veggies right in with the sauce/gravy and sometimes they don't realize what they are eating. Good luck it will come with time!

Hi J.,
Two suggestions...blend the vegetables and hide them in with other foods, I have heard of other people having great results doing this. The other thing is to count the vegetables while they eat them one at a time. I did this with my granddaughter because she would not eat her peas, so we sat there...1, 2, 3..she loved it! Hope you find this helpful..
Blessings,
C.

Hi J.,Are you giving her canned veggies or frozen? I had a problem with my one year old, because I was trying to give her canned. She does not like them that way. When I tried frozen..she started gobbling up the veggies all over again. I think this is because of the sodium. The frozen have a closer flavor to what they are getting in baby food. I hope this helps..good luck to you!

HI J.
I have a very picky eater, she's very sensitive to texture. So I make smoothies w/ spinach, frozen blue berries, a few frozen strawberries and water, maybe some banana. It's got lots of antioxidants and is very yummy.

1/2 lb organic spinach or a few leaves of kale
3/4 c frozen blueberries
4-5 frozen strawberries
Blend the veggies w/ water till smooth texture, add berries a bit at a time and blend smooth, adding more water when needed.
I sometimes add a handful of raw cashews in with the veggies it adds protein, and a healthy fat since there raw. And makes it creamy.

Good luck. A. H

Hi J.---I have the opportunity to work with a renowned pediatrician, Dr. William Sears. He and his wife have written over 30 books on raising children. He is also a contributor to Parents and Baby Talk magazines. He has a wonderful website, www.askdrsears.com which offers advice on a variety of subject, picky eaters being one of them.

I also can send you a DVD that he has recorded called 9 Simple Steps to a Healthier Family Diet. Just let me know. Dr Sears and I also recommend a whole food supplement, 15 different fruits and veggies along with the bran of two grains, called Juice Plus+. These fruits and veggies have been juiced, dehydrated and then the powders put into capsule, chewable or gummie forms. It is an excellent way to bridge the gap between what we should eat in terms of servings of f&v (7-13 !!!) and what we actually eat. Fruits and veggies are the key to disease prevention, and isolated vitamins do not offer the same benefits as whole food does.

If you would like the DVD or any other information, please feel free to contact me. I am studying to be a Wellness Educator so I have a number of resources you might find useful. In health, D..

My son is the same age and does the same thing! As another mom suggested, I've had great luck adding it other things, like casseroles or putting it in spaghetti, etc. It is still in chunks but not as hard for him to deal with.

I think for little ones used to the pureed texture, getting the real thing is probably weird for them. I think it'll just take time for him to adjust to the texture and having to chew everything.

I would try to puree the regular food to see if she will take it that way. If she does, then it's a texture thing not a taste thing. You can gradually leave it chunkier and chunkier until she will eat it without it being pureed at all. Go gradually and don't fret if she won't switch over. She may have a texture sensitivity that needs to be broadend or worked around. I have three boys and they all have texture sensitivities. It makes it harder to make balanced meals but we manage to work it out. Good luck - S.

well first I dont see anything wrong with have pureed vegis as a side dish - my little guy is 16 months and still has some pureed foods as well as cut up foods.

however if your truly uncomfortable with the vegis being pureed (remember you can even puree them yourself if you dont want the babyfood expense or consistency anymore)
then I recommend sneaking them into other foods

I believe its jessica seinfeld that has a great book out with recipies that are great :)

Maybe mix some of the real thing in with the baby food counterpart, gradually adding more until the baby food is eliminated. But do it gradually.