Need Creative Ideas on Getting Toddler to Eat Good Foods

What we have learned to do with our 19 month old is to serve the food in "courses" and to start with the things that he is least likely to eat. To move on to the next course he needs to try a bite of the current choice. They say that you should never force your kids to eat because it causes them to develop a bad relationship with food, so our focus has always been more about trying the foods because he might like them. And oftentimes he does like the vegetables or lentils and wants to eat more of them. But eating more is always his choice, the first bite is the only requirement.

I found that my daughter eats her largest meal for lunch (usually after the nap), so I insist on proteins and veggies then. By "dinner" time, we're all pretty tired, so we stick to simple things like yougurt, Joe's Os, and berries, or open avocado sandwich and cheese.

As for "hiding" food, Ellie was quite fond of 50/50 meatballs: equal measure of ground meat and babyfood (jarred or home-made) plus enough matza meal (crumbs) to make the "dough" manageable. Form small meatballs and pan-"steam" in a little bit of broth.

hope that helps

I have a pretty picky four year old who doesn't eat any veggies or fruit except for banannas and potatoes. I believe he has neophobia which is a fear of trying new foods. His nervouse system perceives it as a threat and goes into fright or flight mode and when the new food hits his mouth he will start gagging and often times will throw up. He also has some issues with different textures in the food. I recently read a book called just take a bite, which I would highly recommend. In the book it said you should never use dessert as a reward. What that does is tell the child he must eat the yucky food before he can have the good food. Try putting a little dessert on his plate with the rest of the food, you may be suprised what happens after he eats the dessert. You should try to take all pressure away from the dinner table. The child should feel relaxed while eating and if they know they are always going to go through a battle they are already on the defensive when they come to the table. Most kids eventually grow out of this. Since I quit pressuring my son to eat he has been trying more things and I sneak the veggies fruit in things like eggs, spaghetti sauce, pumpkin muffins and anything else I can get it in and he is none the wiser. He is now in control of his eating and the results have been amazing. He still doesn't eat everything on his plate or always try it but at least he knows he has the choice. If I feel he hasn't eaten enough and he asks for something else I give him a few choices of yougurt, cheese, or some other healthy snack and if he refuses that then I tell him he is not that hungry. Toddlers like to be given choices and feel in control when it comes to food.
I hope this helps!

Have you tried vegetable pancakes? I have two different type of veggie pancakes: 1) Use normal pancake/crepe recipe but vary the flour using rice flour or millet, etc, and add some grated vegetables in the batter 2) I use 2-3 types of grated veggies, some mashed beans, a little bit of herbs/spices, 1-2 eggs and a tiny bit of flour. My son loves both types of pancakes and I know he gets some important veggies with them. Good luck.

I wanted to echo what Natalie G said about feeding in courses. We have to do that with our daughter. Something else I’ve started doing is getting creative with pasta sauces. My daughter loves tortellini (they are apparently more fun than ravioli) so I started experimenting with new sauces that are veggie based and have two recipes that she loves. Both are variations on pesto and are made the same way just with different main ingredients (broccoli or carrot.)

To prepare the broccoli I take a package of frozen broccoli florets dump it onto a cookie sheet and toss with olive oil. I roast the broccoli in a 400 degree oven until it’s tender and starting to turn golden on the bottom (10-15 min).

To prepare the carrots I wash 4 or 5 large carrots, cut them into ¾ inch rounds (skin on) and boil them in just enough water to cover until they are fork tender.

Once your veggie of choice is prepped putting the sauce together is a snap

Put the cooked veggies and 1 small clove of garlic in a food processor and pulse a few time just to get it chopped. Scrape down the sides with a spatula. Then turn on high and slowly drizzle in olive oil until you get close to a consistency that you like. Add some parmesan cheese and either fresh basil (about 6 big leaves) or ½ tablespoon of basil puree (it comes in a tube and is usually in the produce section of the grocery store near the fresh herbs, this time of year fresh basil can be really expensive and of poor quality so I’ve been using the puree.)

I use about ¼ to 1/3 cup of these sauces on my daughter’s tortellini. A fare amount of it ends up on her face and clothes but at least she’s getting some veggies.

good luck,

A.

Relax. The dinner table should NOT be a battleground. Fix a variety of good food for everyone and let him choose to eat it or not. As long as you don't keep candy, soda, or chips in the house, he won't eat too much of them. Don't use "treats" as a reward for "eating well," or for any other behavior. Food should never be used as a reward. He won't suffer from malnutrition just because he prefers to eat carbs for a few years.

For a few years my now-11 year old refused to eat anything but white rice, french fries, fish sticks, and popcorn. I told him he didn't have to eat what the rest of us were having for dinner, but he would have to fix his own food, because I wasn't going to cook twice.

He's outgrowing the "white foods diet" now, and he's added a few more colorful choices to his preferred menu: broccoli, greens, carrots, mushrooms, and artichokes, and he wants to cook the greens himself. Of course, he still wants to drink soda, and eat candy and chips whenever he has the opportunity, but I just see to it he doesn't have the opportunity too often. And he still won't touch raw tomatoes, squash, eggplant, sweet potatoes or peas, but so what? If I don't push him, and he sees everyone else enjoying these foods, he'll get into them eventually.

Once he figures out that he is going to have to eat whatever is given to him then he will start. Keep in mind that young children need more carbs than we do.... just keep them complex. Or work with him on it... if he is in to rice... give him some beans to make it a complete protein. My son eats just about everything that we do so I don't have to worry too much, but i'm sure that he will have his moments. I do make him some things that are different because he can't always eat what i am having... ie fish! However, for the most part when I want him to try something new I am sitting right there next to him and eating the same thing. I put it on his tray and he will play with it for a few minutes and then put it to his mouth to taste it. Sometimes he likes it... sometimes he doesn't. Sometimes i just have to keep trying.

My advice is, stay the course. Don't go down the path of preparing different food for him than everyone else, or only feeding him the items you think he will eat. It is a phase he's going through to try and see if you will just give him what he wants, instead of what he needs. My younger daughter went through this. I just persisted in giving her what the rest of us were eating - except no dessert if she did not eat a good dinner (she didn't have to clean her plate, just eat some of everything on the plate until she was full).

She doesn't have to eat at all if she doesn't want to, but no way am I giving her anything else to eat if she doesn't eat dinner. She is now 3.5 and eats her dinner, including her veggies, every night. We kept it all really low-drama when she started in with not eating her dinner - she'd cross her arms dramatically and say, "I don't like this! I won't eat it!" - to which we'd say, "That's fine. You still need to sit here while the rest of us eat." And we'd proceed to eat dinner. After a suitable amount of time, we'd let her get down, and of course she'd ask for goldfish or cheese sticks or something and we'd say, "If you're hungry, your dinner plate is right here." She'd whine, cry, complain, and we'd just keep repeating ourselves in the exact same way. Meanwhile, she'd watch her big sister have dessert. After several months of this, she decided to stop being so dramatic and just eat her dinner, when she figured out that we weren't going to change the rules for her.

I hope that helps - hang in there. They do look so pathetic with their big, sad, teary eyes, but stay the course and he will come around! It's important that he eat healthy food, and it's worth it to endure a few tears and tantrums now to enforce a lifetime of healthy habits.

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I have heard about some cookbooks out there that "hide" pureed veggies in food. There are a few out there but the one that I heard about was Jessica Seinfeld's cookbook. I think that I am going to try to get those cookbooks and cook some good stuff for the family.

One recipe that I got from my daycare is Rice A Roni, pureed carrots and broccoli and cut up chicken. We make this and it's my daughters favorite meals. The other kids don't care for it but that's because they "know" that it has carrots in it. But I am thinking about doing the prep differently so they really can not tell what's in it. Heck we could even put baby food veggies in it and after cooking they shouldn't be able to tell.

He sounds like my 3 year old boy who has been doing this type of thing since around 2. We have followed the pediatrician's advice by giving him small portions of everything we are having. My husband and I follow a similar pattern to what you are doing. He must eat everything before getting a treat. To leave the table, he must have two bites of everything. To get him to try things, we have added vinegar, butter, mayo, catsup, or salad dressing (you get the idea). Some things we change up the texture a bit (mash the broccoli). We found he will eat salad with French dressing (he doesn't like ranch). Over the past year he has gone from spitting out most veggies to eating small portions with one of the condiments mentioned above.

Oh one last thing. He would not touch a carrot until my husband took him to our neighbor's horses with carrots to feed them. Since then, we guess he decided if the carrots were good for horses, they were good for him.

Make his plate look pretty, colorful, and even with a funny face -- it's amazing what you can do with food, esp. vegetables. I sometimes make his food talk, too. Poor orange slices feel so sad he won't eat them. My son was always very sad for them and would eat them, believe it or not! (He's 4 now, so I don't do this any more). We also have a rule that our son has to at least TRY a new food, if he doesn't like it then that's OK. Stay the course, it sounds like you're doing fine. FYI, if he's missing out on dessert, or a treat, I tell mine if he hasn't eaten his dinner properly that he has a choice between a banana or a whole milk plain yogurt (or similar milk product with fat) with only a small amount of sugar. I don't give into a treat dessert unless he's earned it! And often he has to eat at least a quarter of an apple or some other kind of fruit before he given gets a treat, like a cookie or chocolate. We're lucky to have a good eater though!

We have an almost 3 year old who eats pretty well. One thing I do is let him snack on veggies when I am preparing dinner. He wants to help, and he wants to try things, so that isn't a challenge, but he seems more likely to eat stuff when it is not presented on his dinner plate. I'm probably behind when it comes to getting him to sit through family dinners and eat up his dinner, but it does seem that he is often tired by dinner and not that hungry (not surprising since he usually gets an afternoon snack or pre-dinner tidbits).

Some days I am surprised at how little he eats, but that seems to be all he needs. Also, I think if he has more milk during the day, he isn't as hungry at dinner.

Some foods that might be ignored on a plate, are gobbled up in the car (baby carrots, apple slices.)

Hi C.,

Well, I have a few ideas for you.

1. check out the deceptively delicious and petite apetite cook books. They both have terrific recipes that kids and adults seem to like. And we haven't made a thing out of the Jacques Pepin Fast Food My Way cookbook that my son didn't like.

2. We have plates with sea creatures on them. We'll hold a piece of asparagus up to the Octopus and say "hmmm, Octi LOVES asparagus" and he'll eat it up. Or a reminder that veggies are dinosaur food also seems to work well.

3. Whenever Finn gets a little "cracker crazy" as I call it, we just cut all crackers/cookies etc. out for a week or two. The first couple days are hard but eventually he gets out of the habit of asking for them. Not really fair to your daughter though so maybe work out a deal with her. :)

4. Have him help you cook the dinner. Even if it's just stirring food that's already cooked, adding the veggies to the bowl or even serving the dinner. They seem to take great pride in being involved in providing dinner. Mine always eats better when we do this.

Everyone always says your child will not starve themselves and it's true. It's better (even though hard for us) for them to be hungry for a day or two but then come around to the healthy options.

Good luck!!!
T.

One thing that works for us is to serve meals in courses. When we put veggies down next to carbs, guess what gets left on the plate? But if we serve veggies as a first course (and don't say ANYTHING), some get eaten.

To take the pressure off your little one, you could serve the first course on a platter that everyone shares. That way he's not feeling like his plate is a source of power struggle. If he wants some, he can reach out and get some.

One clever mother of four told me that she puts the carrot sticks, etc. on a plate in the middle of the table and says, "You guys have to share this." That gets them grabbing and eating!

Luck!

I don't have any creative ideas but there is a book coming out that you may enjoy reading. It's called "Hungry Monkey: A Food-Loving Father's Quest to Raise an Adventurous Eater." You can read about it on Amazon.

Get the book, "The Sneaky Chef." It is amazing how much vegetable's, fruit etc you can sneak into foods that they will only eat. I think it is unfair to give your daughter a treat in front of him. He is 2 1/2 and expecting him to eat nutriously on his own is crazy. What he knows is he doesn't like the food and wants what he likes. My son went through a phase (he is 3 now) where he would only eat mac-n-cheese. This is what kids do. As he gets older he will try more, spit it out, and try it again. My son is finally eating carrots after tons and tons of tries. If he doesn't eat them, we didn't get mad, I just kept putting them on his plate each night. Little did he know that the pasta sauce had a carrot puree in it. Also, your daughter is 5 and that is a huge food like and dislike difference between her and a 2 1/2 year old. Have different expectations for them, not the same. good luck

Hi there,

We're having trouble getting out 17 month old to eat, too. I'm going to try what some of the other mommies have written in response to your question, thank you!

The only thing I can suggest is to "hide" some veggies in with foods he likes. Does he eat scrambled eggs? I mixed in some finely chopped spinach and she ate it, but would NEVER eat spinach by itself. I tried blending spinach and mixing it with mashed potatoes, but it turned out this beautiful emerald green that even my husband wouldn't eat. :) I thought it was delicious, so I had to eat the whole thing. Obviously my daughter gets her eating habits from her daddy!

I've read other suggestions of pizza with veggies in the sauce or maybe pasta sauce with veggies cooked in. Or how about adding spinach or grated carrots to meatloaf or meatballs? I guess those won't work if he's just eating carbs. How about muffins with grated zucchini or grated carrots, or pumpkin? Or cornbread with some minced red pepper, corn, and cheese? I'll bet you can find some recipes online.

Good luck!

H.

My 2 1/2 year old son also had a problem eating good foods. He too wanted all of the treats and snacks. But after he decided that he didn't want to drink so much milk, his appetite increased by 120%. Now he cleans his plate and is eating us out of house and home!Kids will get the nutrition they need to survive and milk provides so many vitamins that take the place of real food. Also, he will eat what he sees others eating. Maybe a playdate with another his age that is a really good eater may encourage him! Best of luck!

Just wanted to share an idea we used the other day -- I took yellow and orange bell peppers, washing the exteriors really well, and using minature star cookie cutters made stars for my son (22 months) to dip with his ranch. He only used the tiniest bit of ranch but ate 5 of these stars .. I was thrilled since peppers are so high in vitamin c ... looking for similar ideas if anyone has any.

With my 20 month old we give him some sort of a dip with every meal. It might be ketchup, BBQ sauce, hummus, yogurt, etc. He will usually eat a lot more if he is able to dip whatever the food is.

I am a feeder. A professional feeder. I am convinced everyone I meet needs to eat. So, when my kids don't eat I am positive they are starving and will be malnourished! However, what I have learned the hard way is my children will not willingly starve. Here's the hard part. Your job is to provide nutritious foods at various times throughout the day. Their job is to choose how much of that food they will eat. This sounds so much easier than it really is! My 5 year old eats nothing - not really, but judging from meal times he eats nothing. My 23 month old eats everything - food or otherwise. My 23 month old is very skinny (so am I; I weigh less than 100 pounds right now) at 22 pounds and my 5 year old is a perfect 45 pounds (exactly 50% for his height).

An easy way to offer food that has a lot less stress on you - because we only measure mealtimes and not all the extra snacks kids eat - is to make a snack tray. I use muffin tins. They have great built in compartments because kids don't always like their foods to touch. I fill each cup with a different color, texture, and nutritional value. My standard go to is chopped up apples (or other fruit), yogurt, thinly sliced carrots (so he can't choke), a whole grain carb (pasta, bread chunks, no-sugar cereal, etc), a dip for the veggie (such as ranch, peanut butter, mayo or whatever they like to dip), and something fun (I make a trail mix of 3 things of their choosing usually raisins, goldfish crackers, and nuts). When they eat all of one thing they know they don't get a refill unless everything else is eaten. Remember a toddler's portion size is much smaller than an adults (if you fill their palm that should be one portion).

One thing that we do with our 5 year old (he's autistic so different rules apply sometimes) is that as long as he takes a no thank you bite of everything he will always get dessert. He also knows that the size of his dessert is based on how much food he actually eats. If he eats one no thank you bite he'll get 1 m&m. If he eats all of his dinner he gets dessert of his choice! Good luck!

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