Need Help Getting My 5 Yr Old to Try Eating Big Boy Foods

Does he take a daily vitamin? It's not the answer, but it sure helps me feel better on days when my kids eat Happy Meals! Also, ask your child's doctor how he feels about either Pediasure or Ensure. My SUPER picky son HATES Pediasure but happily drinks an Ensure a few days a week. His doctor said they're OK but of course a smoothie or something else natural is always better if you can get them to actually eat/drink it. My son not only barely eats any veggies, but he's even picky about the fruits he'll eat. The way I look at it, fruits and veggies are in the same category and as long as he eats one or the other a couple of times daily then that's better than nothing. What about carrots? That's one my son will eat-- and I just kept trying new veggies and was shocked at ones he would actually eat now and then-- like he will eat raw spinach leaves and romaine lettuce-- so I just give him a tiny bit and he'll eat it all (as opposed to making a whole salad and having him not eat it at all)-- or I serve dinner with rolls and he'll pile the things he doesn't really like onto the roll and eat it-- like he'll pile the chicken in there with the spinach leaves and that makes it easier for him to eat it. Every night there is something he likes and if there is something he doesn't like along side it I only put a tiny bit on his plate and he HAS to eat it. He is almost always hungry for a snack between dinner and bedtime and he knows he won't get one if he didn't eat the healthy food off of his dinner plate

I have a 3 and 6 year old girls who eat one romaine lettuce, mixed green, or spinach salad and two to three servings of raw veggies every single day. I also eat a ton of salad and vegetables because from my own research, I have found a plant based diet is the healthiest diet.

I recommend trying two things. First, try giving your son a Green smoothie every single day. Kids LOVE them! I teach a class at Misty Forest Academy Enrichment Center called "Super Plant Eaters Club" and I make several green and fruit smoothies in the first class and that is the class kids love the most.
For my Green Smoothie recipe go to http://centralfloridagreenguide.com/2008/05/29/green-smoo...

Second, instead of a multi-vitimin which can absorb at toxic levels or not at all, introduce a whole food supplement like Juice Plus. My kids have increased interest in eating vegetables since I started them on it. They used to take the chewables and gummies, but now they take the adult capsules. For more info on Juice Plus go to http://www.totalwellnessmentor.com/products.html

Once he has the green smoothies on a regular basis and is taking the Juice Plus he will naturally crave more vegetables/salad in his diet and you could introduce things like raw veggies and hummus for snacks.

I also recommend that you do some reading on nutrition. I recommend that every parent or parent to be read "Disease Proof Your Child" by Dr. Joel Furhman. And "The China Study" by T. Colin Campbell. Both of these books use long term (20 year) scientific studies that prove the healthiest populations on the planet eat a diet high in plant foods, not animal foods.

I do Wellness Coaching for families, so feel free to email me directly if you have any more questions.

Healthy wishes,
G. G., CHE

Erika has some good advice, but some kids just don't respond to that either. My daughter who is 13 is my pickiest eater, she loves to cook with me, but even though she loves to cook it she still won't eat it.

Here are some ways to get good stuff into your kids.
Blend veggies in your blender and mix them in their soup, spaghetti sauce, meatloaf, lasagna. You can make brownies with black beans instead of oil. I know that sounds disgusting, but you blend the beans in the blender, add a can of water and then use in the brownie mix. Email me for the recipe. The brownies are full of protein now and are rich and gooey. They'll never know if you don't tell them.
V-8 juice is great and most kids love it you can use that in place of tomato sauce in your recipes. Also, the V-8 splash that has the veggies and the fruit in it.
Go-gurts are great and you can freeze them for great ice pops in this heat.
Smoothies are good too because you can add stuff that is good for them and mask it with the fruit.
I use organic or natural peanut butter, frozen strawberries & blueberries, yogurt, honey, either flax seed meal or wheatgerm (both are sold at most grocery stores), 2% milk or you can use juice that you have on hand. You can also add a 1/2 banana if you want.
Super great and they love it very high in protein, omega 3's and antioxidants and vitamin C.
My 5 year old will not any most fruits raw and the only veggie he'll eat is green peas. His big sister did get him to eat his green beans the other night playing a game of it with him.
Otherwise, I get stuff in him whenever I can be sneaky.
Just don't stop offering him the good stuff as long as you keep trying you are doing the right thing.
Let me know if you need any more recipes.
Good luck! Hey you are doing a great job handling 3 kids and being a single mom. I've been there with 2 kids, working full time and going to school full time when I was your age, it's a rough and tough job and you are doing great at it. Hang in there and don't sweat the small stuff.

I like to use the "no thank you bite". I have always had my girls at least TRY it before they say they don't like it. And if they truly don't like it, they say "no thank you", but they have to try. It doesn't always work. ANother idea is having him help you actually make a meal. He might be encouraged to try one of his own creations.
Good luck!