Creative Help Needed to Get 4 Yr Old Eating Veggies and Fruit

why play the game?

be MOM & find a method which works regarding discipline. At this point, she's in control & she knows it. Only you can end this.....before it applies to every single interaction btwn the two of you. How far do you want these battles to go?

I wish you Peace.

I just think that you need to take a break from the struggle. A four-year-old certainly knows what is going to happen: I am going to refuse, mom is going to get upset and we are going to have a battle. And guess what? She wins because you cannot make a child swallow. Yep, you can get it in her mouth but you can't make her swallow. My advise is to have one discussion about good foods that help your body work and then just serve a fruit or veggie to her with her meal, every meal (a slice of orange with breakfast, a carrot stick at lunch, smoothies or some of these other fun ideas that moms have given.) and don't say a word. Make it a non issue and model it yourself. If you haven't seen any change in a week or two,. call your pediatrician. This is all about control for her, because, honestly how many other things can a four-year-old control??

What we used to do with my daughter is have her take as many bites as she was old. When she was 4 she took 4 bites. If need be I'd tell her you have 10 minutes and if it isn't eaten you will have to eat that first at the next meal or when you say you are hungry. I think we only saved food once so she knew it wasn't an idle threat and she just has to eat it. Now at 8 she might gruble a bit but she always eats what she is supposed to of her veggies or fruit. I tell her I know she doesn't like them and have explained as she got older she will like more. When she was old enough to understand I explained Dr. Ozs theory of why some kids are picky (basically something that suited our ancestors well when they were nomadic and a poisinious (usually bitter) plant could affect a child much more severely than an adult. So basically it is, yes I know you don't like it but you have to eat it (sooner or later) and this is why (healthy for you). She has gradually liked more and more foods.

Try making it a guessing game with a blindfold, so she'll WANT to participate in it. The trick is to not force it, but have her make her own decision to play. You have to build it up like it's this new super fun game, and if you have other kids, get them involved too & show her how fun it can be.. she'll want to be part of it & participate. Maybe try to give her some kind of reward or encouragement for every new food she tries and guesses right.. it'll build up that positive reinforcement and maybe make her more adventurous with food!

It sounds like you may have tried this, but I make smoothies with the following ingredients, all masked by the vanilla yogurt flavor:

frozen berries, frozen mango, a banana, frozen broccoli, frozen spinach, vanilla yogurt, milk (or soy milk), and ice. Blended all together it just tastes very good! I'm not sure if this would work since your daughter also doesn't eat fruit, but it works for my daughter who won't eat veggies. Good luck!

My 3 year old son is in a picky stage and it's causing some grief between the hubs and I. He's a "You have to eat what's on your plate or face the consequences" type and/or he'll make him sit there for what seems like hours, which my son doesn't mind doing, but I hate seeing him sitting there a long time. I don't like making a "thing" of eating.

I've never allowed any wrong behavior at the table, rudeness or demanding of "other food", but if the kids don't want it, they sit nicely until everyone is done and don't eat again until the next meal. Since my husband travels constantly, they are used to my way. Neither style has "made them eat" things they don't like. To me, not liking food isn't bad behavior, so I let it go.

If I were you, I would not make her sit there and battle, but I would not feed her anything different and she could wait until the next meal. She will not skip meals for 7 days straight or anything (or even one or two). Just feed her things she likes with no veggies at separate times. But make sure she is HUNGRY when you offer her the veggies, and she's more likely to eat them if she knows there will be no option. Meanwhile, she's not going to deplete her health. I know kids who never eat veggies because their parents don't even try. I think mother nature takes care of them to an extent when they're young and going through this.

If my husband were you, he'd make her sit there all night before giving up. :-0

What does she eat? Can you give an example of a day's eating items/schedule? I think that will help people give answers.

my live in grandchild (@ 4/5 years) did the same thing. What worked for me was this: I would allow him to chew the food and then spit it out on a plate. He did not have to swallow, of course there were other foods he would chew and swallow so I was not worried that he was starving.

Apparently the texture and taste of some foods gagged him even though he once ate them. Once he was not forced to swallow the food he could relax.

This inabled him to get use to the textures and taste again without stress. After about 2 weeks he started eating again.
By this time I would allow him to serve himself, but would stipulate that he had to eat what he took. Letting him be involved with meal preperation: setting table, carring food to the table and serving himself became enjoyment time when it came to meal time.
Good luck with your little one. What works for some may not work for other.

I wouldnt cater to her wants. I read too many questions regarding "sneaking in" veggies and fruit, they should be a large part of her diet, and should have been from her first foods. Do you eat what she is eating? Children are influenced by their parents choices. Stop struggling, give her balanced meals, and dont beg, plead, insist that she eat any of it. She will eat when she's hungry. My kids love veggies and fruits, we have sandwiches filled with sauteed spinach or peppers, all sorts of "strange" stuff, but its always been normal for them, and they like it and desire it. My oldest (21 y.o.) is a natural vegetarian, she just alwyas preferred veggie choices. You have the ability to foster good food choices that will carry into adulthood. So do it.

Yes be a mom and discipline by all means but pick your battles.
I had a pedatrition tell me once to use ketchup on veggies, cheese... .what ever it takes to get them to eat it. They go through stages of temperament as well as stages of growth. Taste buds change constantly until they reach 3 or 4 years of age. One day the love bananas the next they gag on them.

Always remember to pick your battles. You can google veggie characters and fun to make snacks. Ants on a log comes to mind. Celery stick with cream cheese and raisins on top.
All sorts of creative ideas online.
Good luck. You can do it!

I have a 3 & 5yr old, who both can be very picky eaters at times. My best advice to you is to model the kind of eating you expect from her, offer a small portion of fruit and/or veggies at every single meal, and talk to her about foods that are good for our bodies and food that is not. One question: is she given desserts or treat-like snacks? A rule that works in our house is that if my girls want a dessert, or any type of non-healthy snack (cookies, goldfish, animal crackers, etc.) they MUST eat the fruit and veggie put on their plate. No deviations from that rule. They are free to get down from the table when they say they're full, but given no dessert if they didn't eat their "healthy food". I tell them that desserts and snacks are extras - not nutrionally good for you, so they don't get them if they're not hungry enough/or want to eat what is healthy. Sometimes I've even told them that if they refuse to eat ANY of their veggies, they lose priveleges, such as tv shows. I don't argue with them about it, I just make consequences for refusing to eat, and them let them deal with it. I've only had to carry through with taking away tv once or twice, because after they realize you're serious, they do eat a few bites of their veggies. This method has proven to work on my older, who previously hated/refused milk, broccoli, peas, etc. She now reports that she "doesn't hate them anymore".
Best wishes to you!

Sometimes I think parental creativity can be confusing to a kid. My rule works for me. Maybe it will work for you. Each kid had to at least TRY the veggie, or no dessert. No argument, just no dessert. Now that they are older, they eat them with no problem. Every once in a while, I have to tell my youngest to eat 4 or 5 bites of the veggie before dessert. He listens, or doesn't get his. No fight, pretty easy.

Have you tried raw veggies and fruits with a yogurt dip? Have them as a snack, not as part of the meal...you and your husband enjoy them and see if she doesn't just join you. Don't offer any other snack...no ice cream...no cookies...no cake...the fruit/veggies and yogurt dip.
Get her involved in the cooking before dinner...so that the fruits and vegetables are "her production"....let her shop with you and pick out the fruit or veggie that sounds like it would be interesting to her. Let her help you decide how to cook it...does she want the apples raw or would she like to chop them up and put them on some oatmeal for breakfast?
Does she want the green beans cooked with bacon and onions ( ok..probably not onions...lol) or would she rather steam them and eat them still little crispy??? Make it an adventure!!! Have fun with it....
Don't make this a battle..because she is not going to give in easily. I still remember ( and so does my 44 year old son!!) the time that I told him he had to eat ONE BITE of spinach...before we could go to the movie. He sat with that mouth full of spinach for an hour..before he finally threw up....we never DID make it to the movie and he STILL hates spinach!!!

i make ice pops for my kids. i usually put apples, bananas(put couple of them it adds sweetness), strawbbery, mango, pear, rasberry or any fruit that you have in the blender, add little juice and yogurt(i usually use yoplait strawbberry it adds alot of flavor). alot of stores sell ice pop cups, but the one in toys r us are bpa free. my kids love them, they think that they getting treat, and they can eat as many as they want.