My Toddler and Vegetables

My son is 2 years old and he will not eat vegetables either, but he LOVES fruit. I give him a variety of fruits, and I give them at each meal, so I don't push the veggies. I don't hide veggies or force him to eat them, because I know that he eats very healthy otherwise, with lots of fruits, whole grains, lean meats and dairy with very little sugar or fats, and thats good enough for me.

have you tried mixing babyfood in with pancake mix. they don't even know its there and can't taste it either. they also have the v8 juice thats fruit and veggie juice. you can also just mix some noodles with babyfood as well and make it looki like sauce. just a few ideas. hope this helps kelly

You can try mixing frozen spinach into hamburger, or adding very finely diced veggies to tomato sauce for pasta or pizza. You can also try roasting pretty much any vegetable and it's much sweeter than sauteed or steamed (my daughter loves brussels sprouts this way).

Still, I wouldn't worry about it too much. Does he eat fruit? I would just keep offering him a variety and perhaps at some point he'll eat them. My son is the same way. He's just started coming around to eating salad, of all things. In my opinion, ir's more work to try to sneak the veggies in, and it's not a sure thing he'll eat them anyway. My doctor was unconcerned, and figured as long as he's eating fruit, he's okay.

Good luck!

Hi
I used to mix uncle ben's Rice florentine with a package of frozen spinach. My kids called it Spinach rice and always asked for more.
Also-I have 2 sons-27 months apart. Competition always worked for me. We would have string bean contests-whose was bigger-they would measure but wouldn't be able to do another until they ate it. We did this with French fries too.
Hope this helps...
J. H

Try drinkable veggies like v-8, tomatoe soup etc. He won't get the fiber, but he will get some vitamins. Also check out the sneaky chef. Keep trying with the regular veggies and demonstrate you eating them.

Fruitables - a full serving of vegetables and fruit in one juice box...i sound like a commercial, sorry..but i even drink one every day to make sure i get that serving of veggies i'm probably missing. Good luck!

Hi J,
Saw a study where they offered a single flavor to a child, that they didn't like, once a day. After 10 days, most children started eating the food willingly. That means in a month, your baby could be eating up to 3 vegetables :)

ps it worked on my son with broccholi: woo-hoo!

t

Have you tried black beans or small red beans? Intriguing color, finger food, good for you...Also I have always told the kids (when they say they don;t like something that they haven't even tried yet) that they can't eat the carrots, corn, tomatoes etc because it is just for mommy and daddy! Of course I give him the look that says I am playing, and then I catch him eyeing the forbidden veggies, then a quick NO! I said they are just for grown-ups. You wouldn't like them anyway...Before you can stop them...they have stolen some veggie that they had previously rejected. I usually offer some dipping choices (just the action makes it more fun). I never insist on eating all of something, but encourage trying it. Forbidden makes it taste better! Good luck :)

I have had luck with my 22-month-old by serving him veggie burgers (I like the Gardenburger Veggie Medley best) and letting him dip them in ketchup. In general, I am a fan of shopping in the vegetarian section of the supermarket to find new things he might like. I also make a HUGE deal about how much I am enjoying the veggies I am eating. I always serve us the same thing, and loudly say "yum...delicious" as I am eating mine. I have also done small celery sticks with soy nut butter and raisins ("ants on a log") and he thinks that's fun. But he already has all of his teeth, so he can handle the celery. And, as some others have said, just keep trying! Put a green veggie on his plate every meal. He'll come around.

Sometimes you can puree vegetables and use them as sort of a sauce for pasta or rice. I've had success with things like butternut squash and carrots. Spinach is can be hidden in things like hamburger or stuffed pasta like maincotti. Shredded zucchini can be made into chocolate zucchini bread.

Veggie breakfast sausage?

have you tried mashing them. - my son likes to feed himself - he feeds himself oatmeal and yogurt. so i use a potato base and mix in other veggies. also a mental thing - if i put it in a plastic container that baby food came in he'll eat it. b/c he still liked the babyfood veggies.

Will he eat them pureed? You could mix a puree with the rice. I would just keep offering one vegetable with every meal, including breakfast, every single day so he gets used to seeing them on his plate. Make sure he sees you eating them too.

My daughter loves Veg-All (the canned veggies that are all cut into tiny pick-upable pieces). I guess it's because she can pick it up easily. Also, I sneak peas into her mac and cheese, sometimes she eats them, sometimes she doesn't. She will usually eat glazed carrots too, I guess thats because they are a little sweeter.

Try a spinach smoothie: apple, banana, mango, handful of fresh spinach and water (or fresh squeezed oj) in a blender. Put it in a cup to hide the green color if that will gross him out until he realizes how tasty it is! You just taste the fruit. My girls love it!

Also, carrot soup, potato/broccoli soup.

Redhead Bars with carrots. See recipe below
1/4 cup light margarine
2/3 cup light brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 medium, over-ripe banana, mashed
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup grated carrots
1/3 cup chopped chocolate (or chocolate chips)
Preheat oven to 350, grease an 8" square pan. Beat margarine, sugar, vanilla and banana. Stir in remaining ingredients except chocolate. Sprinkle chopped chocolate over mixture. Bake for 30 minutes. I skip the chocolate for my girls, but sprinkle it on my half!

I shred carrots and broccoli into different stuff that we eat-like spaghetti, taco meat, chili , casseroles and when they were younger I would put it in ther grilled cheese. I also put ground flax seed into almost everything I cook or bake. Try shredding it into his rice and see if that helps.

I also use Deceptively Delicious for my kids (ages 2 and 4). They have recipes for things like pancakes, chicken nuggets, cupcakes, etc and encorporate pureed veggies into those recipes. I just make cupcakes last week that my kids (and husband) chowed down and they were made with pureed avocado! Macaroni and cheese mixed with squash is a good choice too.

I also mix pureed veggies into my spaghetti sauce. Depending on what I have on hand, I've added carrots, sweet potato, squash, eggplant, or peppers in with the tomato sauce and puree it in the blender. I can't add too much though or the change in color of the sauce makes them suspicious. Yours is 18 months though so if you start him now, he may think that spaghetti sauce is supposed to be orange. :)

Hope this helps!

If you have time and not money, I HIGHLY recommend the books Sneaky Chef or Deceptively Delicious. They have similar approaches, buy raw veggies, cook them, puree them, freeze batches and add purees to EVERYthing you make. These books also include recipes till you get the hang of it.

If you have money but not time, you can skip all the steps and just add jarred babyfood vegetables to things.

Be sure that while you're adding purees to get him to just ingest the right stuff, you still need to present whole/recognizable veggies on the side at most meals, so he gets used to seeing them on his plate.

Good luck! :)