My Toddler Won't Eat Veggies

My kids really responded well to sauteed veggies in olive oil & garlic & tossed with pasta. Zucchini, yellow squash, carrots, broccoli were the favorites.

I went through this with my daughter at a younger age, she's three and a half now and loves her veggies, today she chose a cut up cucmber with dip over a cookie at her nana's house!

Smoothies are great, get the right blend of ingredients and they are super healthy and can be disguised as a snack food.

V8 fusion is a great drink to add on.

I got my daughter to enjoy eating veggies by presenting them in a fun way and ALWAYS eating them with her. I foudn that if I was eating them without offering her any she wanted them more. Table manners come later but I would make myself a plate of food that she would have never eaten on her own, sat on my couch and started eating like it was all mine, then she would want it because it was mine. This really got her into liking them because I wasnt forcing he rto eat them, she was stealing mommy's food, which made them taste better. I figured it didn't matter where or how she was eating them, as long as she was in fact eating them ya know.

Veggie trays with yummy dips were always a hit, I would also do the same with fruit. Make a big plate for teh two of you to share of veggies and dip and eat it somewhere fun, (on the living room floor on a blanket, as a picnic, on teh balcony, wherever he likes)

Casseroles or pastas are a good way to get them to eat their veggies as well. My daughter truly does not like broccoli if it is alone, but if I make broccoli alfredo(with the broccoli steamed to the point that it is in tiny pieces) she eats it up and asks for more. Same with spinach, she loves spinach tortellinis with spinach sauce but will not eat spinach alone. You can load a tuna casserole with veggies or a spaghetti sauce and it's less noticeable than piling them high on their plates.

I have to say one thing about hiding the veggies in their food though, what is that really teaching them? Sure they are getting what they need now, but are not learning anything as far as eating habits that will carry with them. They need to know they are eating veggies so they will continue to want to eat veggies as they grow up into being teenagers and beyond. We are molding their eating habits for life right now, and if they dont know they are even eating veggies they are learning nothing.

Good Luck, it's such a struggle at that age and getting them to eat what you want them to. Keep at it, he will eventually have the diet you want him to have it just takes time and LOTS of patience :)

I feel your pain. My son is so picky, too! I've found the following to work well:

-canned green beans (hey, it's a start- right??)
-canned carrots
-frozen peas- leave them frozen, or just run them quickly under warm water. Don't cook!
-mix baby food (carrots, squash, etc.) into mac-n-cheese

Also, try smoothies! A ton of fruit can give lots of the vitamins your little one is missing out from veggies. My son LOVES his morning smoothie:

I blend up:
-8-10 frozen strawberries
-handful of frozen blueberries
-a couple tablespoons of plain, lowfat yogurt
-about a cup of OJ
-1 (or more) whole ripe banana

Yummy! And so healthy!

V8 Fusion or Vruit (juiceboxes) are good, too.

Hi B.,
both my kids (3 1/2 years and 20 month) are very picky eater.
I puree the veggies in my food processor and mix it under spaghetti sauce, turkey patties, etc.
Check out following web pag:
http://www.parenting.com/article/-/Recipe/Sneak-in-Health...
Hope,this helps!
S.

Hi B.,

Check out the "make-ahead recipes" from the Sneaky Chef website:
http://www.thesneakychef.com/free_recipes.php
I've been able to get more vegetables into my son AND my husband!
I also put small portions of vegetables on my son's plate with his dinner and hope that he will at least try them. He will eat broccoli if it is covered in cheese sauce. We also found that he would eat those little Dole fruit bowls if he thought that WE were eating them. Kids love to try whatever the grown-ups are eating! Good luck!

lots of ways to sneak them in, yellow squash or cauliflower or carrots can be pureed into lots of things, eggs, oatmeal, pancakes, sauce, etc. think color matching. also a simple thing to do is after you boil veggies, use the water with all the nutrients in it to make your pasta or rice or whatever. also, green goodness juice by bolthouse farms is loaded with veggies. its very green but my kids love it, give it a shot.