Veggies - Des Moines,IA

I don't believe the lack of teeth has anything to do with his pickiness at what he eats. Think about it.. if you had the choice would you eat something sweet or a vegetable? I would keep fruit in his diet but limit it and concentrate on vegetables and pick things that might not have as strong of a taste. Good Luck...this can be such a challanging time.

My 16 month old loves smoothies and popsicles. I usually add fruits, spinach, broccoli (or whatever veggies you want!), rice milk (again, whatever liquid you want), and some yogurt. I don't put yogurt in the smoothies, because it's too thick for his straw cup. We've done Popsicle A LOT over the summer. We got our popsicle molds at babies r us. They are very messy, we would take him outside. The smoothies are more clean :)

Soups were always my favorite when they were that young.....that way you get so many ingredients in one dish.

While you are cooking/ making dinner/lunch then put out a plate of cucumbers, cooked carrots, or whatever type of veggie for him to snack on. My kids usually load up on more veggies that way than with the meal.

Hi Nilesmommy,
we have the same issue. MY Lo loves burekas with spinach -- it is a Mediterranean pastry with cheeze and spinach in it. A greek, lebanese, israeli, middle eastern food place usually carries them. They also come with other vegetable fillings.

Jilly

Boiling carrots until they are mushy in chicken stock has always been a big hit in my experience.

Saag Paneer was another big hit in our house, but we made a real point of "traveling the globe" during year 1 & 2 before the brain thing (gag response liked to new flavors introduced between the ages of apx2 to apx5 and lasts for 5-20 years).

Soups and stews and curries (particularly tomato cream curry and coconut curries), hands down favorite meals also, for that age group (1-2)

Two things: Depending on his physical abilities, you can offer him a "dip" (we've used anything from ketchup to thai sauce) to dunk cooked veggies in--makes it fun to eat and also helps the vegetables taste better to his young taste buds.

If chewing is hard for him, could you try a smoothie? I make one daily for my daughter and myself--berries and banana, yogurt or milk, and then either spinach or broccoli (they don't affect the taste). You can sweeten it to his liking.

Another thing we sometimes did earlier on was to give her vegetables first in the meal, before anything else, because when she was hungry she would eat them! Have you tried yams? Chock full of nutrients, and much sweeter than most other veggies.

I saw that someone suggested V-8. Not a bad idea on occasion, but the juicing process takes out important dietary fiber, and V-8 also has a high sodium content. Also, the earlier he gets in the habit of eating actual vegetables, the more it will stick.

Hope that helps. Good luck!

well, first of all, at this age you do not need to be using rice cereal anymore.. you can pretty much serve him the same foods as everyone else, only making sure they are not choking hazards. there are those little mesh bags with handles to put foods in, baby will chew on them and the food squishes out.

lack of teeth has nothing to do with pickiness. kids are just less likely to eat veggies; they arent as sweet as fruit! LOL
you can mix applesauce into his veggies; this will sweeten them up and make them a bit more interesting! applesauce is pretty neutral :P

you dont have to give him mushy foods, try the mesh thing i talked about, and also just try soft pieces of things. anything cut small enough is ok for him to have.

i dunno what else to say. just give him what you are eating, use some sneaky ways to sweeten or whatever, and just keep offering. it takes kids up to 16 tries to get a kid to even try it sometimes. :P
good luck

hello
Red Bell Peppers are sweet and packed full of vitamins.. my son loves em..
Also, when cooking broccoli, the stem (you have to peel off the rougher part) is actually more sweet and better tasting than the broccoli head.. (it's especially good added to things like risotto) or other types of rice..
Cherry tomatoes are also very yummy.. So are green beans... you can steam them in lightly salted water.. or not... and then once drained, return them to a sauce pan with a little olive oil , salt and pepper.. or whatever seasoning you prefer.. those are also quite tasty.. I can eat them cold or warm....
It's helpful too if you give your child the veggies FIRST , that way, they are still hungry enough to eat more of them.. , I guaranty you they will eat more of them that way. so often, parents serve the veggies with the meal... I like to do it before.... I have seen GREAT results doing it my way..
best of luck

V8 Fusion if you give your child juice. 8 ounces = 1 serving of fruit and veggies. I usually give it to my kids (about 4 ounces) per day so I figure they are getting an extra boost of veggies/fruit. Neither of mine LOVE veggies so I usually make sure they get tomato sauce a few times a week (even though tomato is technically a fruit!). Sometimes I'll sneak other things like carrots/squash/etc into the sauce. I also try to give my 1 year old anything with veggies 'in' it like veggie/pasta soup or pasta with veggies. My daughter loves lettuce or cucumbers with ranch and broccoli with butter. But that is it for her!

Peas & cottage cheese was a favorite of my son.

Cooking the veggies in chicken broth adds flavor (be sure to read labels if you're using store bought broth--its usually really high in sodium, unless you get a low sodium brand).

Adding a small amount of butter.

For spaghetti sauce, we add a bit of finely chopped frozen spinach.

pickiness is a totally normal phase in toddler development (something I was relieved to learn about in nutritionist Ellyn Satter's book "Child of Mine - feeding with love and good sense"). Keep offering healthy food - most likely there will be some days when he'll eat a lot and other days when it seems that he eats so little that you'll wonder if he's getting his nutrition like plants do by photosynthesis! Helping your child develop a healthy diet is a long-term process, and chances are good that if you keep providing healthy options and model healthy eating by choose healthy options yourself, he'll get the nutrition he needs.

Gummers can eat more than we give them credit.

Try to expand the food consistancy for him.
He may not eat some items because they have not tecture appeal.

According to some recent studies, some kids need to be introduced to a food between 7-10 times before they will accept it. Don't give up, be patient. When you say "veggies" do you mean you are giving him small cooked pieces or pureed veggies? If you've moved on to pieces, it might be a texture issue, veggies tend to have a lot more "structure" to them than fruits. Try purees, offer them repeatedly, but don't push - try to get a few bites in, but if he really refuses, let it go, and try again in a few days. Good luck!

Yams, sweet potatoes, squash, peas, corn and carrots are all "sweet" veggies so he might like those over others. Also, and I could be wrong, but I think the longer you cook them the sweeter they get. If you are into baking you can make your own bread and muffins and put carrots or zucchini in them. There are also cook books out there that tell you how to sneak veggies into kid friendly food. The sneaky chef or something like that. Also, maybe you could try vegetable juices for him. My daughter loves carrot juice.