I know that most kids don't love to eat vegetables. I know that kids go through stages where they like foods then hate them and so on. Regardless of this knowledge, I do not want to have a super picky eater. When Emery was little I decided didn't want her to only like mac-n-cheese and chicken nuggets and would continue to try to offer all sorts of fruits and veggies. She used to eat everything and rarely spit things out. But lately that is not the case. I am really having a hard time here because she was sick for about 2 weeks and would hardly eat anything - so I would give in and just give her whatever she would take (mostly yogurt and bananas). But now that her appetite is back, her pickyness is even worse. I try to sneak in some veggies but haven't been successful. I feel horrible and stress over the fact that her diet is so imbalanced. She lives on fruit, cheese, and cheerios. I have tried some tricks, like dip veggies in ranch (which she just sucks off the ranch and never eats the veggie) or try different soups with veggies (she spits out the veggies) hide them in rice and pasta (she figures it out and either spits it out or stops eating it all together). I got online and looked up some info to find some suggestions. Some ideas that I found were pretty good like:
- Puree vegetables and use it as a dip for crackers or bagels.
- Vegetable juice like Naked juice 'Green Machine' nectar (does anyone know where to find this stuff?)
- Shred carrots and add to mac-n-cheese
- Add finely chopped or pureed veggies to eggs, sauces, pizza crust, breads....
- Applesauce. Mix cooked chopped veggies with applesauce.
- Add mashed sweet potatoes to pancake mix
Anyway, I would love to hear what works for you and what variety is good to offer because I am not very good at that.
19 comments:
Veggies are so hard! The naked juice stuff, you can find it at Costco(BIG) or Walmart has it in smaller, less expensive containers. Some people say Pediasure, but it's pricey too. My pediatrician told me not to worry too much, and just keep offering them veggies, if she likes spagetti, or lasagna, I've shredded all kinds of veggies in the sauce, really small, like zucchini, carrots, squash... so there you go.... I think we all have simmilar issues!
Good ideas Becky! If you are really super worried you can always start her on a flinstones vitamen or something. The biggest thing I have learned from braden and forcing him to eat for the first few years is that you have to look at how they eat not by the day to day but in two weeks,say, has she had enough protein, calcium, veggies ect... I notice he is balanced over the period of a week or two rather than thinking that today he had nothing but cheese, yogurt and milk... Does that make sense?
Okay, admittance is the first step. I've been looking at your blog for a very long time. I don't ever comment, but I do read. I just want to say hi and say thanks for the tips you posted. I believe I have a picky eater on my hands as well. My son on the other hand just complains and so my rule of thumb with him is that since he is 5 years old, he has to take 5 bites of the thing he complains about most on his plate.
Those are good ideas! Easton is still young, but sometimes he refuses to eat vegetables too. Don't they know that veggies are so yummy?! I'm getting tired just thinking of how creative I'm going to have to get with this eating thing. Fun fun!
Those are great ideas! We've run into the same problem at our house lately, so I'll definitely take your suggestions into account. Thanks for posting them!
Veggies are hard for most kids. We have tried a lot of the tricks mentioned. I am all about pureeing veggies in sauces including the broccoli in the chicken broccoli casserole sauces too. The naked juice is a family fav. Find a good vitamin you trust. I love juice plus. You are an amazing mom and are doing everything you are suppose to to raise a happy healthy child.
I've been having the exact same problem with Bennett! He has always been such a great eater and now he literally eats NOTHIN! Like dinner tonight for instance....one bite of spagetti, didn't touch the zuccini then threw the plate on the floor. Aaaahhhhhh! #1 most frustrating thing in my life right now! Then when bedtime comes he honestly and truely downs 18 ounces of milk like it's nothing!!!! I know I shouldn't give in to that at night but if I don't he wakes up all during the night hungry! We all are going through it, just in different ways!
Um, I am just lazy. Jackson did the exact same thing around Emery's age. I still offer the veggies but don't get all creative in getting him to eat them. He is doing better, though. He is back to eating broccoli and will occasionally eat the carrot that was dipped in ranch dressing.
Anyway, no creativity here for you. Just a witness that despite the lack of vegetables, the kid will still live... so far anyway.
I love the shredded carrots in Mac n Cheese.
My kids only eat 5 or 6 different foods now. They were super good eaters for such a long time, but now they are on a white/yellow diet (chicken nuggets, pasta, cheese sandwiches, etc).
Of all the things, my kids like homemade salsa...random I know, but especially my two year old, she can't get enough of it.
Funny, I was just thinking the other day of Emery eating EVERYTHING- specifically lemons. That still kills me.
Ben is still pretty little, so I've got no advice to offer. But I think it's great you're trying so hard!
Luckily my kids like veggies. I just have to buy them because I don't! I did buy cucumbers tonight!!
My kids ate veggies when they were very little and now that they are old enough to know what they are, they refuse. I have tried it all and I just still keep trying - sorry I'm not much help. Ranch dressing does help with some veggies but I guess that kind of negates the healthiness. Good ideas, thanks for sharing!
Oh, you can also get Naked Juice at Sam's Club.
I remembered something that may help too. Whole grains have a surprising amount of good stuff like vitamins and protein that you don't normally think of being in grains. The amount of vitamins is generally less than what veggies contain, but it's still significant enough to count. (I think anyway). It may be just as hard to get a toddler to eat whole grain stuff though. Luckily, since my daughter is on a veggie fast it seems, she does like whole grain breads.
It's only been since adulthood that I have actually been eating vegetables. Isn't that sad.
My kids eat more vegetables than I did, but still not a lot. So, I make sure they have a vitamin daily, since i have picked up some of my mom's horrible parenting habits, like having brownies for breakfast. Sometimes, it's just easier not fighting the fight, especially when a brownie sounds good to me, too!
we get the ginormous thing of naked at costco. sooo good. but you probably want to try smaller ones first to make sure she likes it. it's not gross at all, except a little thick and, well, green! but it really is good.
The one thing that my pediatrician told me was that little kids' taste buds are always changing. Something she may love right now she might not like in a few months, and then she'll start liking it again. So I would just keep offering her different varieties of all sorts of food. One of these days her taste buds will want it again!
You've got me. Lake likes most vegetables so I haven't had to do much hiding. My friend has a book on hiding vegetable and good-for-you stuff in kid food. I will find out the name of it and get back to you.
I say- find a goodie and stick to it! My kids like, and eat at every meal- red grapes, green watermelon (which is what they call cucumbers) and organic baby carrots- they don't taste like pestcide... I give them these first, wait for them to almost finish them, and then add the chicken, sandwich, pasta, whatever- it buys me some time to prepare their food, and when they are so hungry, they almost don't care what they are eating... then I know they are getting them! oh- if she likes noodles we ALWAYS have "suddenly salad" classic pasta salad in our fridge with tomatoes, olives, cucumbers and turkey pepperoni in it- my kids eat this every time, and if they eat like big kids-they get a marble in their jar- when it fills up- we go bowling! they love it!
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