How do I get my kid to eat veggies?

Siobhan - posted on 05/14/2010

I have always called sweetcorn sweeties and my son eats them as if they are, i usually mash his veg into potato and he eats them fine but sometimes will also mix them with gravy, i think the key is to camoflage them and call them sweeties hahah oh and when my son wouldn't eat carrots i ignored the fact and kept giving them to him without any emphasis on them and he eventually started eating them again, hope some of this helps, as for the fruit, add it to jelly :-)

Verity - posted on 05/12/2010

I get my little one to eat veggies by mixing a little bit of butter and salt with them n start off with sweet veges like sweet potato, butternut pumpkin, mash potato and mash them up in2 a puree see how that works!

Twila - posted on 04/29/2010

My son wouldn't eat veggies for a long time. then one day we were in the garden picking green beans and he grabbed one out of the bowl and ate it. So we started trying other raw veggies. He loved it!!!
It might just be a texture issue. try baby carrots, snow peas, raw brocoli cherry tomatoes especially with ranch dressing. kids love to dip.
maybe it'll help

Vauny - posted on 04/27/2010

tell him that he will get a treat if he eats his veggies, that works for me, and i also had my kids eating veggies first and nothing else for the first 2 weeks they started baby food, and it worked great, also could try to mix some foods together, i used to mix peas and vanilla pudding from gerber together to get hte veggies in my 2nd son, since he didnt want to eat them any more when he was 19 months. also try some juices, they do have carrot juice, try v8 splashes watered down, like 1/4 juice 3/4 water, thats a way to get some veggies too. but the mixing foods with out them seeing works great and they have no clue. Good Luck

Ann - posted on 04/27/2010

I actually asked the daycare how they prepared them,ie: they add cinnamon to the carrots, I also find the steamer veggies with cheese are a hit!

Fern - posted on 04/27/2010

Give him dips to put his veggies in. Day Cares often will use Ranch. You could also use Ketchup which is higher in antioxidents. Or smooth Peanut Butter.

He's also seeing other peers eating these crunchy stick things and mimicing them. Eat veggies with him. My two youngest love raw bell peppers. The youngest I introduced when he was very small. Letting him taste them and then later cutting them small enough to eat, since the skin can be tough. The older one I told him to take a bite and close his eyes and realy taste the sweetness. Then the next bite I said see if you can taste the saltiness. And then sourness. Having him explore the flavor to it's fullest has helped him to enjoy them.

Some kids prefer raw vs cooked. My kids LOVED frozen veggie mix. We call them vegiscicles. Cooked broccoli is great in ranch, carrots can be blah cooked. My mom always added honey when cooking them. Cucumber sticks are easy to eat, since they are soft. Avocado sandwiches are delicious. Just mach Avo with some salt and pepper and put on bread. Tomatoes are enjoyable to some toddlers too. Take off the shirt first. :) Salads are fun too because there are all sorts of flavors to explore in a big pile. I mix in cheese, romain lettuce (the crisper parts for toddler), some sort of meat, tomato, cucumber, radishes, carrots, onions, and mushrooms. I put Jelepnos in mine which he doesn't enjoy when it gets on his tongue, but he bears with it since he often snacks off my salads. :)

Just remember serving sizes are different to them than us. Dietitions actualy will look at you 3 day consumption rather than your daily consumption then average that out.

Take care and enjoy those veggies,
~Fern < Mom to 7

Allison - posted on 04/27/2010

I had that problem with my oldest. She would eat anything at daycare but wouldn't eat it at home.......I finally said enough. You eat it there, you'll eat it here. That's what's for supper, you'll eat it. We started out just making her eat small amounts of those things with her dinner along with other things that she liked. We weren't mean about it but we were strict. She had to eat at least a few bites each time of something she claimed not to like. Sometimes I would give her the thing she didn't like first and wouldn't share the "good stuff" until after some of the other was gone. The other thing is to give them what they DO like (in veggies and fruit) but continue trying to introduce new things and don't let them get away with NOT eating it. I know it's harder with a young child (my daughter is 21 months) but you have to be consistent. If they know that this is what everyone is having for supper, eventually they'll eat. The more fuss you make about them NOT eating it, the more their going to fight back. Ignore it or make them ask for the food at the dinner table and they'll want what you're having. (obviously this is more effective when you all sit down to eat together).

Good luck!!!

Michelle - posted on 04/25/2010

my son went through a stage of not eating veggies, so i used to blend them and put them into a sauce that he had with spag bol etc, so then he couldnt really taste it!! but keep putting the cooked veg on his plate, as i kept doing that and then one day he surprised me and started eating them!!.....oh and mashed sweede mashed into mashed potato!!

Kimberly - posted on 04/25/2010

My child refuses to eat meat so I prepare vegitarian meals for him and I have plenty of ways to make veggies into meat. I make some great lentil and chickpea burgers with carrot mushroom and peppers.
Here is a great tip for using long veggies like carrots or zuccini try using a peeler to cut them into noodle shapes and use in place of noodles cover them with their fav sauce.
Some times I think kids just get bored with the same thing so even just makeing them look fun on the plate makes a big difference, Like the clown face 2 large carrot circles for eyes, 2 green beans for eye brows, Colliflower nose, red pepper smile, then place some peas and corn for them to decorate the rest of the plate, another fun one is mashpotatoe snowmen. Place mash potatoe in snow man shape on there plate and give them the veggies to make the face and buttons, My son is 21 months and loves being able to decorate his meal then enjoy it hope this helps. I have many more recipes and Ideas if any one needs some Email me and I would be happy to pass them along
Good luck .

Kristie - posted on 04/25/2010

My child won't eat them either...I just make sure he gets his Flintstone vitamin everyday, and continue to offer them. Prehaps he'll eat them again one day.

Nicole - posted on 04/24/2010

try mixing them in, even in spaghetti grate broccoli and mix into the sauce, my son is the same age and he wont eat them at all unless i make them small or really sweet

Tabetha - posted on 04/24/2010

You can give your baby a sippy cup of "Fruitables" which is a drink similar to V8. It has one serving of fruits and vegetables in it so if my son is extra picky for the day and isn't interested in the healthy stuff, he gets a sippy of Fruitables instead of milk, water or another juice. He loves the flavors too so he enjoys the drink and I smile while he is drinking it becaues I feel like I've won! Ha!

Lora - posted on 04/24/2010

you might want to talk to the daycare cook and ask what she does to the veggies, then if still no eating them, buy some JUICEY JUICE (harvset surprize) that has all the veggies i it for that day. it works. my daughter loves VEGGIES AND FRUITS so i have never had this problem but i know of moms that do and they always say get them the jicey juice harvset surprize

Fabia - posted on 04/24/2010

Oh I also sometimes add some fresh spinach in while I am cooking the carrot and zucchini!

Fabia - posted on 04/24/2010

My 21mth old boy has always been pretty good at eating veggies, but he does need a change up from just the steamed veggies, so to give him a big dose of veggies I grate up carrot and zucchini and toss them around in a fry pan with some chopped up fresh tomato, add some fresh chooped basil and just fry until slightly softened, then serve and add some parmesan cheese. He absolutely LOVES it! The fresh tomato makes a king of sauce and the cheese and basil give it a yummy flavour...it's coloured spagetti! It works for my kid..hope it works for yours! :)

Nichole - posted on 04/24/2010

i see you have alot of responses, so you can see this is a common problem..here are a few of my tips i use to get my 22 month old to eat veggies
1.)sandwiches (hummus and shredded carrot, peanut butter and califlour, sounds gross, but the lumps are like nuts to him)
2.)make pasta sauce by simmering tomatos and herbs then at the end adding lots of green and oarnge veggies, when they start to soften puree, then you can make him pasta or pizza and there are tons of fresh veggies!
3.) buy decent jar veggie meals like veg lasagna then mix in some extra puree of pumkin, or steamed peas or whatever works for you.
4.) i roast pumkin and sweet potato cubes by tossing with olive oil and cinnamon then roast till slightly soft and brown.
5.) little bits of red and green pepper with his own little bowl of hummus dip or any dip he may like, yogert, applesauce... at first they may turn up their noes,, but eventually being aloud to dip becomes a sort of game.. i offered carrots and peppers a million times and one day he just dove in!
6.) veggie pizza, cover the soft mashed veggies with the cheese (broccoli works good)
7.)shredded carrots and zucchini in everything! pancakes, omelets,scrambled eggs, banana and veggie bread, savory applesauce and veggie biscuits...
8.)smoothies,, carrot, spinich, rice milk, frozen banana, frozen strawberry and frozen blueberry.... yogert, flax, zucchini, and any fruit can be added...


hope you got lots of help on here!!!!

Candace - posted on 04/24/2010

I have been blessed in this department. Both my 3 year old and my 22 month old love their veggies. My son, 22 month old, loves veggies more then meat. He always eats them first and asks for more veggies often before the other food on his plate is touched. Make it fun, provide a variety of different shapes and colors. Your child will develop his or her own tastes but keep offering them with other fruits or dishes that he already likes. Don't worry children always have a way of getting the proper nutrition they need if provided to them.

Marina - posted on 04/23/2010

My son loves mashed potatoes, so my husband invented mash potatoes and cauliflower. Once we steam the cauliflower and the potatoes, then he pulverizes them in the food processer and my son downs a coffee mug full of it in no time. He would also eat peas and carrots when they are part of his chicken noodle soup. And broc we get in him in a form of soup-steam, food process with some milk and butter, so it is sorta souppy and good luck.

Heather - posted on 04/23/2010

I think the main thing is to not give up! Toddlers are very fickle in their tastes and I think we can create a picky eater if we throw up our hands and just start counting ketchup as a vegetable. My daughter makes me crazy because I want her to eat a big variety, but she often turns up her nose to anything green. But I am determined to have her eat veggies, and so they always go on the plate anyway. And often she surprises me and will start eating it if it sits on her plate long enough (and I don't give up and give her a PBJ sandwich instead). Not easy stuff though, good luck!

Jeff Sheryl - posted on 04/23/2010

My son is also 20 months old and does not like his veggies. I started making whole wheat pancakes and adding about a cup of sweet potato puree to the mix. I also add a little brown sugar, cinnamon, & flax seed meal. He loves them and I feel better that he is at least getting one veggie a day for breakfast. My daughters, ages 7 & 10, also love them and have no idea that I make them with sweet potatoes! I love the ideas to mix in with pasta dishes....I am going to try that next!

Sarah - posted on 04/23/2010

I agree - if I eat veggies, my little one eats them too. It is also easy to get them into tomato pasta sauce - just cook up a large pot of tinned toms, lots of veggies like courgette, carrot, broccoli, then purée it - they never know. x

Su - posted on 04/23/2010

My 21 month old is a monkey where food is concerned. I have learnt not to get too hung up on making him eat lots of fruit and vegetables everyday as his moods sand tastes seem to change daily. I always try him with fruit with his breakfast and if he turns his nose up then I will try again with his snack or lunch. The same goes with vegetables, I try with steamed chunks of veg like Peas,Carrots,Swede,Parsnip,Broccoli and if he doesn't eat it I just make sure he has some protein and a yoghurt etc for his pudding. I will then put the untouched veg to one side and make it into a bolognease or shepherds pie etc, I have even been known to mince it up and add it to his favourite baked potato, cheese and beans, he is that wrapped up in eating it up that he doesn't notice, sneaky but works for me x

Michelle - posted on 04/22/2010

Hide the veges (pureed if you need to) in casseroles, spagetti bolognase, or anything that you are cooking. Make vege muffins, mini size quiches etc. Vege patties are a favourite in our house. Serve the veges different shapes, eg carrots in circles, batons, ovals, make vege faces of lightly steamed veges, serve on a plate as snacks and keep offering the veges steamed, boiled, roasted etc. Get your child involved in growing, buying and preparing veges and make sure you child sees you eat veges.
For vege patties: put 1/2 Cup sifted flour, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon curry powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder into a bowl. Add 1/2 Cup milk until the mix is smooth. It should look like thick cream. Stir in 1Cup grated veges (I use a mix of different ones each time -eg pumpkin, sweet potato, carrot, courgette/zucchini, broccoli cut into really small pieces). In another bowl beat one egg white until stiff but not dry. Carefully fold into vege mix. Heat oil in frying pan and cook tablespoons of mix until golden then turn and cook other side.

Jenny - posted on 04/22/2010

yep, harry won't eat veggies or meat. however, he will eat chick nuggets/sweet potato fries if i have ketchup for him to dip it in. i also mix in the the froz chopped organic spinach, shredded zucchini or peas to his pasta sauce. corn is our staple "vegetable". there are liquid vitamin supplements you can get at the grocery. i mix that in his juice or yogurt 1x/day to help w/his nutritional requirements. i am going to try the babyfood/smoothie idea!

Tanya - posted on 04/22/2010

I give carolyn her veggies first while I am cutting up the favored stuff. I experiment a lot. She doesn't like canned carrots but will eat frozen steamed At one point she would only eat broccoli cold. I try not to let my preferences determine hers. I expose her to anything and everything I can think of. If she doesn't like it one time she may eat it 2 weeks later. Right now I am amazed tha ther favorites are broccoli, canned asparagus and green beans. She will also eat beats (if in the mood) and canned spinch in pastas and stuff. I'm struggleing to get her to eat sweet potatos which frustrats me because I know she likes them .. I think she thinks they are canned carots. If I could just get her to eat one! lol. She does love baked sweet potato fries and baby food sweet potatos. Good luck!

Wendy - posted on 04/22/2010

We make a smoothie each night w/ plain yogurt, a banana, a handful of frozen fruit (strawberries, mixed berries), a splash of milk and a container/jar of veggie baby food (carrots, squash, sweet potato...even peas or green beans). I think it's disgusting but he loves it and it allows us to get in almost a full day of fruits & veggies.

Fiona - posted on 04/21/2010

my son nearly 22 months eats lots of veggies but does sometimes get sick of them, so what i do is sometimes mash them up so its not dry add a little butter or water or add white sauce or gravy to the veggies.Rians favourite meals are mince and veggies,shepards pie or stew and that way its heaps of veggies all mixed in,hope that helps.

Megan - posted on 04/21/2010

Buy yourself a bunch of the single vegetable baby food purees and mix them into your recipies. I find that sometimes even mixing veggies into a casserole causes my son to pick around them but with the purees they get all the nutrients and dont even notice. I also get the frozen shredded spinach. If you take a chunck of it a defrost it with a bit of garlic. You can add it into things like pasta dishes and casseroles (even on top of pizza) and it sticks and gets ingested unnoticed. Antoher thing that seems to work with my son is giving him raw veggies to dip into ranch dressing. Yes he spend alot of tip redipping but by the end of it he has ingested quite a bit of the broccolli and cauliflower florets.

LaFawwndah - posted on 04/21/2010

deep fry em

Bonnie - posted on 04/20/2010

Thanks for all the suggestions, everyone! There are a lot of good ones here.

Jennifer - posted on 04/20/2010

Wow, I'm with y'all. What's with the carb-o-centric yens of not-quite-2-year-olds? My son will eat veggies -- but only sometimes -- if he seems me eat them. Sooo, if there's broccoli on the pizza -- which he loveloveloves -- and I eat some broccoli, he'll eat the broccoli. That's probably not much help, but -- I tried ...

Michelle - posted on 04/20/2010

My 21 mo old son won't eat hardly any veggies and on top of that he won't eat any meat! Double wammy! What a challenge! Sweet potatoes are a great vegetable most kids like. You can mash them or make french fries out of them in the oven! My son loves the V8 Tropical Orange drink, they have lots of great flavors. I also crush up a multi vitamin in his oatmeal in the morning. Also check out Jessica Steinfelds cookbook Deceptively Delicious! All it's recipes include pureed vegetables. She states that you can't even taste the veggies. I just ordered a new copy off Amazon for a great price!!! Looking forward to trying it out!! Good luck to you!!

Nancy - posted on 04/20/2010

put the veggies in question in scrambled eggs or mince them in meatloaf mixture!

Jennifer - posted on 04/19/2010

olivia is 21 months now n she's been eating veggies since the age of 13 months,,,,now getting her use to potty training with her other sister since i'm due in a few weeks for a newborn.

Angela - posted on 04/18/2010

add cheese it makes everything taste better.....i don't have that problem at all with my daughter because i feed veggie to her first before fruits thats y she likes them so much. and my grand mother told me to do that and she was right. its works.

Tiffaney - posted on 04/18/2010

I got this tip from my sister-in-law who has three children and all different taste buds: "mix it in, hide in, or don't tell them its in." My son has been really picky lately. So if I make spaghetti I mix in pees, or like meat loaf I just mix in tons of blended veggies just to make it healthier. He also seems very interested in flavors he knows the difference between seasoned and not, so if its just a side dish of a veggie I always put in salt, pepper, or even paprika or garlic. Hope I helped

Jessie - posted on 04/18/2010

My son actually only likes meat... He will often only eat the meat that is on him plate and not touch anything else. I always put a nice balance of carbs veggies and meat on his plate. The only problem with him is he is skinny for his age and if he doesnt want to eat something he just wont eat. So it is hard to deny him something so he will eat something else. The cake idea is a good one but I have a weird child he usually wont eat cake or cookies lol. He likes candy like chocolate m and ms but that is about it.

Kristin - posted on 04/18/2010

i think they will easily take a preference to carbs if they are allowed to fill up on that. maybe avoid carbs and dairy and offer small pieces of cooked veggies (my 20 month old doesn't eat many raw veggies still, but loves cooked broccoli, carrot, cauliflower, spinach, potato with peels on) and cooked beans like chickpea, kidney, white beans, etc!
good luck mamas!

Elizabeth - posted on 04/18/2010

My son is 21 months old and I have the same issue. He wont eat meat either. All he will eat is cereal, mac and cheese, cottage cheese, cheese, yogurt and crackers and all fruit. I dont know what to do I have tried mixing it in the food but he always notices and spits it back out. I started giving him juice with one serving of fruit and veggies in it. His Dr. also had told me to give him some pediasure everyother day so that he is still getting the proper nutrients. If anyone has any suggestions on how to get him to eat veggies and meat I would love to hear them.

Penny - posted on 04/18/2010

If can you add a can of pumpkin to any box of chocolate cake mix ~ you can't taste it once you bake the cake and you get a whole serving of veggies while he thinks he's getting a treat! (plus it makes the cake nice and moist!)

Deetra - posted on 04/17/2010

My daughter is wonderful at copying whatever she sees mommy doing. I am blessed here I guess because whatever she sees me eating she wants. I eat all types of vegetables in front of her and she will try them. You might have to try the different soups or stews that have rice and vegetables in them to get some veggies down.

Jessie - posted on 04/17/2010

I have the same problem my son is starting to refuse about any veggie. I started mixing them in things like peas in mac and cheese or something like that so when he picks up the mac and cheese or corn in rice or mix up chicken with broc chopped up the veggies sneak in. Some times he will notice and spit them out but some will go down too. I figure some is better than none right? I wish I could help more I am hoping to hear some ideas too.