I having a hard time feeding my child fruits and veggies?

Jessica - posted on 09/10/2010

The only tongue problem I have heard of is being tongue tied. Other than that I am of no help with the tongue situation.
On the food side my son used to be great. Would eat anything and everything. Now he is almost 20 months and just wont eat fruit apart from banana. The things he does like he will just choose when he will and wont eat them. He always wants sweet things.
Recently I have been making him milk shakes. I put some fruit into a blender and puree it, this adds the flavour but not the processed sugar and preservatives that you would find in a topping. Then add some milk and egg for calcium and protien (my grandmothers trick. She did it to us all for years and we didn't know a thing). You can add bran or some sort of fibre into the blender at the start so it becomes really fine and they wont know it's there. If I have yoghurt I will add that for a smoothie type drink. I found this to be a great way to increase my sons intake of calcium, protein, fruits and fibre. It's a great energy drink for him and he loves it.

For vegies I try and hide them in pasta such a spaghetti bolognese. The rich tomato flavour over powers finely chopped vegies and the colour hides things easily. You can also add vegie juice to pasta sauces, stews and casseroles. Soups are another great way to give kids the goodness of vegies. If you cook any vegetable in water for a while the water will end up with more nutrients than the actual vegetable. Hence why you shouldn't over cook your vegies. So if you make a vegie soup then there will be plenty of nutrients just in the broth. They don't have to eat the vegies, it's perfectly fine to just have the broth or you could blend it like you would a pumkin soup.

This is all just from being a little creative. If you aren't very creative or lack the time to think of some good ideas then there are plenty of fussy kids recipe books out there.

Good luck. If you would like any other ideas feel free to add me to your circle or on facebook :)

Gina - posted on 09/09/2010

Like Tammy suggested, you can always try hiding the fruits and veggies in the food.
I picked up Jessica Seinfeld's cookbook, my son is 3 1/2 and is starting to eat much better because of the hiding the foods idea..
http://www.deceptivelydelicious.com/site...

Jennifer - posted on 09/01/2010

How old is she? It sounds like she still has her tongue thrust reflex.
You should also keep in mind that up until she is a year old solids are just for pracitce. As long as she is getting plenty of breast milk or formula you don't need to worry about the amount of solids she eats.

SAMANTHA - posted on 09/01/2010

my youngest son is turning 3 and i use to worry all the time when i was feeding...but the truth is , honey u have nothing to worry about. your little angel will let you know if shes hungry. their little tummies are the size of their fist, so she is getting more food than it looks like. to us as adults and as parents i think we tend to over feed..if she is happy and not fussing there is nothing to worry about..she will let you knoww if shes not getting enough..God Bless=)

Tammy - posted on 08/30/2010

muffins are a good treat, use applesauce, shred carrots, zucchini,and you can always grind vegis and add to spaghetti sauce.

Karolina - posted on 08/30/2010

Jackie, I just wanted to ask the same question :) How old is she? I think that you could make the feeding time fun, cut her fruits and vegetable in shapes, chunks, slices and put on a plate with smiley faces;)
Eat the same fruits and veg with her, make her see that they're yummy :) Should work :)
Or get Anabel Kannabel (?:D) Book about feeding babies:)
http://tiny.cc/GetANYChildToListen

Jackie - posted on 08/29/2010

How old is she?