My toddler will not eat vegetables, help.

Liz - posted on 10/22/2011

I have recently tried several tricks to get my 13-month-old daughter to eat what she needs to... not always successfully. Tonight we tried fish sticks with yam and peas. The fish sticks went over great, but she didn't want me spooning the veggies in her mouth. I gave up on shoving in the bites and just left the bowl of mush and spoon in front of her with the fish on the side. I walked away for a minute (she's safely in the high chair) and when I came back I found her feeding herself all three items using both her hands and the spoon. IT WAS A MESS. But she ate it! Ok, so a fair amount ended up anywhere but her mouth, but she did still eat it! It occurs to me that she may have been refusing to eat what I was feeding her not because of what food it was, but because she wanted to do it herself. She likes to test her skills and play with her food so maybe she was bored and/or frustrated. And, of course, it is a toddler's developmental duty to strive for greater autonomy. I'm sure it wouldn't solve everyone's problem (especially if you have a real picky eater, and I'm not sure how typical my daughter is) but it is something to try. I simultaneously thought "Oh Wow!" and "Obviously!". We'll see if it keeps working. Now I just need to get her to keep the bib on.

Evelyn - posted on 11/09/2009

If he is not eating them, let him drink them. Try V-8 juice with the fruit flavors. When you make food with a tomato base use the regular V-8 for that also. Do fun stuff with him like make Jell-O and put fruit in it. Cut up veggies and see if he will dip them in ranch or some other item. Make smoothies and put banana's and sweet potatoes in it. He will not know it is a veggie because it is sweet.

Stphanie - posted on 11/08/2009

it may just be a texture thing the reason for not eating the veggies if that persists try using jessica sinefelds cookbook its got good recipes in it for pureeing the veggies or adding them into foods its an awesome tool to use for issues such as these hope this helps

Heather - posted on 11/08/2009

buy him the smoothies in the produce section that are a full day's serving of vegetables, my friend showed them to me. I usually mix it with a little juice and my son drinks it. It's called bolthouse there are many different kinds but I get him the veggie one because he won't eat vegetables. I also give him the little flinstones viatmin everyday. Good luck.

Stephanie - posted on 11/08/2009

Alicia your not alone my son's gonna be 2 and he struggled with veggies especially anything green. So talked to his doc said hide them in his food whatever. You know what I started doing at about 9+ months. I bought a Jackalane Juicer and started juicing.He can drink a sipie cup for snack and acually get a serving of veggies. Kids love juice right well by juicing you get all the vitamins,your daily servings of fruit&veggies,and less sugar than store bought. Also lets him get use to a varity of fruits and veggies,As added bonus his hair is shinier,skin healthier,and he gets sick less,I still use it today but know we not only juice he just started liking smoothies. Just some food for thought good luck!!!

Nikki - posted on 11/07/2009

it sounds gross, but i used to mix veggies,like corn, with pudding or somethng sweet. it would make him eat them. Now he eats most veggies.

Erin - posted on 11/07/2009

My children are picky like this. I ended up giving them the V8 Splash drinks that are loaded with veggies but they have no idea lol They taste so good to them that they never would know!

Kristen - posted on 11/06/2009

mine is the opposite she wont eat meat.

Heather - posted on 11/06/2009

I bought the cookbook "Deceptively Delicious" by Jessica Seinfeld. It has recipes in it that hide the fruit and vegetables. Hope this helps!

Heather - posted on 11/06/2009

Try not to push him too much, or in the end he might not eat any at all. My doctor told me it's normal for a toddler to do this. Oddly my son doesn't eat many vegatables though my daughter loves them. Make sure he takes his daily vitamin. Another way to get in fruit is to make a smoothie or try fruit snacks. Fruit snacks are better than no fruit. I've also tried the sneeky approch. My son loves "beef" which is most meat products, and with a little ketchup, those vege-hotdogs don't taste too different. I'll also hide a piece of greenbean behind a piece of hamburger and feed it to him myself. He usually doesn't notice the small tricks and he thinks he winning.

Meghan - posted on 11/06/2009

you didint say how old your sone was, but my son is 2yr 9 months, and olny just started eating them. the secret : we changed our menu to help envolve him, he now makes wrapes for dinner twice a week, and loves it, i chop all veges up take it to dinning room, where he starts to make his own, it has helped alot.with our other meals we get him to pick the 2 veges he wants to eat that night. it works for us.

Karen - posted on 11/06/2009

Make sure you cut out all sweets, junky snacks and filling drinks during the day. Only give him small, healthy snacks so he is hungry for lunch and dinner. At mealtime, make smaller portions of the foods you know he will eat and larger portions of the foods you want him to eat (vegetables). Show him a small treat (something he really likes) and let him know that he will get if he tries a few bites of his veggies. Start small, just a few bites and he gets his reward. It may take a while, and there will be a lot of winning, but he will eventually start trying things in order to get the treats he wants. If he won't eat his veggies, he doesn't get desert. It's pretty much bribing, but it worked for my extremely picky eater! Good luck!!

Kimberly - posted on 11/06/2009

I forgot that I also cut up broccoli and cauliflower in tiny tiny pieces and add it to his rice and potatoes he didn't know it was there and loves his rice so he ate it.

Emilie - posted on 11/06/2009

My mother told me that when I was a young child and would not eat my vegetables that she would buy babyfood carrots or squash or what ever you want to get, she would mix it in with our spaghetti sauce, we loved it and never knew that the veggies were in there.

Rachel - posted on 11/05/2009

I try making the veg look fun, carrot ribbons, trees of broccoli etc and max seems to love corn on the cob i think thats because he can use his hands and eat it himself. Using sweet potato and carrot or butternut squash as mash instead of potatoes is a good trick aswell, and if all else is failing, a small amount of ketchup never hurts. Good luck

Debra - posted on 11/05/2009

V8 fruit fusion and all kinds of crackers now have veggies in them, I give my 2 year old v8 and the crackers for her snack. She also drink the v8 smoothies with dinner...when she doesn't scream and fight with me all of dinner refusing to eat. There are plenty of ways to make sure kids get the proper amount of veggies and fruits, you just have to find the way they enjoy

Jennifer - posted on 11/05/2009

i got rid of all the processed sweets and other junk food for a couple weeks and only had the fridge stocked with fruits and veggies they learned to eat them real quick when there wasn't any gummies or chips to grab

Kimberly - posted on 11/05/2009

My son did the same thing. I would always give him veggies on his plate but also hid it in his other food so that he would still get the nutrients. I add carrots, celery, spinach and mushrooms to my spaghetti sauce. When I make hamburgers or meatloaf I make him a special one and add mashed up peas, green beans or a puree of veggies that I make in my blender. I do the same when I use ground turkey. Sometimes they will eat vegetable soup even though they wont touch the same veggies when they are plain. You could also try giving them to him frozen. My son loves eating the frozen mixed veggies straight from the freezer. You could also try slicing them up small and give them to him raw. My son loves raw carrots but will not eat them cooked. For fruits I would make him some sort of fruit milk shake. I would also heat up some banana and mash it add some cinnamon and use it as a spread on his toast.

Jessica - posted on 11/05/2009

v8 V fusion juice ! my son loves it and it tastes just like fruit juice and it has lots of vegetables in it per serving and I love it too

Ebby - posted on 11/05/2009

Yeah I started giving my girl ranch dressing to dip things in... ketchup too, as bad as that is. She started eating chicken fingers again though! Shes going through this same thing right now, what I started doing is instead of fighting her as it seems she's addicted to drinking milk, and when she doesn't get milk, she throws a fit... so I've started making what I call "Super food" smoothies that I call "milk shakes" for her. I take my magic bullet (a god send for easy clean up and a one toddler serving size)



1/2 cup oatmeal dry into the blender (or baby cereal which doesn't require this step), blend until fine.

2 table spoons ground flax seeds

3 table spoons sweetened apple sauce

portioned frozen ripe banana chunks from freezer specifically for smoothies

4 frozen strawberries

1 cup of milk

1 tablespoon of ovaltene, regular or chocolate is good.



Voila a chocolate (unless you use reg ovaltene), strawberry banana milkshake. I'm going to buy more fruits and sneak veggies (like frozen peas) in after I hit up the grocery store for more smoothie ideas this week, I'm pretty sure you can even pick up things along the line called "veggie greens" which is a whole spectrum food powder for kids and adults, I have used progressive and I'm thinking of picking up a jar just for this use, worth a google. I have read that cooking Kale down in pasta sauce is SUPER good for them and is pretty much a super vegetable in terms of nutrients and tastes like meat with ground beef if he's into spaghetti.



I know it defeats the whole purpose of trying to get them to eat real food... but after a tantrum because of battle of wills that went on for 56 minutes because I wouldn't give in, I had to change my thinking to work around her thinking. :)

Nichole - posted on 11/05/2009

i agree with Gail, dipping things is always a plus in our house. But my kids dont always eat their veggies either. Dont panic! my doctor says to keep putting veggies on their plate and eventually they will eat them. definatly dont push them or they will never eat them. For the nutrients, we give them vitamins.

Alicia - posted on 11/05/2009

my older two don't eat a lot of veggies mainly corn, over the past year they have started to eat more of a variety of veggies, but i give them a flintstone or centrum kids vitamin daily. Another thing to try is the fruit/veggies juices mixes that are out there. veggies don't have to be in actual veggie shape.

Gail - posted on 11/05/2009

Keep offering but don't make it a power struggle. If it gets to be too bad talk with your pediatrician about implementing some pediasure into their diet to help fill in what is missing. It definately won't work if you make a power issue though. My kids like dipping things.