How to get my 2 and Half year old to eat vegetables?

Isha - posted on 11/17/2009

Other thing just make them and put them on the table with a dip, make as if you don't understand. he or she will come around and started to pick on it.

Isha - posted on 11/17/2009

Don't stop give him/her the veges, just continue at the same time let him eat your meatloaf. Some day he/she will grow to love eating veges. I have three children, they love fruits and veges. The reason why, because I ways buy them and eat them. So because they see me eating those things all the time, they too eat it. I always started given they fruits or veges at the age of 5-6 Months or any thing that I am eating,when their first tooth is out. If they got this taste in their mouth they will eat it. You will never know the type of conditions you will be face, when you will not be able to buy them their favorite food. But as a mum you can do any thing that is good for your child.

Kylie - posted on 11/15/2009

Thank you everyone for all your tips and ideas, i will be putting some of them in to practice.. I have found he will eat raw carrots only because my horse who my son loves eats them.. so i just say Era (the horse) loves carrots.. :) its worked so far

Tanya - posted on 11/13/2009

My son will be 3 at the end of this month and does the same thing. He used to eat veggies well but for now I buy veggie chips (like potato chips usually in organice section) or veggie crisps (like cheetohs) that you can find in your local food store. I also buy juice that has servings of vegetables in them. You can even get the little snacks from the toddler/diaper sections that we used to give them around 12 mnths old that has veggies in it. His appetite will change. Just keep offering regular vegetables to him. Have you tried raw vegetables too? Celery kind of crunches like potato chips and he can dip it in dip or peanut butter. This, too, shall pass;)

Vickie - posted on 11/13/2009

For older children, you can always try peanut butter on celery. When my son was a toddler & didn't want to eat some of the time, the pediatrician said not to worry, when he's hungry, he'll eat.



Even now, sometimes he'll say I don't like that. And I'll tell him how do you know if you haven't tried it. Encouraging kids to take at least one bite & sometimes they'll be very pleasantly surprised that they do like whatever it is that they said they didn't.

Lisa - posted on 11/13/2009

Puree works the best...especially in smoothies with fresh fruit. My 5 year old has just discovered that I put spinach in his daily breakfast smoothie. He has been drinking them since he entered the picky phase @2 years old.

Brooke - posted on 11/12/2009

Try not to stress out about it. We've recently had the same issue and are still working on it. What works for us is putting a few peas...or what ever on the plate and everything else out of reach. She must take one bite of pea to get one bite of grilled cheese or whatever we know she likes. We alternate until all veggies are gone and then offer lots of praise. If you're consistant...and it may take a few tries for your toddler to get the idea...it may work for you to. It seems to turn into a game and not a battle.

Doaa - posted on 11/12/2009

Hi kylie,you may cook the vegetables as you cook the vege soup and then mince it sothat your son couldn't find any veges to pick..........

Marie - posted on 11/12/2009

can also teach him about benefits of veggies,carrots for eyes exc.let him taste veg before deciding to dislike,children must be introduced about 15 times to diffrent food before he will eat it,try and try again

Marie - posted on 11/12/2009

try adding them to sauces,liquidized in bolognaise sauce.call them other names like little trees for broccoli,make veggies interesting.let him help with preparing veggies,make a reward chart for eating veggies

Vickie - posted on 11/12/2009

You could also try telling your child that certain veggies will help give them strong muscles. I tried this with my son & used to say, "Now lets see your muscles". After a few times, he'd start eating certain veggies & tell me that he could feel his muscles growing or he'd make a muslce & say "Feel my muscles. Areen't they getting bigger?"



When kids are a little older, take them grocery shopping or to a farmer's market & let them pick out a couple of veggies that they will eat. And one more old trick is to tell them how could they possibly say they don't like lima beans, broccoli or parsnips unless they've tried them first. Get them to start out by taking a couple of bites. Little by little, start introducing different veggies to them. Eventually they & you will discover if there are any veggies that they truly dislike & which ones are their faves.

Becca - posted on 11/12/2009

My 6 1/2 year old daughter still doesn't think vegies are a very important part of her diet, although she will eat hommus now and baby carrots, but that's it!
Don't worry too much, it will come in time (so I'm told).
I was told by so many people including my Mom, just make her eat what she's served, she won't go hungry if she misses a meal. Well, their taste buds are bit different than ours.
I decided to go to a nutritionist because this was really bugging me and I wanted to make sure she was eating healthy enough. Turns out she was.
It's great to encourage different kind of foods, whether or not they're vegies, fruits, or something else. Even adding garlic to the meat early on is really good. Keep doing it!
But don't worry! As long as they are eating fruits in the colors of reds to oranges, yellows, greens, and so on, they're getting the same vitamins as they would from the same color vegies. So, keep a variety of fruits on hand and try different things.
Unfortunately there's no guide, but the key is trying new stuff, remembering that a lot of kids are like that, and that as long as your child is getting the fruits in the range of colors..... you're doing really good!
This was all info I got from a real nutritionist/dietician with all the accrediations. It has really made things more manageable when it comes to eating. We've gone so far as to try papaya, mango, plantains, kiwi, etc. She loves most of the tropical stuff. She also goes through phases. She was on a huge apples and bananas kick for awhile, now it's bananas, berries, and peach fruit cups. It's the best I can do and she's a really healthy kid. She just had her 6 year old check up and she is just fine!
Don't fret! By the way, if it's too hard to get the fruit variety right away, don't be afraid to use some of the lower sugar V8 fruit concoctions with a full serving of vegies and fruit. I do this too! She knows that it has vegies, but she loves the flavors!
I hope I've helped and haven't babbled too much. I just know how hard it is especially when you see your neighbor feeding her child everything and the kid just sucks it all in like a vaccuum cleaner, including the lima beans! Yuck!
Good luck!

Shawn - posted on 11/11/2009

I pureed them and put them in his pancakes. Smoothies are a good way to go too

Sandra - posted on 11/11/2009

The best way is to try and find at least one veggie they will eat, my daughter loved Italian green beans but didn't like any other kind and would eat soft carrots only if it was in chicken and dumplings, so what I finally did was realize that there are a lot of fruits that have the same nutrients. So I would have her to take one bite of the veggie I made that night, you know try it you might like it, and if she didn't she would have to have a fruit. That way she was getting most of the nutrients. Now she is nine, still loves Italian green beans, eats carrots cooked or raw and broccoli so some is better than none. Good Luck.

Laura - posted on 11/11/2009

Quoting Amanda:

We don't compromise at our house. I put the tiniest amount on my dd plate. In order to have a snack later she must eat all the food on the plate. She is always allowed seconds but I keep the original portion small so that it doesn't overwhelm her. We also have a rule that when trying a new food you must take as many bites as your age up to 10 (Daddy doesn't want 37 bites of burnt meat). One thing my daughter likes to do is to "beat the clock". I tell her I bet she can't finish her veggies in 2 minutes and set a timer. If the timer goes off and she has finished much praise is handed out.

i like this..

Donna - posted on 11/11/2009

Make them fun. Make faces on pizza with veggies. You can add lots of veggies to his favorite foods such as spaghetti sauce. If he takes a multivitamin I wouldnt worry about him eating his veggies. He will learn to love them as he gets older I am sure.

Amanda - posted on 11/11/2009

i tried this with my sis and it worked wonders make a game of it raw verses cooked play with your child and get them to close their eyes and feel the different textures in their mouth and smells and crunchy verses soft if you get creative enough with it i think it will benifit you both...sorry if it doesnt work..otherwise buy a juicer and when you juice veggies the taste like fruit thats a good way too.good luck

Vickie - posted on 11/11/2009

Another thing you could try, when you can find the time, is to make funny veggie people out of his veggies. Also, you could try telling your child to try at least one bite. There may be some things that he/she won't like at all but there's bound to be several that they will like. I hated broccoli until I was an adult. It's all in the way things are prepared.

Geri - posted on 11/11/2009

Serve them raw with a dipping sauce. They love to dip at that age. Make it a healthy dip like peanut butter or humas. Be careful of carrots.

Anjie - posted on 11/11/2009

There are vegitables that my son likes and I often let him choose what vegitable to have with dinner. He always has to try two bites of the new ones though and he's found more that he can choose. He likes some pretty obscure stuff, so be creative.

Michelle - posted on 11/11/2009

I've heard of people blending them and mixing it in food so they can't see it. Me personally. They eat what I give them, or they don't eat. When they realize your serious and won't give them something else... they will eat. Now both my kids eat veggies and fruit for snacks. My kids are 17 and 20 now. So obviously - having them go with out a meal or two didn't kill them. :-)

Janet - posted on 11/11/2009

I have seen loads of Ideas I wish this was around when my son was a baby. There taste buds grow with them so they might eat it for a while then change again.

Karen - posted on 11/11/2009

wat i found easier to do is if u are boiling your veg use the water from them to make your gravy and that way they are still getting all the goodness from the veg it worked on my middle child but my youngest wont touch veg or gravy but i still try and do it he will do in the end

Vickie - posted on 11/11/2009

Try putting butter on top of them & tell your child how the butter gives a really yummy taste to the veggies. Or once in a while, if your child isn't allergic to honey, you could get honey glazed carrots by Birds Eye or Green Giant.

Last resort is to mix them in mashed potatoes.

Melody - posted on 11/11/2009

I have a 3 yr old son and a 5 yr old son. They can get pretty stubborn sometimes, and they usually dont like what I cook, just because the'd rather have chicken nuggets or pizza! But I will tell you that almost every night - they eat their food AND at least 3 bites of each vegetable! My method? I tell them they dont have to eat. And there have been a couple of nights they havent. But if they dont eat...They dont get dessert. So the eat their food and tuff out 3 bites of each veggi so they can get dessert.

Judy - posted on 11/11/2009

Your childs taste buds are stronger than yours so he/she tastes differently than you do. I used to cut the veggies as small as possible, sometimes even put them in the blender and just add a small amount at a time. Try making some french fried sweet potatoes baked in the oven. You put a coating of egg whites on them and let them bake till cooked. They are great and healthy.

Lynn - posted on 11/11/2009

when my kids were little we had the one bite rule, everyone including daddy who also did not like vegetables, had to try one bite of everything on their plate if they didn't like it then they did not have to eat it, 9 out of 10 they liked it, now I have to make extra asparagus and brocoli my some even likes brussel sprouts yuck. good luck

Peggy - posted on 11/11/2009

Melt cheese or use dip, children LOVE to dip, dip, dip. Blessings to you..... :)

Jodie - posted on 11/11/2009

find a soild food your child does like,then add veges in to them.adding veges to a meatloaf or a pie,thats how you could get them in to him.but you can buy vege drinks,carrot juice,but them.yiu may need to have glass,and say yum yum,mummys drinking it to.make it into a game,they do follow eventually.see how that goes.good luck.

Michelle - posted on 11/11/2009

Don't say things like "you're probably not going to like this"
Dish up in small enough portions for the child to finish and they just have to eat it. Don't make a fuss. If they don't eat their veggies , they cannot have anything else. Soon enough , they'll find "I'm hungry , and I'm not going to get anything else to eat if I don't have these veggies"
I tell my kiddies that they must try it at least , if they don't like it fine , but they can't NOT like all veggies.

Whitney - posted on 11/11/2009

My daughter loves veggies! We always eat veggies with almost every meal. Instead of french fries, we have roasted potatoes and sweet potatoes. She loves fresh veggies dipped in ranch dressing. However, I still purchased 'The Sneaky Chef' just to try healthier versions of food. It is all about sneaking in those 'nasty' veggies into great food. Like beets- which we don't eat- into brownies.You cannot even tell!

Carol - posted on 11/11/2009

I have found out a news way for my kids to eat there vegs from the pre school. I now tell them that dora or superman or any other that they love this is what they eat and they told me you would love it.

Margaret - posted on 11/11/2009

First of all, don't show that you have noticed!

When he realises that you are coaxing him to eat his veggies, he has your attention and boy is he about to exploit that! If you allow him to!

I just quietly make sure he got the goodness from the veggies by adding the water used for cooking them into gravies, and that way the whole famly get the goodness too!

Some children prefer vegetables raw to cooked! He may not like to have to eat his veggies hard, when he could have them cooked and nice and soft! Also, he may not like being the 'odd one out' when the rest of the family alll have cooked veggies!

Sometimes the texture of the veggie concerned may not be to his individual liking!



There could be many reasons why he is doing this, causing you concern! Over not eating his vegetables to deliberately ignoring you so that you have to come and fetch him for dinner!

Just put it down to the fact that today he is not eating his carrots, and next week he will not be eating his greens!

Children get funny ideas into their heads, also they change their attitude towards so many things and at the oddest of times during thier childhood!

You just need to be that little bit more ingenious to get around their foibles! Or fads of that particular moment!

This is one part of the joys of being a mother that you don't get told about, nor that you see 'in the adverts'!

If you start worrying about him not eating his greens/ carrotts/peas, then you wait until he hits the terrible two's or worse,the teenage years!

Try not to show that you are concerned and add the veg water to the gravy! Not potato water however! You know that he is getting his nutrients that way!

It is possibly a passing phase anyway!



You must be careful not to turn your concern about him not eating into a battle of wills! As he will have won your attention as a reward for his behaviour! That is the way that he will see it, and then he will having you doing things his way, and you will be dancing to his tune for the rest of your life!!

One thing to remember is that children are craftier than a wagon of monkeys, and they learn very quickly the power they have over their parents/ family/carers! - It is how the human race has survived over generations!

Danielle - posted on 11/11/2009

my daughter is 2.5 years & hated vegies. She then wanted ice cream after her meals.I did the good old bribery of 'eat all your vegies & you can have ice cream'. so she started to eat vegies. no way does she get ice cream every night, but she has started to like all the different vegies.

Emma - posted on 11/11/2009

I too have had fussy eaters in our house (now ages 11 and 8) but they do eventually grow out of it, well mostly!
Here are a few things I have found that helps...
- Keep the portions really, really small ie 1 piece of carrot, 3 peas - then give lots of praise when they/if they get eaten.
- Dont' make a big deal if nothings eaten, give gentle encouragement and some disappointment sure, but a battle of wills just makes some kids more determined not to eat anything!
- Puree some carrots, or other veg, and add this to a bolonase sauce.(Dont use broccoli for this as it leaves green bits!)
- let your child decide how much gos on the plate. Sometime giving them an element of control helps. ......and dont argue if it's only 1 pea! eventually they start to put bigger portions out.
- it may seem obvious but try keeping your child really busy in the afternoon so that they don't miss not having any snack. Being hungry really does help them decide that they want to eat!
- Cut food up into long sticks so that it can be picked up
- Offer raw vegs, my daughter is still quite fussy when it come to cooked veg so but will have on her plate (and eats it too) raw mushrooms, carrots, cabbage, peppers, mangetout.
Above all, dont stress! As long as the parents are eating a good diet then most kids will grow up eating a healthy balanced diet too, it just takes some of them a bit longer than others.
Good luck!

Rose - posted on 11/11/2009

try giving him raw carrots cut into sticks my kids love them that way but as soon as i cook them they wont eat it, raw yes they love it

BRANDI - posted on 11/10/2009

they say you should not bribe them but i find it very effective, espically with my 5 yr old son who is autistic. promise a special treat or a toy if he eats them all. after awhile he should just eat them and always put on his plate even if u think he wont eat them.

Victoria - posted on 11/10/2009

I stumbled on this when we took my then 2year old daughter to a birthday party. She loved eating the raw veggies & dip...she thought she was being a grown up girl by getting to eat the adult appetizers. So at home I put together a small platter of broccoli, carrot sticks, cauliflower, little tomatoes & some string beans & some ranch dip....she loved it and has liked veggies ever since....that was 26 years ago!

Hanna - posted on 11/10/2009

i would also try to find out why he doesn't eat veggies (if he talks). maybe he heard something somewhere or went to daycare/kindergarten & saw someone over there not eating them & now imitates them. you definitely have to eat the same veggies you expect your son to eat. i.e. you have to make him the same meal you make for yourself. you can puree some of the veggies into pasta sauces, braised meat sauces, mac& cheese, meatloaf (use a hand blender), burgers, dips for stuff like pita bread chips or grilled bread slices, you can mix it with yogurt or sour cream or whatever to make a dip. you can add veggies to stuff like hummus (chickpeas, olive oil, garlic) then from there on out, you can add other veggies in there, you can make that out of white beans too. oh and season the food with some herbs -- the more flavor the food has, the less likely he'll be refusing it. i grow rosemary, thyme, basil, thai basil (all bought at walmart/home depot for $3.50), oregano, tarragon. we love it -- food cooked with fresh herbs tastes so much better (one of the secrets to restaurant food), take it from someone married to a chef. good luck!

Kristin - posted on 11/10/2009

Have to agree with Carrie with the "Deceptively Delicious" cookbook! Saw it on the Today Show and the recipes look really yummy and your son will not know there are any veggies in them.

April - posted on 11/10/2009

All I can think of is put pureed vegies into your pasta sauces or meatloaf etc so he can't see them. Carrot, zuccini, pumpkin all the starter baby food veg should work.

Patti - posted on 11/10/2009

i give my daughter carrots with peanut butter or ranch dressing :) she loves it

Amanda - posted on 11/10/2009

We don't compromise at our house. I put the tiniest amount on my dd plate. In order to have a snack later she must eat all the food on the plate. She is always allowed seconds but I keep the original portion small so that it doesn't overwhelm her. We also have a rule that when trying a new food you must take as many bites as your age up to 10 (Daddy doesn't want 37 bites of burnt meat). One thing my daughter likes to do is to "beat the clock". I tell her I bet she can't finish her veggies in 2 minutes and set a timer. If the timer goes off and she has finished much praise is handed out.

Carrie - posted on 11/10/2009

Buy a recipe bood called "Deceptively Delicious" It has recipes that hide veggies in everyday meals, even brownies and cakes. You can't taste the veggies in the meals, but the family stills gets all the nutrition needed from them. Also, I would try eating the same veggies at the same time as your son. Seeing you eat them might make him curious. And don't give up. Studies have shown that children have to try one food at least 10 times before they decide if they like it or not.

Lonna - posted on 11/10/2009

Cheese, that's how I get myself to eat veggies:)

Estella - posted on 11/10/2009

hi the only secret is to cook really good tasty food,try VITAM you get it in the health shop its a yeastpaste very tasty if you dont take too much,good luck

Meg - posted on 11/10/2009

I found that in a case like that the food processor is your best friend, in order to get the nutrients into your child you can take a vegetable turn it into puree and mix it into another recipe, just make sure its not one with a super strong flavor so that your son can taste it over whatever your making, I do it with my meat loaf and the kids actually said they liked the "new way" mommy made it

Kylie - posted on 11/10/2009

I love veges, broccoli,cauliflower,beans, carrots,peas, corn, lot of veges we eat..
My 1 year old loves all his veges, and my 2 1/2 yr old will try them if they are on my plate but will not eat the lot, he takes a bite then says yukky.. that's what i find the hardest trying to tell him that veges are not yukky.

Kate CP - posted on 11/10/2009

Do you eat veggies? If he sees the grown ups eating veggies all the time and sees how yummy they are, he'll probably try them again. This is how I got my daughter to LOVE broccoli.