Son Won't Eat Vegetables

Hi Barbara,

I have 2 extremely picky boys, ages 13 & 6. My oldest boy will not eat any dish where a veggie us detected or raw. My 6 yr old boy will eat some veggies, only raw though.

With my 6 year old I have always given him a side of ranch he can use as a dip, and given names that work for him... Such as instead of "broccoli" we eat "baby trees" ( he gets a kick out of that one ) cauliflower is smarty balls ( I tell him eating veggies makes him smart & he always thought it looked a little like a hard cotton ball ) I have also explained that our bodies are like cars, mommy has to put gas in the car to make it go and stay healthy, and our bodies need foods like veggies to keep our bodies happy and healthy. He eats carrots for me because I've told him they help give him good eyes. He is my easy one when it comes to veggies, he actually gives issue eating red meat! You can also sing songs about eating veggies, for example, the tv show "Yo Gabba Gabba"(Nick Jr) sings a song about eating carrots & green beans. They wanted to join the "party in my belly" - you can also look that up I think on " you tube" searching "Yo Gabba Gabba" (just make sure you watch you tube things first)

Now my 13 year old I have to be creative and sneaky! I sneak at every opportunity!! None of the things I mentioned above EVER worked with him! With him, I sometimes make meals that call for veggies but purée them, I have also taken muffins and such & mixed in puréed baby food. ( he won't even eat a salad of any kind no matter what the dressing or plain! ) He will take a bite and chew just so as he inspects the food to see if I have added any veggies! Now I should also mention he is my "texture" kid. If he does not like the texture of the food he won't eat it. Now if I do make something that has veggies or is something "he thinks" he won't like, or rule is "3 bites" before rejection. Even if he rejects it, he at least gave it a chance, and eventually his tastes will mature and (hopefully) accept more foods/veggies.

Other ideas beyond sneakiness, and taking into consideration the age of your son, is make pick up a veggie you want him to try and start eating it near him. Exaggerate how delicious it is and the hold it out and watch, but say something like "nobody better try to take a bite of my delicious _______!" IF he goes for this, turn to see someone had taken a bite, look around and say "Hey! Who took a bite?!" Sometimes that will work. Key word being sometimes!

Another idea is to "make" edible things from them. Cucumber butterflies (cucumber slices with a sliver of carrot in the middle) celery boats (celery with cream cheese or peanut butter down the center with raisin people) Get creative. Sometimes this is a good way to get them interested in trying.

I'm sure you will get many great ideas!! Good luck!! If you need more info on anything I've mentioned, recipes or idea-wise, feel free to message me. :)

1 mom found this helpful

My daugheter is the same way and she is now 3. In fact she will rarely eat meat as well. I have been trying some receipes from a show I saw on Oprah. Jerry Sienfields wife made 2 cook books called Deceptively Delicious and The Sneaky Chef. It basically talks about making vegie purees and adding them to your recipies. So far it is working and the recipe where you dip your raw chicken into broccoli puree then into a bread crumb mixture with flax seed meal is a little tricky but delicious! I will never make chicken the old way again.

Also with my daughter I take her to the grocery store with me to help pick out fruits and vegies. It has helped her try some new things ... a little anyway. I am also trying to pick out one new veg/fruit that we have never tried each time we go shopping. Of course I have to look up what it is and how to prepare it but I call it "an adventure". I just laugh when I have to tell the check out clerk what the items are because they don't even know.

maybe try those v8 juices, the fruit splashers? i think they stick veggies in those. or just try v8.

I found with a lot os kids, they love to dip foods into sauces. For my daughter when she was that age I would make some veges like brocoli, carrots things she can eat with her hands. Then I would let her dip them into various sauces. Like apple sauce, ranch dressing cheese sauce etc. Try different things. Let him eat with his fingers and dip his veges in different sauces. Make it a game and let him eat with his fingers. You join in as well it will be fun to share it with him. I found that letting my daughter THINK she has some sense of control (when in reality I had the control) helped ease the situation. Sometime when you make them think they have to do it, they won't do it just out of spite and control. Sincerely, L. C.

My youngest is 2.5 and will not usually eat veggies either. She does like fruits. I serve her vegetables anyway with every meal and just try not to make a big deal out of whether she does or does not eat them. (If I make any kind of comment, it seems like she enjoys refusing me even more.) I figure that since she does eat fruit several times a day, she is getting good nutrition. Also, Jamba Juice serves fresh-squeezed carrot juice that my daughter LOVES - she has no idea she is drinking carrots. They can make it in a very small size, perfect for toddlers.

Our nanny has a couple of tricks up her sleeve on "hiding" vegetables. She makes vegetable soup, which the kids love, and also she will hide all kinds of veggies in a quesadilla. Cheese seems to help everything.

Our son is only 13 months and so far so good, but I started some 'tricks' early on just to prepare for the possible day he decides to become picky : ) I too started smoothies early on and adjusted the consistency as appropriate. As a health educator, people often correlate smoothies with only fruit, well, as another mother pointed out, vegetable smoothies are just as good! I introduced veggies first and am only now introducing fruit smoothies. Wanted our son to become accustomed to bland tastes before sweet. But it's not too late, just hang in there! Your son sounds like he prefers the sweetness of fruits over veggies, so, when making smoothies, adjust the ingredients accordingly and sneak in some vegetables. You could even use the V8 vegetable juice as your base and add perhaps a banana or peach to give it a sweeter taste. Sometimes it's a matter of acquired taste, but I can tell you from professional experience, doing this now will only benefit him in the future regarding dietary intake and healthy choices. I also mix veggies with cottage cheese for snacks or part of a meal and our son loves it! With this mixture he is getting calcium and protein along with a daily veggie...his favorites are butternut squash or avocado with cottage cheese. I also made a simple recipe the other day: whole wheat pasta, cooked cauliflower, and alfredo sauce. Mixed together, quite tasty...I even liked it with some added spice. I also like to use tomato based sauces whether diced tomatoes from a can or fresh (just watch the sodium content on some of the canned veggies!)...fresh tomatoes over polenta or even scrambled eggs is another easy, good choice. Well, hang in there. Maybe some of the tips here will be useful. Best wishes and good luck in the veggie isle!

My one suggestion, which has worked with many but not all kids, is to try placing a tray with a variety of raw veggies and dips in front of your child about an hour before you expect him to realize that he is very hungry. Stuff he can nibble absent mindedly while he is playing. Bunny carrots with their leafy tops on (kids like carrots better this way, for some reason), or mini carrots with a ranch dip; colorful small tomatos; red bell pepper rings (red is sweeter than green, and rings make it look fun); spinach leaves that can be dipped into a sweet dressing (poppyseed is my daughter's fave); cooked brocoli florets with either a lemon dressing or a fresh lemon that can be squeezed over them; hickima strips; or sweet sugar peas (when in season). Make sure everything is fresh and tasty. Start with a nice variety platter that is visually tempting, and see what he seems willing to experiment with, and what he takes to. It should be totally non-pressure. "I thought you might be getting hungry, so here is some fun food you can try, if you like, while you are playing."

More than one family has discovered that it magically disappears.

The worst he will do is ignore it.

In which case, I would try it again on another night. If he's hungry enough, he'll sample SOMETHING. Eventually, lol.

Hi Barbara,
You're not alone. I was in the same boat with my daughter 2 and 1/2 years ago - she wouldn't even eat fruit a majority of the time. My family and I now take Juice Plus which is 17 different fruits and vegetatables that either come in a capsule, chewable or gummie. Juice Plus is absolutely safe for everyone and is approved by the FDA as "food" not a "supplement". Our cells have a memory and in many cases, will begin to crave more fruits and vegetables after taking Juice Plus. I know it sounds impossible, but it's true. When we get our nutrition from whole food, we're getting ALL of the vitamins, minerals and nutrients Mother Nature intended. My neice started on the gummies when she was 3 and my sister gives them to her as an after-dinner snack. It's one way to get her to clear her plate. She absolutely loves them. If you would like more information and would like to review the published research on Juice Plus see my website at www.chooseprevention.net.

Hi, My son is soon to be 4 years old, and refuses veggies any kind, any form. His pediatrician suggested V-8 Fusion juice. It doesn't have any added sugar, or preservatives. My son only likes 2 flavors the blueberry pomegreanite, and a new one I can't remember the flavor. The other ones are thicker and he doesn't like them. Another thing I'm trying is the new book from Jerry Seinfeld's wife. She has alot of great recipes that add pureed veggies of all sorts, even brownies which I hear are great. I still have to get a food processor. I hope this helps.

I feel for you on this one. My oldest son is the picky one, and unfortunately he's diabetic. When he was first diagnosed we had to make sure that he was eating so much of each of the food groups and he fought us tooth and nail. The V8 juices are wonderful. They taste like fruit juice, but each serving has 1 or 2 servings of vegetables in it. Does your son like things like spaghetti? If so take canned veggies like carrots and puree them and add to the spaghetti sauce. Cauliflower can also be pureed and added to mac and cheese. Carrots actually just add richness to the sauce. Keep him eating fresh fruit too as this does help fulfill some of the daily requirements. I do hope that these ideas help you some.

I don't really have any great advice on this one, just an amusing memory - I can remember holding the vegetable in one hand and the cookie in the other, offering the cookie first and then when they'd go to bite the cookie in my left hand I'd switch it for the veggie. We'd go back and forth like this for a while, and usually I'd end up with a bite or two of the vegetable. I'm not necessarily recommending this, it was just funny.

I actually just came across an article on this in one of my Family Fun magazines. They were all these recipes where you puree the veggies and fruits and mix them into other recipes you know the child would love to eat. Such as brownies and pancakes. If these would help at all, let me know and I can look up the recipes or scan and send them to you.

Good Luck!

My mom had a good dish for me when I was growing up, I have since been calling it "Green Eggs and Ham(burger)" or "The Popeye Special" I hope it helps!

1 LB Hamburger (I've seen it in restaurants with sausage or half sausage half hamburger)
1 can of Spinach, drained (It could proabbly be made with fine chopped spinach to)
7-10 eggs

Brown hamburger in a skillet, mix in spinach
Beat eggs in a bowl and pour into the mixture.

I've always liked it with katsup, my fiance likes it with bbq sauce, and even ranch sounds tasty to try it with.

Be warned though, it does come out green! If your son is prone to not like unappealing foods, he may not even try this either. But if he does, he's eating spinach, one of the more richer vegetables around!

To get more vegies into my kids I make them fruit and vegie smoothies in the morning (I drink them too)..

My latest is:

Fill your blender about 2/3 full with raw cleaned spinach
Add about 1/2 cup of water or juice
One ripe banana
About 2 cups of Frozen fruit (pineapple covers the taste of just about everything) Strawberries, peaches... blueberries cover the green...

BLEND REALLY WELL... unless you have a strong blender like a vitamix... blend the spinach and liquid first then add frozen fruit (or thaw a bit under water)

MOST IMPORTANT:::: SERVE IN A COLORED SIPPY CUP... and call it a juice smoothie!

Try to shredd it in his cooked meals. Blend it in a blender and add it to a smoothie. Put it in front of him several times until he gets use to seeing it.These are just a few Ideas and With my kids it worked! Until then I will recomend to go to this this site gomanna.com and order the mannabears . these are colorful, chewy sepplements in gummi-bear shapes and they deliver 11 different dehydrated fruits and vegetables . They are realy good! My kids eat them and even us adults ! I hope this helps