3 Yr Old Wont Eat Veggies or Fruits

My 2 year old won't eat veggies either. My 5 year old loves them. The 2 year old actually gags on them and then throws up, even the "hidden" ones. I keep offering them, without forcing, hoping things will change but also knowing that they may not. My husband hates fruits and vegetables but will eat them for dinner with the kids to make it look like they are delicious. I continue to not make a big deal out of them and keep trying and in the meantime give her V8 fusion to drink. It has a serving of fruits and vegetables in it and tastes like fruit juice and she drinks it with no problems. A lot easier than a juicer!

Don't worry too much about it. I grew up in a meat and potatoes family. I ate very few vegetables when I was younger (although I did eat fruit). However, I am now a vegetarian and love most fruits and vegetables.

Jessica Seinfeld has a cookbook called Deceptively Delicious (I think there are a few others out there, too). I've heard good things about it. The recepies "hide" fruits and vegetables in the meal. At least he'll be getting the nutrition he needs.

Good luck!

You may not like this suggestion--as it is a bit labor intensive. I bought a Jack LaLange juicer at Kohls on sale (70$ after an additional 30% off). I use it every day. I juice fruit and veggies together--then sit my son in a chair and give it to him 2 TBS at a time using a medicine syringe. Some of them are yummy enough he drinks them on his own. But for the "greener" tasting ones, he may not drink on his own but is willing to take it from me in the syringe.
My son has texture issues and a poor appetite all around. He will eat some fruits and veggies on his own, but often after a few bits he wont eat any more. Because he is so used to the medicine syringe, I can get him to take just about everythin in liquid form no matter how bitter (I give him a lot of health food herbs/supplements in the liquid because he cant take pills). I cannot, however, make him eat solids that he doesn't want to eat.
If you want to try juicing, I suggest a book from the library to help. Some items like banana, papaya, watermellon, avacado, etc I blend in with a hand mixer wand after I juice as they either don't do well in the juicer of I want some fiber/texture in the juice. Veggies that taste great when juiced include beet and carrott. Apples are great too. Lemons and limes are nice to add to cover up broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, spinach, etc.

Instead of "hiding" fruits and veggies in his food-or maybe in addition to-I would model eating fruits and veggies for him and make it available without forcing. My child was the opposite and wouldn't eat meat much at all for years, but loved all fruits and veggies. Now he is a real meat eater. They do change. Just make sure healthy foods are available and that you are eating and enjoying them.

Coming from one who ate no fruits or vegetables from age 5-19, it could be worse. Let me say this, forcing the child to eat will not help, but you also can't completely give in. As an adult I am still challenged by a limited diet. Now as a mom I am faced with a son who wants to behave as I did and be a super picky eater. Having been the resistant kid, my response to this is a bit different than that of my parents. We talk alot about balanced diets, and the importance of getting food from all the food groups. It also helps that they kids have a grandmother who is a master chef and does wonders with fruits and vegetables - even makes Me want to eat them.
all of that said, here is our approach;
#1 - our house rule is that there are no special meals prepared for purposes other than allergies. dinner is what dinner is, this goes for breakfast, lunch and snacks as well. (a fatal mistake of my mother which although it avoided conflict, allowed me to maintain a very narrow food vocabulary for years).
#2 - Fruit is always allowed as a snack, unless meal time is within 1/2 hour -45 minutes. As a result, my son has developed a love for apples, apple sauce and oranges. Because if he didn't eat his meal, he can have that later.
#3 - When meal time is finished, the kitchen is closed. If you couldn't finish the food on your plate then there is no need for dessert or any alternative.
This last one is the tough part. When my son doesn't want to eat his dinner, we have to help him understand what his body is telling him. "sounds like you are still hungry, this is all there is until morning." "you seem tired, looks like you should have eaten some vegetables at dinner for more energy". And sometimes that means he goes to bed hungry. But breakfast time becomes a new opportunity to try again.

in the end we try to teach all of our kids to listen to their body and trust what it tells them. In the end, they make good choices. My son won't eat green beans, but he loves creamed spinach. He can't stand bananas but will gobble down a mixed fruit smoothie.
It's all in the presentation
good luck
It's a bit manipulative, but we try to stay honest about what foods do for him.
It works for me, and I am still

My question is what does your babysitter feed him for lunch and throughout the day? Be very serious with her as you would not want her to be allowing him sweets/foods that are not the healthy things you are trying to get him to eat. One of my kids is not as good of an eater as the other(s) but we basically make her at least try a bite of everything that is on her plate and we definitely do not allow her dessert unless a good amount of nutritional food is eaten. Is your son into athletics yet? Tell him these foods will make him strong, able to do what the others can do! Little kids want to be stronger/faster, etc.

Also, on a side note, please read my website when you have a moment - it sounds like you are working a lot and you around a lot of people, perhaps you too would have an interest in sharing Arbonne's products/business with others ~ it is a wonderful business opportunity. Feel free to ask questions.

Good Luck, N.

www.nancyhoagland.myarbonne.com

I did the same thing when I was little and I would go for days without food and throw up if I was forced to eat things. 1: Do not panic I am a healthy 34 year old and I turned out just fine. 2: Get some good vitamins and pick your battles. A child who does not eat anything for days is not a good thing. You can always try later to reinroduce things or find ways to include it like fruit flavored cottage cheese. But protein is very important to a growing child and potaotes actually have alot of vitamins in them. So his meat and potatoes diet is far better then eating nothing. I am living proof.

My pediatrician just recommended a booked call "How to get your kid to eat..." by Ellyn Satter. Too much info to go into in detail but it is really interesting and addresses more of the power struggle between parents and kids in regards to eating. While my son is not eating many more veggies, etc. I am feeling much better that I am doing my part - the rest is sort of up to him. It's not something that will necessarily change over night. Pressuring tends to make it all worse. Good luck.

If he likes potatoes you can boil cauliflower (not a lot) and mash it in with the potatoes. Make sure it is seasoned enough with salt and butter for flavor. The cauliflower can even be pureed now-a-days and folded into the potatoes. The key is always flavor and imagination. Don't force him to eat what he doesn't want; it didn't work while I raised my kids and doesn't work today. My daughter is 34 and has started eating ALL vegies now. I did get her to eat fried or crispy baked zucchini sticks when she was young. Kids like a little garlc powder for flavor on veggies. I can't say it enough; seasoning is vital. Celery sticks dipped in ranch dressing or blue cheese if he likes that. Same with carrot sticks. Have other kids around like a picnic so your son can see them eat the raw dipped sticks. Stuff some with peanut butter and some with cream cheese. Your son may be the little monkey that copies the other kids eating habits. By rhe way, I also sprinkled some frozen or canned corn in our pancake batter. It makes the pancakes sweet and delicious; don't forget the butter and syrup. Good luck. If you need more veggie hints, write me.

Dear D.,

I had a daycare kid that would freak out if I had a fruit or a veggie on his plate. So much so that he would throw his plate on the floor. So I started to make snacks that the kids could make. Such as fruit mixed with whip cream. They could pick the fruit and put in their bowl and then add whip cream. I also had them make things like ants on a log or butterflies. Which is celery with peanut butter in it and then eather add raisens and on top to make ants on a log or take two pretzels and 2 raisens to make a butter fly. I informed the kids that they had to try what they made and they didn't get any other snack. Also I would take apples and slice them up and let them dip them in either peanut butter or carmel sauce. Try making a fruit milk shake. sometimes you have to make it fun for them to try something. Something that I have learned is that Kids take a long time in trying something new. Also kids will not eat something that they are forced into eating. That is one of the worst things you could do to a child is force them to eat something they don't like. Encourage but don't force. Have you tried to reward him for eating them. My sister had to do that with her son. if he took two bites of something he got one m&m now a year later she doesn't have to bribe him. He is not a big veggie eater but does have a little every night.
Good luck.
B.

D., When my son was young, "Fruji Bars" were his favorite, and still are. I love them too. My friend survived on them when she was pregnant and constantly queasy -- Fruji Bars hit the spot for her.

Fruji Bars are a healthy Fruit and Vegetable bar, packed with actual concentrated Fruits and Vegetables and they taste great! It is kind of like taking highly nutritious fruits and vegetables that people rarely buy and making them taste great so that even kids eat them.

I buy mine from www.MyShoppingNanny.com. It is totally worth the investment since it is made with quality. What is great, is if you don't like them for whatever reason, it is 100% money-back guaranteed and returns are very easy. I have shopped there for years and the customer service is terrific.
Right now they are having a Free Shipping promotion on orders of $75 or more.

Let me know how you like them. I highly recommend them. They remind me of a Fruit rollup, but thicker and made from all natural ingredients. Kids typically love them. I know mine does.

A.

I have 2 books that help me. 1 is The Complete Idiot's Guide to Feeding Your Baby & Toddler and the 2Babay & Toddler Meals for Dummies. I haven't started using a lot of the suggestions because I still feed her a lot of baby food but the are great books to use as reference for nutrition. Some foods offer more benefits than you think they do. They have recipes too. Smoothies are a good idea to get some fruit in. I hate the idea of trying to "hide" veggies because I want her to learn to like them but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. Juicey Juice makes awesome juice that hides fruit and veggies. It's not too much more dinero wise than the crappy juice.

My kids love fruits and veggies but it took me some work. At the dinner table they don't have to eat all their veggies but we have a age=bite rule. My four year old has to take four bites of everything on his plate and then tell us what he thinks of the flavors on his plate - at times it can feel like the judges table of Top Chef. But I use their feed back to tweak the way I prepare the veggies and they will eat the veggies again to tell me if I got it right. This has helped and now they both love spinach, string beans, lima beans, broccoli and brussel sprouts.

We also started a little garden where my guys get to choose, plant and grow veggies and we find recipes that they help me make and eat. We grew tomatoes this summer and made bruchetta. I grow herbs in the kitchen window and they help me spritz the plants and cut herbs to put in dinner when cooking.

We also signed our 8 year old up for cooking camp at the Kids Kitchen in Naperville for the past three summers. I think they have classes for younger kids. They make a dish each day they eat their own cooking. At the end of each class they have a parent tasting and get to serve their dish to mom or dad. Each day they take the recipes home and you can make them together in your own kitchen. This has really changed my son's view of food and cooking and opened him up to trying new things.

I also always have fruit out on the counter grapes apples, bannanas. In the fridge at eye level I have carrot sticks, celery, cut fruit. If we have candy in the house I hide it high in the pantry so it is always more work to find and eat.

I hope this helps a lot of mom's here have given you some great suggestions good luck with your son.

I say pick your battles. Keep offering (do not force) the foods. Maybe use a reward system (in our house, our son gets about 4 M&M's for finishing his dinner). Try smoothies w/ yougart & fruit, or V8 Fusion (full serving of fruits & veggies in one cup of juice). If all else fails use a vitamin. Let him see you eat the fruits & veggies, and if he gets to make the choice to eat them, he may like them. I also agree with letting you help make them -- our son always eats better if he helps "cook". Also, maybe try offering them frozen. The only way our son will eat carrots is if they are fresh, and peas is if they are frozen. As soon as I cook either -- he won't touch them!

I love some of the suggestions you've gotten! My neighbor recommended that I boil my veggies (all kinds) in chicken broth to give them a better flavor that kids seem to like better. Melted cheese on top seems to help, too. Anything that takes away the bland, bitter flavor that adults seem to enjoy but kids seem to hate. I've also purchased veggies with "fun" presentations at Trader Joe's, such as sweet potato pancakes. Oh, and my little guy loves the Morning Star Sausage Patties (which are really 100% soy, but he thinks he's eating meat). I know it's a pain, but you can also steam fruits and veggies until they're soft, throw them in a blender to puree them, and then mix them into the foods that your son does like.....such as pancakes (corn, apples or bananas), mashed potatoes (cauliflower, broccoli, sweet potatoes), pasta sauce (broccoli, zuchini, green beans, spinach), cookies, cakes, breads (apples, zuchini), etc... Best of luck!

Oprah ... good old Oprah, just had someone on that wrote a cookbook - DECEPTIVELY DELICIOUS - about hiding fruits and veggies in foods.
I picked it up from the library out of curiosity ... and the idea of a "healthy" chocolate chip cookie. (she has you dump a whole can of chick peas in the cookie dough ... and once the cookie is made, you'd never know. crazy!)
It has some great ideas, and mostly what you do is use purres - like tossing some baby food in the mix of it.

There are a couple other cookbooks like it out there and well worth the try, if you've got time to cook.