I Cant Get My 7 Year Old to Eat Vegetables!

I disguise foods: example: If I make spaghetti, I cook a large portion of brocolli then chop it up with a chopper and put it in the sauce. They just think that it is part of the meat and tell me how yummy it is. hahahah. once they are done I ask them how they liked their brocolli and they say what brocolli. Ha - I got em.

There are a lot of great suggestions here...and I do agree with the vitamins...and I also agree abbut NOT substituting V8 or some kind of veggie juice they are loaded with sugar to make them taste better. But I have a suggestion that worked for my son that wasn't really posted here. When he was about 5 my mom was trying to get him to eat a salad with his dinner and it wasn't going well. So she came up with the fabulous idea of calling it a "Spiderman Ceasar Salad", he tried it because after all "it was Spiderman's favorite"...needless to say he liked it! The next time it was a Captain America Spinach Salad, Superman mixed vegetables, etc...this way we at least got him to try them, although he didn't like every Super Heros favorite, my "Super Hero" has a few favorites of his own now!...so my suggestion is...is there a character that she is really into...Power Puff Girls or something like that? Maybe if you suggested that her favorite character(s) liked them too, she wouldn't be so reluctant to try it...good luck!

First and foremost, though mentioned with the best of intentions, V8 fusion and other types are LOADED with sugars with the exception of regular V8 100% vegetable juice (has 8 grams of sugar per 8 ounces). In a serving of V8 Fusion there are 25 grams of sugar per 8 ounces. For 12 ounces of Dr. Pepper (the one in my hand) there are 40 grams of sugar. This means for 12 ounces of V8 Fusion, there are 37.5 grams of sugar. The reality is substitution is not always a good idea. The only difference between handing her a Pepsi and a V8 Fusion is that V8 actually has some nutritional content.

Give her a vitamin and let it go. My son, who is 5, has been boycotting veggies for what seems like an eternity, along with proteins from meat and anything that is starch but doesn't resemble a french fry or stack of mashed potatoes. I do the same thing at every meal; he has to at least try a food he thinks he may not like.
Sometimes he will continue to eat it without being asked, sometimes he pouts and gets mad. The one bite rule never goes away though, and he gets a Flinstone vitamin every day to make up for he lacks through actual food. And he knows if he doesn't eat enough food, he can't have dessert or any other snack he can think of.

It's really not worth fighting over. And think of it from a realistic perspective, and ask your husband the same question; do YOU like all veggies and foods? Do you eat lima beans and spinach and okra and hominy and every variety of squash? Water chestnusts? Brussell Sprouts? LoL, I eat a lot of those, but not all of them. Even us grown ups don't like everything there is to eat. Think of eating a food you find disgusting or just bad tasting, and then tell me it's fair to force her to eat something she hates (or even thinks she hates)? You can lead a horse to water...

one way we are getting my daughter to eat her veggies is working out really well for us. We told her that she has to try everything on her plate, even if she doesn't think she will like it. Most foods aren't a problem, just vegetables. I told her that she has to try it, and if she doesn't like it, she can spit it out and she won't have to eat anymore of it during that meal. That makes her feel like she's in charge of a decision. Of course the next time we have that same veggie, she has to try it again. But the more you try something the more appealing it can become. She went from crying if I said the word vegetable to voluntarily eating half of her green beens when I told her she only had to eat one, she asked to try a bite of my salad, and she ate a small cup of a noodle and broccoli dish they were sampling at walmart one day. We started out getting her to try dipping them in fat free ranch, and that was good to start with. I also let her pick out which veggie she wants to try each night. Good luck!

If you don't have much luck, my husband and I are in a business where products are purchased through a website. They have a great concentrated fruits/veggies vitamin. My 2.5 year old hates veggies/some fruits, so we give her one a day & she loves them. This doesn't solve her not eating them, but at least she's getting some nutrition. Let me know if you'd like more information!

The SuperNanny from TV suggests having a piece of paper by her plate or using a placemat. Give your daughter a stamp or stick for every bits she takes. Be creative based on your child. She could save up stamps for a special time just between the two of you. Or maybe she will be challenged by earning more stamps tomorrow than she did today. Also, lead by example! This helps a lot.

You turned it into a power struggle and since you can't actually force a child to eat, she'll win. (many parents think they can, but they can't... the child can choose the punishment over eating and/or just spit the food out). Just give up. Don't mention it. Just continue to make/offer a wide variety of healthy food but don't comment on it. Try to offer at least one or two foods each meal that you know she likes. Eventually, she'll get around to taking a few bites. When she does, don't compliment her! Just ignore it... make her believe that you don't care one way or the other. It might take a few months, but it'll be much less stressful on everyone. And eventually she'll eat veggies. The best way is to simply be a good role model and eat a wide variety of veggies yourself.

In our home we have a 3 bite rule. One to try it, two to decide, and 3 to be sure. Even if we serve a particular dish once a week, the rule is the same. After the third bite we don't force the kids to eat it. I (when I was a child) was absolutely an extremely picky eater. As an adult I try alot more things and enjoy several new things per year. I think this is something some kids just go through. I agree with giving vitamins. I also think your daughter will be fine even if she doesn't end up eating the veggies you give. My husband gets very frustrated with our children also. He expects the plates to be cleared no matter what is on them. I am alot more lenient. It causes friction in our home as well. I personally believe that it isn't worth the stress. Meal time should be something to enjoy and draw the family nearer together. I hope this helps.

Hey K.,
One way that i think might work is to make a casserole that has meat and veggies in it. Or try using a veggie dip and some carrots and other veggies. If she ate veggies when she was younger then she may out grew that. Sometimes kids go through not eating certain things and as long as she is eating fruit and meats and taking a daily vitamin she will be fine. Sometimes you just have to try new things.
Good Luck
J.

I'm not an expert on this, by any means, but my cousin had this problem when she adopted three girls who had never really eaten vegetables. It took awhile, but she worked out a couple of solutions. First, she let the girls help her pick the types of vegetables (they really love finger veggies, like sugar snap peas and bell peppers cut up). She also lets them help make the food sometimes, so that they will be more interested in eating it. You might try that route -- for instance, if you were going to make corn, let her help try sprinkling different spices into it (paprika, just plain salt and pepper, or let her experiment with something else). It might not work out perfectly, but it might help her get more interested in the foods. Oh, and one other thing that my cousin did that worked great. She took them to a local farmers market and let them pick out the types of veggies they would like to try. It was fun for them to see all of the choices and they also got to try some locally grown produce to boot!

Hope this helps,
A.

I also have a very picky 7 year old. I use baby food veggies to hide them in foods. They don't change the flavor or texture, just add veggies. I also buy the Harvest Suprise Juicy Juice. I made it a rule to make him(and all my other children) try one teaspoonful of everything I fix, just so he gets a taste for everything. Covering things in cheese or butter is also a good trick. He hates(with a passion) broccoli, but if I put cheese on it, he eats it. I've also found if you can make it a weird color and give it a weird name, kids eat it better. For instance, color your cauliflower purple and call it alien brains or something. Hope this helps.

My best advice would be to involve her in the process. Have her come to the grocery store and pick what she will eat and have her help you make it. A lot of time kids will eat things they made themselves.

If all else fails use some of the recipes that you can hide veggies in. Does she eat Spaghetti sauce? Add some pureed veggies to it. Zucchini bread is great this time of year as well. I know if you search the web you will find may other ideas like this.

Have you done things like make corn on the cob, put cheese on broccli? I had a daughter who was the same way and I never made her eat hers, My theory is I don't eat stuff I don't like so I won't make her eat things she doesn't like. She is now 17 and loves veggies, it's my husband who will not eat them now.

I would not make such a big deal of the veggies. We all go through phases and at her age, I would choose a bigger battle than this one. You might try getting her to drink some V-8 Splasher or X-treme. They are actually really good and include your full serving of fruit and veggies in 1- 8oz serving. They have several flavors that all taste like fruit juice (Strawberry Banana, Peach Mango, Orange Passion, etc) I give them to my son, who is only 2.5, but I also enjoy them. Just an idea. Maybe if you drop it for a while she'll drop the battle too!! Good luck.

I don't have a 7 year old and haven't had the problem you have, but here is my two cents anyway...I think you need to make meals more fun. If they are always tense she probably won't want to eat at all after a while. Can you just give her the veggies in another form? Maybe the V-8 fusion or something? It tastes very fruity, but it's got veggies in it.

I honestly never like many veggies when I was a kid, so it is hard for me to push them on my kids. My son loves salad, so we eat a lot of salads. Or he will eat carrots with ranch dip, so that is what he gets on his plate.

My kids prefer fruit, so I run with that!

I know kids really need to eat their vegies but if you are worried about her getting her vitamins from them you should really try the V8 fruit juices my kids absolutley love it. The get all their servings of veggies in an 8 oz cup i believe. My girls go through 3 bottles of that stuff a week. The juice does have sugar in it you could even try the diet V8 if you are worried about the sugar.

This is a really common problem. The only advice I have is to don't let it become a power struggle. The bigger deal you make out of, the more attention she's getting. I would just make her try a bite or two and then be done with it. She'll lose her power over you and mealtime will become much more relaxed. Try to give her veggies other ways. There are lots of juices and things that have veggies blended right in them. As the saying goes "try, try again." Good luck!

trying putting cheese sauce, or dressing or even ketchup on them. let her try different combonations of things till she finds something she likes. try them raw instead of cooked...whatever it takes, just as long as she eats them. have you ever tried V8 or the V8 fusion drinks. there is a full serving of veges in each glass and the fusions is blended with fruit juice so she won't even be able to taste the vegies.

There are lots of great ideas here. Here is what I know has worked for my sisters and myself in the past. When one of my nephews would not try something for a long time and say he didn't like it, my sister would respond with, "I know you didn't like ____ when you were six, but now that you're 7, you might like it!" She introduced the idea to her kids with giving them an example of something she didn't like when she was little, but loves now (like squash). It doesn't work every time, but it works on occassion, which helps broaden their tastes. My other sister would set out the veggies before dinner while she was finishing getting dinner ready. Then, she would let her kids eat the veggies before the meal when they were really hungry. If she waited to serve them with the meal they wouldn't eat them, but when she offered them before the meal they would!

With my son, for a long time he would complain when I offered cooked veggies and say he wanted them frozen. He wouldn't eat the cooked veggies without a fight. So finally, I gave him a small cup of frozen peas. He ate them like candy. It also worked with corn, green beans and broccoli. He will only eat raw baby carrots or celery with Ranch, but he loves lettuce plain. We've gotten to the point that he'll eat all his veggies without touching his main course if we don't watch him, and a couple months ago the only veggies I could get him to eat were carrots or celery with Ranch.