How to get my 3 year old to eat more veggies?

Question

I've bought several cook books in the past to appeal to my son's tastebuds with little evidence of success. The problem: vegetables (primarily)! I have had a few hits but mostly misses. I would like to introduce new recipes before he tires of old ones completely.
What's worked thus far:
Campbell's Healthy Choice soups (unexplicably works for now)
Omlette sandwiches (finely chopped veggies)
Pasta with Spaghetti sauces (again with the fine chopped vegs)

For now we suppliment with Pediasure but I hope not forever.

FYI - Cooked or raw, veggies on their own he will not eat, this includes mashed potatoes. He will try now and again but usually there's gagging and throwing up involved.

Answer 1

If your son is eating vegetables in the form o0f the soup..and sauces etc, you are doing much better than many parents!

It is very normal for kids to just stick to what they like for a long time before trying any thing else. SO, he eats soup at alot.or had spag and sauce alot...even if it is every day at every meal..relax..he is eating very healthy!..there is no need to supplement with pedisure at all.

Fresh fruit is very healthy to.
but with his favourite dishes, maybe offer him a different veggie to go with what he has. Don't force it..but eat it yourself, and go on about how yummy it is. If he refuses..oh well...no big deal...he is eating healthy now..he is not looking out on anything.
Eventually..and be warned, it might be in like 3 years or so!!!..he might want to try something new..or he might want to try ti next week..just relax..don't make eating a stressful big deal..it should be relaxing..and enjoyable.

Answer 2

There are two tactics that worked on me. One is sneaking around and hiding food...similar to putting veggies in the pasta sauce, there are many other ways to incorporate veggies secretly in foods. I used to hate peas/carrots, and then my parents hid them in my mashed potatoes (I loved mashers) and they revealed what they did, and I realized that I in fact DID like those veggies. The second method is a give/take approach, say he or she can have dessert/watch their favorite show/have a friend over/etc, but only if they finish their veggies.

EDIT: Furthermore, you can make them into "fun" snacks. When I was young I absolutely loved "ants on a log" - celery with peanut butter for the "log" and raisins on top for the "ants". At the time I just thought it was a tasty snack time treat, I didn't realize that it had a bit of nutritious substance to it (although celery is mostly water I'm sure).

Answer 3

Don't 'sneak' them in, children are smarter than that. Much smarter than that. You have to make them want to eat them. Vegetables CAN be an acquired taste if you go about it in the right way. Don't sneak them, or force them either.

Humans in general don't respond well to force.

Use only fresh fruits and vegetables. Start with fruit as the higher sugar content will be immediately be more appealing. Transition to creamed vegetable soups - cream of broccoli and cream of cauliflower are among my favorites as well as potato and leek. These can be made with low-fat milk making them a LOT more healthy than the bought varieties (taste better too)

Add a lot of fruit to your salads, including avacado, puffed grains, seeds and olive oil. Make the salad the focus of the meal by adding a lot of other ingredients they like. Slowly progress from ice-burg lettuce to more healthy leafy varieties.

Use lettuce leaves as wraps for meat sauces, this is a Korean style and many other cultures do this too - it makes the lettuce part of the main meal and not an unwanted punishment.

Be creative not coercive!

Answer 4

I have the same struggles with my 31/2 year old. I have found two things that help. First I offer veggies at every dinner and snack time even if she has rejected them before. I find that if she can dip the veggies into something that works. I often make a plate with ranch dressing, hummus, and peanutbutter, and carrots, celery, apples, and peppers.

Also, I someties try those creative looking snacks that you find in parenting magazines, like making little mice with cream cheese, carrots, radishes all cut and arranged on a cracker.

Answer 5

My kids aren't big on veggies, but I can usually sneak some in. Try buying the frozen broccoli and cheese pouches. My kids love those! I also give them a glass of V8 splash with their lunch instead of plain fruit juice. They have no idea it is vegetable juice! Good luck! And try to remember that a serving size for a child is different than an adults, so your little guy is probably getting enough anyhow.

Answer 6

What I've done is to give my little ones their veggies FIRST - on a plate with no other food. Lightly salting the veggies really makes them taste good too (you can use regular salt or Lawry's season salt). When the kids are offered the veggies while they are really hungry (i.e. mealtime) with no other food alternatives they will usually just eat it (and learn to like it!) When they were done with the veggies I would put the rest of their dinner on the plate.

We also told our kids that if they ate their green veggies, that their eyes would sparkle. Hey - it works! All three of my kids eat veggies - they are 12, 7 and 7 now.

Answer 7

some veggies (carrots, squash) can be cooked and mashed and put into mashed potatoes, stews and sauces. some can be grated finely so they will not be noticed.

i had good luck with celery and peanut butter, brocolli and ranch dressing (pretend the brocolli is tiny trees) and baby carrots with ranch dressing.

S and W red kidney beans (not technically a veggie) are so sweet my 2 yar old ate them from the can.

the best luck i had though was planting a vegetable garden with my toddlers. they actually would eat the veggies right out in the garden. of course, it only works in the summer, unless you have a green house.

Answer 8

Don't start with Brussels Sprouts!!!
Seriously try some nice round green peas from a can or frozen. They have the good green color, can be rolled around and fun to try to reach the mouth without dropping. Put something on the peas to enhance the flavor .
How about putting cut corn in the center of some mashed potatoes which seems to get their attention.
tender diced carrots (canned) may be a possibility.
If a few of these catch on try other tricks to get him to start expecting to get veggies every meal.

Answer 9

Everyone in your house should eat the same veggies.When they get them on there plate say YUMMMY and make them sound appealing to you.In our house the adults are not allowed to say EWWW i dont like that because the babies and younger children do pay attention and if you wont eat it why should they. Try appels and yogurt with some cheese cubes or raw veggies with ranch.The kids seem to like crunchy stuff.Or maybe veggie pizza.

Answer 10

You can juice veggies like carrot, and add apple to it. You can add apple juice to almost any veggie juice and it becomes palatable. At first use more apple juice and then add more and more veggie juice. He will get more out of the veggies anyways because it is raw. Be careful about giving too much tho, as he might get the runs.