Fruits and Veggi's?

Question

My son is 3 and will not eat any fruits or vegitables anymore. I can't get him to try new things either. He wants the same things all the time and most of them aren't very nutritious. I want him to be healthy, but can't get him to eat fruits, vegi's or most meats either. He will only eat mac and cheese, chicken nuggets and french fries. I tried the whole "You'll go to bed hungry if you don't eat your dinner" thing and that didn't work and neither did taking away snacks and deserts. Any suggestions on how to get him to try new things and eat fruits and vegis?

We buy Welch's and Dole fruit juice. He loves it. I try to buy the same fruits that are in the mixed juices we buy and I tell him that the juice came from the fruits, but he still won't eat them. Also, he likes V8 and V8 Splash, but won't eat the veggis and fruits it's made out of. Does he get the same amount of nutrition from the juice as he would the fruit and veggi?

Answer 1

My 3 1/2 year old will at least try anything that he helps make. I let him help me prepare carrots for steaming and voila he ate and likes carrots. I let him measure out the oatmeal, and again he loves it. Try getting him to help you prepare the foods and he may be more inclined to try them.

Also, if you completely get rid of the chicken nuggets, mac, and fries you won't even be tempted to give them to him.

Answer 2

I little cousin is the same way and it must be the age or something bc around 3 to 4 some children can become picky eaters. I ofund that the peak time for picky eating is the toddler or preschool years. Most children who are picky eaters will grow out of it. They start trying new foods during the early school years because of peer pressure.

Don't argue about a bedtime snack. If your child complains about bedtime hunger, avoid a long discussion. Give him a small, plain snack (such as cereal) before it is time to brush his teeth.

Give your child a daily vitamin-mineral supplement. If your child is not eating at least 1 serving or meat per day, give a multivitamin with iron to prevent iron deficiency anemia. Although vitamins are probably unnecessary for most of us, they are not harmful in normal amounts and may allow you to be less concerned about your child's nutrition and health.

Don't argue about dessert. An unnecessary area of friction for picky eaters is a rule that if you don't clean your plate, you can't have any dessert. Since desserts are not necessarily harmful, a better approach is to allow your child one small portion of desert no matter what she eats. However, there are no seconds on dessert for children who don't eat an adequate amount of the main course. Desserts don't have to be sweets, they can be nutritious desserts such as fruit.


Here is a site that I found.

Answer 3

Dont buy french fries or chicken nuggets. Make homemade mac n cheese.

Take him to a farmers market and have him pick out some fruits and veggies and then prepare them together.

Dont keep junkfood in the house and he wont be able to eat it.

ETA:
DUMP the juice.
Its just sugar without the fiber and if its been pasturized (even if it hasnt been) it will be lacking alot in the nutrition department. Juice should be a treat, water is much more important for overall health.
If juice is really that important, get a juicer and make your own.

Answer 4

My son was exactly the same way. He is actually just getting out of it. He will be 4 in May. Basically what we did was try and give him healthy ways to eat bad. We would make fries at home, but bake them. Sugarless junk food. Vitamin pops. My wife called me this morning and told me that our son was eating an apple on his own. The chicken nuggets we give to the kids are those veggie nuggets and you microwave those. They are really healthy. There are ways around this for the mean time. He will eventually get tired of eating the same crap and want to venture out. Good luck.

Answer 5

He sounds just like my three-year-old. Mine loves applesauce and apple juice. Sometimes he'll eat bananas.

I think what you need to is give him consistent healthy choices. He can have a low-fat peanut butter sandwich on whole wheat with applesauce, or he can have baked fish sticks with celery and cream cheese, for example. If he doesn't eat, don't worry about it. As long as the choices are ALWAYS healthy (you can't give in here), he'll eventually get hungry enough to eat something. Keep trying. Kids that age have constantly changing taste buds, so what he doesn't like now he might like next week.

Answer 6

My son was the same way but only with fruit .... last week I had enough ...... I knew that he liked sweets so I decided to "fool" him and make a fruit smoothie ( I added a few chocolate chips in it .... to get the whole dessert vibe) and not tell him exactly what was in it ..... he loved it ....... so far he has had one everyday since last Tuesday. I feel a little better knowing that he is getting some kind of fruits in him ....

Answer 7

Well, this sounds typical for his age, to be honest. I know alot of people who just can't fight with their kids over this, and decided to bring nutrition to their kids in other forms. Carnation instant breakfast has tons of vitamins, and worked wonderfully at keeping their kids regular as well. Pediasure is another source of vitamins, and such, but honestly at $9 a pack for only 4 of them...it's not very reasonable for a family. Another thing you can add is something called Poly-Vi-Sol from Enfamil, it's a vitamin supplement. This way you know he's getting nutrition of some sort, and you aren't having to fight with him for him to eat. You can take your time, and slowly introduce new things to him! GOOD LUCK!

Answer 8

I liked what Amanda M had to say..

and make it fun.. kids love to "dip things" Mine eat raw veggies with dip..

you can also cut them into fun shapes... you can cut potatoes with a cookie cutter and bake them... much better than fries and more fun... also you can core an apple and stuff it with peanut butter... "bugs on a log are a hit at my house.. celery stalk with peanut butter on it and raisins spread on top...

Meats at this age can be hard to chew which may be why he is rejecting them... but sliced meat and cheese on a sandwich and cut shapes with a cookie cutter.. I eat the edges and the kids eat the shapes... when they are older they have to eat both..

Answer 9

Well you should try making vegetables and friuts in new ways, like fun ways. There are many cook books out there for kids like that.Also try things like fruity ice-cream, and tell him that the fruit in it really tastes that good, cuz it does.Try stuff like vegie fries =]