How can I help my 4 year old learn to eat vegetables?

Question

Whenever I try to get my son to eat vegetables he takes one bite and makes himself gag and sometimes throw up. He has done this with medications also. One time I ended up having to have him take a shot because we couldn't get him to take the antibiotics.

Any suggestions?

Answer 1

I also have a picky 4 year old. I agree, it's not worth spending three hours every evening to get him to eat his veggies.

At our house, we have a rule. Everyone has to take a "no thank you bite". I stopped making a big deal out of it and just say, take one bite and if you don't like it, say "no thank you" and you don't have to eat it. Usually my kids take the bite first to get it out of the way. My 9 year old (who is also picky) actually started liking new foods she previuosly thought were gross. Kids taste buds are not fully developed. Keep offering the foods.

Find a vegetable he likes and serve it often. Serve the veggies raw, steamed, with dip, with cream sauce and a personal favorite......serve on a skewer or serve with toothpicks. Take him to the produce section and let him pick out new things to try and let him help you prepare them. Fresh veggies taste better than canned. You could puree vegetables and add to spagetti sauce. Try letting him make his own pizza-puree vegetables for the sauce.

Give him vitamins, they have gummy ones-just like a gummy bear.

Answer 2

Four-year-olds like to snack during the day. Have some cut up raw veggies (i.e. carrots, cucumbers, celery) sitting right up front in the refrigerator. Offer ranch dressing with them to dip so it tastes a little better. If that is the first thing a child sees when going in for a snack and all of the "junk" is hidden away he will start to try them. Some kids like veggies raw better then cooked. He might have a really bad gag reflex because of your problem with medication. At most pharmacies now they can flavor the medicine for you so the child has an easier time taking it. I hope this helps! Good luck!

Answer 3

Good lord. He makes himself puke?!?!

I would say just simply do NOT offer him anything else to eat untill he eats his veggies, he has obviously figured out that him doing this means he doesn't end up having to eat them in the end. Don't be fooled! My nephew walks all over his mother and she buys into it everytime! When I was younger we were to eat everything we were given, if we truely did not like it (and we werent picky eaters) we were still expected to eat a no thank you spoon full. And if we didn't NO snacks! Sometimes if it got really bad, my mom would make us eat them later in the day reheated, untill they were gone. And we were lucky she reheated them at all I have heard alot of mothers will make their children eat them cold.

My son doesn't have a problem with veggies (his favorite food is broccli and asparagus) but he does have a problem with stuffing himself so full of goldfish he wont eat the rest of his meal, so try this. Say you are eating Chicken MAc and Cheese and Carrots... Offer him the Carrots first, a small helping and explain he may have his chicken and mac when he finishes his veggies. It will make him more motivated to at least try and choke it down! Plus then he will spend more time filling up on the good stuff instead of carbs and fat.

Dont give up though! If you have to try incorporating veggies in soups and pizzas first and then when he has them alone, tell him they were in the pizza or soup, so you know he likes them because he had them before. There are tons of ways to get the veggies into him, it's just a matter of sticking with it.

Good Luck!

Ps. Im assuming his pediatrician knows about this? Did they say anything?

Answer 4

Unfortunetly regardless of how small you cut them up teenagers someway locate them!! it amazes me how they do it!! think of maximum appropriate is to blend vegetables all the way down to an entire puree and combine it in a with a sauce or gravy. nevertheless positioned some on their plate as an option and verify out to no longer make to lots of a sizable deal out of it, obviuosly in the event that they deside to consume some then say properly finished however the greater you pass on at them to consume their veg the less in all risk they are to consume them, especailly at that age. Slowly make the sauces or gravy slightly lumpier untill this is now no longer a situation.

Answer 5

1] make a rule - he must eat one fork or teaspoonful of a veg at every meal - if he gags it up or vomits, he has to take another one before he gets his meal.
2] put a bread plate at his place setting with one veg on it.
Tell him to let you know when he is ready for dinner.
3] if he doesn't eat, don't worry - he won't starve. No dessert or snacks unless he eats one veg spoon AND most of his meal. If he gets hungry before then offer him his leftovers.
4] try serving a new veg with ranch dressing for dip, or a dab of cheese sauce, etc.
5] don't try more than one or two new veg a week.

Answer 6

Food is meant to be enjoyable.Get him to help with the cooking or get him to plant vegetables and watch them grow.Make eating a good adventure.

Answer 7

Did you just start introducing them? Maybe it's the way that you prepare them. My daughter loves vegetable, but we give them to her different ways. Steamed, with butter and salt, raw...

Answer 8

very difficult he must have a huge gag reflex i would call a specialist!!!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 9

maybe puree them and ease him into it