how to get my son to eat his veggies?

Question

I have a 14month old son who will not eat any vegetables what are some creative ways that I can get him to eat more veggies

Answer 1

We had the same problem with my son about a minth ago (he's almost 16 months now).
First, hide whatever veggie your'e trying to get your son to eat in the rest of his food. Lasagne and spaghetti are great for hiding carrots.
Second, try a steamed veggie instead of the canned variety. There are lots of frozen veggies on the market that you just pop into the microwave for a few minutes and voila! steamed veggies. My son especially likes organic sweet peas right now.
Third, if you can't get your child to eat veggies then give him Poly Visol. It's a liquid vitamin that you can find in the baby supply aisle at your local drugstore.

Answer 2

Argh, some answers that people give these types of questions. 1. Don't dous them in anything, then there is no point in him eating vegetables because he will mainly be eating condiments, which he should not be eating at this age anyway. 2. You should've started vegetables very early, if you start veggies AFTER you've already givin him fruit, this is probably why you are having a ard time trying to get him to eat veggies. 3. Veggie finger foods- green beans, steamed baby carrots, chopped up steamed potatos.. these are good to incorporate. Give him nothing but a few veggie finger foods. Be very stern. 'If you don't eat these, you aren't getting anything else tonight.' I know it sounds mean, but if you do it a couple of times he'll get the idea. 4. Sneak it in regular dishes. My 15 month old loves this dish I made up (he loves veggies anyway though, better than fruit, so yours might not like this) Boiled veggie pasta with a spinach sauce (blend with a blender or Magic Bullet is what I use) canned spinach, boiled carrots, and a little parmesean cheese and milk. Pour the sauce over the pasta, yummy! Also, sneak veggies in meatloaf, grilled cheese, omlets, just about anything you can think of, you can sneak veggies into. 5. If you are giving him any kind of junk food, STOP. If he knows that he only gets the 'sweet stuff' for a 'treat' or special occasion, he will be more apt to eat the stuff that is better for him. 6. If you have tried everything that I and the others are suggesting, and still nothing works- double up on the fruit for a little while and still offer him veggies at every meal. Eventually he'll eat them.
Major good luck!

Answer 3

I don’t agree with rewards or punishment for eating certain foods. Your child is establishing lifelong eating habits and seeing vegetables as the enemy isn’t a good idea. Be patient and remember that toddlers appetites can decrease around that age – they just aren’t growing at the same rate they did as infants. They also like to control their environments and may turn down a favorite food for days or weeks! Don’t have separate menu for you and him; just keep offering a tremendous variety of vegetables.

Some tips to make them more intriguing:

-Make baked pasta with sauce, ricotta and other cheeses. Sauté an assortment of chopped veggies to stir into the pasta before baking.

- Stick veggies on a skewer, or let him eat them with a wooden spoon (no, really!). Food served in an unusual way is always more interesting. My son will eat anything I stick on a skewer!

- Cook them in a variety of ways – my son hated zucchini, for example. One night we had it in a spicy stir-fry and he loved it!

Answer 4

I would suggest getting rid of any junk food in the house, and whenever he gets hungry offer him a snack of carrot sticks, celery, cucumber... Something along those lines.

Explain the reasons and advantages.

Give him an ultimatum, he must eat his veggies before he can do anything else he wants to do.

Negotiate with him if all else fails, "Since you've been good about eating your veggies I'll buy you a toy you want from the store"

Show him who's boss, "This is what you need to eat,
so you better learn to like it."

Answer 5

(1) Don't put anything else in front of him. Also re the above, ranch dressing? At that point why bother giving him veggies at all.

(2) You could reduce variety, at first, to what's truly needed - - - - between carrots and broc you pretty much have all the basis covered - - those two (or another orange veg like sweet potato) should be non-negotiable. It's really difficult I know - - - as they get older you can explain to them if you want to grow up strong and be good at sports and be able to beat up the kids who try to take your toys away at daycare, you've got to eat your protein and your veggies -- at 14 months you can't really reason on that level yet.... Also as they get older, peanut butter they can dip things in and they'll go for it. My 7 y/o and my 3 y/o have either carrots or apples with peanut butter and that works.

3) Rewards - finish your carrots and you get something you want... At that age, the pacifier can be used as an extortion tool.....

Good luck.

Answer 6

Cut them into bite size pieces and put multiple choices on a plate. Giving a selection will make it seem fun instead of forced. If he is not eating of his dinner plate it you could finish your serving and ask for some of his, your child might be a little young for the "mine" stage, but it really works wonders when you get there if you know how to use it to your advantage. My sons loves to have "dippies" from ranch dressing to mustard, if he can dip it, he will eat it.

Also, look at what you are eating, and make sure your child sees you eating lots of veggies. My son will choose carrots over ice-cream, but it is a fight to get him to eat most proteins. When I though about it, he is just mirroring my diet (opps!) We do tons of nuts and bean and tofu products, so he is healthy, but it drives my parents crazy cause they love their red meat

Answer 7

we've chanced on that we start up each and each meal with some products of fruit. the sturdy stuff comes after the fruit is finished. Then we contain a small vegetable with the greatest course. that is not severe that your new child consume each and all the greens or maybe any the greens the 1st time. %. one vegetable and contain it each and each night with dinner. After some days or possibly weeks with the vegetable consistently on the plate, the youngster will start to get delicate with the belief. proceed stressing the cost of the vegetable (and culmination) yet end wanting battling over it. concentration on praising whilst they do consume the sturdy stuff. It takes endurance, i be responsive to, whether it will be much less stressful. sturdy success.

Answer 8

Reverse psychology works, if you're patient. Don't encourage or coerce him, ever, and just make a big deal about what you're eating, and when he expresses interest, act like you'd rather just have it all to yourself. ;)

Also, try cooking them in with things. For instance, when I make macaroni and cheese, I steam broccoli and then mix it in well so there are no chunky bits. Quiche (baked eggs and cheese in pie crust) is another way to sneak in veggies.

Answer 9

My daughters love pasta so I buy the Gerber Graduates are filled with veggies. I also puree them and put them in things like spaghetti sauce. Also when I make mac and cheese I put chopped broccoli in it. And my girls really love mashed cauliflower with lots of cheese!

Answer 10

Mine didn't have a choice. You are the parent. Children learn from their parents. I have noticed children of parents that are picky eaters their children are also become picky eaters.
If this is not the case you may want to disguise them by mixing them with other things like fruit. When mine decided they didn't like something I fed them two bites of something they liked and then one of what they didn't. It worked for me.
They are grown now and love vegetables. GOOD LUCK!!!