Any Suggestions About Veggies and Switching to the Sippy Cup?

An idea I got from Dr. Spears: get a muffin tin. Fill each muffin spot with finger food veggies (baby carrots, broccoli florets, celery sticks, bell pepper strips, etc.) and let the kids graze on them. Have some ranch dressing for dipping (which will have to be refrigerated when it's not being eaten.)

Another idea is to have a little garden and grow parsley, basil, peas, carrots, etc. and let the kids graze on that (well, not the carrots)

Hi C.,

If your daughter doesn't like the sippy cup, you could skip it and move straight to one with a straw. Alternatively, change brands - they have different types of valves and some are harder to use than others.

As for the veggies, I don't know what your daughter likes to eat, but perhaps you could do things like add shredded zucchini or carrots into salmon patties or meatballs. Another option is to cook up sweet potato or pumpkin, puree it and use it like pasta sauce- if she likes the pasta this may just work.

Good luck!

no help w veggies...
but my little girl had to do a straw in between bottle and sippy. strange, but it's what worked for us. we kind of trained her like a little bird, putting our finger over the straw then dripping the juice in her mouth that way. she quickly learned to suck from the straw, and the sippy cup followed a few weeks later.

We had/have this same situation with my great nephew. His mom finally just took the bottle away and told him he was a big boy now. When he got thirsty enough or really wanted what was in the sippy cup, he would drink it.

In regards to fruits and veggies, that is still an uphill battle, because he loves bread. But all the bread was causing bathroom problems. They have taken the bread out of their meals, and she offers it now basically as a dessert. We started peeling and slicing fruit. Since he loves peanut butter, we spread a bit on the apples and pears and he loves them. Pnut butter is good in celery too. We use organic natural pnut butter. Also anything he can "dip"! He will now dip carrots, celery, chicken nuggets and even his grilled cheese sandwich! Dipping gets him eating more veggies. When they are at home, she will peel and chop up tomato real fine and put it inside the grilled cheese sandwich. The tomatoes become real soft and are disguised in the cheese, but it is another way to get veggies into his system. Mac n cheese is another way to add veggies. Of course, we don't use the box mac, we make ours from scratch. Cook the mac, mix it with cream cheese, different cheeses, egg whites and milk. But we add a bit of a twist. Layer the mac, then layer it with finely chopped spinach and then another layer of the mac mixture. Bake as usual. About 15 minutes before removing, chop tomatoes and sprinkle with a bit more cheese. Kids love mac and cheese and this is pretty much a complete meal as you have carbs, veggies and protein. To save time, make a big batch, cook it in your corning ware and when it is cool, cut into squares (serving size) and freeze. It reheats beautifully and makes for a quick dinner for you busy moms! And yes, he loves it! Even the spinach. We call it his "special" mac n cheese. He doesn't want any other kind. Coming from a Montessori background, when you have time, bring your child into the kitchen and turn food into a learning experience. Talk about the veggies, have them help wash them. At this age, you will need to cut them, but if they learn by watching you eat your veggies with them, they will follow. And don't forget the dip! It could be ranch, honey mustard, pnut butter, whatever they like.

Another great vegetable is sweet potatoes. These too, you can bake ahead of time and just reheat. Always rub your potates lightly with olive oil and wrap in foil to bake. The texture is much more palatable for newbies to sweet potatoes. A drop of stevia and you are good to go. You can even add a sprinkle of cinnamon. And yes, to make it more kid friendly, place your serving in a small corning ware bowl with a couple of marshmallows on top. Heat until the marshmallows melt a bit. A few marshmallows won't hurt, but the benefits of the sweet potato will out weigh a couple of mm. Yes, you can bake up a batch of potatoes and freeze them in individual servings too.

Most kids love chicken and rice, slip some veggies into that mix as well. But trying to get them to eat them raw or lightly steamed is still the best. One more thing, don't forget the "spaghetti" squash. Once you put sauce on it, they don't know the difference. Another great source for veggies, and yes it really is close to spaghetti noodles.

Get creative! Think of things she likes and try to put them together with her veggies. And remember, their taste buds are changing. If they are a "texture" eater, get food into the texture they like. How well I know that, because I am a "texture" eater myself. Meat and dairy are the toughest things for me to eat myself. Even in my ripe old age, I eat very little meat, and when I do, it has to be "covered up" to get it down. Also remember, just because they don't like it now, keep introducing and reintroducing veggies, they will grow to love them!

If you have time, another great education tool that might help get her to eat her veggies is to grow them. You just need a few, start her own little garden. Kids love taking care of them and watching them grow. Believe it or not, sometimes their loving care makes them want to eat them!!!!! Hope this helps!!!

My children go pretty much straight to a straw so I guess I can't help you there.

Veggies..... recently I discovered I can hide about anything in a smoothie made in my Vita-Mix. I use almond milk or yogurt with water as a base then blend in a little zuchinni, yellow squash, celery, and carrots. The key is to add sweetener (I use Stevia) and blend with plenty of frozen pineapple chunks to make it creamy, cold and smooth. My kids love it! I get them to try and guess what I put in it. I've even added romaine lettuce and spinach before. Apples are also good in there. (Everything is raw so its pretty simple if you have a good blender or smoothie machine.) Good Luck!

oh wow...yep. but u might not like this one!! :(

1st-i think you should've switched WAY earlier, there are issues with her teeth (the bottle can affect her teeth growth, as well as her passy). Either way, you'll know more for next time!
Give her the sippy cup to play with, put juice in it. Or milk. (If she's on reg milk). I wouldn't put her formula/breast milk in it bc then she'll associate it with eating instead of fun (although it IS for this purpose, she's old enough to be stubborn about it).
Just give it to her all day long. Make sure you get a spill proof one, sometimes these will be harder for them to use tho bc they are SO spillproof. lol Then just give her more and more cup and less and less bottle. I would give her the cup all day and take out the bottle completely by 2 weeks.

2nd-MAKE HER EAT HER VEGGIES!!! It's NOT up to HER!!! You're the mom & whether she likes it or *not*, she NEEDS these soo much to grow. They are more than impor in growing lil girls. Wait until she's really hungary and give her nothing else but veggies. Then she has to eat them & she will like it bc she'll be so hungary, she won't care. IF you're sitting down somewhere (rest, family dinner, etc) then play w/ her like it's a game. But not too much, that could turn ugly real quick :) lol...She'll learn. You just have to be patient in the next year! it's going to be tough, but the best time of your life!!!

I don't have any help for your bottle-to-cup dilemma, but I can tell you a one thing I learned about veggies. Once you find a veggie your daughter likes, give it to her often (I'd say at least once a week). My son gobbled up carrots until he went without them for a month (hubby and I are not fans). Now he won't even let them sit on his plate. I wouldn't worry too much at this young age - all these new foods to try, and the sweeter things sure do taste better. She'll come around, just keep giving them to her.

ok, no tough love here. I was way late too and I think my kids are doing great :).

So, for the sippy cup (which my daughter would chunk accross the room), I began cutting x's in the top of her bottles with a little razor or sharp knife. I would get the x's larger and larger until the flow would be similar to a sippy. I used lots of cups with straws instead of sippys. Frankly, the science is out on the sippy's and they are worse for the shape of the mouth and tongue thrusts because of the strong pull it requires and the length of time we keep them on it. If you can move from bottle to straw to full cup, you would be doing great (although us moms are addicted to the no-spill zone). Also, if you can get the tupperware type where it is not the totally no-drip kind, they have little spouts that will drip if they lay over a bit, but will make it for a few seconds. My kids liked those better. Best of luck here.

Veggies are simply an issue of what you are offering. All of us prefer the quick sugar in carbs or the heavy dairy's that feel good - but our bodies need the other. Stop offering her very much pasta or starch or dairy - and just a small amount of bread. Give her veggies, fruit, and meat until she shows better liking - it could take awhile, but stick to it. Offer awards such as jello, instead of the other stuff she would rather replace. Also, watch the milk product snacks like yogurt. If she can hold out for the snacks, she will - kids are smart! Do your daughter a favor and stay away from the goldfish, the pretzels, the yogurt and cheese we addict them to and keep her on those veggies as long as you can control it.

Have a great time with her! J.

I had the same problem with my daughter when transitioning to the sippy cup. We bought every type of cup that we could find. Finally we got a break when we purchased a Nuby. We bought it at Walmart. The sippy cup has a ring like a bottle and the silicon spout part can be removed. My little girl easily took to that cup since it was very similar to her bottles. After a few months we were able to get her to use others, but the Nuby was a life saver for us. Sorry I can't help on the food issue. My little girl who is almost 4 is a very picky eater...we have to hide vegetables in food. When we have spaghetti we finely chop mushrooms, onions, and sometimes bell peppers in with the sauce. So she gets the vegetables without even knowing that it's in the sauce. Good luck and keep trying.

My daughter didn't like sippy cups at first. We took the bottle away and put everything in a sippy cup! We never let her see a bottle again! The first day she was a little fussy, but by day 2 she was so thirsty she drank out of the sippy cup! We haven't used bottles since!! As far as the veggies go......my daughter has her faves. But I keep trying different ones. Sometimes I slip them into her potatoes all mashed up and she never even knows. She loves lima beans!!

1) Sippy Cup: Gotta get the NUBY! My kids would'nt take anything but it at first. Within 3 months after they began to accept whatever you gave them. I have given many of my friends the same advise and it was a complete success for every one of them!
2) Veggie Proble: There are several was to address this situation. Some of my friends puree there veggies so their kids don't see them while others try to hide them in bites. It worked for them but not for me. My kids now refuse to eat cooked veggies! While it's not very common for this to be the case it's worth a shot. Tell her that these are things that caterpillars eat to turn into beautiful butterflies so eating her veggies will help her to blossom into a beautiful big girl or something of that nature. Point is to equate it to something that she relates to and possibly even admires. And finally show her that Mom REALLY enjoys them but don't offer her any. When you do at first act like you're sacrificing your very last bite, then begin to "SACRIFICE" a couple of baby carrots or a piece of romaine for example. And finally some kids really like dressing. So offer her something to dip it in like a little ranch or if she's not big on that share a salad with something sweet like French or Italian. I'm all out of ideas now...LOL! GOOD LUCK!

I have four kids (ages 13 down to 23 months...) I find that I insist that everyone try everything every time that it is served. (my eleven year old hated rice for years...and I usually serve brown rice...but now she eats and likes it)

Eventually they will develop a taste for everything--including that which is good for them. I have also noticed that even if they appear to love something--that can vanish quickly. I have gotten excited because say, they eat and like broccoli at one sitting or two and the next time I serve it they refuse to eat it.

It is disheartening. Just keep with it. I have a 13 year old who eats salad at dinner all of the time and an eleven year old who would rather have cold veggies and dip (or not) than potato chips!