Just wondering what most of you feed your toddlers? My daughter is a little too attached to chicken nuggets (only white meat, whole wheat breaded), grilled cheese on whole wheat, mac n cheese (also whole wheat pasta), cream cheese and jelly sandwiches), baked fish sticks, etc. She has totally turned off to vegetables, which she always liked when she was eating them puree'd as an infant. I always try to offer her what my husband and I are having (for instance, she will try a little piece of ham or baked chicken and then stop and want her "regulars"). She will have a little pasta when we have it or maybe a little meatball, but that's it. I want her to try everything and she just doesn't seem interested. Any ideas for getting her to want to try more...my husband suggested giving her what we have and not offering her stuff if she doesn't eat it, but that seems mean to me. I don't want her to walk around hungry! What do you ladies think? Any menu ideas, suggestions, especially ones that may incorporate veggies... HELP! :-)
Thank you all so much for your great suggestions....I bought the V8 Splash juice yesterday and she loved it. I think I'll also try sneaking the veggies in to her favorites whenever I can too! I think as far as dinner, I'm going to really try to give her what we are having and if she doesn't eat it, she doesn't eat it. I do want to keep food fun for her though...I know I enjoy eating and I don't want her to learn that food isn't something she enjoys! Thanks again for all the great advice, ladies!!
She is a perfectly normal toddler. I think they all read the same book!
There is a book by, I think Jessica Seinfeld, on how to hide vegies. You
could also try that. Do not fret. She will eat vegies eventually!
At 2 they learn that they can control their parents. They are evil little things.. LOL Some of the ways they can control is screaming in public, not eating and refusing to use the potty. Just wait, now starts the never ending battle of wills to see who can control whom. When she is hungry she will eat, unless she nows her yummy stuff is waiting for her to refuse the other stuff. Put the breakfast you want her to have on her high chair and then ignore her. After 15 or 20 minutes if she hasnt eaten it, take it away, wash her up and send her off to play. DONT say anything about food. Lunch repeat, dont give her the breakfast, thats yucky, but give her the lunch you want her to have. Maybe it is chicken nuggets, or not. After 15/20 minutes get her down again without mentioning food. Supper give her what you are having again without saying anything. The minute you coax or bribe or scold she has won. Dont tell her how yummy it is and to be a big girl and eat for mommy. She doesnt want to be big or eat for mommy. She wants her yummies. lol Enjoy it now because in 8 years or less she will want purple hair!!!
My daughter was the same way - ate veggies as a baby but not once she got a little older. My suggestion for fruits/veggies is to give her V8 Fusion juice. In 8 ounces, there is 1 serving of both fruits and veggies. That has and still is a savior for my daughter. I also was giving her 1/2 vitamin because of her lack of vegetables.
It sounds like your daughter has a pretty well rounded appetite. I would suggest giving her things to 'snack' on while you are finishing up her meal. For example, cut up cantaloupe, watermelon, cheese, etc and put a few pieces on a plate telling her that her meal is almost ready. Maybe she'll snack on those before realizing that her meal hasn't arrived!!
I used to sneak in pureed carrots and squash into mac and cheese until my daughter started telling me she didn't like the way it tasted!!
She is now 2.5 and eats a lot of fruits, some veggies but overall her habits are improving!
J.,
I would use some of her favorites and try to incorporate vegetables in with it.
Whether the vegetables are mashed up in with a little macaroni and cheese, just using a little at a time to instead of weaning off to "wean" on. Start with some of the yummier veggies...like carrots and squash, or whatever ones she really liked as a baby.
When you make your meatballs put some ground up greens in there. Before you know it she was gradually get a taste for it.
CJ
I agree with other moms that say, "you are not being mean by having her eat what you are having". How is serving and expecting her to eat a variety of healthy, tasty foods mean? Ofcourse we all have food preferences, and toddlers don't know enough that it is not healthy to eat the same foods and that they are limiting their enjoyment of food in the long run. You are not a short order cook and their is no reason why she should not eat what you are eating at dinner time (within reason). At this point she knows that if she doesn't want to try the other stuff, you will just go and make her her preferences. What works in our house is to let my kids have choices (within reason) for breakfast and lunch. ie. they can choose waffles, eggs, pancakes, bagels, yogurt etc. for breakfast... lunch they can have a choice also, and I often throw in their favorites ie. chicken nuggets, pizza, grilled cheese, mac'n'cheese, turkey/cheese rollups, fruit etc., healthy snacks throughout the day-even some treats. Dinner is what I serve... sometimes they eat the whole thing, sometimes they eat a little, and once in a while they have nothing (but very rarely-they learned that dinner is what is served and will usually find atleast some part of it that they will eat). For example, if we have chicken, rice and broccolli... my daughter might just eat the rice and veggie and my son might just have chicken and a bite of rice...but that is better than making a different meal... for my sanity and for their wellbeing. Also, my son is 2 and is not much of a veggie eater (tomato sauce and baked beans are the extent of it, but he will eat the baby food still, so I give him a container of that with his dinner on some nights). Anyway, If they are hungry enough, they will eat. Also, by giving them some choices for other meals, they have some control, and you know they have eaten enough during the day that they will not starve if they don't eat much dinner. Another thing we try to do a lot is have meals that they can create on their own... ie. with taco's, they can add what they want... (my four year old doesn't like taco meat but will eat hers with cheese and tomatoes, my son eats the cheese and meat, but no veggies). Sometimes, I will take a little of the cooked meat out for my daughter before I add they seasoning... by making little changes, you can adapt the meal to make it more palatable, without making a seperate meal. Just be consistant and offer a variety of health foods for dinners and eventually, when she learns she is not going to always get what she wants, she will eat more....
Hi J.,
Well I have to say I agree with your hubby.... If you cater to your kids too much it will make for a picky eater! If you don't offer her her regular food she won't miss it. It might take a few days but she will eat when she is hungry. A couple foods that my daughter likes are avacado, mangos, sweet peppers (raw or cooked) pizza is her favorite. And you can even add veggies to the pizza! With most things your daughter is getting to the age where everything is a power struggle. Don't let her rule you! She may be your little princess. but you are the Queen of the house!! Hope this helped and good luck!
Check out the sneaky chef for ways to get veggies into your daughter. Try chopping fresh veggies and dip in hummus. Kids like dips. As for dinner time my suggestion is to really try to get her to eat what your having. Or something close. And always put some veggies on her plate and encourage her to take at least one bite. Even if thats all you get. She may surprise you one day. I was a kid like that myself and I'm exactly the opposite today. Good luck!
Let her eat her "regulars" chicken nuggets, grilled cheese, cream cheese...all good choices. These are not junk food. At 20 months, her palate just isn't ready to try everything else, or even anything else. While I agree she should be having more veggies, why not give her still the jarred baby food veggies a few times a week just to make sure she is getting those nutrients. She will try more and more new foods when she's ready.
Your husband's idea isn't mean, and she will definitely eat something if she is hungry enough, but as a mom, my heart breaks when my kids don't eat. So, maybe a little less nuggets and a little bit of what you are having for dinner. Just don't turn mealtime into a big issue. Eating should be fun(not play-with-your-food fun, just enjoyable enough to want to do it again.)
Good luck. Let us know how this works out.
My husband used to grate and bake veggies into bread when the kids were little. Our pedatrician also told us as long as she was eating lots of fruit not to sweat the veggies too much, which was helpful. We made sure she was getting all the "colors" (kiwi, oranges, etc.) and it worked itself out with time. Good luck!
Personally, I'd not give her the option of her "regulars".
Our kids have to eat what we put in front of them - it's that simple. We're fortunate that they both love veggies, and we either have some kind of fruit (fresh) or veggie (fresh or frozen) with every meal. We're also lucky that neither of our kids really like nuggets.
Kids won't go hungry, but they will take advantage of the opportunity to manipulate us into giving them what they want. We try to accommodate our kids by telling them that the options for dinner are one of the following 3 things, and then we list 3 options we're willing to prepare.
Last night, our son saw a frozen pizza in the freezer, it had been a while since they had some. It was child-sized, so I made it for him and his younger sister with some fresh veggies and yogurt. Neither of them ate a bite of it - they wanted the chicken we were having instead and ate a few servings of cucumbers, carrots and celery instead.
In short, just don't cave. You're the parent, she's the kid. She needs the boundaries, and she will appreciate learning to like different foods down the road.
Oh, and I strongly advise against hiding veggies in other foods (via Deceptively Delicious). It never teaches them to appreciate the taste of broccoli, cauliflower, beans, etc.
