Dear Alisha,
How do you get your beautiful boys to eat their vegetables?
Sincerely,
Tired-of-trying
Dear Tired-of-trying,
Why wouldn't my kids eat their vegetables? When they turn six months old it's their first food with flavor. As toddlers I cut them into little strips and give them dip to further entice. By the time they are kids, they already like them. Since they are served at most meals, they don't question it and just eat them. Still, I thought of you as my kids fought for the last brussel sprout at dinner tonight. Where did you go wrong? What can we do to help you fix your situation? Are your children entirely to blame?
I will say that I am not the type of mother that would even consider making a separate meal for her kids because they might not like my adult food. Please. I barely have the patience to produce one meal, let alone two. They eat what we eat. It would not occur to them to live otherwise. But because of this, my kids like most types of food and are not picky eaters. Admittedly genetics might play a small role as Justin and are were always "good eaters" growing up. I just don't want you to think your kids are the first kids to be picky, fussy eaters, and give up and start throw them yogurt melts and "vegetable" puffs instead.
Eating vegetables with out complaint has not been a perfect road traveled. Once Trevor turned 6 he had the nerve not to like mushy vegetables. Davy is a slightly fussier eater: he does not like mushrooms or beans. (Yes, beans are not a veggie, but they are good for you.) I have conceded to serve Trevor's carrots raw and I am still picking Davy's mushrooms out of his soup. But that is my limit!
Here are a few basic tips for tricking kids into enjoying vegetables:
-Make them taste good. Do not over cook them and leave them salt less and taste less. I am not above smothering any vegetable in cheese for children. They would be eating the cheese anyways. I am happy to report that Davy has moved from loathing beans to eating a few of them when smothered in cheese.
-I find most of the time my kids don't like a food initially, it is because of the texture. So try cutting them differently or cooking them less. Trevor is now eating cooked carrots again as long a they are not over cooked and mushy.
-Go ahead and serve the vegetables they do like more often. You are only human.
-Persistence helps. If they do not like some veggies, just keep serving them anyways. Strongly encourage them to try at least one bite. And then drop it. Do not dwell on it so they decide they don't like that vegetable. Seeing them at the table and seeing you eat them normalizes the vegetables.
-Assume kids will eat veggies and they usually will. If they don't, move on with out making a huge deal out of it. Also, if they take a bite of a veggie they have not previously liked, say 'nice job', but don't get crazy and start crying or offer prayers of thanks. You want them to think that eating veggies is part of normal, every day life, because it is.
-No vegetables, no dessert.
When my (beautiful) children do not get enough vegetables in their diet, I am the one to blame. It is because I assume they would rather have meat or junk and I am too lazy to prepare the veggies and make them enticing. Just this weekend I learned a lesson regarding this subject. My next-door-neighbor's children were over to watch a movie on Friday night. We do this every week and every week I serve up popcorn with the movie, which my children love. My neighbor offered to bring over veggies for the kids to snack on during the movie. She is German and I figured she didn't know any better and I would just make popcorn for the kids when they complained. I never heard a single complaint and the kids ate the entire large bowl of raw veggies and apples (no dip). See? I just need to raise my expectations and serve up veggies more often.
Oh, to ramble, I think kids should see that they are eating veggies. Meaning books like Deceptively Delicious that hide the veggies into other foods are a good way of including additional veggies but otherwise defeat half the purpose. That purpose being teaching kids life-long healthy habits. And really, how much good nutrition is the 2 tbsp of spinach puree per batch really adding? If it makes you feel better, try as I might, I can't get either of my older boys to like sweet potatoes.
Does anyone have any additional advice or comments? Would you like to argue why veggies puffs should be taken seriously?
In short: keep serving veggies, encourage, eat them yourself, and relax. It's not like they are going to die from lack of veggies, unless of course they are eating hotdogs every day instead.
Oh! And if you are the interested type, my husband has posted about our son's newly and it's-about-time diagnosed blood disorder on our family site here.
12 comments:
Amen to everything. I have 2 {herbivores} in my house. They both eat everything from asparagus to cilantro to fresh salads to edamame. Artichokes are my 5 year old's self proclamined "favorite food ever"
Today she ate a whole clove of fresh garlic which she thought was a "spicy onion" and I have almost died hourly upon getting too close to her mouth.
Offering an array of vegetables weekly exposes them to new flavors and tastes. I take my daughter to the grocery store with me each week and let her pick out something she wants to try from the fresh produce. She has picked parsnips, radishes, bok choy and most recently a pumello. Does anyone know what to do with a pumello? We usually try to cook the "new" fruit or veggie together and I try to make it fun and exciting.
Lest you think I have perfect children in the eating department please tell me how to get my girls to prefer brussel sprouts over a cupcake? And for that matter tell me how too. Please? Thank you!
I often make my children and husband food that I don't like, but they do like. I don't want my kids to be as picky as I was growing up. For instance; I don't like mustard but I want my children to not be picky. Ever since my son was old enough to eat a sandwich I put it on there. Or I will make my family broccoli even though I am allergic. If my kids try something and don't like it I don't push it on them. Chances are in a couple of weeks they will like it again
Yay Alisha,I agree with everything you said, and it bugs me endlessly when moms feed their kids different foods from the adults. Our kids are fed the same things we are, and they eat them. This started way back when they were babies, as I never once bought a jar of baby food. I would just puree up whatever we were eating, and that was that. The only exceptions are that Sophie used to be allergic to wheat and eggs (and a few other random things) so that made some items difficult, but she got a gluten/egg-free version of what we were eating, and she outgrew it by the time she was 4. Also, she doesn't like her food as spicy as we do, so I make her a less-spicy version. Benny (age 11, but since he was about 5) likes his food at 5-alarm spiciness levels, even more than I do.
Oh, and as far as veggies go, we grow many of our own, and this makes a big difference in their being willing to try something new.
I totally agree with making one meal for everyone - hey, I'm not a short order cook. And kids will start using that mentality if you start letting them in the first place.
I do use some recipes out of Deceptively Delicious, but still give a full serving of vegetables as usual. I figure if they don't eat the veggies, at least they're getting a little within the meal.
My kids also love fruit/veggie smoothies - we have them most mornings. And I'm talking green smoothies here, usually half spinach and half some type of fruit. You don't even need to add yogurt to sweeten it up for them, just a little water!
I read an article about a mother who started her child off early on veggies. When they are super young they don't really have a choice in what they eat, they eat what they are served (for the most part). And then as the child grew older and could have sweet snacks she would serve veggies at the same time. And he would eat them together. So at age 5 when he was at a birthday party the mom slipped some carrots on his plate of cake and he would eat a few bites of one and then the other. All the other moms were so impressed. She just said that it is ok to have sweets but make sure that your kids are getting veggies.
So I agree with you, start them early and let them know it is normal. I love veggies and serve them at every dinner too. I still should get better about eating them and more of a variety...
And Amen to the kids eating the same dinner as the adults. I'm not going to make two dinners either! I never understood families like that...
So... green vegetable powder on a puff doesn't = a serving of fresh raw veggies???
I like to pack a one-two punch. I put greens into their sauces - pizza, spaghetti - then I serve it with salad. They know I stick the veggies in the sauces now. At first I'd sneak and then tell them after the fact - after they said they liked it. Now they know it's what I do and they don't fuss about it.
A few of mine were pretty much born picky. really - from the getgo, were turning their nose up at things. A few others eat most anything. Once they turn three, they are required to eat their vegetable or no getting down from the table. They do it willingly.
Do they beg for veggies? no. But they eat them without fuss.
I need to put out more variety though. We center around broccoli, spinach, carrots. Tonight I'm making asparagus that I think they kind-of liked in the past.
All in all, I think all of that advice you gave is spot-on.
Our oldest child is only 2. He hated veggies for a really long time (well a year seemed like a long time). I couldn't really blame him since the smell of veggies when I was pregnant made me want to vomit. So we didn't push it because I understood. But we'd always make him at least taste it and decide if he wanted to eat it or not.
And so we keep doing until this day. Some days he'll gobble up the said vegetable and other days he's just not in the mood. But at least he has to take a bite.
I have noticed that the older he gets, the more veggies he is starting to eat. Like last night I put olives on our pizza and he picked them off and ate them. He even ate them raw while we made the pizza together.
I'm not like Jana tho - I don't sneak them in to cookies. Some things are just WRONG. In my opinion a good way to spoil a great dessert! Spinach cookies, ICK.
my dogs like carrots.
Sounds like the moms in the comment room all have things worked out with their families, but in case it helps, my boys don't like Brussels sprouts whole but they have no problem with them shredded. This recipe has become a family favorite. http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=780349
This is a very timely post as I just called Jana yesterday, searching for some advice. I have a 10 month old boy and he has decided that he wants to feed himself. There are only a few items that he will allow me to feed him such as yogurt and refried beans. I give him a spoon to practice with while I shovel food into his mouth. I think I'm a little OCD because I hate it when he gets all covered in food. So I haven't let him go nuts with the spoon loaded with food just yet.
It's interesting because this is my first, so of course I'm going to make mistakes and think, 'Yeah, I should do that differently next time.." I admit, I am guilty of giving my baby boy yogurt melts (which he won't eat anymore anyway) and puffs. I never thought of that as "bad" until now. I have been trying to get him to eat veggies, but my challenge at the moment is getting him to eat them on his own, since he won't let me feed them to him. I put them on his tray and it seems like he plays more than anything. I try to sneak a bite in, and he bats my hand away and clenches his jaw shut. Maybe he's like Jana's few who are just picky and that's that. I'm not going to throw in the towel, though. Of course not. I'm willing to try different ways of preparing the veggies. So, thanks for that advice. I especially like that you're willing to cover it in cheese to get the kids to eat it. I really like what you said about letting them see the veggies so they know that it's normal to eat them. My in-laws, bless their sweet hearts, are not into veggies. I often find them feeding my son M&M's and cheetos. Not that I think those are horrible and should be banned, but if I even mention feeding him something semi-healthy, I'm accused of being a "health nut". Which to me, isn't a bad thing. I just can't help but think they're sending a mixed signal when I try to feed him veggies on his one side and they're on the other weaving a Cheeto in his face. (For the record, my in-laws are wonderful people.)
Also, I did start him on baby food. How do you mash up all of your food? Did you buy a certain contraption or just go at it with a fork? Some things I could see as being easy to mash up, but chicken? Bread? Steak? Salad? I guess I felt like making a meal that we could all eat would limit us to a few things that could be mashed. Did you start out on rice cereal or just go straight into other things? I get so confused with all of the conflicting advice there is on the topic. I do feel silly for having spent so much money on baby food, now that I look back on it.
Sorry -- long comment. Thanks for all the great advice!
Mama, have you tried a food processor? You can get a mini one for $20-$40. There's a baby stage where I just leave mine on the counter.
Some people add a little broth or gravy and puree meats, but by 10 months I would think your son could eat thinly shredded chicken, bits of ground beef, and bread torn into pieces (or some parents give them an entire roll and let them go to town). Salad toppings should puree together just fine.
Good luck!
Thanks Rachel D! That is a good idea about the food processor. We have one. He is eating pretty much table food now at 10 months. I have just struggled to get him to eat vegetables. He loves chicken and ground beef, fruit, yogurt, etc. I just never thought of the food processor for pureeing his baby food when he didn't have any teeth and was learning to eat solids. I will have to remember that for the next one!
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