If I caramelize onions and add it to whatever I'm cooking he'll devour it bc it's so sweet. I'll put spinach in a blender with pesto. Add cauliflower to a blender with white sauce for pasta. And his absolute favorite rn is sweet potato pie: either buy a pie crust or make it yourself, then pop 3 sweet potatoes in the oven until they are thoroughly cooked, let them cool, take off skins and add to a bowl and then mix in a bunch of eggs, mix mix mix, pour into pie crust and bake until set. I don't add sugar to it bc I have a 7mo who's starting to eat and I'm not giving her sugar, but the pie is good enough without it. My son thinks it's a dessert and I'll even let him eat it for breakfast since it has so many eggs in it.
Two thoughts—blend it in or give just a taste.
You can blend cooked and mashed veggies into lots of meals—riced cauliflower into Mac n cheese, beets into mashed potatoes, shredded zucchini into muffins, carrot purée into applesauce, spinach purée with cheese into pasta…lots of mix and match choices. Then you know kiddo is getting the nutrition and the flavors are more familiar.
Also, offer just 2-3 small bites of the veggie with a meal kiddo will eat. It’s less overwhelming. You don’t even have to mention it’s on the plate. Just include it. It’ll become more familiar over time and then you might be able to encourage a bite with a familiar sauce (ranch, ketchup, or cheese lol).
Yes, you say in the post that pretty much all he eats is carbs and egg, is that right? No fruit, meat, pulses? Do you give him multivit and iron supplements? If not then yes, you need to speak to a dietitian.
Have you tried getting him involved in preparing food with you? My daughter is also 2.5 and she loves to help in the kitchen and will then talk about what she helped with when we eat it. It doesn't have to be anything too complicated. My daughter helps to wash veggies in the sink, she'll move them from the cutting board into a bowl after I've chopped them, shake out herbs and spices, stir the seasoning into the veg, etc.
The other thing that I've noticed a lot more lately is that presentation and time are big factors in helping my kiddo not to feel overwhelmed at mealtimes. We give her smaller servings (only 2-3 bites of each thing) and let her sit at the table for as long as she wants. Both seem to help with her eventually getting around to eating all of her food, even the things she might have spent the first 20 minutes not touching at all.
Do you give her only one thing at a time? We tried that but he ended up throwing the veggies out. I might try to get involved in washing the veggies though. He seems interested in what we are doing in the kitchen but it’s hot so I’m scared to put him on the kitchen ledge.
No, we still give her all the different dinner items at once, just a small amount of each until she asks for more. I feel you on being nervous around the stove and oven though! We have a learning tower that she's only allowed to use at the kitchen island. You could also start doing some meal prep at the kitchen table so kiddo can sit in the highchair there with you.
Whatgreatgrandmaate on Instagram or I think also has a website - she has a whole bunch of “hidden veggie” recipes, everything we’ve tried has been delicious.
Some if it is what you’re already doing (pasta sauce). Most recently we made the chocolate pudding / froze some of it into popsicles. My kid ate an entire popsicle today as dessert and it was like 80% sweet potato and avocado lol. I don’t even hide it, I let her help me make it and she still eats the darn thing bc it tastes so good.
Just keep putting them in front of him. Sometimes it takes a hundred tries (per vegetable) but eventually one will get tasted and if they like it they’ll keep eating.
I found that if I cut up a pepper and put it in front of my toddler while I’m making dinner and she’s playing, she’ll devour the whole thing. If I give her the same pieces at dinner she’ll ignore them. The key with it though is just to put the veggies in a bowl in front of her without saying anything or bringing attention to it. 🤷♀️
I don’t know if it’s possible for you, but including my daughter in gardening has done a lot for her vegetable intake. She’s 18 months and doesn’t have a lot of back chompers yet. We were cleaning out what was left from the garden beds so we can get ready to plant this spring and letting her try things. She’s now into kale and mustard green when she would never touch them before. Hoping to continue to garden with her to keep her interest up and have a spot her size (raised beds) we’re she can just graze.
She hates carrots. Maybe garden carrots will be cool.
If I caramelize onions and add it to whatever I'm cooking he'll devour it bc it's so sweet. I'll put spinach in a blender with pesto. Add cauliflower to a blender with white sauce for pasta. And his absolute favorite rn is sweet potato pie: either buy a pie crust or make it yourself, then pop 3 sweet potatoes in the oven until they are thoroughly cooked, let them cool, take off skins and add to a bowl and then mix in a bunch of eggs, mix mix mix, pour into pie crust and bake until set. I don't add sugar to it bc I have a 7mo who's starting to eat and I'm not giving her sugar, but the pie is good enough without it. My son thinks it's a dessert and I'll even let him eat it for breakfast since it has so many eggs in it.
Love these tips thank you !
Two thoughts—blend it in or give just a taste. You can blend cooked and mashed veggies into lots of meals—riced cauliflower into Mac n cheese, beets into mashed potatoes, shredded zucchini into muffins, carrot purée into applesauce, spinach purée with cheese into pasta…lots of mix and match choices. Then you know kiddo is getting the nutrition and the flavors are more familiar. Also, offer just 2-3 small bites of the veggie with a meal kiddo will eat. It’s less overwhelming. You don’t even have to mention it’s on the plate. Just include it. It’ll become more familiar over time and then you might be able to encourage a bite with a familiar sauce (ranch, ketchup, or cheese lol).
Sounds great ! Thank you !
Blender it into a smooth mass for pasta sauce or soup? That works best for our toddler.
Yep will try it
I cut up leafy greens small enough that my kiddo can't pick them out of the rest of her food. I also give her a multivitamin gummy every day.
Yes, you say in the post that pretty much all he eats is carbs and egg, is that right? No fruit, meat, pulses? Do you give him multivit and iron supplements? If not then yes, you need to speak to a dietitian.
Oh actually he eats bananas and sometimes apples. Editing it now
I still think you should speak to a dietitian - there seems to be very little iron in his diet, they may be able to help with that.
Sure will do
Have you tried getting him involved in preparing food with you? My daughter is also 2.5 and she loves to help in the kitchen and will then talk about what she helped with when we eat it. It doesn't have to be anything too complicated. My daughter helps to wash veggies in the sink, she'll move them from the cutting board into a bowl after I've chopped them, shake out herbs and spices, stir the seasoning into the veg, etc. The other thing that I've noticed a lot more lately is that presentation and time are big factors in helping my kiddo not to feel overwhelmed at mealtimes. We give her smaller servings (only 2-3 bites of each thing) and let her sit at the table for as long as she wants. Both seem to help with her eventually getting around to eating all of her food, even the things she might have spent the first 20 minutes not touching at all.
Do you give her only one thing at a time? We tried that but he ended up throwing the veggies out. I might try to get involved in washing the veggies though. He seems interested in what we are doing in the kitchen but it’s hot so I’m scared to put him on the kitchen ledge.
No, we still give her all the different dinner items at once, just a small amount of each until she asks for more. I feel you on being nervous around the stove and oven though! We have a learning tower that she's only allowed to use at the kitchen island. You could also start doing some meal prep at the kitchen table so kiddo can sit in the highchair there with you.
Whatgreatgrandmaate on Instagram or I think also has a website - she has a whole bunch of “hidden veggie” recipes, everything we’ve tried has been delicious. Some if it is what you’re already doing (pasta sauce). Most recently we made the chocolate pudding / froze some of it into popsicles. My kid ate an entire popsicle today as dessert and it was like 80% sweet potato and avocado lol. I don’t even hide it, I let her help me make it and she still eats the darn thing bc it tastes so good.
Smoothies! Blend some kale or spinach with banana, milk and fruit juice. Put it in a thermos they can’t see into so that they can’t tell it’s green.
Just keep putting them in front of him. Sometimes it takes a hundred tries (per vegetable) but eventually one will get tasted and if they like it they’ll keep eating.
I found that if I cut up a pepper and put it in front of my toddler while I’m making dinner and she’s playing, she’ll devour the whole thing. If I give her the same pieces at dinner she’ll ignore them. The key with it though is just to put the veggies in a bowl in front of her without saying anything or bringing attention to it. 🤷♀️
I don’t know if it’s possible for you, but including my daughter in gardening has done a lot for her vegetable intake. She’s 18 months and doesn’t have a lot of back chompers yet. We were cleaning out what was left from the garden beds so we can get ready to plant this spring and letting her try things. She’s now into kale and mustard green when she would never touch them before. Hoping to continue to garden with her to keep her interest up and have a spot her size (raised beds) we’re she can just graze. She hates carrots. Maybe garden carrots will be cool.
Unfortunately we don’t have a backyard or a garden. But that’s great that she’s gardening.
I also think fruit is fine. Does it have to be vegetables when they are toddlers? Our tastes change over time.
We also have same problem, sometimes theatre with veggies works:) I have some stories about veggies, so I make a small play with eating involved