Picky Eaters!

[xstefani3x]

Hi, my daughter will NOT eat anything that is considered a 'vegetable'. She used to all the time when she was a baby, but then she hit about 1 and a half and she absolutely refuses. She will eat almost anything dairy, some fruits, NO meat or vegies.. no matter even if i starve her and then put them infront of her. She refuses.. and so here i am all the time worried about her eating i will give in to other things she likes. I give her nutritional drinks and other things that have added nutrients in them, but it is not the same as getting it from the regular source. I was wondering if anyone had any good ideas how to get around this? I am a very healthy eater myself.. so it's not anything new to her, and she knows what everything is (she even helps me cook because she loves it) but trying to get it in her mouth is awful. She will make herself puke if i even get it into her mouth, it's like she does it to herself and i don't understand why. Thanks for any advice!!<li>Stefani, mom to Lily w/cf born 5-28-04

 

[xstefani3x]

Hi, my daughter will NOT eat anything that is considered a 'vegetable'. She used to all the time when she was a baby, but then she hit about 1 and a half and she absolutely refuses. She will eat almost anything dairy, some fruits, NO meat or vegies.. no matter even if i starve her and then put them infront of her. She refuses.. and so here i am all the time worried about her eating i will give in to other things she likes. I give her nutritional drinks and other things that have added nutrients in them, but it is not the same as getting it from the regular source. I was wondering if anyone had any good ideas how to get around this? I am a very healthy eater myself.. so it's not anything new to her, and she knows what everything is (she even helps me cook because she loves it) but trying to get it in her mouth is awful. She will make herself puke if i even get it into her mouth, it's like she does it to herself and i don't understand why. Thanks for any advice!!<li>Stefani, mom to Lily w/cf born 5-28-04

 

[xstefani3x]

Hi, my daughter will NOT eat anything that is considered a 'vegetable'. She used to all the time when she was a baby, but then she hit about 1 and a half and she absolutely refuses. She will eat almost anything dairy, some fruits, NO meat or vegies.. no matter even if i starve her and then put them infront of her. She refuses.. and so here i am all the time worried about her eating i will give in to other things she likes. I give her nutritional drinks and other things that have added nutrients in them, but it is not the same as getting it from the regular source. I was wondering if anyone had any good ideas how to get around this? I am a very healthy eater myself.. so it's not anything new to her, and she knows what everything is (she even helps me cook because she loves it) but trying to get it in her mouth is awful. She will make herself puke if i even get it into her mouth, it's like she does it to herself and i don't understand why. Thanks for any advice!!<li>Stefani, mom to Lily w/cf born 5-28-04

 

[scarbrough]

Have you tried "hiding" foods in the recipe....My kids are picky, too. However, they love pasta. I put spinach(fozen or canned is easy) in spaghetti, lasagna, alfredo, etc. Just chop it up really fine..they think it is spices. I might add some chopped/shredded chicken & it goes over really well. Just experiment with things they already like. My kids will eat some things only raw & some things only cooked. They really like raw broccoli & ranch dressing. If your kids like ranch dressing & salad, you can make a great slaw/salad by shredding zuchini, cabbage,carrots, cucumbers & raisins or dried cranberries. Put the dressing of their choice over a mixture you can create. I find it goes over easier the finer the shredding is. However, too fine will make it watered down. When veggies are raw, you haven't cooked all the vitamins out! Hope this helps some, I'll keep thinking!

Oh, yeah, broccoli(chopped), rice & cheese(lots of) goes over well , too.

 

[scarbrough]

Have you tried "hiding" foods in the recipe....My kids are picky, too. However, they love pasta. I put spinach(fozen or canned is easy) in spaghetti, lasagna, alfredo, etc. Just chop it up really fine..they think it is spices. I might add some chopped/shredded chicken & it goes over really well. Just experiment with things they already like. My kids will eat some things only raw & some things only cooked. They really like raw broccoli & ranch dressing. If your kids like ranch dressing & salad, you can make a great slaw/salad by shredding zuchini, cabbage,carrots, cucumbers & raisins or dried cranberries. Put the dressing of their choice over a mixture you can create. I find it goes over easier the finer the shredding is. However, too fine will make it watered down. When veggies are raw, you haven't cooked all the vitamins out! Hope this helps some, I'll keep thinking!

Oh, yeah, broccoli(chopped), rice & cheese(lots of) goes over well , too.

 

[scarbrough]

Have you tried "hiding" foods in the recipe....My kids are picky, too. However, they love pasta. I put spinach(fozen or canned is easy) in spaghetti, lasagna, alfredo, etc. Just chop it up really fine..they think it is spices. I might add some chopped/shredded chicken & it goes over really well. Just experiment with things they already like. My kids will eat some things only raw & some things only cooked. They really like raw broccoli & ranch dressing. If your kids like ranch dressing & salad, you can make a great slaw/salad by shredding zuchini, cabbage,carrots, cucumbers & raisins or dried cranberries. Put the dressing of their choice over a mixture you can create. I find it goes over easier the finer the shredding is. However, too fine will make it watered down. When veggies are raw, you haven't cooked all the vitamins out! Hope this helps some, I'll keep thinking!

Oh, yeah, broccoli(chopped), rice & cheese(lots of) goes over well , too.

 

[izemmom]

When Isabelle (no cf) was your daughter's age, the only way she would eat vegetables was frozen. We'd pop open a bag stratigth rom the freezer and she'd dive in! She loved corn, green beans, carrots andeven peas (yuck!) that way. I don't know how you'd add butter and salt for your cf'er...but if you are getting that in other ways and just want to expose her to veggies...try 'em frozen.

At this age, she might enjoy playing a game. Make cards with the pictures of her food groups. In the morning set out what you expect her to eat that day (5 dairy, 4 veggies, 4 fruits...). She can use her cards in any order as long as she uses them all by bedtime. And of course there's a reward for that! We did this with picky Isabelle when she was 3. It worked for a while. You could simplify this a little, too, I think. The trick is to make eating fun and non stressfull. The last thing you want is a battle of wills.

With Emily (cf) we have found that the spicier/more tasty the better. She loves breakfast sausage, so she has it at every meal. Same with ground beef in melted butter and salt. (Uuugh, I gross myself out just thinking about it, but she LOVEs it and is now in the 50%ile). We cover her veggies in gravy and she gobbles them up. We are lucky.

 

[izemmom]

When Isabelle (no cf) was your daughter's age, the only way she would eat vegetables was frozen. We'd pop open a bag stratigth rom the freezer and she'd dive in! She loved corn, green beans, carrots andeven peas (yuck!) that way. I don't know how you'd add butter and salt for your cf'er...but if you are getting that in other ways and just want to expose her to veggies...try 'em frozen.

At this age, she might enjoy playing a game. Make cards with the pictures of her food groups. In the morning set out what you expect her to eat that day (5 dairy, 4 veggies, 4 fruits...). She can use her cards in any order as long as she uses them all by bedtime. And of course there's a reward for that! We did this with picky Isabelle when she was 3. It worked for a while. You could simplify this a little, too, I think. The trick is to make eating fun and non stressfull. The last thing you want is a battle of wills.

With Emily (cf) we have found that the spicier/more tasty the better. She loves breakfast sausage, so she has it at every meal. Same with ground beef in melted butter and salt. (Uuugh, I gross myself out just thinking about it, but she LOVEs it and is now in the 50%ile). We cover her veggies in gravy and she gobbles them up. We are lucky.

 

[izemmom]

When Isabelle (no cf) was your daughter's age, the only way she would eat vegetables was frozen. We'd pop open a bag stratigth rom the freezer and she'd dive in! She loved corn, green beans, carrots andeven peas (yuck!) that way. I don't know how you'd add butter and salt for your cf'er...but if you are getting that in other ways and just want to expose her to veggies...try 'em frozen.

At this age, she might enjoy playing a game. Make cards with the pictures of her food groups. In the morning set out what you expect her to eat that day (5 dairy, 4 veggies, 4 fruits...). She can use her cards in any order as long as she uses them all by bedtime. And of course there's a reward for that! We did this with picky Isabelle when she was 3. It worked for a while. You could simplify this a little, too, I think. The trick is to make eating fun and non stressfull. The last thing you want is a battle of wills.

With Emily (cf) we have found that the spicier/more tasty the better. She loves breakfast sausage, so she has it at every meal. Same with ground beef in melted butter and salt. (Uuugh, I gross myself out just thinking about it, but she LOVEs it and is now in the 50%ile). We cover her veggies in gravy and she gobbles them up. We are lucky.

 

[Ratatosk]

We have the other extreme -- DS would rather have a raw carrot or fresh fruit instead of a piece of meat or cheese. Although he's always hated peas -- when he started eating real food at 6 months, the daycare swore he could tell a mile away if there was one teeny tiny little pea ground up with his stew. He's not so fond of cooked veggies, but neither are his parents.

Actually he prefers raw veggies dipped in salt. Bleah! It's been broccoli lately. We went to the macaroni grill for dinner a few months ago and they thought we were so weird when we asked that they not cook his steamed broccoli.

 

[Ratatosk]

We have the other extreme -- DS would rather have a raw carrot or fresh fruit instead of a piece of meat or cheese. Although he's always hated peas -- when he started eating real food at 6 months, the daycare swore he could tell a mile away if there was one teeny tiny little pea ground up with his stew. He's not so fond of cooked veggies, but neither are his parents.

Actually he prefers raw veggies dipped in salt. Bleah! It's been broccoli lately. We went to the macaroni grill for dinner a few months ago and they thought we were so weird when we asked that they not cook his steamed broccoli.

 

[Ratatosk]

We have the other extreme -- DS would rather have a raw carrot or fresh fruit instead of a piece of meat or cheese. Although he's always hated peas -- when he started eating real food at 6 months, the daycare swore he could tell a mile away if there was one teeny tiny little pea ground up with his stew. He's not so fond of cooked veggies, but neither are his parents.

Actually he prefers raw veggies dipped in salt. Bleah! It's been broccoli lately. We went to the macaroni grill for dinner a few months ago and they thought we were so weird when we asked that they not cook his steamed broccoli.

 

[ddawes27]

My son used to eat everything except meat until he was the same age.....about 18 months. Now it is worse......he is 4 and he he has about 5 things he will eat at this point.
He loves his school, and he cried this morning and begged to stay home from school. After a while he admitted that today was pizza day and he knew his teachers/classmates would pressure him into trying a bite!
I vacationed with a cousin last week, and she has a son who had the same type eating issues. She said that Speech therapy for texture aversion did wonders for her son's eating issues. My son watched her son eat Mac and cheese/pizza/chicken nuggets etc, and he was uninterested in trying it. We have a team meeting in 2 weeks........I am going to ask for speech therapy.

 

[ddawes27]

My son used to eat everything except meat until he was the same age.....about 18 months. Now it is worse......he is 4 and he he has about 5 things he will eat at this point.
He loves his school, and he cried this morning and begged to stay home from school. After a while he admitted that today was pizza day and he knew his teachers/classmates would pressure him into trying a bite!
I vacationed with a cousin last week, and she has a son who had the same type eating issues. She said that Speech therapy for texture aversion did wonders for her son's eating issues. My son watched her son eat Mac and cheese/pizza/chicken nuggets etc, and he was uninterested in trying it. We have a team meeting in 2 weeks........I am going to ask for speech therapy.

 

[ddawes27]

My son used to eat everything except meat until he was the same age.....about 18 months. Now it is worse......he is 4 and he he has about 5 things he will eat at this point.
He loves his school, and he cried this morning and begged to stay home from school. After a while he admitted that today was pizza day and he knew his teachers/classmates would pressure him into trying a bite!
I vacationed with a cousin last week, and she has a son who had the same type eating issues. She said that Speech therapy for texture aversion did wonders for her son's eating issues. My son watched her son eat Mac and cheese/pizza/chicken nuggets etc, and he was uninterested in trying it. We have a team meeting in 2 weeks........I am going to ask for speech therapy.

 

[thefrogprincess]

DOes she like sweets? You can find ways of cooking some veggies so they are actually sweet. I've heard of carrots cooked with brown sugar, brussell sprouts with maple syrup etc. It might sound weird but if she'll eat it who cares?

 

[thefrogprincess]

DOes she like sweets? You can find ways of cooking some veggies so they are actually sweet. I've heard of carrots cooked with brown sugar, brussell sprouts with maple syrup etc. It might sound weird but if she'll eat it who cares?

 

[thefrogprincess]

DOes she like sweets? You can find ways of cooking some veggies so they are actually sweet. I've heard of carrots cooked with brown sugar, brussell sprouts with maple syrup etc. It might sound weird but if she'll eat it who cares?

 

[wuffles]

My mum knows how you feel, lol. I never ate vegetables when I was a kid. To be honest, I still struggle with a few vegetables and dry wretch if I try to eat them. Not sure if it is psychological or what, but it's stuck with me all these years.

Will she eat potato? That is the one veggie that I would eat without a fight because it has such a plain taste (and after all, that's what french fries are made from!). From there, my parents would do things like mixing mashed potato and pumpkin. They also added sauce to veggies (like honey mustard, cheese or garlic) with mixed success. Some meals are quite easy to hide things like tomato or onion. I was also rewarded (bribed?) for vegetables I did eat, such as getting to watch extra TV.

I like scarbrough's suggestions -- anything chopped extremely fine might work.

Good luck!

 

[wuffles]

My mum knows how you feel, lol. I never ate vegetables when I was a kid. To be honest, I still struggle with a few vegetables and dry wretch if I try to eat them. Not sure if it is psychological or what, but it's stuck with me all these years.

Will she eat potato? That is the one veggie that I would eat without a fight because it has such a plain taste (and after all, that's what french fries are made from!). From there, my parents would do things like mixing mashed potato and pumpkin. They also added sauce to veggies (like honey mustard, cheese or garlic) with mixed success. Some meals are quite easy to hide things like tomato or onion. I was also rewarded (bribed?) for vegetables I did eat, such as getting to watch extra TV.

I like scarbrough's suggestions -- anything chopped extremely fine might work.

Good luck!