Does anyones 2 year old eat their meat & vegies!?? How?

[Jac]

My 2 year old used to eat everything really well. He has now decided he has a mind of his own and won't eat any vegies (and most meats), except potatoes and sometimes peas. It really worries me that he is not getting them anymore. I keep presenting them on his plate and try not to make a big deal of food when he doesn't eat it but it still worries me. He also only eats chicken and is not fussed on other meats (including sausages, mince, nuggets, fish) so I can't hide the veggies in meat dishes. I do not give options when he doesn't eat his tea, although I do let him have some yoghurt/custard after dinner. We limit snacks before tea so he is usually somewhat hungry. He has never been highly motivated by food.

How are others getting their 2 year olds to eat a variety of food?

[skybie]

DD used to eat anything then at around 2 she just stopped and has only recently started eating anything again, like u i always offered vege's and never made a fuss about them if she did or didnt eat them, the only difference is if she didnt eat her tea i didnt offer her anything else after it, besides her milk drink before bed.
At DD's child care they stopped offering custard after lunch because the kids wouldnt eat lunch because they knew custard was coming

[Trillian]

I can get my 19mo to eat more vege if it is mixed with pasta and with a cheese/white sauce. I also add some chicken this way too and he will eat it. You could try making patties/croquettes and adding the vege that way - this has also worked for us. If I serve up meat and vege on a plate, he will only eat the meat, plus maybe a few peas and carrots. One thing he really does like is the rafferty's veges in the squeezie packs as I don't think he realises they are vege LOL - I think he thinks they are the fruit ones which he loves.

Another thing too is that my DS is more receptive to eating a bigger meal at lunchtime, so often he will have his main meal at lunch and then only a light supper before bed. that might be something you can try too.

[ubba82]

Hi Jac, my DS is the same but we have been struggleing for almost 2 years! DS' fav food used to be spag bol. I would grate up carrott and zucchini and add a tin of tomatos for some sort of vegies, now he wont even eat that. Most nights I end up feeding him or else he doesnt have anything. Sometimes I get so cross that if he doesnt eat it himself then he does miss out all together....

DS really loves fruit, so as long as he is eating that through the day it doesnt really matter about the vegies.

Just a thought, could you give him his main meal at lunch time and just a sandwich and yoghurt/custard at dinner time? He might be more inclined to eat at this time when he isnt so tired from being busy ALL day.

HTH!

[skybie]

One thing he really does like is the rafferty's veges in the squeezie packs as I don't think he realises they are vege LOL - I think he thinks they are the fruit ones which he loves.

DD was the same she love love loved the carrot based one from rafferty's but would refuse to even touch a steamed carrot slice!
They're a fantastic thing i think its more the enjoyment of how they actually ?at'it than whats actually in it

[Lisa]

I'm guessing that it is a stage in their development because my DS and other's his age are going throught the same thing. I too offer it at every meal but he still resists... it is mainly the vegies he isn't eating... my DH can seem to get him to eat little bits though by pretending the spoon is a plane, car, truck whatever to get it into his mouth.

[spooky]

Sausage rolls and meatballs are a good way to hide grated vegies - I even grate cauli and broccoli as well as the usual suspects to try and get more variety in there.

[Nai]

Yep - at 20 months DD1 decided she would only eat PLAIN pasta so I got the stuffed ravioli things and tricked her into eating meat and veg that way - they do a roast veg one which is nice. I also started giving her a tasting plate with pasta, cheese and cut up vegies etc and let her pick and choose what she wanted to eat from the plate. She now eats everything again so I think it is just a phase at that age.

[young_mumma87]

OMG i dont have any answers but im glad im not the only mother concerned bout this my almost 2yr has gone off meat and vegies!! its driving me insane coz i plan out meals and then he doesnt eat it he still eats fruit during the day and the docter said that he wil get over just keep offering it to him....so if any one does have a miricale cure for this i will be interesred!!!

[echidna]

My DD did the same thing. Atm she lives with her dad (family court issues) so I'm not really sure what she eats as he's vegetarian (I really hope she eats fish and meat).

[Rivlas]

What you all are going through is something that most parents go through.

When my DD'd were young my MHN told me not to worry 'as believe it or not they will not starve to death'.
She suggested I don't worry about meat for a bit and tip bake beans over the veggies. Also feed them earlier an early tea.

This did work for me and they did eat veggies again only to have DD1 years later decide she didn't like peas. I mean, who doesn't like peas!!!!

Keep up the fluids while they are going through this stage and wait for the next instalment

[Jac]

Awwww, thanks everyone - I knew we wouldn't be alone. It just gets so frustrating having to chuck out every meal I make (actually, the dog is thrilled). Maybe I should stop the custard/yoghurt after tea (or not tea) but it's so hard when they are skinny! Will try your ideas though.
Are the squeezy vegies found in the vegie section of the supermarket?

[Meo]

I don't have kids Jac, so maybe take this with a grain of salt

I was just thinking, I don't know how expensive those squeezie vegies are, but maybe you could steam some vegies to make "baby mush" as we call it (usually a carrot, pumpkin, spud, brocolli etc steamed and mashed, DH loves it ) like you would feed to a baby you're introducing to solids. Then if you put the baby mush into a piping bag (for icing cakes etc) and either let them squeeze it out themselves or piped it into a face design or a tractor or whatever your child is into, maybe they'd eat more that way?

Good luck!

[young_mumma87]

Jac i hear your frustion on having to throw away meals..esp at this point in the economy when we are all stuggling!! and yes i offer a yoghurt or custard if he is "binished" as DS likes to put it because i dont want him to go to bed hungry!!! i want to stop offering him other things because he is getting away with it but its just so hard!! the whole mother guilt thing kicks in!!!

[alioops]

I mean, who doesn't like peas!!!!

Me!! And I am proud of it

I dont have this problem with my kids, but I do have it with DH. I started by pureeing the foods he doesnt like or chopping them very finely in the food processor and adding them to my cooking in a dish I knew he liked. Eventually I told him he had been eating broccolli and onion for months and to just eat it and then eat something nicer afterwards. His mum had always said if he didn't like something on his plate to leave it, whereas mine always said eat what you dont like first and then finish of with something you do like. DH now drowns his broccoli in sauce and eats it first.

If DS will eat a potato bake you could hide quite a few vegies in the sauce by finely chopping or pureeing them. Add a few more just on the plate so he sees them regularly, but not much, say a couple of pieces of carrot and broccolli, but most of his plate is the potato bake. You could even do finely chopped meats in there too if you have precooked them (chicken and pork will hide very easily in a white sauce).

[Netty]

What frustrates me is going to all the effort to make something with hidden goodies and then they wont eat that either. So frustrating!
My DD goes through fazes, one week she will love something and then next week she wont eat it. If I give her something she likes too often she goes off it too. Its hard. She wont eat peas but she loves to 'pop' them between her fingers She spends alot of time ginning about playing with her food to try and avoid eating stuff, its weird. Must just be a 2 year old thing, part of the 'I can say no' and all that... half the time DD says no when she really means yes... grrr

[Just Me]

Hi Jac -

Don't know if I can help much as I haven't had this problem (yet . . . I really hope I get to avoid it but I think DS may be heading that way). Sounds to me like you are doing everything that I have read you should do - continue to offer foods and don't make a fuss. I think you are doing a good job and hopefully your DS will start eating a variety of foods again.

I don't know if it helps much but I bought a book called Deceptively Delicious and it uses vegetable purees to make all sorts of foods including biscuits, slice, pancakes and so on. I really like it - I enjoy the food myself - but if you are worried about your DS not having enough veg in his diet, maybe he might eat other foods that have puree in them. The book says you still need to give vegetables as vegetables so that the kids get used to it.

I thought I would put the suggestion out there and see if it helped you at all . . . GL