Will he change?

There are so many things that I've worried about as my DS has grown and reached new stages and looking back I think why did I stress? It sorted itself out! BUT, now I'm fretting over my DS eating or rather NOT eating his veges.

Because I have the time, I offer all homemade fresh meals to DS and have tried 'hiding' veges in things with a little bit of success and DH and I sit to eat our meals with him to show him that mummy and daddy like to eat veges, but he just refuses to eat any vegetables! I watch other kids munching on cucumber and carrot sticks with envy. When he was on purees he ate everything I gave him but now so much good food is wasted and I feel bad that he's not getting the nutrition he needs as an active 21 month old.

He eats everything else, yoghurt, cheese, fruit, crackers, pasta (if it's plain), milk, fish and chicken etc but just not vegetables!

So I guess my question is...should I worry about this? Is it just a phase and he'll start eating them later? Has anyone with toddlers older than mine been through this but now has a vege-eating child?

It is a phase. Just keep offering and don't stress over it too much. If you are worried about his nutrient intake puree some vegitables and really hide them in the food. If they are pureed smooth they can be put in anything - sauces, mince, meatballs, hamburgers, cakes, everything. But keep offering the 'real deal' with every meal too. I have a DD who don't like to 'try' anything, but will actually eat most things if she does; a DS1 who will try everything, but really does just hate the taste of most vegetables (especially the green ones for some reason) - but if you cover anything in tomato sauce, it is usually eaten; and a DS2 who is the most fussy out of the lot, he won't try things he doesn't recognise and if you manage to 'trick' him into trying it, he will spit it straight out again as soon as he tastes it - he is only just turned 1yr.

Another way to get nutrients in is with fruit. Not as ideal, because of the sugar content in fruit - but again better then nothing and usually easier then vege.

Kids don't like the taste of veges as a survival mechanism - disliking the bitter flavours meant a child would be less likely to consume anything poisionious. So it is completely normal and has been frustrating parents for centuries, no doubt. As we age our tastebuds change and our preferences go from sweet to savoury. I personally hated ALL vege up until I was a teenager, then I would only eat carrot and beans. Nowdays I actually love alot of different vege.

Good luck.

My nieces and nephews still don't eat their vegies and they're 13, while my daughter will happily try everything once, and often would prefer a piece of cucumber to hot chips etc - but then to them, she's just strange. Kids not liking their veg is nothing new and plenty of kids refuse to eat them. As long as he's eating fruit he is still at least getting a lot of the vital vitamins he needs. If he went off both, then I would be more concerned. There could be a number of reasons why he doesn't want to eat vegies. One could be the taste. He might prefer "sweeter" tasting vegies. Another could be presentation and mind over matter - i.e. I wont eat anything that looks like a carrot, just because it's a carrot and I've made up my mind I don't like them. Yet, another is that fact food consumption is one of the very few things a little child can truly control and it could be his way of asserting himself. But my educated guess would be that it's the texture. Veg often has a rougher and drier texture to fruit, and often requires more work to chew. The purees would have been soft and smooth, hence the reason he'd eat them, but now it's the whole food it feels funny to him. Will he eat mashed potato over potato pieces? Could you hide veg by grating it rather than chopping it? Will he eat it if it has a basic white sauce on it? Might be things to try...

Do you make a big deal about him eating his veg? It's not unusual for them to find these little pressure points to exert a little autonomy over somethign they know you care about.
It sounds like he eats really well on the whole, so try not to worry too much. Just continue to offer. Rissoles are great for hiding vegies if he likes meat. Trying different shapes, textures and cooking methods can also help - like Yeddi says sometimes they won't eat it one way, but are happy to have it another.

Thanks for your replies. Unfortunately DS has had gastro over the last couple of days so hasn't really been eating ANYTHING! But he's on the mend now :)

I've tried all sorts of things - changing texture, hiding the veges etc. I think I'll just keep offering him a variety of things, not make a big deal out of it and hope he becomes more interested in vegetables soon. I think I just have to let go of my ideal :D

Thanks again.

I made the mistake of offering DD#2 a frozen pea (baby peas - the nice ones) one day at dinner. Then she insisted on having a pea everytime I get them out of the freezer. Then two peas. Then a handful ... today I swear she had a whole cup of peas, they've just made the jump from pre-dinner stolen treat (she also steals frozen corn and carrot while I am chopping them up) to legitimate daytime snack.

She seems to think it is hilarious that they are sort of forbidden but we still reluctantly give her some. There's far worse things she could be eating though.

So there you go, you want your toddler to eat veggies, just treat frozen peas like you would smarties or something :)

My girls are the same with frozen peas and corn!!! Its funny, when they go over to my mums and they are there for dinner, mum will hide all the veggies in mash! She does this because my brothers are fussy eaters... still at the ages of... 17, 20 and 25!!! My girls wont touch it, but I give them vegies at dinner time and they eat it. I think its because I have it more like finger food than mash. They are much happier to use their hands to eat than to scoop up an odd looking mound! If it were me, I would offer a few bits of finger food each meal, like a stalk of broccolii/cauli, a stick of carrot or maybe some peas and corn that he can pick up! Its a bit messy but I find it works for me!

All the best

I wouldn't worry about it too much. DS2 will only really eat carrots, peas, roast pumpkin and broccoli and never in large amounts, he'd be lucky to eat a 1/4 cup of vegies each night. I think that 'fussy' eating is a mountain made out of a molehill kwim? They will eventually eat it so long as vegetables are always seen as 'normal' and not something that is special ITMS. What I have done for our 2 girls and DS2 (DS1 was a hoover LOL and ate everything in sight) was always put veges on their plates. Only a small amount because you know 9 times out of 10 it will be wasted and if they don't eat it fine, if they do it eat fine, don't make a song and dance about it. On DS2's plate I will put his meat, and then literally there will only be 3 pieces of carrot, a teaspoon of peas or two beans and one small piece of broccoli or pumpkin. And I can guarantee that most of that wont be eaten. So even though there is waste and its not ideal, we just put it on the compost heap, so all is not lost. What I have observed over the years is that those with really stubborn eaters (I say stubborn because they point blank refuse to eat different foods without even trying them) is that their parents never made veges seem normal. If the kids didn't want veges, then they weren't put on their plate, or they were given a different meal.

I know it is very frustrating, but have patience because they will eventually eat them.