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Behaviour/development

Anyone got any ideas about how to get unadventurous eater (2) to eat veg etc?

13 replies

Sotonwhere · 01/09/2015 23:25

I know this has probably been done to death but we're out of ideas and energy and DP insisted I use MN for something useful instead of just laughing at AIBU and getting him to do nappy changes.

DD is almost 2 and a fussy eater. I think. I don't know! She has a limited but fairly healthy repertoire :

Bread and marmite /bovril/ honey/ peanut butter
Pancakes/crumpets with the above spreads
Weetabix
Scrambled egg
Thai curry or korma sauce with rice or noodles
Sausages, fish fingers, scampi
PRAWNS she would eat them 3 meals a day plus snacks if allowed.
Egg fried rice
Cous cous salads

She will someone add chips/mash potato to this list.

Veg wise she'll eat peas and sweetcorn if in the mood, normally frozen. And she'll shovel in tinned tomato like you or I would cram in Nutella. Again if in the mood.

She'll eat buckets and buckets of full fat yoghurt and most fruits, also raisins etc

That is it. It drives me mad. I like to cook but she refuses to try anything else!

There's clearly a 10 minute window once a month when new foods are acceptable but I have no fucking idea when it is and I normally miss it.

Firstly is the above list ok? I've lost all sense of perspective. She eats no sugar (except the bit in weetabix we choose to pretend doesn't exist) and loves savoury (what 2 year old gets excited about bovril on brend every single day??) and eats lots of fruit but eats so little veg and so little variety.

Her food is generally homemade except sausages fish fingers etc.

At what age should I make a concerted effort to change this? I'm just apathetic at the moment so give her what she wants every meal. I sometimes aDD carrots, broccoli, French beans etc to her plate but she never ever ever tries them.

She's very big (99.6%) and healthy so it's the future I'm worried about and bad habits etc rather than the now.

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OddSocksHighHeels · 02/09/2015 03:49

I'm no expert but I do know fussiness is pretty common. My DD is almost 4 and has always eaten far less than yours. She's also full of energy and has no health problems so I try not to worry too much but do offer a lot of different things and eat lots of things myself to try toconvincd her they're good.

One thing that will work for now (hopefully) is hidden veg in sauces. I find roasted butternut squash and sweet potato blended with a little stock to thin it makes a good sauce.

So veg blended into tomato sauces and the curries you make should help a bit. Maybe small pieces of veg in the fried rice too. But they must be small and not look like veg if you have a toddler like mine.

I'm used to being told carrots and broccoli etc are disgusting and yucky but just keep offering and don't make a fuss. HTH a little.

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winchester1 · 02/09/2015 03:57

Mines just two intend to give veg for his afternoon snack. We are walking home so its all that's available and I know he can miss or have a small snack then without a breakdown as dinner is quite early.
I also tend to put veg on hos plate first at dinner so ge eats a bit while I cool something else for him.

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ButIBelieveInLove · 02/09/2015 04:09

Does she eat what you eat, and do you eat as a family? Assuming you eat lots of veg, I honestly think modelling and family meals that incorporate veg are the only long term habit that will work. Do you put veg in with sauces, like the curries? does she leave them to the side?

And sorry if this is a daft question, but have you tried raw veg? things like green beans, mange tout or sugar snaps, courgette sticks, are all much nicer raw I think (and my two year old DD seems to agree).

MIL likes to give what are basically crudites while she gets DD's tea ready - I think the French do this as a matter of course in school lunches - and though DD does on the whole like veg, she eats a bigger quantity this way.

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winchester1 · 02/09/2015 04:10

Intend - I tend

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BarbarianMum · 02/09/2015 07:46

We also hid things in a tomatoey sauce - stealth vegetables.
Just keep offering them.

When she gets to 3 you can do 'try 1 bite and then you can have a banana/yogurt/whatever floats her boat.

By 5 we had moved on to 'just eat it' (except for the few things they really didn't like - they still have to try these periodically though).

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poocatcherchampion · 02/09/2015 07:56

Just plonk different veg on her plate and don't worry about it. It will go in.

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R00tat00tt00t · 02/09/2015 07:59

Agree with all above advice. Sounds like she already has a fairly balanced, broad diet. However, please stop giving her bovril! Way, way too much salt for her little kidneys to deal with and no nutritional benefit. Marmite should also be consumed in moderation due to salt content although it does provide B vitamins at least.

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Sotonwhere · 04/09/2015 08:52

Thanks for replies.

We've decided to do as you advise and keep putting a selection of veg on her plate and hope some goes in at some point. She has picked up the green beans and pulled the individual beans out to feed to me which is progress!

We do eat with her when possible to try and model good eating habits among I make a point of saying 'Mmmmm I love green beans' etc while eating.

I think we just need to be patient.

I hadn't twigged that bovril was salty nothingness so we'll stop putting that on the table so regularly- thanks for the nudge about that.

Fingers crossed there is a change at some point, and hopefully sooner rather than later!

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TuckingFablet · 04/09/2015 09:02

I have the sane problem right now too. I blend veg into any sauces (so if I'm making a pasta sauce I'll chuck a handful of frozen veg while I'm simmering the tinned tomatoes and then blend before putting on the pasta), or grate carrot/courgette into bolognese sauce. I also offer her veg with her meal that will go largely untouched but least I know she's getting some veg from the hidden veg I've incorporated. One thing I've found this last week is that she will eat vegetable soup. I cooked sweet potato and some frozen mixed veg in some slow salt chicken stock and blended it. It was quite thick so she could spoon it up and she wolfed it down. Perhaps try that? Does she like egg? Omelette is a great vessel for grated vegetables, if you add cheese the veg is usually disguised.

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TuckingFablet · 04/09/2015 09:03

Low salt chicken stock, sorry, being jumped on by a small person

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featherandblack · 04/09/2015 09:26

I put half of something DD likes on her plate along with a tiny bit of the 'new' food. When she asks for the other half of what she likes, I suggest that she eats the new veg first. I also found that cutting out sugar made her much more amenable to trying new non-sugary foods.

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winchester1 · 04/09/2015 19:37

I also use jealousy, handily I've a second DC who is to small to refuse food so eats up all of her brothers unless he gets to it first, but maybe you could try it with a teddy.

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NewBallsPlease00 · 04/09/2015 19:43

Spinach, kale, broccoli, basically any healthy strong flavoured veg all get checked into a smoothie here in a nutribullet and gulped down no questions... Also frozen into lollies....
Flatly refused in own format!!

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