Getting toddler to eat veg

[Stingeray]

She does eat lots of fruit and I blend veg into pasta sauces, hide it in curry, Chilli etc but she will not eat any vegetables that are served on the side of her plate other than a quick nibble. Anyone had any success with this? I would like to get her to actually enjoy eating vegetables.

Keep offering it. If she has a nibble, that's a sign she'll start eating it eventually. We have quite a fussy child but have persisted in offering a range of foods and totally ignoring if it's eaten or not. Occasional, brief praise for trying.

Veg before dinner often works. Our DD often has TV time while I cook. I give her sliced peppers, cucumber, carrot to eat then so she's often had a decent handful of veg before dinner.

She got into eating broccoli by pretending to be a giant eating trees.

I often put veg on a shared dish in the centre of the table so she can serve herself.

It's been a very slow journey but at nearly 4 she now eats a lot more than at 2.

Use exciting names for foods e.g. we call chicken in sauce 'sticky chicken' or soup 'surprise soup' or green beans 'squeaky beans' (can you hear them?) and ham up the name ...
My children are more likely to eat a food that’s colourful, cut into fun shapes or with a dip. They eat things that they wouldn’t normally eat if it’s on a skewer! We also had a cheese fondue at New Year and they were dipping things that they’d normally turn their nose up at.
Playing with food doesn't have to be a bad thing. We used to pretend we're dinosaurs eating trees when we eat broccoli – adds a bit of fun to the meal! Or try arranging vegetables into silly faces, writing her name in blueberries or peas etc...
Also take her shopping and let her choose out the fruit and veg. One success I've had is with broccoli. My son wouldn't touch it with a barge pole until I got him to pick the one he wanted at the supermarket. Then we came home and he washed it and broke it into pieces and popped it into a saucepan. He made a lot of mess and water went everywhere, but he also had great fun and has eaten broccoli ever since.
Sometimes, all my DC needed to eat a certain food was a little bit of dressing or for example, sweet potatoes with some ketchup. Don’t limit the use of condiments; eventually, she might opt for the items without them.
Serve small portions. She might be overwhelmed by a large portion of a food that’s unfamiliar or not her favourite. Also you’ll waste less food.
If you know another child who’s an adventurous eater, invite them round for tea – watching them eat different food might just encourage yours to join in. If you can’t at the current time, get teddy to join in – one for teddy – one for her.
Even if she doesn’t accept the food the first time you serve it for dinner, she might the next time. Apparently it can take up to 10-15 tastes of a new food before a child gets used to it, so it’s worth persevering.

Raw veg with dips
Veg in sauces - cauliflower cheese, cheesy leeks
Veg on top of pizza DVD’s tarts
Veg in sandwiches,
Veg skewers (here putting anything on a stick ups the odds of it getting eaten!)
Baked sweet potatoes with favourite toppings in place of regular potatoes
Basically just huge amounts of exposure!

It sounds like you are doing well, hiding in pasta sauce, cottage an shepherd's pie are also good for that, and you say she eats a lot of fruit. I can't say I enjoyed most vegetables until I was an adult and grew up quite healthy. Now there is little I don't eat.

I went hardcore with Ds when he was little.

But he was so fussy that he wouldn’t even eat hidden veg.

So I used to put the veg on his plate first, or fruit at breakfast. He had to eat that to get the rest of the meal. If he didn’t, there was no fuss, just no more food. He starved himself for three days and then gave in. After a week, I plated his food up as usual and he ate the veg first usually as that was what he was used to.

He was three at the time and I know it sounds harsh but he was a very picky eater for about a year (he would go weeks refusing food and would seriously go a week with only eating a piece of bread and a couple of bananas).

He stated having bowel trouble as he simply wasn’t eating enough to go regularly and as I was a young ish mum (I was 22 when he was born, this was 18 years ago!), Drs were quick to see my age and blame me for “only feeding him fast food” which wasn’t the case at all but I wasn’t listened to. So I had to take a hard approach as I was sick to death of being unfairly judged.

He’s been a fabulous eater ever since.

@billyjoearmstrong this is exactly what my parents did with us when we were small - i am always absolutely baffled by people on here saying they just go with it and cook 2 or 3 or even 4 different meals for years and years rather than just putting their foot down. If a child doesnt have any SEN or sensory issues, they're not going to go hungry for more than a few days.

@SomeoneElseEntirelyNow my parents were the same. My mum always said she wasn’t running a Bistro!

I’ve been called harsh for doing that with Ds on occasion but it had to stop as it was making him ill. There were no other issues apart from that he didn’t want to eat healthy food. I don’t have rubbish in the house so he was starving himself until I put my foot down.

I only ever cook one meal. If my children don’t want it, then quite frankly, they can go without (never usually happens, but occasionally did when they were small - and it was never unfair or anything outlandish that I cooked).

@billyjoe kids push boundaries, it is a crucial part of their development, and good parenting involves showing them that the boundaries are solid, and that you're in charge. It gives them the security they need. If you give in to boundary pushing you run the risk of having a toddler in charge, which is bad for you but worse for them. Upsetting them in the moment serves them well in the longrun. I feel like so many people don't realise that! Or maybe they just prefer to go the easy route.

Green beans - make you run really fast
Carrots - make you be able to see really far ahead
Broccoli - make you super strong like the hulk
He will eat them all and eat them first since I told him this.