My 3 year old won’t eat meat

[Stressedafff]

Just looking for some advice on my 3 year old DD. She won’t eat meat, she eats fish, loves all kinds of fish and seafood/shellfish. But I can’t get her to eat meat

She will eat mince in spag bol, sausages and ham. That’s it, even chicken nuggets and normal kid food is out the window as she just seems to hate it, however will eat the Richmond veggie burgers she loves them

I’m just worried about protein intake as I don’t want her lacking anything. She drinks milk and eats plenty of eggs and cheese and yoghurts etc and does take a kids multivitamin.

Any advice on how to ensure she’s getting all she needs even without meat

It doesn't sound like you need to worry tbh, her diet sounds pretty varied otherwise.

Is it just chicken she objects to?

Protein is also found in veg like beans so you can include these as standard - blitz them if you need them to be invisible.

Plenty of vegetarians get by just fine without eating meat! I think her diet sounds fine.

I agree, if she is eating dairy and fish then she is most likely still getting everything she needs.

As PP said you could add pulses or lentils to food, blitz them to make them smooth if needed.

I never ate meat. Started refusing it as my parents started solids with me. I never had to compensate for it. The doctor said that if you start being veggie so young then your body sort of doesn’t know any different so there’s no deficiency as such. I get my iron checked every year and the only time I’ve needed supplements was during pregnancy.

That’s really interesting actually, as DD really started to dislike it from about 15-16 months.

It’s any meat, chicken, turkey, pork etc she won’t touch it

I wouldn't worry. DS2 hasn't eaten any meat since he was a toddler, he's 16 now and fine. He still won't try it, but he eats other things like eggs, fish, dairy etc. We make lots of veggie meals and the rest of us just have meat once a week, I'm sure this diet doesn't do any of us or the planet any harm.

@Stressedafff Mine isn’t overly fussed for meat either. Will eat bolognese/chilli etc but isn’t overly fussed for actual pieces of meat like a roast chicken/beef etc.

We eat a lot of veggie meals in our house anyway so it’s not really an issue for us. In terms of proteins, DS loves hummus, chickpea curries, lots of peas, cheese, plain yoghurt with peanut butter/almond butter etc, eggs, lentil soup/lentil curries etc, veggie stir-fry with edamame beans 😊

I hated anything I had to chew as a child

Wise kid.

Mine have never had meat (nor dairy). It's better to not have meat. Plenty of better protein in plants.

Mine refused all meat from 18 months until over 3. We had her on the veggie lunch option at daycare. Then one day turned round and said she wanted a hamburger for lunch, so out we went for burgers because I was really curious to see if she’d eat it, and she’s been a total carnivore ever since. She’s now 6 and her favourite food is now steak, cooked blue/rare. Kids are weird. Maybe yours will be a lifelong veggie, maybe she won’t. Her diet sounds good and varied so I really wouldn’t worry.

Mine was never keen on meat from toddlerhood and has been fully veggie for years. She eats plenty of cheese, milk, eggs, nuts and pulses so there's no issue really.

Try her with minced chicken, minced lamb.

DD hardly ate meat outside mince, sausages and chicken in curry until she had all molars and even then she wasn't keen. I think she got used to not eating it.

She is now a teen and still not a big meat eater, hates the taste of lamb and is not keen on anything pan fried like a steak.

As long as you offer a good diet and protein is available from plenty of other sources she will be ok.

Especially if she's eating fish, eggs and dairy she will be fine and hitting all the nutrients she needs provided she's eating a good variety of veg and fortified foods. I haven't eaten meat since childhood, I actually eat a lot more protein as a vegan adult than as a veggie child, nor am I iron, calcium etc deficient as I was as a teen as there is plenty in a well balanced diet full of green things, there are very few things I need to supplement and with a well balanced diet it's really only vitamin D that we all need to supplement in this country!

My toddler won’t eat any meat at all. He only eats plain white fish and prawns. So he’s mainly veggie tbh.

Ds didn't really eat much meat. Even now at 15yo he likes a good burger, but not particularly keen on meat. he'd be happier with a plate of vegetables.
He's fine.

Mine wont eat fish (we don't eat meat) but loves cashews, chickpeas, kidney beans etc. Her current favourite is spaghetti with a sauce made of a tin of toms, 1/3 of a tin of lentils, an onion (fried first), a splosh of balsamic vinegar, some dried herbs, and sometimes other veg too. Blitz to a puree and serve with grated cheese to sprinkle on top.

I also do a stirfry with cashews and pulses mixed with the veg.

Everything your feeding your daughter is poison and mucus I promise you this and she’s not eating meat because she’s not actually designed to eat it I was the same at 13 I stopped eating meat cows milk is poison it’s full of puss and mucus and is designed for a small cow. and why are you feeding her sausages do you know pork is the dirtiest meat Jesus I feel sad at how many people just feed there children garbage this is why Everyone is sick because we’re eating the wrong diets meat is the number one cause of cancer to give your girl protein make her things like chickpea curry anything with chickpeas is high protein including quinoa and goji berries and just watch YouTube vegan meals but if you can please research dr sebis diet and he will explain why eating meat and dairy is so harmful to your health it causes cancer sorry for the rant

you say she eats it minced? you can buy minced chicken or minced pork.
and just like adding it to tomato sauce for spag you can add it to other sauces, soup and gravy for other dishes. sausages and ham is meat so not like she won't eat it. it's probably the difficulty chewing at this point.

But she eats mince, sausages and ham. Meat.

Along with fish, eggs and dairy this means there is no issue with protein at all. Especially if she is eating beans, peas, chick peas (in hummus) and wholemeal bread.

Were you drunk when you wrote this? This is a zombie thread.

Please take your vegan propaganda elsewhere.

Meat is not poison.

Dr Sebi is the dictionary definition of a quack 😂 He wasn't even a qualified doctor!

I was the same, apparently I used to refuse, cry, gag etc
I became a vegetarian at 11, basically as soon as I'd worked out what one was and have been one ever since (I'm now 52!)

So she eats fish, shellfish, mince, ham, sausages, vegetarian burgers, eggs, cheese and yogurt?

So just feed her those things, I don't see the issue.

Almost no-one in the UK is protein deficient, you'd have to have an extremely restricted diet due to extreme poverty or an eating disorder, we need a lot less than many believe.

I honestly don't see why you want her to eat meat. She eats fish, eggs and cheese. She's fine.