Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

6 year old DS stopped eating veg what do I do?

29 replies

Guiltymumofthree · 05/03/2023 17:44

He use to love veg and would always ask for more broccoli or sweetcorn but now won’t touch any of it. I have started buying more fruit for him but I’m a bit gutted to be honest as all my kids were brilliant eaters. I am still putting it on his plate but he is leaving it every time.

Is this a faze? Or is that just it now. I’m not sure what I can do I have begged and pleaded with him but it just ends in tears.

OP posts:
Murraydeservedit · 05/03/2023 17:47

Nothing.

Just keep putting it on the plate and don’t make an issue of it.

I’ve had these phases with two of my children. I soon learned after the first that it was far better to ignore it.

Whatafustercluck · 05/03/2023 17:53

Has he stopped eating it completely or is it just that he'll only eat one or two types of veg?

12yo ds was a great eater, still is. Veg and fruit never an issue. 6yo dd is much fussier. She used to eat more, but will now only eat broccoli, peas and fruit. I just upped the fruit and tried to hide the veg by cutting it up tiny. No point in making a battle out of it.

Nimbostratus100 · 05/03/2023 17:54

maybe let him be involved in the choice and preparation? Does he come to the shops with you?

CottonSock · 05/03/2023 18:04

Well, others will disagree, but I bribe my 6yo. She's very very fussy and won't try things based on appearance. In the last few weeks we've added 3 new fruits to her range. She's been a nightmare with food since weaning (food refusal). I don't force her to eat, just try. Even if a lick.

Sandysandwich · 05/03/2023 18:10

I wouldn't be massively worried, if he liked it before he might come back to it.
Does he eat it if its cooked into things? Like carrots in a shepards pie or spinach in a curry?

Pesimistic · 05/03/2023 18:15

Don't worry about it, just offer it on his plate ask once if he would like to eat it if not don't push it, don't punish and don't make a big deal out if it, its realy common and its realy rare for adults not to eat vegetables so don't panic

sidsgranny · 05/03/2023 18:16

Does he like raw veg? My almost 17 year old loves most things raw - sugarsnaps, peppers, carrots etc but hates them cooked. Maybe try this?

singlemummanurse · 05/03/2023 18:18

My little girl was always fab at eating veg when younger but the overcooked veg with school dinners put her off. I have a rule of you have to try everything on your plate but if you don't like it you don't have to eat it. Sometimes she'll eat the veg, other times not. She loves raw veggies like carrot sticks, tomatoes, cucumber etc and fruit so I can still get her recommended amount in just not as much in cooked form. Also having it cooked inside something helps like in shepherd's pie, chicken and veg pie etc. She'll help me cook it and choose which veg we put in it and is much more likely to eat it.

Jusforthisfred · 05/03/2023 18:24

Mine did the same, so i just hid it all. Jamie oliver has a tomato sauce recipe eith maybe 15 different vegetables, which you blitz. I use variations of this as pizza sauce, bolognaise, mac and cheese, gravy etc. It is easy to roast, saute or boil veg and blitz it for a base. I would still add whole veg to the plate too.

Attictroll · 05/03/2023 18:29

Ds was exactly the same and now aged 10 can't even be bribed. And will just sit there not eating anything if pushed for hours. Does eat a good amount of fruit and is aware a lot of what he eats now has vegetable sauce in it which is a blitzed mix which is the base for everything. We aren't really a meat and veg on a plate family always eating chilli, curry, pasta , an d sauce gets bunged in everything

Mariposista · 05/03/2023 18:36

You don't let him have any of the treat food that he likes until he does. Zero ice cream, biscuits, chocolate, crisps, whatever. Nothing until he complies.

Untitledsquatboulder · 05/03/2023 19:38

I had this w ds2. At one point we were down to just broccoli and carrots (plus stealth vegetables hidden in tomato sauce). To stop his range contracting any further I'd give carrots or broccoli every night and, if he didn't want to eat them, then he wasn't hungry enough for pudding. No arguements, no drama, it was just a rule. Eventually he just started eating most other veg again.

CeliaNorth · 05/03/2023 20:02

You don't let him have any of the treat food that he likes until he does. Zero ice cream, biscuits, chocolate, crisps, whatever. Nothing until he complies.

I'd give carrots or broccoli every night and, if he didn't want to eat them, then he wasn't hungry enough for pudding.

If these were girls, people would be saying 'way to set them up for an eating disorder'.

What are the benefits of eating vegetables that are worth creating this level of conflict?

My mother could have put a tomato on my plate every day throughout my childhood. I wouldn't have eaten it. Not because I wasn't hungry, or because I wasn't deserving of pudding or treats, but because I didn't like tomatoes. I still don't like them and I still don't eat them.

PeaceLilyCactus · 05/03/2023 20:04

Give him daily chewy kids vitamins. You can buy them at asda and they’ll help while you deal with the vegetables issue.

Girasoli · 05/03/2023 20:07

I just put vegetables on the plate and DC can eat them or not eat them. DS1 will eat all of them, DS2 might occasionally take a nibble of something.

They can still have pudding after.

coffeecupsandwaxmelts · 05/03/2023 20:12

Nothing. I would give him a multi-vitamin everyday but I wouldn't go down the road of forcing him to eat things.

I remember being forced to eat cold, cooked spinach when I was about seven - my dad thought I was being naughty by refusing to eat it - until I threw up all over the table, myself, the floor and him.

PollyPut · 05/03/2023 22:27

have you tried raw veg, especially carrot sticks?

We usually have 3 types of veg at most meals, in the centre of the table so people choose their own. Everyone will eat at least one of them, they all have their preferences and I don't mind which they take.

WhatALlama2 · 05/03/2023 22:30

My 4 year old won't eat any veg apart from sweetcorn, beans and occasionally peas. I had a call from school to pick him up as he'd been sick and I later found out from him that it was because he'd tried to eat some carrot and gagged on the taste 🙈 It does do my head in a bit but he loves fruit and has a daily vitamin so I just try and not worry about it. My sister still won't eat any veg and she's 34!

DoNutSweatTheSmallStuff · 05/03/2023 22:35

Info on here might help - love this campaign!

vegpower.org.uk/

GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing · 05/03/2023 22:36

My Ds is terrible for vegetables and I don’t really have an answer.

At various points he will eat either raw or roasted carrots. Sweet potatoes can be ok. Tomato on pizza or in bolognaise sauce. The bolognaise sauce eating is new so I’m carefully experimenting with what I can hide in it.

He’ll eat various fruits but mostly mango, peeled and cut up apple, bananas, sometimes orange melons, strawberries.

It’s quite tricky but he does have genuine sensory issues with various things and we’re in the middle of an adhd assessment.

WeightoftheWorld · 05/03/2023 22:42

My DC is only 4 but has never really eaten veg much and got worse as she got older. The only vegetables she will consistently eat are carrots and cucumber.

In our house if you don't eat your meal, you're not hungry, so you don't have dessert afterwards. However I dont apply that to things that she's tried a few times and says she doesn't like. Unfortunately that is almost all veg but I know that bitter foods taste more bitter for young children than us due to the way their taste buds are developing or something so it makes sense why children often don't like a lot of veg really.

I still put everything on her plate and encourage her to try/eat them but I don't push. DS is a much better eater overall but also doesn't really eat veggies. But he's only 1 and doesn't have a full set of teeth yet so I'm hoping it might improve as he can chew things as he's otherwise a good eater.

riotlady · 05/03/2023 22:42

Stop begging, keep putting it on his plate without comment and keep your fruit stocked.

If it helps I was a wildly fussy child and loved broadly on plain cheese sandwiches, pasta and skips. Am now a fairly normal eating adult and didn’t suffer any malnutrition

betsyannegrey · 05/03/2023 22:48

I've been through this with ds. He was a shockingly fussy eater but now as an adult he will eat literally anything, he has a very healthy diet.

Don't cajole, bribe or punish, you are just turning it into a big issue and that won't help.

Give him a multi vitamin so you won't be worrying about it.

Something that really worked for us was to call the dc in for dinner about 10 minutes before it's ready and have a plate of raw veggies on the table for them to eat. Call them crudités if f that will help! You'd be surprised at how much they'll scoff especially if they're hungry after sports, a trip to the park, etc.

Very high chance that it's a phase, it will pass.

Murdoch1949 · 06/03/2023 01:52

Do the secret veg trick, by loading up your shepherds pies, curries, chillies, stews, bolognese etc with soffritto (I buy it ready prepared , finely chopped carrots, onions and celery). You can mash it down or blend it (in sauces). You could also try making veggie fritters or cakes - veg mixed in with potato then coated and fried or baked.

Untitledsquatboulder · 06/03/2023 07:32

@CeliaNorth not giving your kids sweet stuff to replace the meal they haven't eaten does not cause eating disorders Hmm Strangely not serving pudding at all doesn't either. No one can, or should, force a child to eat anything but loading them with sugar because they prefer it is actually not good parenting.

Swipe left for the next trending thread