Ds won't eat meat.

[HeadFairy]

I suppose I should be pleased that he loves vegetables (well, if they're peas, sweetcorn, carrots or potatoes) but I do worry he's missing out on something important in his diet. I do give him cheese, and he has lots of milk in his diet, plus yoghurts, but there are still things that I think only meat can give him. He's pretty fussy (like dur! He's a toddler ) so I don't reckon I'd have much luck with lentils or barley, or anything like that.

I'm trying to make sure his fairly limited diet is at least nutritious... he likes risotto, pasta (with nice home made veggie sauce), home made pizza and baked beans, but that's about it. Please tell me he's not going to end up with some dreadful defficiency. I know I should be grateful, he eats tons of fruit, loves dried fruit, spent ages eating handfuls of blackberries he picked today on our walk, but I'm just worried he's missing out on something.

And if anyone knows of any good recipes to encourage meat eating I'd love to know them! I made some really yummy cottage pie the other day, which he used to love, and he's turned up his nose at it four times in a row now. Spaghetti bolognaise used to be my standby, but he picks out the pasta and leaves the meat!

Watching with interest, ds spits meat out no matter what form. Like you I've tried all sorts, even making my own chicken nuggets but he'd rather eat beans

He will eat fish though, so it's probably the texture he doesn't like.

My dd spent 4.5yrs not eating meat . I eventually got her to eat fish, and now she will eat most meat, although still not alot. As you say the veg are not a problem,so I just don't push it now . Its all too stressful when you do.

Sounds remarkably similar to my ds. How old is he? Mine's 2.3. Just about the only meat he eats now is sausages. He has gradually self-restrictedd his diet eliminating lots of things he used to happily eat [sigh], which is very annoying, but like you say, he's a toddler so I'm not too worried yet, and like yours, he eats lots of fruit and some vegetables.

I'm comforting myself by the fact that he gets protein from eggs and baked beans, both of which are still thankfully on the menu. And also the fact that plenty of children are brought up vegetarian and survive to adulthood .

You mention baked beans, which are great. What about eggs? Fish? Both good for protein.

DS is almost 2 and we saw a speech and langauge expert last week as he eats very little and she said it was very common not to eat meat for a long time as its hard work for LO's!

He's 2 in a couple of weeks fattipuffs... he hates eggs as well, those he's never eaten. Even when he was smaller and eating everything.

I put cheese on lots of things to make up the protein thing... even grated on his baked beans.

He will occasionally have fish fingers, not much else fish wise... although oddly enough he loves the AK kedgeree recipe... which has smoked haddock, quite a strong flavour. I did think it might be because he finds it a bit bland, he loves strong flavours, extra mature strong cheese is his absolute favourite, but even if I give him some meat with a bit of garlic and tons of flavour he won't have it. I think you're right dizzymare, I think it's the texture.

tryingtobe... does that include things like mincemeat? I assumed as it was smaller it wouldn't be too much of a problem. The wierd thing is he'll tuck in to slices of chewy home made bread which is much harder to chew than most meats...

He'll occasionally have some ham, if I sneak it in a sandwich (mustn't have any bits hanging out of the sandwich or he'll pull it all out) or pasta with cheese sauce, but I guess ham isn't too chewy. A bit salty though.

Mine likes smoked haddock too - and other things with strong/salty flavours (eg extra mature cheese, olives).

If he likes pasta with veg sauces, what about trying some lentils in.

Funny isn't it fattipuffs, they're fussy as fussy gets about really mundane things like a bit of chicken, but they'll tuck in to smoked haddock. Go figure!

I will definitely try the lentils in the veg sauce trick... it's so blended he'll never notice. Plus a with a load of cheese on top he'll be none the wiser!

My eldest didn't eat meat for years. We nicknamed him our "veggie-baby" . It's no big deal. A balanced diet, make sure they get all the vitamins and minerals, they can be healthy on a meat free diet.

btw - in the end, he started eating meat. He only really likes chicken though. And processed junk (sausages etc!)

ds2, otoh - well, he practically weaned on lamb chops!

So I say just go with the flow.

all mine are veggie and all perfectly healthy-it doesnt matter.its easy to be healthy on a veggie diet even with a fussy toddler!is there anything in particular you think hes missing out on?
viva has good info on veggie toddlers.i'll find link.

Thanks hecate, nice to know he won't fade away if he's not eating meat. I gave ds a sausage today for his tea, with lovely home made chips, peas and carrots. He wolfed the veggies and refused the sausage.. odd child!

cheesesarnie - I know there are some specific things you can only get from meat and a few specific non meat substitues. I was a veggie for 10 years when I was younger and was pretty clued up, but I've forgotten most of it, and I'm not sure even if I remembered, that I could get ds to eat tofu etc!

Wow, wish my (vegetarian) 2 year old ate half as healthily as yours, Headfairy! Sounds like he has a great range of food. What about mixing some Quinoa into something he eats, if it's protein you're worrying about.

dd and ds1 wont do tofu etc.ds2 will sometimes.
i use a fab vegan wallchart to make sure we still have a balanced diet -and to shoove in nosey well meaning friends/family faces.

HeadFairy she did also say it was to do with the texture????

fade away? ha. he was a chubby little bugger . If they're growing, developing, happy..they're fine. Don't worry about it.

Thanks for that tryingtobe... I'll try and think of some ways of varying the texture.

Thanks for that Iggi... I thought as it was quite restricted, albeit restricted to some fairly healthy stuff, that it might be wrong somehow. I will try and mix some quinoa in to the risottos perhaps. I always put marscapone or cream cheese in for added protein, but I think quinoa is one of those things that has a different kind of protein similar to that found in meat.

Hecate... I hadn't weighed ds for aaages, not since he had his 8 month check, so I had no idea. He always looks skinny to me. I weighed him the other day and he's on the 75th centile according to the charts in his red book! Similar for height too, so I guess I'm probably fretting over nothing really!

it sounds like your ds has a great diet already - he's eating dairy produce and you can easily slip lentils into pasta sauce so he's getting plenty of protein

it's only vegan families who need to be a bit more careful that their dc are getting everything they need - a lacto-veggie diet is fine - it's what most kids around the world grow up on as meat in many places is unaffordable day to day

if it makes you feel any better, my ds1 has been veggie since he was born and is now a strapping 12 year old who can beat most adults at his chosen sport - if he's deficient in something it sure doesn't look like it

My 14 year old dd never ate meat it used to just go round and round in her mouth, even now she will only have chicken if really tender and sausages but loves fish especially plaice and always has so I've never really bothered, she likes what she likes jacket potatoes,cheese and pasta with butter and cheese on top while everyone else has a meat sauce, I don't cook just for her she fits in with us and its never really been a problem.

I was that baby who didn't like meat from the off! I'm now 38, and didn't suffer any ill effects from it, I even eat some meat now, but mostly chicken etc.

I think it was the texture, but even before I knew what it was I used to spit it out, and didn't really eat it until I was in my late 20's.

I can see that if you look at it from the angle that your baby isn't getting all the things meat can provide, it'd be a worry, but my parents used to force me to eat it with this in mind, and that's prob why I didn't eat it til so late. My advice is to try them on ultra soft 'baby like' meats, even if they're processed, and don't make fuss about them eating/not eating it. Good luck

AFAIK, adults only need a matchbox sized piece of meat/fish every day to meet their protein needs. Your son's diet sounds much better than my eight year olds. She said she was going to be a vegetarian until I pointed out the tragic fact of non fruit or veg or legume eating. Oh the joys of living next to a field with sheep and cows on a rotating residency.

Typical! little beggar had masses of pasta bolognaise at lunchtime!! It was one of those little dish meals, plus I put some cheese on, a tiny squirt of tomato ketchup (he'll eat anything with tomato ketchup on!) and some sweetcorn, which he loves. He wolfed it down! Oh well, that'll be his meat intake for this month done then

My 21 month old only eats the following:Smoked salmon, pasta with pesto, bread and butter, cheerios, occasional eggs, cucumber??!! and thats about it, most of time if sees anything else wont even try it!! Is a happy we soul though and developing ok i think so not getting stressed about it anymore(has been like this for about 7 months!)Think it is a texture thing...maybe i should sieve his meat??