OK, so what do you all do when your dc refuse to eat fruit and veg? **I'm getting a little stressed**

[loveroflife]

Ds is 2 and has now decided he doesn't want to eat fresh fruit or veg anymore...

I did the whole BLW thing to a t and have always tried very hard to give him a really well balanced, fresh diet. He has now for the past 6 months refused to eat:

Apples
Bananas
Pears
S/Berries
Grapes
Melon
Mango
Carrots
Green Broccoli
Green Beans
Peas
Cauliflower

So, as you can see - he pretty much won't eat anything. If I sneak carrots, very finely diced into his spag bol etc he spits it out. We tried spinach and ricotta pasta parcels tonight and he refused to eat them.

I don't want him to go to bed hungry, so gave in and made him pizza toast. All he wants is carbs, it's driving me mad and his poo is very dry and solid (sorry tmi), I am at my wits end and starting to get rather upset.

Any advice please? I think it is more than 'a phase'. His lovely daddy does have rather bland tastebuds and isn't keen on the above, could it be genes?

Just keep putting it out alongside his favourites.
Cook with him.
Be relaxed- no battleground.

If you want to try disguising it: smoothies; jelly with fruit; bread or muffins made with courgette/sweet potato; veg crisps; deep fried tempura veg; oven chips of parsnip and other root veg; blended veg sauces. carrot juice mixed with fruit juice or fizzy water.

My 2 yrold was like that. Now he's 10 he's a lot better. Going fruit picking really helped with him. As did taking all the pressure off at meal times and doing a lot of messy cooking. School dinners helped loads too-he started those at preschool at 3yrs.

Have you tried smoothies? These used to con my DS into fruit. If he is doing pizza then that means tomato sauces might ba a goer so don't beat yourself up, that's another portion going in! Just keep putting a little on his plate. Does he go to nursery? I find peer pressure to be a helpful tool even at this age! Oh and don't forget baked beans counts as a veg!

yes to smoothies (even add some veg) and then stick them in one of these lollies

How about dips? Mine like a platter of colourful fruit and or veg with dips both savory and sweet or tortilla roll-ups with banana, apples and peanut butter? Mine all love veggie sushi with carrots, cucumber, avocado, mango etc., esp. if there's some soy sauce for dipping. They're not great at eating any of the above on it's own but if it's in sushi they'll eat it . It's been a good way to get them to eat fish too.

Try a fruit smoothie.

Give him fruit juice as one of his five-a-day.

Give him sultanas/ dried apricots/ similar as another one of his five-a-day.

Make pizza/ pasta sauces with lots of tomatoes, as he seems to like them?

Does he like cheese? If so, serve veg in cheese sauce.

Cut up small amounts of different coloured fruit to serve him an interesting-looking fruit salad, maybe with something tempting like a little bit of ice cream.

Put fruit/ veg out on his plate anyway, alongside something he does like (this trick got DS eating carrots and green beans finally).

If he's getting constipated, maybe you might need to get him something for that seperately - when DS had problems the GP and hospital advice we got was 1. lots of fluids, 2. five-a-day, 3. a laxative (we use lactulose).

Keeping an eye out with interest. My DS age 4 is like this, although he will eat peas, tomatoes on things (pizza etc)
He is like the veg detective, the slightest sight of carrot and aaargh. He has never, and I mean to the point where we tried to not feed him anything unless he ate vegetables reasonably, ever eaten fruit. nothing like people saying, 'starve them and they'll eventually eat it' and seeing your DS with a 'failure to thrive' label! In the end, we gave in, and just kept at it. But he will spit out anything like that.

Now, he has just started to accept eating one baby carrot, or a bit of broccoli etc each meal. He still hates them, but at least he will try. Does that help at all? In other words, my DS was like your DS and is now a little better.

Ooh - forgot cooked/ stewed fruits - DS loves rhubarb crumble, and baked apples!

Mine was very similar but always ate most things at nursery! Frustrated me but at least I knew some fruit and veg was getting into him. I just kept cooking him meals where there is at least one thing he likes, then a small portion of something he doesn't on the same plate but not mixed in. Then he always has a chance to try it if he fancies, with no pressure. If you have the same then he may or may not want to have some too if he sees you eating it. He is much better now and is more open to trying things, especially if I tell him he can have more of the thing he does like if he tries the veg. Eg you've had one slice of pizza but no carrot yet. If you try one piece of carrot you can have another slice of pizza, if not then none. He's 2 and a half now and understands that. Then I know he's at least had enough to not go hungry. Good luck!

Sorry - also forgot to add, when I was a kid we ate all the peas straight from the pod, grown in the garden. Worth a go getting him to do a spot of veg growing with you, then eating the results? (Yes, I know this is a longer-term plan!)

As you may have gathered, DS also went through this phase though would always still eat some fruit, and is now coming out of it aged 3.5ish.

Don't give in and offer something else! Young children generally won't starve themselves. Make sure the vegetables and fruit you are offering are reasonable - I mean don't expect him to eat spinach or brussell sprouts as many children don't like that (although mine do). But carrots, peas, apple etc is perfectly reasonable to expect him to eat. There will be certain vegetables he doesn't like but if you offer a variety at meal time or as snacks then he can choose which ones he'll eat and which he'll leave. You're giving him a little choice and control in that he gets to decide which vegetables or fruits he will and won't eat so power to him. But don't offer anything else, if he refuses don't make a fuss, simply remove his plate from the table when everyone else is finished and leave it at that. At the next meal time he will be hungrier and more inclined to eat. If he's hungry shortly after the meal and needs a snack then offer a selection of sliced fruits or vegetables. If he seems to enjoy raw vegetables more than cooked then offer it to him that way at meal times, my son went through a phase of only wanting raw vegetables.

If he has a friend or young relative who enjoys their fruit and vegetables then invite them around for tea, it will be a good role model for your son. Also try taking him to a pick your own farm, my kids loved going when they were younger and seemed to enjoy eating their pickings very much. If you can, grow some of your own veg or fruit at home, we used to have an allotment and again the children loved being able to pick their own home grown food. Digging potatoes was their favorite part along with the strawberries and sweetcorn. If you really do want to diguise vegetables in food then I find grating rather than finely dicing works better :)

Oh and then he started loving gravy and also ketchup so if we're having a meal with one of those, he will try a piece of veg if I encourage him to dip the veg into it.

If he tries something and doesn't like it then I don't ask him to have anymore that meal.

Firstly, do not worry, my children are exactly the same BUT there is light at the end of the tunnel. My ds started refusing fruit and veg at the age your ds is, but now he is nearly 4 I have got him back up to eating peas, sweetcorn, carrots, sweet potato, runner beans and mushrooms (great big chunks of them, not cut up finely at all). Still no fruit but i'm working on it. My dd is 2 and eats no fruit or veg but i'm not worried like i was with ds because i do think she'll start to improve the same as he did.

Please remember it is nothing you have done - I too was very conscientious about what my ds ate as a baby, and tried to give him a huge range of fresh foods. I used to get so annoyed when people who had toddlers that were good eaters would say things like "my child eats anything because i made all his purees myself". Nope, they are just lucky and their child happens to like loads of different foods.

I have managed to get ds eating more veg by using a chart i drew on a chalk board with smily faces for finished meals. I also do a weekly meal plan, he helps me choose what meals we will have and we also discuss one new food which he will try during the following week, so he is prepared for it. If he has tried and liked a new food i might reward him with a treat for pudding (he loves rice pudding or jelly so i make big batches of those). When i make a meal i make sure there is at least one element i know he likes so he doesn't take one look at the plate and throw a wobbly. He also likes to be told exactly how many mouthfuls of veg i expect him to eat then he does a countdown.

HOWEVER your ds (and my dd) are too young to fall for respond to these types of tactics (except sometimes dd will eat a few bites of something like carrot in order to get a yoghurt). SO here are some ideas for sneaking fruit and veg into them until they are a bit more suggestible:

Mix fruit puree into yoghurt
Make korma sauce with pureed cauliflower
Spaghetti bolognese with pureed brocolli
Baked beans with LOTS of pureed carrot swirled through them
Humzingers (dd LOVES these - dried fruit in moderation is better than no fruit)
Ice lollies made with yoghurt and squashed up raspberries
Jelly with fresh raspberries
Fruit pots/ fruit pouches
Fruit juice
Soup
Mashed sweet potato
Carrot and parsnips "chips" roasted in olive oil in oven.

As well as this, keep offering the healthy non pureed food. Someone told me that it is a parents job to PROVIDE a healthy and balanced diet, even if the child in question won't eat it. If you are offering the food, you are fulfilling your end of the bargain, whether or not he eats it (plus sneaking some of the healthy stuff into him as well). I also give my children a multivitamin, although i know some people aren't keen on doing that. I use the haliborange one.

I hope some of that is helpful, and remember you are doing a great job providing all that lovely healthy food, even if it doesn't always get eaten!

Oh yes, and smoothies!

Thanks so much everyone.

I will go with smoothies - great advice. I will make my own but are the Innocent ones totally natural out of interest? I'm just thinking when he goes out and about etc. Often I give him fresh oj/aj (not from concentrate) but dentist said not too much (acidity on teeth, apparently).

Glad to hear I'm not the only one - phew. I feel terrible about it, clogging him up (literally with carbs) and am dying for him to eat something fresh.

He even spots the carrots in his lasagna and spits them out - you can't get anything past him!

Sushi sounds like a great plan. He likes salmon and fish fingers so fingers crossed for that......

We made a lovely veg pizza yesterday with mushrooms, red pepper, red onion and then when it was time to eat it, he picked it all off and just ate the cheese and tom sauce!

He's going to pre school soon, so I hope that will make a difference and he will follow others leads, but we go to quite a few groups and when snack time appears, he is the only one who refuses all the fruit and will only eat the bloody breadsticks!

Give him more water if his pops are dry.

DS is like this. I've read that apparently their taste buds change at 2 which can be a factor.

We serve veg with our meals together, we also try and have loads of fruit in and DS started asking for it. Let him see you eat - DS is always nicking my apples

DS doesn't like carrots or green veg. Both don't agree with him so I don't push it. But you can try other veg like sweet potatoes, parsnip (mix in mashed potatoes) and sweetcorn?

Looking at your list - a lot of those veg cause constipation, wind an acid reflux so maybe your DS knows something you don't?

Also DS likes his food set out where he can see what's in it. So I don't mix things up and he's happier.

Puree veg and include it in recipes -- it can go into a tomato sauce for pizza or spaghetti and also into muffins and cakes. You can puree cooked celery and sweated onions and put them in tomatoey sauces (a little goes a long way) like bolognese and shephers's pie and dishes like curried lentils if he would go for something like that.

Make banana muffins, bread, pureed carrot muffins and cake. Stewed apple can be used in stead of shortening in some recipes for cake. Same for tomato sauce.

[[http://www.healthysupplies.co.uk/fruit-powders-and-vegetable-powders.html Powdered vegetables and fruits] for use in cooking. You can hide the powder in all sorts of baked goods including chocolate flavoured items. Chocolate can hide a multitude of flavours. You can also use it in smoothies made with yogurt or ice cream.

Powdered vegetables and fruits. Sorry, link again.

I've been having a similar problem with dd2 who is 3. Over about 6 months she gradually cut down her fruit and veg intake to practically nothing.

The resulting constipation was causing problems with toilet training.

I now make a pureed homemade soup with carrot, parsnip and sweet potato that she likes.

Also when I make a vegetable curry now I whizz up some of the sauce with all the veg in it and add the chunky veg back in. She mostly avoids the chunks but she still gets all the vegetables in the sauce.

I discovered that she loves those tiny baby sweet corn so we have them a few times a week and she will now, after persistently putting them on her plate for weeks, eat sugar snap peas and green beans.

We haven't had as much success with fruit so I have started buying smoothies - I found some in Lidl that aren't too expensive. She sometimes eats a banana

I don't make a big deal about it but I am consistent in putting a small amount of veg on her plate at every dinner.

Hopefully it is just a phase.

I really love all veg and her big sister is good to eat fruit and veg so hopefully she will follow our lead.

Oh yes, banana loaf is also excellent, you can put lots and lots of bananas in and both my dcs who look at a banana like it's poisonous wolf it down.

Oh and DS would always eat for nursery but end up with a sore tummy as a result :(

loveroflife - this is also what I found with DS - the breadstick thing. You can't always be the one feeding him, and what I found is that his CM would give him things and he would reject all the fruit and veg.And in many ways, it's not her job to cajole him. So he would probably not eat much at hers and just eat carbs. Honestly, I think he'd rather starve than eat a grape (as said by the failure to thrive part)

As said, DS now will eat peas, green beans, carrots, broccoli and lettuce, but only a bit. Otherwise, I hide purees in all our foods, give smoothie every a.m, give raisins, fruit pouches and keep trying.

If all that fails, my DB didnt eat fruit and veg until he went to uni, but used to get drunk so much and get the munchies that it cured him very quickly!

Oh, and my DD eats everything. I used to be very smug that I was such a wonderful mother.

What about finely grating the carrot into the Bolognese/lasagne rather than chopping it?

Are you giving vitamins (I mix abidec drops into DDs milk in the morning)?

Ice lollies are a good way of getting fluids in - you could freeze very diluted juice in lolly moulds - even put some fruit in.

Apricots, apples and raisins in flapjacks made with agave syrup instead of golden syrup. (you can also add ground seeds too for added Mummy feel good factor!)

Sweetcorn pureed and mixed into pancake batter.

Puree anything (broccoli stalks is a good one) and put it in lasagne / bolognese.

Use small amounts at first so they go "unnoticed".

I can get away with a small amount of spinach chopped in the food processor mixed into potato cakes.

Mine also get a handed a bowl of raw carrots, cucumber and peppers before their meal while they are playing / watching TV. They don't all / always eat it but it has worked a treat with my youngest and then what appears on the plate at the table can be just carbs and protein! Youngest also loves frozen peas - i don't complain!!

There is also pasta that is coloured by the addition of tomato and spinach.

I've been there and two years later have finally come out the other side! Last week for the first time in his 4 and a half year old life, ds2 sat and started to eat an apple. Just picked it up and started to eat. And the week before that he tried a banana. He's eaten satsuma segments for perhaps 8 months or so now. I cried with joy. These are the only fruits he'll eat in their natural state. On vegetables he'll eat sweetcorn on the cob and carrots and has done so for only about the last year. Prior to that, nothing. Zip, zero, de nada. We eat a lot of sweetcorn cobs in this house...!

The year between 2 and 3 he ate less than a dozen types of foodstuffs - literally nothing else. He would eat bread and bread products (including cakes, pastries etc), ham, cheese, sausages, and breaded chicken which I used to make at home. Some breakfast cereals with milk. Would occasionally eat yoghurt. Sometimes ate raisins, and sometimes those pure fruit pouches/pots, but not any other baby food purees. The heartache and anger that food refusal can cause is unbelievable to those who've never been through it, so I sympathise OP, oh how I sympathise. I've had two hour battle of wills over a single teaspoon of mashed potato

But I had my own little mental breakthrough a short time after the above incident when I realised that I can't physically force the food into his mouth, I can't physically move his jaw to make him chew, I can't physically force him to swallow. So I could either spend the entire forseable future causing myself stress and heartache or I could try and relax a little bit and just go with the flow until I felt stronger and more able to try and tackle it again. And he's naturally improved over the past 12 months and now eats a reasonably balanced diet, even though it's not an adventurous one.