4year old won't eat animals

[sammum9]

My 4yo DS has over the last few weeks been saying he doesn't want to eat animals. When asked why he said it's because they have to be deaded first. We are a household of 7 and up until recently have all eaten meat. DS asks me whenever I put food in front of him if it comes from an animal and I answer honestly. I think he understands (as much as any 4 yo can) and is making a conscious decision. He's not being fussy as he previously loved sausages, bacon, roast chicken etc.

My main problem is that my DP refuses to accept it and gives DS whatever he's cooked. Yesterday it was bolognaise and DS didn't even ask him whether it was animal and wolfed it down. I do the majority of the cooking and really don't know whether to encourage him to eat the same as everyone else or prepare something separate. I'm also concerned about his health as I don't know much about vegetarianism. DS seems to have eaten an awful lot of cheese and baked beans recently!

Any advice welcome!

Ffs she'd have veg +substitute for the other meals.
Night all!

Could dh only cook vegi options?

We, as a society, probably eat too much meat so 1 or 2 meat free days a week for everyone will do no harm and might actually be healthier all round.

I do an aubergine and tomato casserole, basically like a moussaka without the meat - have a search of my name for the full recipe. You can do it with cheese on top or with breadcrumbs and yofu instead of yoghurt which is what I have done for vegan friends.

If you get tins of things like mung beans you can make burger/meatball type things, mash half the contents of the tin, leave the other half whole and roll in to balls, or make patties. You might need some egg depending on the beans/pulses.

Your little boy sounds awesome OP!

May I recommend Linda McCartney pies and plaits they are very tasty. Another dish the family may all enjoy is pasta, pesto, with chunks of mozzarella, olives and sun dried tomatoes.

We're not a veggie family but I think aiming for a few veggie meals each week is a good thing for everyone to do.

Thanks all. I love hearing about your experiences and it kinda puts it into perspective. I know I'm not the only one who has to juggle meals to suit the family. It's just that it's been so easy up until now - I'm not generally the sort of person to cook different meals according to likes and dislikes - if my kids won't eat what they're given they go hungry (which doesn't happen often as they're pretty good really).

Thanks too for some great ideas for meat-free meals.

I'm actually secretly proud of my DS and yes spring, he is awesome (thank you!). He is behind with his speech so often appears younger than he is which I think may contribute to him not being taken so seriously. (Honestly he's so gorgeous, the way he says "me no want eat aminals!!" with such a determined look on his face).

One day soon I'll have to have a chat with DP, but I know I'll be cooking for at least the next 3 days so there's no rush....

"if he sticks to his guns he could end up with a very unbalanced diet."

Very unlikely to happen. Children often go through faddy phases and emerge perfectly unscathed. Some turn down vegetables and there's great concern and lots of helpful suggestions about how to get more veg into their diet. But just because it's meat he's fussy about, suddenly he's making moral/lifestyle choices.

He's 4yo, someone's made him feel squeamish about eating a pig. He'll get over it if no-one makes a big deal out of it.

Hugh F-W's Veg book is very good for ideas and so is Grains, seeds & legumes by Molly Brown.

I second Whatthebloddywoman says and intervene. I think if your dp won't respect ds's wishes, you should intervene and either cook yourself, or when dp cooks, you cook a vegetarian alternative.

Try serving DH with tripe, a pig's trotter or tongue and see how much he likes it.

it is up to you op but your post sounds as though you are listening to your ds and want to respect his wishes. Good luck. you have some sound advice but you and your dp need to agree on how to approach this.

I have to disagree with cogito on this, it is different refusing vegetables and not wanting to eat animals because it involves killing them. children can and do make those distinctions at an early age. my cousin did at 4 yo after seeing lambs in the fields around her house dissappear, made the connection with the meat she was served and has been vegetarian for 40 years. it does happen. I have been veggie since I was 15 my husband since he was 12.

it is a perfectly sound diet. I dont believe in indulging whims but if the child decides later that actually they dont mind about eating animals after all, you can still use the experience as a way to help them understand the origin of the food on the table - never a bad thing. I am always matter of fact not sentimental or hysterical, and children respond well to that.

cogito, being fussy/not liking something is hardly the same as choosing not to eat it because of where it came from. As I said before, my children are used to taking or leaving what's put in front of them and if they don't eat it, gong without. The same ds refused vegetables when he was 2, but it was because he didn't like them and so I kept putting them on his plate and eventually he started eating them again. At the moment he doesn't like eating meat, thought it's not because he doesn't like it, but because he doesn't like the thought of eating those creatures that he also likes to stroke, pet and feed.

I may be making a deal of it here because I want advice, but I don't make a big deal of it with him - I offer him the choice - one protein or another - like saying cabbage or broccoli to a child who's fussy about veg.

My DP and I have talked some more and he's happy to cook fish (which ds doesn't mind eating) or some other non-meat dish when feeding the children. It saves him having to offer Ds a choice or even having to talk about it unless one of the children brings it up.

As I said earlier, I love hearing stories you others have had about similar experiences, and advice on feeding a mixture of meat-eating and non-meat eating kids is welcome. Also recipe links are great (Now that said DS is at school I actually have a full day off from work and can try them!!). I have made the decision to be led by my son in this and to respect his feelings and opinions whilst trying not to make a big deal out of it.

So thank you very much for all stories and help, but no more negative comments.

My DD's spicy beanburger recipe is on MN
She says to avoid soya because it's full of oestrogen