4 yr old DS refusing to eat vegetables any ideas???

[JP2003]

My DS always used to eat most vegetables and really enjoy them. But a few months ago he started "going off" certain vegetables. It has now come to the point where he wont even touch the vegetables. The only thing he will eat is mashed potato.
I have tried continuing placing a piece on his plate but tonight he moved it all off his plate onto his mat as didnt want it anywhere near the rest of his food.
This created huge problems and I ended up shouting at him. He did eat the rest of his meal leaving the vegetables. I then tried a technique my parents used to do and sent him to bed. Though this had a second purpose as he was extremly tired.
I dont want to go down the route of shouting at him to eat it and creating even more problems or even phobia's. I really dont know what to do about this. Can anyone give me ideas to get my DS back on his vegetables.

I do not think there is any point in trying to make children eat any food. OK so he's gone off veg apart from mashed spuds; mash a little veg into the potato (eg cabbage to make bubble and squeak) and offer it. If he eats some, give him lots of approval. If he leaves it without tasting, say ok no pudding except fruit. If he eats sweets or crisps you could try restricting them on the grounds that these are treats and not to be eaten instead of your dinner.

What I'm trying to say is that you can manipulate to a certain extent but if you have open confrontation it will be counter productive.

In our house, if some one leaves some of their dinner - veg or any other part, they have to see whether any one else wants to eat it (and often some one does) so that as little food as possible is wasted.

I wouldnt stop putting the veg on his plate.
if he pushes them of the plate again, simply point out that this is not what we should do when eating at the table.

If truly concerned lack of veg wise, home made soup with bread and cheese added is good. whizz is up so no lumps and add sweet tasting veg, like butternut squash.

good ole spag bol is fab for hiding veg, grate carrot in meat etc.
One of my children hated carrots and some veg until he was about 10. I always added them on to his plate, and tried to avoid talking about it. ( although hubby didnt, it drove me bonkers!)
Our boy loved strong flavoured food, so plenty of veggie currys worked really well!!

I wouldnt go to extreme worry unless lack of bowel movements are a problem. Hopefully child is eating fruit and drinking small amounts of fruit juice, and its all just a blip on the refusing veg front.
good luck

Will he eat mashed up sweet potato, swede, turnip of carrots? (even if these are mixed in with mash)
It is likely just a phase - dd went through a few weeks of only eating peas or sweetcorn, one at a time, with her fingers....
You could also try taking him shopping and asking him to pick from the shelves which he wants to eat to make it 'his special choice' Good luck

my dd is the same with veg and now refuses most of them except broccoli and cauliflower - at times I have to tell her that she has to eat a small piece before she can leave the table. She does however like fruit so she does at least get some fruit portions a day.

My DS did exactly the same with fruit at the age of 3 or 4 and still won't eat any fruit unless it is orange juice (which he has watered down) and cooked apple, as in apple strudel or crumble. Unfortunately, I thought it was a phase and he is now 7 so I don't know when this one is going to end.

I really would like to know if something happens to their tastebuds at that age that makes them seemingly hate all the stuff they used to like.

The only thing I have been able to do it make sure that he eats as much veg as possible to compensate so I suppose you would have to make sure that your ds eats as much fruit as possible.

Hiding fruit is very difficult it seems and my ds is not easily fooled but I think others are right about hiding veg in things like spag bol or cottage pie as it seems easier to do with veg. Try not to hide too much at a time as he will notice. Don't forget also, that baked beans are also a veg although obviously you can't live off those for ever. We tend to have low salt/sugar ones.

Will he eat salad such as cucumber and tomato? They are not so obviously vegetabley and every little helps.

The other thing I have seen on a healthy eating programme on telly is to offer a treat if they will eat just one mouthful of something and then start upping the amount very gradually. The star chart might work for this. Don't be over ambitious though and try and get him to eat a whole portion, don't even put a whole portion on a plate, just one mouthful at a time.

It doesn't work so well with fruit though sadly, as by the time my DS has eaten his main course he can take or leave the desert so no amount of bribing seems to work.

I hope you get your DS back on track soon.

My dc eat a lot of fruit and this could be because I never have biscuits or crisps in the house, so fruit is all that is available for a snack after school, most of the time.

some one gave me a box of chocs the other day, but I didn't hide it well enough and there were not many left by the time I wanted to gorge myself. Oh well, they saved me from myself I suppose.

Thanx for all the advice.
I have tried my son on mashed sweet potato and swede n carrots in the past but didnt like.

Problem is my DS is not adventurous when it comes to food and if he isnt sure of it he wont even try it.

Fruit wise he will now only eat Apples and drink fresh apple or pineapple juice.

I bumped into my HV today and she suggested the fruit juice daily which to be honest i hadnt thought about.

I am lucky in some ways with his eating as he isnt a huge fan of crisps- 7 bag pack of hula hoops can last up to 3 wks! and biscuit - i buy a pack of penguins every 2-3 wks. I eat more than he does!! Chips etc he doesnt tend to eat he prefers "proper" food. His main love is yoghurts!

I guess from reading everyones comments i need to calm down about it all. Just find it hard trying to think what is right thing to do when have no one to consult at home. Least i have other parents on here!

Thanx

Sounds like you are doing fine JP - well done for getting some goodness into him!

My dd was great at eating veg until she went to school. I think they must see other children refusing veg there and pick up on it. I could cry because she ate EVERYTHING before then. She will occasionally revert back to her old self at w/e s though.

I know it's a pain but I have had great success with making things in to faces. Sausage for mouth, two pieces of red pepper for ears, broccoli for hair - that sort of thing. Also, second the suggestion about the soup. I put dd's in a tiny "fairy" cup and then she has seconds and thirds.

Another idea if your ds is getting sensitive aobut touching veg could be to get him involved in a really fun cooking session. Home made pizzas are good for this. DD is much happier eating something she has had a hand in preparing. Don't know if that's any help but hope so and it sounds as if your are doing really well on not going down the junk food route. I have to monitor my dd's in-take of crisps and chocolate like a hawk else she would eat nothing else ...

Finally, the only thing I insist on is that dd tries at least one bite of something. If she doesn't like it, I just take it away - no fuss - and re-introduce it later. Oh and having a child around who is a good eater is always helpful too.

Good luck.