anyone had success getting toddlers to eat veg. when they previously ate none?

[puffling]

DD is 2 and hates all vegetables, even peas.
She doesn't respond to the methods people suggest e.g. making thing colourful, playful, crunchy etc. She just doesn't want them. I get them into her by mushing broccoli and carrot into pasta sauce, or by secreting veg. into cottage pie etc.
I don't know the way forward. She's so stubborn about it and I've not turned it into a campaign yet. If I do, I know there'll be tears.
Shall I do naughty step? Shall I just wait till she's older? What works?

honey glazed broccoli and carrots. Just cook them up and drizzle with honey. What toddler in their right mind would refuse to eat something sweet after all?!

Yes or mixed with apple sauce/fruit!

Don't panic. My DD1 was like this and would act like we were force feeding her broken glass if we put veg on her plate. She could even tell when I had pureed carrot into the spag bol sauce and wouldn't eat it!

She's now 9.5 and eats (and asks for!) carrots, cauliflower, broccoli and peas. Admittedly she doesn't like any other veggies but I think that's not too bad a selection.

I just kept putting them on her plate (just a small amount) and eventually she started trying them. Since she was about 4 or 5 we had a rule that she has to at least try something even if she doesn't like it and doesn't eat the rest.

Don't force her, don't put her on the naughty step, just keep offering, don't say a thing and take it away when she's finished whether she's eaten it or not. One day she will eat it. The more you push the more she'll kick against it. I also think that when you push/bribe/blackmail them to eat veggies they think that there's something awful about veg and are even less likely to eat them.

how about tempura with ketchup to dip?

Or vegetable chips? Parsnip ones are rather delicious.

Keep offering. Keep offering. Keep offering. But don't comment if she doesn't eat them.

Another good trick is to give her the vegetable part of the meal first, as a starter, if she's really hungry she may well eat it. I find DS eats more this way rather than if the veg is on the plate with everythin else.

and what sidge said. Don't make it into a big deal or bribe or coerce her into eating it. Just always have veg offered.

Try not offering her any for a fortnight. Do you sit and eat as a family? If you do, try putting the veg in a big bowl on the table and everyone else taking some from it. Try to make sure she sees you all eating carrot sticks as a snack etc. She might get curious if she sees it as a grown up food that she's not being pressured to eat.

Ella's House babyfood sachets are really sweet (lots of apple), but also have veg in them. My DS will eat a whole sachet - I just take the little cap off, then I let him suck on it/squeeze it onto his mouth. Also good as a ketchup replacement.

Also, DD was like your DD until she started nursery. I just gave her lots of fruit. Now (almost 4) she will eat all carrots and peas and peppers by the truckload, and other veg if encouraged. I think they get their eventually, and other children's influence (at nursery or friends houses) can help

Astrophe you can make that stuff yourself for about a fraction of the price.

I know, but DS loves to suck to from the pouch - he wont eat it off a spoon. (He is 2 though -not a baby, and eats pretty well generally...but just thought if the OP is desperate, anythings worth a try)

Thanks for excellent advice. I felt a bit of pressure from my sister and BIL who were saying that if I didn't use naughty step, she'd get to 4/5 and simply refuse. She loves food though, and I don't want her to see some foods as punishments.

this is my excuse for dd www.supertastertest.com

I would never use the naughty step (or any other disciplinary measure) for food-related issues to be honest.

If you make the eating of certain foods into a desirable or undesirable "behaviour", rather than just giving the message that food is fuel and we need to eat healthy food to have good fuel, then I think there is potential for huge eating issues. I agree that veg and other foods we might perceive as 'not nice' can be used as punishment.

I really don't like the "eat your veg then you can have some ice cream" scenario as to me that implies that eating your veg is horrid and only made better by eating something yummy afterwards!

My dd wasn't eating any recognisable fruit or veg at 2. It would have to be mashed into something else. I would mash up most veg into potato and leave a few whole pieces on her plate which she would then refuse to eat. But I made sure she always had some on her plate - I'd tell her she didn't have to eat those bits. I didn't want her to get so fussy that she wouldn't let any food she didn't like touch her plate.

I would never force / nag her to eat or use the naughty step for refusing to eat - I think once you've made it a battle then it all becomes about game playing and control.

Just keep giving it and gradually they'll take an interest. She's now 2.5 and will eat beans, peas and brocolli. I'm still working on carrot!

I find she doesn't eat that much though so sometimes I don't give her potato, pasta etc as she would just eat that. She just gets the meat and veg and if she's hungry enough she'll eat it.

She still won't eat any fruit or salad so we've got a way to go.

Another thing that has helped is getting her to get her hands dirty. Part of the not eating is that she wont pick up anything wet / slimy / sticky / juicy. She'll only eat with cutlery. So practice making a mess with food - with no pressure to eat it.

Hope that helps!

to answer your question I have

a year ago i had a nearly 2 year old charge who would eat NO visible veg at all. (if it was hidden in bol sauce / pasta sauce etc fine but other wise not even one pea) (when he was a baby he ate everything including all veg)

at 20 months (after about 2 months when i dont think he had had even one piece of visible vegetable (ie not even 1 pea or one bit of sweetcorn) i went back to purees and ice cubes and actually mixed veg puree in with his mash and would put it on his favourite foods. so he woudl have meat with carrot puree spread on top

I always believe in you give children food, and they can eat it or be hungry and if they dont eat nothing except water until next meal so that was what happened with 100% support from his parents.

he slowly just started to eat bits of veg cut up very tiny. peas and sweetcorn were first, then one day he just liked green beans.

He now eats almost all veg with no fuss.

also by 22 months he began understanding and if he didnt eat some veg (a single pea on a spoon or a tiny piece of carrot etc) then i didnt let him have any pudding (fruit typically followed by yogurt)

it didnt take him long to realise it was worth eating to get some yummy pudding.

once he had starting eating tiny amounts it was much easier to progress to larger amounts, so then he developed a teaste for them.

A year on he eats almost everything and is a very unfussy 2.5 year old and a joy to cook for

if you are consistent you can win

DD2 is 2.5 and really eats very little veg. I get enough into her by making bolognaise sauce, lasagne, chicken pie and hiding lots of veg in.

sometimes she will eat cut up carrots and cucumber if i put them in a bowl with some humous when she is hungry and watching TV

however recently she ate some broccoli and some parsnips, yay.

i would advise just putting one small piece of veg on her plate with each meal and don't make a fuss if she doesn't eat it. one day she will just pick it up.

DD1 eats a great variety of veg now, (age 4.3) and never ate any when she was younger unless well hidden.

in a few months you could try a star chart for "trying something new" - then 10 stars = a toy or treat she has been asking for?

i really disagree with nannnyL on this

"also by 22 months he began understanding and if he didnt eat some veg (a single pea on a spoon or a tiny piece of carrot etc) then i didnt let him have any pudding (fruit typically followed by yogurt)"

don't make veg the baddies!

you may disagree but i have a 2 year old who eats everything... where as a year ago he was VERY fussy

i didnt make him eat it.... he just quite simply didnt get any other food unless he ate it...

if i recall correctly it took 3 days

He did understand
he learnt
and now he eats a healthy diet

where is the problem in that?

and just to add he positively enjoys eating his veg now.

i don't think you have a very balanced attitude to food that's all

"it didnt take him long to realise it was worth eating to get some yummy pudding"

Don't do naughty step, doesn't work with food isues.

DS has just started to try all kinds of things he would never touch before, we just kept offering without making any fuss at all.

It took years, I might add, he's nearly 9
I started a thread about it here

i think that what you post on forums doesnt give a true impression of the person you are>

I think i have a great balance about food actually and all my bosses would agree...

i have never left a job leaving behind 'fussy' chidlren. all children can and will eat delciosue nutritouse ood if given the oppertunity to try it and in some children a bit of persasion.

and i stand by that statement... it didnt take him long to start eating it when he was intelliegnt enough to understand what was being said...

equally he was being difficult about feeding himself a few months ago wanting to be fed food into his mouth...

after 3 days of neither me (or his parents) touching his cutlary he very soon started feeding himself (which he used to do a year ago)(it was feed himself or starve and being a 'live human being' he was not gonna choose to starve himself and sure enough he didnt)

IMO it is essential that children eat a healthy diet
It is in my contract that i care for the childrens health and well being therefor IMO eating veg is not optional, as vegetables are an essential part of a healthy diet.... so my charges all eat (and enjoy ) their veg....
in the same way that they have to sit in their car seats and also have to have sun cream on on hot days