18 mo adverse to veggies and fruit...hellp?!?

[Toofondofcake]

So my 18 month old is totally refusing to eat any fruit or vegetables in any form. It's driving me mad as I want her to grow up with good habits.
I recently had a new baby and she seems fine with her but before I went on mat leave she was in nursery full time and I was assured every day by staff that she ate like a horse anything they put in front of her.

Now she will literally only eat beige food and throws huge tantrums if I try to get her to eat anything new or any veggies or fruit. At my wits end. Don't know how strict you can be with an 18 mo or what tactics to try. Please help all suggestions welcome!!

Did is the same age. Previously would eat anything but becoming so contrary about food recently. I feed her the same as us, eat with her but also sneak veg in as well eg pea and lamb sausages, grated carrots in pretty much everything, grated mushrooms and tomatoes in scrambled egg

Yeah people keep telling me to grate/blend veggies into her food however I hold my hands up and expect a flaming here but 80%of the stuff we eat isn't cooked from scratch, I just don't have the time with a newborn to look after too. Also toddler is terrified of the blender and has a total meltdown if she hears it on. So I mainly rely on frozen or fresh veg steamed and chopped up into sauces/just on the plate for meals. She's clever though she picks them out of sauces and mash or just refuses to eat any of it point blank even if the rest of the food she likes.

I'm trying to ride out the tantrums without "giving in" or being too soft but today it took me making three meals before she eventually are half of a plateful.

A bowl of chopped fruit and raisins goes down well when watching Cbeebies.
It's helpful to consider their weekly diet rather than daily diet, especially if she's had a bad diet day.
Take her to the grocers and get her involved in choosing the fruit and veg and then pop her on a chair by the sink and give her a caulinder of chopped bits to wash. Getting her involved might help.

I'm mean mummy and don't give an alternative usually. Also, grated veg can be added to jarred sauce. I get carrot and potato waffles too, from asda

You need to read 'First Bite' by Bee Wilson. It explains so much about children and food, and tells you how to deal with it. Some main points:

1. It's a normal developmental phase to be suspicious of new foods, or even foods they liked before.

1. Trying to force them to eat things just increases resistance.

1. Getting them to try even the tiniest pea-sized taste a few times usually gets them used to new things, so they'll come to like them.

1. Hiding veg in things means they never learn to actually like veg, as they don't know about it!

So the best plan is to serve what will get eaten, plus encourage small tastes of other things in a non-pressured way.

For me hiding veg plus serving it visibly is find because I'm not willing for her to eat none at all.

DD would only eat Hello Kitty pasta from a tin at one point. Now older, she eats broccoli, cauliflower, and various other things.

I never offered an alternative if I cooked for the family, she either ate it or she didn't. If they know that you will make something else, they will never eat the first choice.

But all kids seem to go through various stages of not liking something, or not wanting their food touching, or whatever, so I wouldn't worry about it too much.

Thanks ladies. Will definitely give the getting involved thing a try. And try and relax over it a bit. She has a good appetite and eats the things she does like with gusto.

A friend suggested I should probably give her a vitamin supplement since she isn't eating anything to get them from naturally, is that a thing for kids or is that a bit OTT?

I think vitamins are advised for all under 5's now due most kids being vitamin d deficient

It sounds like a bit of a control thing if she's recently become a big sister?
Whilst it blows over I'd hide the veg where you can as well as offering it as normal, and maybe for ease with the baby 'treat' yourself her to a Little Dish/similar toddler ready meal once or twice a week which contains hidden veg. I'd also try quietly sitting down next to her with a bowl of strawbs/crudites etc and tucking in. Nothing gets my 2yo eating something quicker than if it's on my plate and I'm not offering to share. I find getting DD to pick out fruit she wants in the supermarket and giving a choice of 2 or 3 for pudding works well too. Does she like dipping things? If so hummus and other veggie dips work well.
I agree with looking at the week's intake, rather than daily. DD is a very good eater, although has recently become a bit more fussy with veg, but will have some days where all she will touch is protein and carbs. I find it evens out over the week.

I read that it can take tasting a new food twenty times before it becomes tasty.
I've tried it and can now eat raisins, it took the full twenty times and I still wouldn't say I like them, but I can eat them like an adult now.
I am trying this approach with my ds with regard to vegetables. A lot of veggies are ending up on the floor but I am very hopeful that in the next six months he might eat some that aren't hidden in a sauce.

I waited until my ds was really hungry one day (long active afternoon with no snacks) and offered him fruit before dinner - he ate it. He now likes fruit. All sorts. Even raisins!

DD did this at that age too. She's slowing coming round now aged 2.

I agree with PP above who said it's a normal stage of development to think that vegetables are potential poison.

I wouldn't have believed the "sit back and let it happen" approach prior to DD but I served peas, baby corn and/or carrots with basically every meal. One day she eventually picked one up, felt it, threw it aside, a few days later there was a suspicious sniff, eventually a tiny nibble and after aaages she began to actually eat the damn things. So I now put a variety on her plate and let nature take its course.

I did also hide veg in her dinners while this was ongoing however!