18 month old barely eats any veg

[EatYourVeg1]

My 18 month old will eat fruit all day long if allowed, I'm yet to find a single type of fruit that he doesn't like.

But I'm really struggling with veg, especially for lunches. I tend to manage to hide some in his tea in a sauce or something but I'd love to be able to take some sort of veg out as a snack or with his lunch but he won't take anything.

He doesn't like cucumber, doesn't like tomatoes, doesn't like avocado, peas, broccoli, pepper, anything. He spits it out or throws it in the floor. The only thing I've managed to get him to eat which he seems to like is sweetcorn.

I feel like every lunch he has is pretty beige because I just don't know what to give him. We tend to be out quite a lot so will be a packed lunch of something like ham and wrap with cheese and then fruit for after.

I just worry he's not getting enough veg.

I think lots of children are like this. You have to get creative (and sneaky) and hide it in sauces etc but don’t stop offering it. I always did what we used to call ‘monkey plates’, some of what they definitely did eat and then always something new or something they weren’t keen on. They eventually ended up eating the veg but took a while. I kept offering raw carrot sticks with hummus and that became a huge favourite as well as cucumber. I did used to cut the cucumber up with a cookie cutter to make it look like a flower though! 😂

Have you tried seasoning it?

i would make homemade sauces and include lots of veg in that

I read something recently that I thought was really interesting which was that toddlers are evolutionarily designed to know what they need to eat to grow. So they won't waste time on high fibre low cal stuff and will prefer carbs, fats etc that they need to sustain how quickly they are growing. I agree with PP, keep offering but don't get too hung up about it, make sure there's always something on the plate they will eat.
Oh I also saw something about offering veg before a meal when they are hungry and more likely to try it. I.e. while you're preparing dinner, put out a plate of peppers, cucumber or whatever (don't make a deal of it, just put it out) and see if they help themselves to snack on.

We had this.
I continued to hide in sauces etc but I also still offered on a plate, not a lot, slice or two of cucumber etc and he eventually took to it.

Don't say anything if he doesn't eat it, and don't over praise if he does.
Just well done you ate all your dinner etc

I weaned my two onto pureed mixed veg from the start, so they were very used to the tastes. I also played fun games to encourage them to eat their greens when at the rebellious two year old stage. (Hunt the queen of the broccoli on the plate of florets and chew her up, etc) Now adults, one is vegetarian and the other a keen eater of veg and veg soups.

Hi, my DS ate just sweetcorn and carrots from ages 2-14. He also loved tomato sauce, though could detect and would refuse sauce with any extra hidden veggies, apart from onion and garlic. He also liked most fruits. But he’s 20 now and enjoys most veggies, apart from broccoli and cauliflower. He now really likes peppers, green salad leaves, peas, mushrooms, etc. He’s perfectly healthy and always has been. It used to worry me but I agree with other pps, offer but don’t comment / persuade / worry about it. At 14 DS decided he was being silly having such a restricted diet and made an effort to try things, which worked well.

Mine don’t like it unseasoned. A knob of salted butter gets them to eat peas, broccoli, green beans. Avocado they like with olive oil and a pinch of salt. Cucumber only if served with hummus for dipping. Sweet potato is a good one too since that can be made into wedges or chips!

Sweet potato is a good one too since that can be made into wedges or chips!

I was gonna suggest this, if I'm lazy I just slice it and stick it in the toaster!