Dinners

[Allthatjazz234]

My DD1 is 3.5 and my DD2 is 1.5. I was very sick for a long time after my second was born and as a result our eating habits were pretty bad. Lots of convenience foods as i was so sick all the time. My partner didn't really do much cooking.
Anyway I am getting back into the swing of cooking meals from scratch which is what I want ultimately, I made a cottage pie and a nice chicken and lentil stew type of thing the last week. Neither my 3.5 year old or my 1.5 year old will touch the healthier food. Oldest doesn't eat any vegetables.

I'm not sure what I should be doing about this. I think I've posted about this before but just looking for some opinions and help. What do people do when their children just refuse to eat the dinner you've made them? How can I get my daughter to eat more vegetables. Do you offer alternatives to dinner? Thanks in advance!

If you didn’t have control of their diet earlier, I’d make versions of what they are used to, eg pizza with more veg.. and gradually move them over. Macaroni cheese with veg in, etc

I didn’t offer alternatives, but you need to find a starting point where they do eat.

@theduchessofspork thank you for the suggestions! I will give them a go. I'm trying to make things that I think they will like but it hasn't been working thus far! Will try the pizza maybe they will go for that

You might be better off giving them separate things for a while rather than meals where all the ingredients are mixed/covered in sauce.

For example, you might have more success with some plain chicken, some potatoes cut like chips and some carrots/peas/sweetcorn on the side. So they can try/not try each thing individually. With things like pie/stew they'll sometimes reject the whole thing because it has e.g. onions, but would have eaten the rest of it individually.

Keep offering a range of foods. Always offer a safe food alongside a new/not safe food. Don't put pressure on them to eat. Serve the food. Leave it for a set amount of time. Clear the food. No drama, no anxiety, no bribery, no rewards, no punishment.

@NuffSaidSam thank you for the great advice. Okay so always have a safe food on the plate... I don't tend to do this admittedly. I'm probably doing too much at one time. Will try the separate foods and see how it goes. Thank you!