Healthy Eating for Toddlers

Wednesday on Facebook, I admitted the following:

How do you get your toddlers to eat vegetables? I dropped the ball with Joe and got lazy, leading with a poor example, and now he refuses to eat almost everything good for him.

My wonderful friends were kind enough to chime in with some fabulous, creative suggestions. I am sharing them here at Happymaking so that others may benefit from their experience as well. I will only use their first names for privacy reasons. I linked the bloggers' names to their blogs.

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• Amber: mix them into the food they already eat. there are a few "sneaky cook" recipe books. one is by seinfeld's wife. I think...


• Kelly: There are so many other ways to get kids to get their veggie intake. V8 fusion is awesome! They make so many flavors that its hard to pass up. Also, make eating the foods fun... if you can, cut them in their favorite shapes, mix them in with other foods they like....


• David: Armed coercion.


• Mike: I believe you have to start early to make it easy... don't introduce McDonald's to them till they can at least ask you to go there... and be a good example, and have the veggies around so they can snack on them. Baby carrots are a favorite at my house for veggies... And also don't forget about all the veggies you eat now... like probably in pizzas and in salsa and other Mexican foods for example.

My response: Amber, that is a good idea, I forgot about that technique. I do want to get Joe to get excited about some veggies though, without having to hide them. Is that possible? lol At least I am on a good start with Lily, she's just had breast milk and home cooked stuff. Joe does drink v-8 fusion and get a daily vitamin.
I should definitely try the fun shapes, thank you Kelly!
David, I'm feeling that. Water pistol warfare at the dinner table. Maybe I could squirt some liquified peas into his mouth.

• Niki: Dips are fun for kids too - give him a little bowl of ranch or something.


• David: The power of rice compels you! The power of rice compels you!

My response: Thank you Mike. I already screwed up on the McDonalds thing. I really dropped the ball with Joe after I had Lily. I need to get him back on track. I just worry about raw veggies as a choking hazard. I don't eat them myself for that reason. I LOVE the pizza idea, but Joe won't even eat pizza! Can you believe that? Dang, now I want some salsa and spinach enchiladas. Wonder if he would try that.

Niki, you're right. He does like condiments. Does your little one eat carrots and celery? I need to check at what age it's okay to do that. The guilt is consuming me, as it should.

David, LOL!!! You know, that kind of stuff might work! He does love drama.

• Niki: Audrey eats carrots. I think she's tried celery. Corn is her favorite. Green Giant has frozen veggies that are breaded and you bake them - I forget what they are called, but she will nibble on those too. Probably 'cause they look like a chicken nugget.


• Kelly: They are called corn nuggets..... at least the corn ones!!You have to capitalize on what he does like..... then invent from there. Have him help you make it, shop for it, get him involved in the entire process.....I also used a form of bribery.... when I went to the store, I would give my kids a set amount. If they spent a certain amount of healthy food, I would let them use their last dollar to buy whatever they wanted.


• David: Corn nuggets sound like shit. Not like they taste bad. Like a euphemism for shit. Don't feed that to children.


• Karen: Jourdan is two and sometimes he likes things and sometimes he does not. For the longest time he hated mac and cheese, now he loves my home made version and I can sneak pureed carrots in it or whatever. I found what helps him to be motivated is letting him "help" prepare something and now he has a drawer of his dishes so he can choose a plate to eat on. I make a homemade chicken noodle soup that I add some veggies to, this seems to help as well. Maybe you could get Joe a fun apron to help or let him choose his dish or stir something to motivate him. I'm really lucky Jourdan doesn't know about McDonalds yet, except when we share a soft serve. I agree with Kelly- the V8 does help too.


• Jeannee: There are a couple of books out on this, one by Jerry Seinfeld's wife - unfortunately I cannot remember her name!, but if you go to a good book store and say, "Yeah - that book Jerry Seinfeld's wife wrote, on getting your toddler to eat veggies --" that should do it!

My response: You have all been so helpful and inspiring. I'm feeling really encouraged by all of these great ideas. So much so that I'd like to share them in a blog post. I will only use your first names. If you don't want me to copy and paste your comments please let me know and I will leave yours out. (And no, I didn't ask the question to get you to answer for blog fodder. I really need help with this. I just think your answers will help other people as well cause y'all are so awesome.)

Niki & Kelly, those corn nuggets sound fantastic! (LOL David.) Of course it's all I can do to get Joe to eat a chicken nugget even.
Karen, you are right about that. My Mom is really good about having Joe cook with her. He loves it and he is more likely to eat if he was involved in the preparation. I don't like to cook though, so I usually just want to get it over with as fast as possible. I need to do it for him, though because it's so important.

• Mel: Gabe LOVES to dip. He dips cukes in ranch (and sometimes ketchup ick) and I let him. I'm also a huge casserole maker so there are veggies mixed into them and he usually eats them. Otherwise I don't give him another option, he won't starve himself.


• Bridgitte: by force!


• Kelly: True, only teenagers are truley stubborn enough to go to bed hungry!


• Rachel: Good question...I think it is a game of luck.


• Tami: Trader Joes has this fruit/veggi blend that is like a puree. Harrison loves it and it provides 2 servings I think...


• Brandon: Dip them in chocolate.


• Dawn: What's your goal? You COULD sneak in the veggies using purees and whatnot, if you're concerned about nutrition. But I bet you could also get him to learn to love veggies if you are persistent enough.My ideas in a nutshell...serve them at each meal, eat them yourself, try all kinds of varieties, try stir-fried/steamed/raw versions, provide low-fat/low-sugar dipping options, and try letting him help prepare them.


• Kate: We used flat-out bribery and torture: brought our daughter to Chuck E Cheese, sat her on the inside of the booth, and ordered a pizza with various veggies (at that point, she wouldn't even eat red sauce, much less things like olives and peppers and mushrooms, etc). Served her a slice, and with a big grin announced, "As soon as you're done, we'll ... Read Morego on the rides!"Not only did she snarf it right down, with enthusiasm, but it created a positive association with pizza in her little brain... and you can put darn near anything on pizza.
  
  

My response: The goal, Dawn, heart of my heart, is to get him to actually eat healthy food. I can introduce it, but I can't force it down his gullet. I don't want him to get it all by trickery, I want him to learn that veggies are good & okay to eat.

Kate, that's a good idea! lol But he won't eat pizza anymore!! He is so stubborn I know he'd prefer to leave Chuck E Cheese rather than give in.

I got some really good advice via email from my cousin Gina who has four wonderful kids - I'll share it in the blog post. We can do zis!!! :)

• Gina's email: Well since you asked… and this is a topic near and dear to my heart. Kids and food.
  I have seen more control struggles between parent and child on this issue than any other (Nope, not even potty training comes close!).
  
  I can offer some general meal advice that might help with the veggie thing – and you are already SO RIGHT when you acknowledged that setting the example is an important part of solving the problem. Family dinners are your best tool here.
  And no that does not mean cooking every single night (as if I ever did that) – but still trying to maintain that family dinner “setting” where you are all sitting down to the same meal (high chair pulled right up to the table with the rest of you).
  Even if you are all pulling up to the same meal at the coffee table in the family room or a fast food restaurant! Home cooked or take-out. WHATEVER.
  
  I think it helped that Butch and I never did the "kids meal" vs "adult meal" at our house. From the time the kids were past the baby food/allergy testing stage - we served the kids whatever we were eating (always making sure there was at least one thing I knew all of the kids liked, typically wheat rolls and butter).
  Yeah this is the part where you Heather, get to set the example of serving and eating a variety of healthy foods. OH GOODIE!!
  
  We steadily built their trust that if they TRIED a food and declared it “yucky” we would NEVER make them finish it. We'd just say – “Well maybe next time you try it you will like it. Mommy used to think macaroni and cheese was yucky too, but I kept trying a taste and then one day I liked it!”
  (Ummmmm, true story. My mom totally traumatized me as a child when she told me I HAD to hush up and eat my macaroni and cheese after I told her I didn’t like it (too rich for me). I subsequently threw up in it and had to sit there looking at it until she noticed. That one episode totally shaped my ENTIRE approach to food/meals as a Mother/Teacher. Thankfully my mom felt guilty and never put a plate of it in front of me again, but I personally didn’t eat mac and cheese again until I was well into in my 30’s!!)
  
  Sure there were PLENTY of nights that one P. kid or another would eat only rolls and butter – and as long as they had at least tried everything else – they could have seconds or even thirds on whatever they did like. And, they still heard lots of praise for TRYING everything. I’d toss them a Flintstones vitamin with a glass of milk and call it a day.
  
  We would not provide them the option of an alternate meal. We simply said “This is what’s for dinner tonight – try a taste of it all, eat the parts you like and leave the parts you don’t like on your plate. All very matter of fact and RELAXED. Of course I would preface with, “Mommy made us something for dinner that my Nana used to make me when I was little, I can’t wait for you to try it. I think it is super good! (or something like that).
  
  And, I always kept bananas in the house in case any of the kids were terribly starving before bedtime (did not typically happen). But I never did give them a connection between the two, for example by saying ‘You can have a banana later if you are hungry.” Because I suspected if I did, that at times they would have held out for that banana!
  
  When they were really little, still building their trust, I would say “I’ll try it first.” and then I’d pretend I didn’t like it (lots of giggles here from the kids) then I’d say “I don’t have to eat this now, I’ll try it again another day.” Then I say, “Your turn – do YOU like it?” Sometimes they actually DID like it. Other times it was BARELY a taste before they were gagging and saying “I don’t like it.” No matter – I just stayed chill and said if you don’t like it you don’t have to eat it (even though what I really wanted to say was “Oh give me a break you really didn’t even try it!!”)
  
  As they got older, we taught them to be discreet about what they didn’t like as a way to be respectful towards the efforts of the cook. Just try it, then push it aside and don’t make a big deal out of it.
  
  As for the problem of REPEAT yucky foods:
  For example, JT didn’t like green beans. Period. So whenever we had them for dinner he would take a very small “No thank-you helping” on his plate so that he could give them a taste to see if he had grown to like them yet. That way when he declared they were still not his thing, it wasn’t a big waste of food.
  (We called it a “no thank-you helping” as our way of trying something respectfully that we were pretty sure we would not like)
  “Well JT?” “Nope, I still don’t like them.” “Okay, take a drink of milk, swish out the green bean taste and try that yummy lasagna” (the one with the hidden zucchini inside of it – bah ha ha ha ha!).
  
  (and yes, JT did eventually grow to voluntarily eat them – still not his favorite veggie – but if that is all there is, he will load up on them)
  
  Oh yeah, and from the time they were between 2 and 3 years old, I let them serve themselves, as much as possible. I would let them spoon their own helpings onto their plates – which was especially important with the “no thank-you helpings”.
  
  Some meals I still used sippy cups, but for other times, I got a few small pitchers from the dollar store and used some small juice glasses for the kids (you know, the old school little jelly jar type with the small circumference. Perfect for little hands to get around). I would put a SMALL amount of milk in the pitcher and let them pour it themselves.
  
  I promise Heather, times a few hundred toddlers, that a child this age CAN pour their own drink and drink it without a spout – just keep a towel handy and use small amounts of liquid. If they spilled they had to get the towel and clean it up. Again, no stress just “Ooops, you need to go get the towel and clean that up.” Two spills at one meal and they were all done with that beverage (because once JT and Drew figured out that spills were such fun).
  
  I also did “sneak” veggies into meals SEVERAL times a week because I actually DID want them to ingest veggies while we were going thru the trust building “you don’t have to eat it stage”.
  Zucchini chopped fine and put into lasagna. Spinach in the lasagna too.
  “Magic” yummy cheese sprinkles on the broccoli and cauliflower.
  You know stuff like that.
  Google “hiding veggies from kids” – so many great ideas!
  
  Also, we’d have salad with just about every dinner, even with other veggies. I let them pick out whatever they didn’t like from the salad (tomatoes!) and let them pick their own dressing (ranch being a favorite, followed closely by Italian).
  
  Also you could ask them “How do you think we could make these green beans taste like something you might like?” (That’s how I found out Drew would eat them if he could have a puddle of ketchup to dip them in!)
  As they get older, letting them help prepare and cook the meals helps towards this end.
  
  So, I only have my four kids as an example – but once the trust was there – my kids would try absolutely ANYTHING. There were many things over the years they didn’t like, but they kept on trying and usually they did grow to like them (and some things they just never did care for, but to this day, they are open to trying it again).
  
  I’d say that by the time they were 5 years old they would eat a variety of foods most 5 year olds wouldn’t touch.
  By 10 – people were astounded by what my kids were willing to try – and also eat!
  
  So it’s not just about veggies – it’s about variety! And a willingness to experience new foods – or the same foods cooked different ways.
  Just remember that if we go to a restaurant for dinner and order something we have never had, try it, and find it not to our liking – we are FREE from having to eat it. Do that for your kids and the world will be their oyster on a half shell!
  Which by the way – Rachel just tried those when we took our Route 1 trip this summer – she likes them with a bit of cocktail sauce and a saltine! Me, I tried them (again) even though in the past I have not cared for them – and guess what, I still don’t care for them. Maybe next time.

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Thank you so much to all of my wonderful friends for sharing your experience so that all of our kiddos may be healthier and happier. :)