toddler eating her veggies?

maybe this has been posted elsewhere, but for the life of me, I can't seem to find it...

How do you people get your baby/ toddler to eat veggies and protein? (basically anything other than carbs...) My 19 month old used to eat anything we gave her (pretty much whatever we were eating) but now, she holds out for the carbs and leaves the rest on her plate (for me to eat. Ha!)

And are those Goldfish crackers really bad for her?

And should I start giving her 2% milk now, instead of whole milk?

I'm so underqualified sometimes for this mothering thing (or so it feels like...)

We ALL feel underqualified at some point or another!!!

I started skim milk at 2 years. 

The goldfish aren't the worst thing in the world, but they aren't the best thing either.  One of my kids favorite snacks, though.  Have you tried graham crackers in fun shapes?  They at least have a little whole grain in them, I think.

As far as the veggies and protein - well, they are kinda hard to chew a lot of the time, and sometimes have a strong taste.  Preschoolers really go for foods that have fun names, calling cauliflower ghost trees, etc, but I don't know if a 19 month old would get it (you'd think I could remember - my youngest just turned 3).

My kids thought soup was the neatest thing to eat,so that was an opportunity for foods that they wouldn't eat by themselves, as well as mixing vegetables into something like macaroni and cheese.

Oh, and dipping - kids this age LOVE to dip.  So serve up some half-cooked carrots with a tiny bowl of ranch, or small cauliflower florets.  Experiment with sauces/dressings.  My kids love ranch, I loved french as a child.

Is she eating fruit?

Hey Puh...(hahaha - I don't know how to shorten that...)

Anyway.....thanks for the reply - some good tips in there! What kind of graham crackers do you get? We have things like "Teddy Grahams" and animal crackers (which aren't graham crackers), but they all have a tonne of sugar in them...maybe I'm looking in the wrong section?

My daughter does eat some veggies like carrots and cauliflower (I'll have to remember "ghost trees" when she gets a little older.  She loves fish, which is maybe because it is easier to chew (I never thought of that) - and she'll eat chicken or pork if it is in soup or stew.  She loves soup and stews and ANY kind of pasta.

She used to eat quite a variety of fruit, but now it is all about the grapes (high in sugar) and sometimes some melon, peach or blueberries.  She's sort of fickle about it all, whereas about 4 months ago, it was anything at all, and she loved it. :)

Korrie also likes to dip for sure! Unfortunately she loves to dip and suck off all the dip and double dip again (how rude! lol) She doesn't actually eat the dipper, just the dip! Again, she USED to eat the carrots and brocolli she was using to dip, but now, it's only dip, which can't be too healthy as a meal. hehehe

I guess all I can do is to keep trying and providing healthier snacks for her to choose from.  She knows that box of goldfish crackers are in the pantry now, and she holds out for those instead of the cut up apple with peanut butter or whatever...

Parenting is a learning process for parents AND children! You may be underqualified but you have to go through training to learn more! This is why children are so resilient.

My daughter (now almost 5) was a carb junkie. She didn't like ANY veggies except green beans as a toddler. She did, however love fruit. One thing that I read when going through the same issue as you was to think of toddler's nutrition on a weekly scale instead of daily. Also, a toddler's serving is much, much smaller than an adults. I had a hard time understanding that a serving of veggies for a toddler is so tiny (their stomaches are only the size of their fist!).

Goldfish comes in a whole grain variety. Both my kids love them and they taste the same as the regular Goldfish. What about cereal? Cheerios, Kashi's Heart to Heart or Total mixed in yogurt or with milk packs a lot of fiber with protein and even some fruit depending on the yogurt.

Speaking of yogurt, I found that Horizon makes yogurt with fruit AND veggies in it. My son (12 months) LOVES the carrot-strawberry flavor. That would be a good way to get some veggies and protein in one serving.

My daughter LOVED hot dogs. We bought Ballpark turkey breast hot dogs. They're a little high on the sodium side but much better than the beef or who-knows-what-kind-of-meat hot dogs.

The protest of veggies/protein won't last forever. My daughter now eats anything we put in front of her and she used to be THE PICKIEST eater. I wouldn't worry too much about it at this point.

And, as usual, Rux has some fantastic advice!

Oh, and about the milk. My daughter has never had anything less than 1% and we were told to keep her on whole milk until she was at least 2. She's so tiny that she needs all the fat she can get (31 pounds at almost 5 years). We're switching her back to whole milk next week because my son will be making the switch from boobie juice to cow's milk.

And as for the grapes, they may be high in sugar but it's naturally occuring sugar, not refined. Of course, anything in excess isn't necessarily good but there are worse things than getting natural sugars from grapes.

Does she eat peanut butter yet? I don't know what the rules are anymore about when to introduce it but it might be 2 years old. If she is eating it, that has a lot of protein in it and goes great on bananas.

Feeding off what bier mentioned:

You might also try making your own dip out of low fat yogurt, pureed veggies, and some seasoning, so that if she just eats her dip, it is still a good snack.  Sometimes, I sneak a bit of veggies in just by using a jar of baby food veggies mixed in with something else.  Spaghetti is a wonderful opportunity for veggies, if you are up for the mess!  Grated carrots and celery disappear into it, and kids usually love it.

My kids are fruit-a-holics.  If they just had fruit and cheese all day long, it probably wouldn't hurt their feelings at all!

I've seen fruit and vegetable mixtures that look like they might be good, but I haven't tried them yet.  Things like mandarin oranges (which admittedly are mostly sugar) with broccoli that has been stir-fried together so that the broccoli is softened.  Also, the thinner the vegetable piece, the easier it is for them to eat, so skinny carrot sticks are the way to go instead of the baby-cut carrots.

And you are right about the graham crackers, they are mostly sugar.  My kids really like wheat chex or cheerios as a snack with some fruit or raisins.

My kids go through phases, too.  My 5 year old has become especially picky.  It's all a matter of getting through it the best you can.  The good thing is, generally, kids will end up eating what you eat as they get older.  So, keep an eye on your plate, as well as theirs, and in the end, it works out.  I really like what bier said about the weekly total - it is so true!  To be honest, you are a good mom because you are even thinking about it!

Oh, and one more tip - if they help make it, or see it on your plate, they are more likely to eat it.  Try filling your plate with what you want her to eat, and only giving her a tiny amount of what she wants, and wait to see if she asks you for something on your plate.  (I know, tricky and manipulative )

Tricky and manipulative...I like it! :)

Thanks for the tips, ladies, and for the encouragement. :)

My kids love veggies but not so big on meat. think finger foods for the most part.

Ways they like veggies

• steamed not boiled and with a crunch still.
• honey on carrots (just a tad)
• broccoli w/ cheese
• pot pies are fun and you can make them in muffin tins
• omelets or scrambled with vegs and cheese.
• dip (as above) but they like apple sauce as dip for chicken and celery.
• V8 has that fusion juice (I don't like the flavor but everyone else does)
• sushi (the veggie ones)
• tacos or nachos with tons of veg. and ground meat (chicken or turkey here)
• pasta sauce (chop up peppers zucchini, mushrooms really small) they like it with shells so they can scoop (yup finger food) oh you can toss in ground turkey too.
• spinach with pram cheese (aka snow)
• grilled cheese can hide turkey.
• butternut squash roasted with brown sugar
• sweet potato fries (bake and sprinkle w/ Cinnamon)
• summer squash with light italian dressing grilled.
• Try things you think they might not like.  avocados, spaghetti squash, star fruit,

I hold the starchy side till they eat 80% of the other stuff is gone.

milk our Dr. still has my almost 4 y/o on whole but she is only 26 lbs. her baby brother (soon 2) is 24 lbs  I think he'll be on 1% before her. She had a milk allergy (outgrown now) but had to drink rice milk.

My sister has had to do some creative persuasion with her daughter.  She puts the veggies and the protein in front of her daughter first and lets her get a good portion of those.  Then after that is when she switches out the plate for some fruit or "fun" foods as a dessert.

Other than that, I have no tips yet because my first little one is still gestating  :p

I love the idea of hiding veggies in the food though.  Spaghetti with tomato sauce is a good way to hide the veggies.  you puree the carrots, greens and whatever else and add it to the sauce. 

I do like niccole's idea of steaming the veggies but still leaving them a little crunchy.  That's easier for the toddler to bite, I think.

julia's still on whole milk at 14 months; when the doc tells me to switch, I will.

as far as veggies-  julia likes squash, peas, green beans, cauliflower w/ cheese, and broccoli.  If she sees me eating it-  she wants it.  Which is great b/c that's keeping me healthy since i don't want to give her anything bad.  sometimes i give her little bits of banana bread.  she's a big fruit eater...so far so good.

i felt underqualified since i saw the two lines on the six tests i took.  the best thing i can tell you; is that you don't have to know everything; you just need to know the right SOURCES to consult when you have questions.

it's a learning process.

Original Post by niccole-abel:

My kids love veggies but not so big on meat. think finger foods for the most part.

Ways they like veggies

• steamed not boiled and with a crunch still.
• honey on carrots (just a tad)
• broccoli w/ cheese
• pot pies are fun and you can make them in muffin tins
• omelets or scrambled with vegs and cheese.
• dip (as above) but they like apple sauce as dip for chicken and celery.
• V8 has that fusion juice (I don't like the flavor but everyone else does)
• sushi (the veggie ones)
• tacos or nachos with tons of veg. and ground meat (chicken or turkey here)
• pasta sauce (chop up peppers zucchini, mushrooms really small) they like it with shells so they can scoop (yup finger food) oh you can toss in ground turkey too.
• spinach with pram cheese (aka snow)
• grilled cheese can hide turkey.
• butternut squash roasted with brown sugar
• sweet potato fries (bake and sprinkle w/ Cinnamon)
• summer squash with light italian dressing grilled.
• Try things you think they might not like.  avocados, spaghetti squash, star fruit,

I hold the starchy side till they eat 80% of the other stuff is gone.

milk our Dr. still has my almost 4 y/o on whole but she is only 26 lbs. her baby brother (soon 2) is 24 lbs  I think he'll be on 1% before her. She had a milk allergy (outgrown now) but had to drink rice milk.

 I printed this list out - what a great bunch of ideas! It helps to have a list like that to choose from (some I've tried already, but it's a nice reminder that there ARE other alternatives to Goldfish crackers and grapes.)

Thanks Nicole - and thanks to Peaches, Rux, Bier and VAnessa, too! You gals ROCK! :)

There is a cook book called Deceptively Delicious - it was tested on the Food Network - the kids liked all the recipes prepared!  I bought it for my daughter and she likes it! 

http://www.amazon.com/Deceptively-Delicious-S imple-Secrets-Eating/dp/0061251348

Original Post by anewdawn:

There is a cook book called Deceptively Delicious - it was tested on the Food Network - the kids liked all the recipes prepared!  I bought it for my daughter and she likes it! 

http://www.amazon.com/Deceptively-Delicious-S imple-Secrets-Eating/dp/0061251348

 

 

 Thanks so much! that's so helpful! awesome! :)

Original Post by anewdawn:

There is a cook book called Deceptively Delicious - it was tested on the Food Network - the kids liked all the recipes prepared!  I bought it for my daughter and she likes it! 

 The problem with that book - and others like the one she apparently stole the idea from :), is that it doesn't teach the kids good habits.

You can proudly brag that your toddler eats their veggies at every meal, but they aren't choosing to do that if you are simply shredding them and hiding them in something else.  Ideally, you want to teach good habits so that when your kids get older, they will make good choices.

As a family on the go, fast food is unfortunately a part of our lives more often than I would like.  But I'm proud to say that when we hit McDonalds, my son always requests the apple dippers instead of fries.  Ditto for going out to a restaurant...he'll go for the steamed broccoli or cauliflower over other sides.

What I did with my son was to keep serving him things like broccoli and mushrooms until I found a way he liked it.  With broccoli, for example, we first tried it plain, then with some butter, then with ranch (a great way to get them to eat veggies which you can wean them of pretty easily).  Eventually, I made it in a stir fry dish and he loved it as it was.  From there, he just got to where he preferred it steamed.  About a year ago, I put a little butter on it and he refused to eat it - I had to get him another serving that was plain.

With mushrooms, it started out sauteed or stir fried, and eventually ended up raw.  If I'm cooking with mushrooms, I always have to set some raw ones aside for him to come and grab.

We're doing the same thing with my daughter, and we didn't even have to get out the ranch.  She went through a ketchup phase for a few weeks, but now just likes broccoli plain.

Thanks 67alecto! You bring up a good point about teaching them what they are eating and to choose themselves to eat the good stuff.  I like the idea of also hiding a few more veggies in there if I can, though.  and I'm always looking for new recipes and ideas for both my husband AND my daughter. hahaha (it wouldn't hurt to hide a few more veggies in my husbands suppers as I KNOW that he won't choose the healthy stuff!)

My daughter went through a huge ketchup phase and now it's not so bad.  Yesterday, she chose to eat her salad (salad! with lettuce and carrots and tomatoes! yippee!) so I guess we are doing something right.  It's just a matter of trying different things like you said, I guess. I just keep hoping she picks up her mother's eating preferences rather than her dad's!

Thanks for the input! :)

My kids both LOVE stir-fry - those are excellent suggestions, 67alecto.  And niccole-abel, those are really great ideas as well!

I have to say, though, that "hiding" veggies in something like spaghetti sauce isn't just tricking kids into eating their veggies - it makes the meal more vegetable intensive for the rest of us, as well.  I agree that we need to teach kids to make healthy choices, but an extra half serving doesn't hurt, either.

Personally, my husband needs more tricking than my kids.  Unfortunately, he's on to my game. 

A fun thing to do is to check out Halloween recipe ideas - they often have fun ways to present vegetables that makes kids more likely to try them (as long as it is not too creepy - that can be a turn off).