My kids used to eat veggies...now they will take a few bites a day-maybe. I've tried sautee, cheese, salt & pepper, spices. Any other ideas? I've heard of those deceptively delicious books or whatever, but I HATE pureeing and really reall dont want to do it. What can I do if they arent eating their veggies...will they get the vitamins they need from fruits and the multi vitamin (poly-vi-sol) the get?
They'll come around again. :good: My two stopped eating veggies for a while and now are back on the veggie train. Well, most of the time. I do hide it in food as well. :blush: I don't puree though, just mix it in and they've not caught on yet that it's in there. I try not to stress it too much because I do give them vitamins and it's a kid thing, some days they love it and others they don't. :hug:
I agree with Liz, my kids have gone on veggie strikes before. I just kept offering them and for now they are back on the veggie train. It's good that you are supplementing with the vitamins as well.
Some things that have been known to entice my kids: offering dip for their veggies, serving them raw, making new shapes by cutting them differently, veggie kabobs, giving them pepper or grated parmesan cheese to sprinkle on their veggies, making veggie recipes that have a sauce (think stir fry), and making veggie/fruit combo dishes like winter squash & apples baked together or grated carrot with raisins and mayo for a salad. Heck, making a face on their plate by arranging their food before I give it to them makes them ridiculously happy. OH, and if I let them stab their food with a toothpick, they'll eat things they were claiming to not like right up until I gave them the toothpick. It might raise an eyebrow when you have guests but whatever. I think the key is to not do the same thing every time; they like variety. I put pumpkin puree in their pancakes sometimes too but it's because we like them that way. I don't go out of my way to use vegetable purees and I never try to hide the veggies. When my kids point at something green in the food and ask what it is, I tell them the truth. They say "oh" and eat it. I know deceiving children is a time-honored practice but I haven't found it necessary because it seems the less of a deal I make of the need to eat veggies, the less of a deal it is.
I've found that ketchup will entice my non-veggie eater. I offer veggies plain, and if he doesn't eat them, I'll dip them in ketchup and he'll usually gobble them up.
I wonder if they should add this to the development charts: "By 15 months, your toddler should no longer consume any type of vegetable, even if that was the ONLY thing they would eat just a few months prior. If your child does enjoy the occasional vegetable, then you are lucky or very sneaky."
Covering them in applesauce is working for me right now. I hate to puree too! So I just buy the baby puree and add that to their morning waffles and other foods. In case you were really asking if they matter when proving supplements; Real vegetables provide roughage and fiber and other compounds your body needs to work properly and no vitamin can give you those. There have been many studies on this exact question, and they have all concluded that vitamins from fruits and vegetables are better absorbed and those fat solubles (A,D,E and K) are better retained than when ingested in a processed form.
