Any ideas on how to get my 4 yr. old to eat vegetables?

Question

I am divorced and remarried. My 4 yr. old little boy will not eat any vegetables. His mother does not make him eat any and my wife and I have a full fledge fight on our hands to get him to eat anything other than chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese. It will cause friction to let him slide in front of my wife's children so it is becoming a real problem. Any ideas?

Answer 1

1). Make a vege. pizza, vege. padi...., you don't need to declare that it is a vege. pizza.....simply it is a pizza....kids love 'em...2). add broccoli and peas in mac & cheese saying it is new in market....3). try star, circle and other shapes to make sandwitches...4). keep a competition at the dinner table whoever eats more veges.... will get a prize...5). try soups with cheeze fish crackers in it and tell him to catch it with the spoon and eat it.....

good luck

Answer 2

make the vegetibles into animals. like a celery dragonfly or a carrot ant. or just a broccoli man. make it something creative and fun to eat/make.

Answer 3

I suggest hiding them in other foods.

Please see the following website for more specific ideas, though:

http://raisingchildren.net.au/articles/h...

Answer 4

The best thing to do is blend them and cook them in his other food. Like with mashed pot. or meatloaf, u can blend them and mix them together. He will never notice. There are also different recipes u can try with baked goods like cookies. I believe there is a book out there on how to do that..but try this site as well

Answer 5

its depends on how goloble your kid is. my mom said there is a plant monster inside my stomic and if i dont eat veggies it will get mad and meen. hope that works!  best of luck

Answer 6

jerry seinfeld's wife, jessica wrote a book on ways to hide veggies in foods that kids will eat. she was on oprah. something about pureeing them and putting them in things like chicken nuggets. she said kids cannot tell there is veggie puree in there.

the book is called "deceptively delicious"

Answer 7

With our son (whom we adopted at age 3) we never served very much of any food except the veggies.  We gave him the choice to dip them (in mayo, ketchup, mustard, ranch..whatever) but that he had to eat it before he got more of the stuff he liked.  It has worked wonders and he now love broccolie and asparagus, and will willingly eat his salad.  It is a struggle, and my biggest advice is stay calm and ignore any tantruming that happens.  A child will not starve himself, and he needs to know that he has to follow the same rules as the rest of the family - not to mention keep his body healthy.  Good Luck!

Answer 8

tell him if he eats all his vegs that u will do something for him like read him his fav bed time storie or give him a cookie to gift him for the good work trust me it works and after a few weeks u soon will not have to do it

Answer 9

Take him on a vacation alone with you, and feed him only good vegetable meals, soup, salads (Cesar salad has prove to be effective), carrot stick with salt instead popcorn etc.

Try everything you can, but only that food, no bread, no pasta, nothing else, not even cereal for one week.

If he doesn't want it, don't insist, but don't give him anything else, eventually, when he starve he will go for it and it will taste delicious.

This technique is proved effective, about your wife...., don't have to explain, the kid will understand that when he is with you he has to eat vegetables, and he will get used to it.

Answer 10

Disguise vegetables in meals. Example: chop mushrooms to minuscule pieces where it could be taken for as meat.

Serve raw vegetable juice w/fresh fruits to mask vegetables. Example: cucumber, lettuce, celery, carrot, apple, pear, pineapple (blend fruits at end to mask vegetables)  

Grow a garden (a miniature one if live in urban area) and have the kids help maintenance it to stir their interest and desire for vegetables.

Have the kids help prepare and cook meals to educate and excite them about vegetables.

Answer 11

Threaten him that if he does not eat any vegetables, Santa Claus will not put him in the good boy list and he will not leave all those wonderful presents for him.

Answer 12

Recent studies on this topic show that children must have the food offered and tried repeatedly before taking hold and actually liking the food this was seen most in blueberries which some children actually took 12-15 tries of the food to like to eat that food.  I have taken the route of no sweets or massive fats for my daughter and she eats veggies more then any other food.  Also if the child sees that you won't eat it instict says "why should I".  I hope this helps.

Answer 13

Dont offer any substitutes he will soon be hungry and learn to eat whats given to him but you have to be firm with him also

Answer 14

Cheesy mashed Potatoes, Corn Casserole (tastes like a sweet dessert)...

Really the best thing to do is continue trying to give him veggies.  Let him know how important they are in his growth.  Maybe find a show on nick jr. or disney playhouse that promotes eating them.  Sometimes kids will do things to be just like characters on tv.  Just don't let him get away with not eating them.  If he doesn't eat them, he doesn't need to get up from the table until he does.  Try something like, making him eat only half of what is on his plate.  Or make it fun, see how fast he can eat green beans.  For every green bean he eats, he gets something else that he likes (food-wise).  Just don't let him off easy.  He's only four, so he will eventually pass this phase.  But its important at his age to teach him things now.  Its possible he is just not eating for you because he knows his mom never made him, so he is protesting.  But don't give in.  Sometimes phases just come for little boys. But all phases are simply that. Phases.  It'll pass.  Good luck!

P.S.  Let me know if you want recipes for those two I mentioned.

Answer 15

Have him "try" the veggies first and then he can have the other food. Make a rule about how many bites he has to try. Maybe start with one bit and move to three bites. Also, don't put too much on his plate at first.

Buy a children's book about healthy eating and read it to him. Explain that it's because you love him that you want his body to be healthy.