How do I get my daughter to eat meat and vegetables? ?

Question

My daughter is 3 1/2 years old and it is a constant daily struggle to get her to eat. Her main foods include peanut butter, crackers, cereal, french fries. These are just some of the main foods besides the snacks( fish crackers,pretzels, popcorn) . I guess the main thing is meat, but I would like her to also eat pasta, breads,and vegetables too. Please help.

Answer 1

There is a theory that says that a picky eater is doing that so as to gain control in some area in their life.  Every child needs to be able to decide things, just as they need to belong, to learn and become expert in something, and be able to give.  So, as a suggestion, give her things over which she has control and give her more things to control as she demonstrates she makes good decisions.  To read more, here's a website:

http://www.reclaiming.com/about/index.ph...  

Answer 2

So you've let her decide what to eat for 3.5 yrs and NOW you want her to choose on her own to eat right?? BE a parent and make her eat right.  She'll eat anything if she's hungry enough..its too bad though, if you had fed her right and taught her to listen this wouldnt be a problem.

Answer 3

If she doesn't like meat don't force her! My parents forced me to eat meat and I always hated it. I have been vegetarian since the day I turned 18, 18 years now. Try to feed her things she likes but get creative and make sure she gets a well rounded diet with protein, etc. Forcing kids to eat only creates problems. Experiment with a larger variety of things, try tofu and soy products. Make meals more fun. Take away the stress and the tension. Wait until she is hungrier. She will eat when she is hungry. Feed her less of the junk and when she is hungry she will eat.

Answer 4

keep her hungry for a while and then offer her what you want her to eat.

Answer 5

Juice them and give her a straw.  You can put veggies and fruit together and she will not know they are in there.

Answer 6

Seven nights out of the week I serve everyone the same thing.  A lot of times my children don't like what we're eating.  My son just turned 3 and he wouldn't get near a vegetable (even though I think they're the most important)  Now,  I make spaghetti dishes and I'll chop up broccoli really fine in my food processor.  when I mix it in the sauce, my children never notice.  Sometimes we'll also have races, which I'm sure a lot of people would disagree with.  We only do it with green beans and as soon as he gets it in his mouth everyone else takes their time so he doesn't rush as much.  Also, maybe stop giving her the snacks and so many carbs.  She'll have more room for the foods you want her to eat.  Eventually if she's hungry enough, she'll eat what you offer.    

Answer 7

tell her she won't get anything else unless she eats her veggies

Answer 8

My son is also 3 1/2.  I had to create a rule - You have to stay at the table until you take at least 1 bite of everything on your plate.  If he doesn't like it, I don't make him finish it, but most of the time he actually likes it.  It was hard a first to stick with it, but be consistent and she will start to eat a bigger variety.  It's probably different for girls, but it also helps when we tell my son that if he eats it he will get big and strong like daddy and can beat him up.  Maybe you could try saying it will help her hair grow long and pretty like her favorite princess - or whatever it is she likes.

Answer 9

I went thru this recently with my older 2 who were 7 and 3.  I got very tired of making 3 different meals for dinners and they got tired of me making the same dishes over and over.  We had a long standing arguement that I would make more kinds of food if they would eat more kinds!!!  So I started the family meal plan;  goes like this.

I make 1 meal that consists of 1 main dish (usually meat) and 2-3 sides which are usually some kind of rice or potato, a fruit and a vegetable.  I put it all in dishes on the table and let them serve themselves but the rule is they need at least 3 bites from the main dish and 2 side servings.  Otherwise, they don't get any dessert afterwards and for a bedtime snack they can only have a healthy food like a piece of fruit.  

This has worked beyond my wildest imagination.  Not only am I much calmer and enjoying mealtime much more but they have discovered they DO like other foods.  They like chicken, port even some steak dishes.   But the key for us was that I did not allow any treat foods if the healthy food was not eaten or tried and I also did not force it.  They will eat when they are hungry.  Also, I made sure I had at least one dish that they each liked ( usually some fruit) so they looked forward to having at least something they liked.

Come up with your own plan and stick with it but ban a lot of the snack foods for now.  

Answer 10

Well try eating what you want to feed her in front of her encouraging that it is good..and it taste good. you can try mixing the foods in something she cant tell what it is..keep trying...her curiousidy of watching you eat the foods might make her want to try them more. maybe put some flavoring on them that she does like.

Answer 11

I Know you want a quick fix... So i'll give it to you.

let's say your daughter loves juice or gummy bears. At dinner put her fave thing in front of her and say if you want to eat that first you have to eat your healthy food. First she'll cry I'm sure, just don't give in, then slowly start giving her less and less gummies, and when she eats her meat applaud her and tell her it makes you happy and she will grow up big and strong, like her fave character. I did it with my son, Now we just eliminated all bad things out of his diet so he eats nothing but good stuff. Good Luck