5 yo ds- no fresh food except peeled apple

[TudoBem]

Has anyone successfully expanded a child's palette that was refusing to eat any fruit or vegetable?
How does one do it? Does it have to be an eat it or go hungry approach?
I don't want advice about offering and such. I've tried all the traditional stuff for over 4 years and none of it has worked.
And no, he won't do smoothies. He won't even do fruit ice-creams.
When he was a toddler he would drink smoothies. Then one day he decided he "didn't like" them.
It's not a texture thing. I think it's a control thing.
I should add that the peeled apple isn't all the time and is frequently refused for something else.
He just has his set foods that he eats and has no desire to expand it.
Hopefully someone has been there and solved this kind of issue.
Thanks.

[bobandjess99]

So..what DOES he eat?
That's probably a good place to start.

[TudoBem]

Originally Posted by bobandjess99

So..what DOES he eat?
That's probably a good place to start.

He eats crackers and hummus, mac & cheese, chicken and rice, salmon and rice, pancakes, oatmeal, the Naked brand mango juice (pasteurized), granola with peanut butter, and cheerios.
no fresh fruit. no veggies, fresh or cooked.

[aylaelise]

thats a hard one...my 4 year old is very picky these days too. I have been working really hard to have healthy fun meals but it is hard when I stay away from meat, cheese and nightshades for health reasons. What I get sick of is the complaining about every meal before she sits down to eat. We don't change what we plan on making to fit her likes and dislikes though. I know that we need to respect what they like and dislike however it seems to be more of a routine thing to complain about it. What needs to happen is a FUN meal instead constantly eating what they don't like and it being a struggle.

I would think baby steps is the biggest thing. Especially if he is used to getting the meals that only he wants. Maybe start by having his normal food that he likes with a little side of something new and saying he may have a bite of that as well.

I would love to hear your progress and what other moms have to say about there experience

[Gentle~Mommy :)]

We tried reverse psychology with our picky eaters, basically Mommy and Daddy sitting down to enjoy a snack at the coffee table (where the food is in reach) and just eating and chatting and not saying anything, until the curious little guys started asking if they could have some.

"no, it's just for mommy and daddy"

then they really start whining and wanting it

then you say 'oh okay, just one piece' (it was canteloupe) and then of course they loved it and wanted more.

We've done with with veggies and dip too.

[nichole]

I think it is okay. I bet one day your child will wake up one day and be tired of apples and then move on to something else. My kids go through phases. Once they were in a "big carrot" phase where they would like a whole raw carrot while watching cartoons. We also have had the following phases: raisins, smoothies, broccoli, berries in the summer, and some others that I'm forgetting. I think your child has an excellent diet for his age. Let him have lots of peeled apples. I don't see any point in making a child go hungry to force other foods on them. I just don't like that personally, but do what you think is best.

We give a whole foods multi. I also put probiotics in their smoothie which could be added to other drinks as well.

[tbone_kneegrabber]

you could check out sneaky chef and deceptively delicious for ideas of ways to "hide" fruits and vegetables. we use some of the ideas (butternut squash in mac and cheese is one I can think of) although ds knows whats in the food so we aren't "tricking" him so I can't speak to whether it works to fool them or not.

[HollyBearsMom]

Looks like he is getting good fats, carbs and proteins. he also sounds like he has a pretty good palette so you are right it could be a control thing.

Do you push it? Nag, bribe, cajole, just one bite, etc? If so stop.

Continue offering veggies on his plate (very small portions) and then make no comments about them. He either eats them (or not)-his choice. But he must be polite. Make it clear he can eat them if he wants or leave them but no faces, no "yuck", no whining.

As hard as it will be say nothing about the food and try to make meal time about family time. Make the food secondary.

You should continue to model eating lots of fruits and veggies and make it obvious you enjoy them with being fake about it.

He may or not not come around for quite some time. But basically let it go.


the only fruits/veggies I ate were grapes, iceburg lettuce and corn on the cob (never off) until I was late into my teens and now eat virtually all fruits and veggies.

I also would reccomend the book "How to get your kids to eat...but not that much". She deals with subject quite a bit.

good luck!

[RiverSky]

Have you tried smoothies? You can put all kinds of stuff in them.

I do know a few people who have sensitivites/allergies to many kinds of raw fruit so I can't help but wonder if your child has figured out that eating fruit hurts and now blames all fruit/veggies.

Another way is to try dips. You make fruit dips with yogurt and veggie dips with sour cream. What about raisins?

My son took a few years in the middle (around that age) where he would only eat limited amounts of veggies, but always plenty of fruit, and was pretty picky about other foods, too, but at around 10, he suddenly started eating/trying almost anything! Yay! Hopefully it's just a stage for your son.