4 year old won't eat meat

[jemar]

Help! My four year old was never a big meat eater but now she is refusing chicken and turkey too. She eats a couple of bites of chicken per week and about 5 eggs per week. Most days she eats beans and nuts for protein and lots of veg and fruit. She is refusing lentil soup, into which I could have sneaked some bone broth. I've started her on Floravital for iron. She also is dairy free for other reasons. She drinks rice milk but I could switch her to coconut milk if that makes any difference. Any suggestions how to get some animal protein into her diet? Many thanks.

[la mamita]

if she likes eggs, i would go with more of that. i eat eggs about 2x per day. what about fish? tuna? sardines? does she like meat besides chicken and turkey--like beef jerky, bacon, etc? as long as she's eating lots of eggs and beans that sounds like enough protein to me. you can add in non-meat iron-rich foods too.

[rhianna813]

My DS is almost 7 and has never eaten meat or eggs. I was vegetarian when he was born, plus he just a hugely picky eater.

It's been a slow process getting him to eat any kind of variety of food, but we're making progress. The only issue with meat is that he's really against hurting, killing and eating animals. I never talked to him about being vegetarian when I ate that way and I don't think any of my friends have. So I am not sure how he got so passionate about it.

Luckily he is not eating the amount of soy products he once was. He's not been into tofu or soy hotdogs for a while. Lately, we working on more veggies and fuller fat dairy. I make his rice with chicken stock.

Rhianna

[Kelilah]

It sounds like her diet is fine, especially with the eggs. My friend has a two-year-old who's never had meat in her entire life (she does have eggs from their backyard hens) and she's the healthiest toddler I've ever seen.

If your daughter doesn't want meat, I wouldn't try to force it on her or sneak it into her food behind her back - that could lead to major trust issues later. I went vegetarian when I was 11, stayed that way into my mid-twenties, and I lost pretty much all respect for (and faith in) my mother when I found out she was sneaking chicken broth and ham hocks into my veggies for the first year or two. (The silver lining is that's what motivated me to learn to cook for myself, haha.)

The eggs, beans, nuts, and occasional bits of chicken sounds like enough protein... maybe give her some tofu every once in awhile too. But I wouldn't worry about it if I were you, she knows what she wants and if she really needs more protein in her diet, she'll start craving it.

[jemar]

Thanks all. I'm not worried about protein just B12 and iron, but with the eggs she should be ok. I'm going to try turkey bacon. That's a good idea la mamita. I do put broth in her potatoes, etc, because I don't think she is making an ethical choice right now. If she were I would totally respect it.

[SummerLove]

I think it's important to let her trust what her body needs. She's getting plenty of b12 with the amount of animal foods she eats.