21 month old NOT eating vegetables

[kfillmore]

I know this is always an issue but here it really is! I mean this baby wont eat vegetables. Here is what she sometimes eats:chews on a raw carrot for a minute, sweet potato pie, potato pancakes sometimes with zucchini. She WILL taste anything we give her. She WILL spit out the tiniest piece of food she doesn't like.

I have tried soup (oh, and she will eat the mushrooms out of Whole Foods cream of mush soup), veggies raw, single cooked, mushy, al dente, mashed etc.

I know is doesn't sound that bad-I mentioned 5 veggies. But it really is, how much of those foods can one eat? I don't think the potato pancakes are particularly health or the canned mushroom either.

I have blended some parsley and added it to yogurt and water and a veg powder. She will drink that.

I am not a fancy cooker. I don't make sauces or lasagna or baked stuff like that. We tend to eat stew or rice and veggy and meat. Time is really an issue too because DD is wild and high energy and I don't have much kitchen time.

ANY suggestions or advice???

p.s. she does like fruit

[kismetbaby]

I hope somebody has some good ideas, b/c my 14mo son is just like this.  He'll eat avocado and sweet potato and pumpkin.  That's pretty much it for veggies, although he also loves fruit.  He's picky in general and will spit anything out that he deems yucky. Sigh.

We're big veg eaters, so I don't know what to do about this except keep offering it and praising him when he tries something.

[taramoon13]

all i can say is keep offering it. i remember reading somewhere that lo's might try things up to 30 times before they decide they like it. i used to hate it because i felt like i was wasting so much food. i was never a fancy cook either. i know one thing my ds used to love was dr.praeger's spinach pancakes. as far as them loving fruit, just give them as much of that as they'll eat, my mil is a nutritionist and she would always tell me at this stage that if he was eating tons of fruit that he was getting enough nutrients without the veggies also. just remember it could also be a question of texture, ds didn't like mashed sweet potato(or mashed anything for that matter!), but would eat chunks of it that he could pick up himself.

[CrunchyChristianMama]

My advice (and what worked for my DD) is to make everything a french fry. 

My DD loves fries, so we started calling all vegetables fries.  We eat carrot fries, green bean fries, sweet potato fries... 

All you have to do to accomplish this is cut them in the shape of a fry, coat with butter or olive oil and some salt, and roast in the over and 450 degrees until they get crispy.

I like my veggies better this way too! 

[pranava]

My DS will only eat peas - nothing else.  And that's only if I fly each pea in airplane style with lots of dramatic sound effects and Mommy running around and spinning some circles.  It's a lot of work for a little pea.  Oh, and I did get him to eat some spinach hidden under the cheese of a pizza one time (he he sneak attack spinach).

[magpiedpiper]

What about smoothies? My dd loves a strawberry banana smoothie and if I throw in some greek yogurt and fresh spinach she really doesn't notice. You might be able to do other greens too.

[Llyra]

Just keep offering. In my experience, if you restrict junk, and make mealtimes pleasant and low-pressure, they get there. It can take a long, long while, but one day they surprise you. Seriously, at that age my DD1 ate exactly four foods-- milk, yogurt, peaches, and pasta. That's it. That's all. She's still not the world's most adventurous eater, but now at six years old she'll eat all kinds of things she would have rejected, including a range of vegetables-- mashed potato, snap peas, sweet peas, carrots, broccoli, sweet peppers, tomatoes, green beans, corn, sweet potatoes, parsnips, turnips, and pickled cabbage. She's still not heavy into the leafy greens-- but few kids this age are, and they seem to flourish. Remember-- little kids have less of a need for the minerals and antioxidants that we need as we grow older, and more of a need for fats and protein to fuel growth and provide energy.

My other two were less picky, but were still not huge into vegetables. DD2 likes salads, though, and I'm thankful for that. But the other two won't touch raw greens.

One year olds the world over are famous for eating nearly nothing. That's why their milk is so important, and why knowledgeable experts don't recommend weaning until at least 2. If your LO isn't nursing, you might consider using a formula, if you really have your doubts about LOs nutrition. Otherwise-- don't worry about it! The more you worry, the more LO picks up on your stress, and the more food becomes a battle rather than a happy exploration.

[eleonrauis]

Carrots and sweet potatoes both work really well in smoothies.  I make them for my DS with equal amounts of veggie and fruit mixed with milk and kefir.

[dejagerw]

I personally wouldn't be too concerned, as long as your LO was eating a lot of fruits.  Just keep offering and try not to sweat it too much.  Also, tomatoes are considered veggies, so tomato sauce, salsa, etc, all counts. 

It's kinda funny, but I told my 2 year olds to crunch the carrots, celery or whatever like an alligator (he likes alligators).  We go "chomp , chomp, chomp" when he "eats" them.  Now he thinks that alligators like to eat carrots, celery and other veggies.  He mostly spits it out too, but will sometimes eat some.  He'll also kinda eat them if there's a veggie dip or something.  Or pretending the spoon or fork of whatever is an airplane works to get it in his mouth.  He'll chew a lot and spit a lot out too.  But I'm counting it as a success since he's at least now putting it into his mouth and chewing it up (where as before he wouldn't even put it to his mouth). 

It's funny, he loved veggies until I guess he could tell me he wanted something better.