4 year old refuses to eat veg!!! :(

mumslave

I suppose this wont go down well lol, but it works for me.

Occasionally the girls go through short phases of not eating veg....so I give it to them first at every meal. If they have decided they arent eating veg, they get a nice pile of peas say, in front of them and absolutely nothing else. If they eat it, they get the rest of the meal, if not they go hungry.

Doesnt last long normally two days or so and they go back to eating the veg. Tough love....veg is as important as fruit and I dont want them ending up like my brother, whom wont eat any veg at all at the age of 27!

x-cupcake-x

If he loves mash how about something like bubble & squeak? You could chop the other veg up really finely

loshypops

x-cupcake-x wrote: »

If he loves mash how about something like bubble & squeak? You could chop the other veg up really finely

THanks for this - i think he may pick but it could be worth a shot!

PollyFlinders wrote: »

I'd echo all the above comments about not panicking - some children like to eat the same things over and over again and don't seem to get bored like adults do. My two are like that, and after a while they'll go off their old favourites and be willing to try something new - especially if "Grandad/best friend's mum/Daddy grew it"

My 6 year old sounds a bit like your son - she eats lots of fruit but with veg is very limited. Some of it she just hates the texture of (anything like mashed potato, baked beans or parsnips make her gag) and some things she doesn't like the taste. But she's also an independent little so and so for whom reverse psychology works a treat - so when I dished up Kale and said I was sure she wouldn't like it, she declared it was her absolute favourite and cleared her plate. And now she'll eat just about anything green if I tell her its a type of Kale...

haha - you're a woman after my own heart! i may have to try a bit of that reverse psychology...:beer:

midnightraven3 wrote: »

soup is a great way to get littlies to eat veg
my 19 year old says she doesnt like celery, i always put it in soup, blend, and she never picks out the taste

i am quite funny about veg, i love veg, but raw
a lot of veg smell a bit ick when cooked
i will eat raw turnip, and white cabbage, but hate it cooked
i make colesalw from red cabbage, what about trying that? it looks very pretty so may attract him, and you can have carrots, onions etc in there as well

what about something like vegetable fingers or spring roll type things, my son was a lazy eater, he could not be bothered picking lots of peas up when he was little, so i made a cross between croquttes & veg fingers, diced up some veg and made the filling with that, once he could pick it up and munch, he was well away
i still make the now, and he eats them cold in a pack up
but he came to eat veggies "normally", most do

Thats definately worth a go though i'll still need more of a cover up because he will kick up a fuss if he sees veg hidden!

loshypops

mumslave wrote: »

I suppose this wont go down well lol, but it works for me.

Occasionally the girls go through short phases of not eating veg....so I give it to them first at every meal. If they have decided they arent eating veg, they get a nice pile of peas say, in front of them and absolutely nothing else. If they eat it, they get the rest of the meal, if not they go hungry.

Doesnt last long normally two days or so and they go back to eating the veg. Tough love....veg is as important as fruit and I dont want them ending up like my brother, whom wont eat any veg at all at the age of 27!

If he was my own son i'd do this believe me but i dont want the hassle and strain of him telling his mum that we wouldnt feed him! My nan used to do a similar trick when i was younger to get me to eat mango - then we realised i was allergic :eek: great fun!!

louisewh123

my OHs boy stays with us a few nights a week and i had the same problem. OH would fill him full of sweets and chocolate and let him get away with no veg!!

The things i did that worked were - boilng mash, swede and parsnip together and using for mash on shepeards pie or fish pie.

bleding celery, onions, carrots and tomatoes for soups. ( add milk and a few herbs )

grating (very finely) veg into lasagne and any other mince dish and adding extra gravy/oxo cube so they mixture is more "brown". also sometimes used a mixture of soya and meat for added goodness

making chilli ( a mild one! ) with baked beans instead of kideny bean and grated veg

making home made favourites such as fish cakes and fish fingers with pease and sweetcorn in and just bunging a load of chips and beans with it

all little like that and now he eats more veg than me, sprouts, brocolli, raw veg the lot ( yuck lol!! )

he was the same and ate loads of fruit so i didnt really worry but introduced sneakily and then just put "real veg" on his plate bit by bit. Never mentioned it or highlighted it as good or bad if anything if left or its all gone!

I bet he will be eating loads of veg before you know it!

loshypops

louisewh123 wrote: »

my OHs boy stays with us a few nights a week and i had the same problem. OH would fill him full of sweets and chocolate and let him get away with no veg!!

The things i did that worked were - boilng mash, swede and parsnip together and using for mash on shepeards pie or fish pie.

bleding celery, onions, carrots and tomatoes for soups. ( add milk and a few herbs )

grating (very finely) veg into lasagne and any other mince dish and adding extra gravy/oxo cube so they mixture is more "brown". also sometimes used a mixture of soya and meat for added goodness

making chilli ( a mild one! ) with baked beans instead of kideny bean and grated veg

making home made favourites such as fish cakes and fish fingers with pease and sweetcorn in and just bunging a load of chips and beans with it

all little like that and now he eats more veg than me, sprouts, brocolli, raw veg the lot ( yuck lol!! )

he was the same and ate loads of fruit so i didnt really worry but introduced sneakily and then just put "real veg" on his plate bit by bit. Never mentioned it or highlighted it as good or bad if anything if left or its all gone!

I bet he will be eating loads of veg before you know it!

Thanks for this! glad im not the only one! lots of great ideas to try!

We have him tomorrow night so i'll let you know what happens!

thanks everyone for their posts! im spoilt for ideas now!:beer:

mumslave

loshypops wrote: »

If he was my own son i'd do this believe me but i dont want the hassle and strain of him telling his mum that we wouldnt feed him! My nan used to do a similar trick when i was younger to get me to eat mango - then we realised i was allergic :eek: great fun!!

Ah I misread, I thought he was your own DS, I can see it wouldnt go down so well with his mother :eek: :rotfl:

I should add, I only do that with veg I know they like, I am not so mean as to make them eat something I know they dont like. (eldest hates mushrooms for example, the texture more than the taste):D

billy858

At four years old my DD wouldn't go near any vegetables. At 13 years old same DD still wont eat vegetables if they are just put on her plate (I still put them there though in the hope that one day they will get eaten). She will however eat some if they are in a curry or bolognese sauce with plenty of flavour. She tried to eat some carrot on its own last week and was literally gagging!
What I used to do when she was younger was blend veggies into soups and disguise them in pizza toppings. Make bolognese sauce with lots of added veggies, blend until smooth, then add the mince. Same with the pizza topping. I also used to hide them in cottage pie. She also used to eat plenty of fruit so I wouldn't worry too much. DD2 is the total opposite and was actually trying to eat veg from DH's plate last night! Good luck.

Newbird

mrcow wrote: »

I'm a 36 year old vegetarian (have been for 20 years)
QUOTE]

mrcow - so that makes you 56 then really?

OP - Have a HM soup for starter, whizzed up in blender. Maybe if you can find veg he likes the taste of eg. peas, you should be able to add other veg in, but not so much the taste changes a lot from the pea soup base.

I'd say give a reward, but not choc or usual treats after he's eaten up, how about a new pc game, or a trip to the park/cinema - whatever he likes doing, after he's eaten his dinner and I'd do a pud as a reward and to take away the veg taste....If you try this with a few different tastes and a few different rewards, he'll get the idea that veggies aren't so bad after all!

My kids have always loved pea soup, and still ask me to make it now they're grown up!

jinky67

mumslave wrote: »

Ah I misread, I thought he was your own DS, I can see it wouldnt go down so well with his mother :eek: :rotfl:

on the other hand, your house.....your rules:D

Could your OH and his Mum not try to come to some agreement about how to deal with the situation?