Getting 2 YO to eat veg

vickynleon

you could try making dinner time fun time, my little boy is a very fussy eater so i got some shape cutters and make his food into different shapes and he really enjoys. i gave him fish dippers the other day with peas as eyes and he thought it was great. he's 4 now and i still do it but if he eats it i don't mind. you could make a face out of vegetables done that once and he thought it was great.

if that doesnt help just give it time, always makesome veg with his food and one day he may suprise you. good luck.

Lotus-eater

marisco wrote: »

What does he eat?

Cheese, marmite, bread, pears, bananas, breakfast cereal, meat, potatoes (if he feels like it), baked beans (if he's hungry), raisins, strawberries (most, although he'll put a particular perfect one aside and just won't eat it for some unknown reason, after inspecting it thoroughly), raspberries (I think, it's been since last year since he tried them), pasta (no sauce).
And that's really it

GobbledyGook wrote: »

Don't despair Lotus-eater. Most of us can recall a time where for unknown reasons our child went through a stage that had us tearing our hair out.

I'm currently going through it just now with my youngest who has randomly decided that biting is the single funniest thing in the world.

This too shall pass - that's the phrase that gets me through!

Thankyou

conradmum wrote: »

It's in their genes, I swear. Were you or your siblings fussy eaters as children? Of my three boys, two were fussy eaters and one would eat anything. The two fussy ones shared your boy's distaste for sauces and soups, not even liking custard. They liked to have their food recognisable and preferably not touching on the plate.

The main thing I learned is that the more fuss you make the worse they'll get. So all that 'look how tasty the purple sprouting brocolli is' won't make anything any better.

I've found the best way to tackle the situation is to feign complete and long term disinterest in their eating habits. Try having food in dishes that people help themselves from rather than a single plate of food in front of him which automatically puts him under pressure to eat certain things. If he does try something new don't remark on it at all. You need to stop making eating a thing to stress about.

Don't expect them to change overnight, though. If you're worried about him not getting essential nutrients give him a vitamin drink or something.

My eldest was the worst and always used to drive me crazy (don't they say you make all your mistakes with your first? :rotfl: ). But now one of his favourite foods is squid. So the chances are he'll grow out of it as long as you don't give him a complex about it.

My first was pretty bad, but nothing like this, my sisters were awful re what they ate, I ate anything and lots of it, I assumed my son would be the same.
I'll try not to worry about it and feign disinterest. We already have bowls to choose our own things from at alot of meals, but he'd just choose all the meat if he could, so we try to give him a balanced plate.

So try not to be so interested in it, right. I shall try that.

shortdog

I would agree with others - pop them on his plate, make no comment whether they are eaten or not, and take his plate away at the end of the meal. Offer him a healthy pudding, and leave it at that. He'll come round one day, but the more you stress, the more fun it becomes - it's a major power struggle with kids, and one of the few they can win, whereas if he sees that you just don't care whether they get eaten or not, it becomes really boring, and games over.

marisco_2

Lotus-eater wrote: »

Cheese, marmite, bread, pears, bananas, breakfast cereal, meat, potatoes (if he feels like it), baked beans (if he's hungry), raisins, strawberries (most, although he'll put a particular perfect one aside and just won't eat it for some unknown reason, after inspecting it thoroughly), raspberries (I think, it's been since last year since he tried them), pasta (no sauce).
And that's really it

I can understand that you are concerned. However having read the above your sons diet does consist of things from nearly all the main food groups. This seems to be a phase, although a long lasting one. So through important stages of his development he has benefited from really fresh, healthily grown vegetables.

Is he underweight, lethargic or showing any signs of not thriving due to his faddy eating? If he is then I would speak with your gp and see if they can recommend some multi-vitamins. My mum use to give my siblings and I cod liver oil and malt _pale_ Apparently it does you good.

esmy

At the same age, DD1 ate 5 foods only - from memory eggs, bread, apples, raw carrots and chicken. After 6 months of this I took her to the GP, who said that her diet was reasonably balanced and she would come to no harm. I stopped worrying (and trying to concoct a variety of meals from the things she would eat). It went on for about 18 months in total. By the time she was 5 she ate all sorts, would try just about anything, had school dinners and enjoyed them. As an adult she is an adventurous cook and has introduced me to some unfamiliar foods!

Lotus-eater

marisco wrote: »

I can understand that you are concerned. However having read the above your sons diet does consist of things from nearly all the main food groups. This seems to be a phase, although a long lasting one. So through important stages of his development he has benefited from really fresh, healthily grown vegetables.

Is he underweight, lethargic or showing any signs of not thriving due to his faddy eating? If he is then I would speak with your gp and see if they can recommend some multi-vitamins. My mum use to give my siblings and I cod liver oil and malt _pale_ Apparently it does you good.

He's never eaten fresh vegetables, it used to work when we hid them in a sauce, but I think he's cottoned onto that.
So he's really almost never benefited from fresh healthy veg, now I'm really panicking :undecided

He's not underweight though and is tbh a bit of a tearaway in alot of situations...........most situations, err :undecided He has alot of energy, lets put it that way.
He likes breaking things and hitting people, crashing things, but he does also have a softer side and that's not just his Dad talking

He's really not that bad, he really isn't, it does sound like he is, but he is a handful, no doubt about it.

The stricter I am, the more he seems to rebel against it, we reached a level with his older sister, when after that, it calmed down, which was fine and I expected it, with him it just seems to keep climbing, he's not out of control, because we are in control, but he doesn't seem to care one way or the other.

Maybe this is normal 2 YO behaviour and we just had it good with his older sister I keep hoping.

baza52

Hes under 3..... Why hide vegetables? Are they not normal food.

So your in control are you, dont sound like it

Lotus-eater

baza52 wrote: »

Hes under 3..... Why hide vegetables? Are they not normal food.

So your in control are you, dont sound like it

"it doesn't sound like it" ignoramus

Lotus-eater

Not to mention "you're", numskull, LOL. Get a useful grasp of the English language and I might take you more seriously.

GobbledyGook

Someone once pointed out to me that food is one of the very few things that children can control.

It's up to us if they watch tv, go to bed, play with toys, go outside, go to school/nursery, have a bath etc etc etc.

However no matter what we do we cannot make them eat that carrot. It's one thing they actually have some control over. Children like to explore boundaries and push buttons and food is often a battle they can win.

Don't turn it into a battle then they can't win and therefore it becomes plain old boring food rather than anything else.

I'm not sure if I 100% believe the control issue, but she did have a point imo. Certainly not turning food into a battle ground worked much better.