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How do you get your kids to eat healthy?
Noel eats for crap and I know that it's his age but I also know that I've let it get this bad. I slowly gave in as he rejected more and more food and now he even rejects some of the garbage food that he used to love. He seriously could live off of mac and cheese and juice. It's getting really bad around here. So one of my resolutions this year is to get him back to eating healthy. I hear all these stories about toddlers whose favorite food is cucumber and cream cheese sandwiches or some nonsense and I want my kids favorite food to be something healthy!
I have no clue where to start. I have tried offering him things like hummus or avocado or vegetables (I don't think he's eating a vegetable in months) and he completely ignores them. Do I just keep offering them and throwing them away and hope that he eventually takes it? Do I only give him the healthy stuff until he's so starving he's forced to eat it (please tell me this isn't my only option because that does not sound fun)? Any suggestions?!
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Re: How do you get your kids to eat healthy?
I have no idea. ?I need to get Caedan to eat MORE. ?He won't eat. ?Caedan is the opposite though. ?He will only eat things like grilled chicken. ?If it has any crust or anything NO WAY. ?Which I am not complaining about. ?I just want him to eat more.
We sometimes bargain with him.?
11 months
Us too.
Food is a constant battle around here. DD will eat scrambled eggs or pasta pretty much any time. Other than that, it's a toss up as to whether she'll like it or not, depending on the day.
I know this is not the point, really, but have you tried those recipes that "hide" veggies and good stuff? Like, you put a cup of sweet potato puree in brownies or mac and cheese?
www.thesneakychef.com
I would try some of those + keep serving plain veggies and go from there.
We bargain as well sometimes.
I remember a time when Eli was about 2 where food was really a battle. Our pedi enforced that we need to keep offering the veggies even if he doesn't eat them. It really did work! He is back to eating them like he used to. While he was rejecting them though, I always made sure he would at least eat his fruit. I offered fruit constantly then.
We also cut his juice with water which helps as well I think. It's more like flavored water which you could do gradually if you don't already.
I've also heard it can be very helpful to offer dips like hummus, pnut butter, ranch (surely you could find a healthy-ish version) with veggies for kids.
Since you said your DS likes mac n cheese, maybe try to make it as healthy as possible with whole wheat pasta, organic cheese, etc. (if you don't already) You could also try some of those hidden veggie recipes.
Eli is in a slump right now with the quantity he eats. Also with getting him to sit through a meal which really has always been a battle and got worse when I had morning sickness for months and was out of commission. It's always something!
Big E (6) & Little E (2.5)
This probably way oversimplifies things, b/c my DS will eat just about anything. I think we have done a couple things that make it easier on us though. First of all, I never ever make him a special meal. He eats with the family. If he doesn't like what's for dinner, he can have a bedtime snack but it's always something healthy. It's been this way for a long time so he would never expect anything different.
I often let DS pick what veggies to have for dinner. I just give him a couple options. He loves this responsibility and he pretty much always eats his veggies.
I think the most important thing is that I eat healthy foods. I find that if I offer him carrots, he may say no, but if they're out and I'm snacking on them, he'll eat them too.
I will make DS things like mac and cheese but we make it homemade on the stove w/whole wheat pasta, cheese, milk, a little hot sauce and a bit of dried mustard. We don't do boxed, processed foods for the most part. I also have DS in the kitchen helping me cook almost every night. As I'm cooking, he'll often want little snitches of the veggies I'm chopping and I think he just enjoys being a part of it. I let him pour things, turn the oven light on so he can see things cooking and pick him up so he can see the stove.
HTH! Both of mine are good eaters so we have it kind of easy.
Oh... and we do smoothies a lot. We get frozen fruit and use plain yogurt. We don't have to add sweetener b/c the fruit makes it sweet enough. We always add spinach, protein powder and flax seed oil which you can't taste at all. It's a lot of fun experimenting with different types and DS loves to push the button on the blender. We don't give him juice at home either. He is allowed to have apple juice at restaurants and we make popsicles with juice. Otherwise, he doesn't get juice.
DS is pretty picky. But, if he can stick something in dip (like cucumbers which he honestly does like) then he's more apt to try it. But, his diet is usually: pb, almond butter, yogurt, cheese, pasta with sauce, bean and cheese quesadillas, and then the standard run of junk food which is carefully picked to be the "healthier" or organic options for him if I can get them.
At that age ds was on a grilled cheese and soy chicken nugget phase. It lasted a while but we kept offering other stuff with it.
I found soup and playing "what veggie can you find?" helped a lot. Making it a game. Casseroles were great too.
Can you sneak veggies into the mac and cheese. I do and Love it
Cover it in a sauce.
Saxton is uber picky, but if I cover it w/ hollondaise sauce or white sauce or w/ cheese, he's all over it.
Ok I feel like my kid is an idiot. I wish I could bargain with him but he doesn't understand bargaining. I can't hold even the shortest of conversations with him because he still only says maybe 20 words (and none coherently). Gah that just opened up a whole new can of woe.
Thanks for the suggestions everyone.
e-mail me and I'll give you my phone number. I swear you have Xavian's long lossed twin. Seriously.
either my kid is a really good eater or i'm a total witch. or both. i don't offer him juice. like ever. there's no reason to. since he's already hooked, when he asks for it, say no. he'll flip out. food strike. whatever. eventually he will have to take an alternative. you have to provide a good example too. you can't take away his juice and then be sipping on something colorful and sweet in front of him.
part of it is just the toddler food strike issues and that's normal and won't warp him for the rest of his life but part of it is caving in to his wants because you don't want a fight.
He's totally not!
I don't know that Declan will be at the bargaining stage at that point either. He's more into moving around and doing than communication right now. We have problems with veggies too. I just keep offering tiny amounts and occasionally he eats the smallest bit and it's a victory for me. I hide the veggies for DH as well bc he won't eat them either. GL!
Tales of the Wife
Please don't feel bad. I wouldn't be able to bargain with my two year old either - he wouldn't get it. He understands a lot, but speaks less than 20 words. I wasn't going to respond to this post b/c I don't have any good advice, but now I don't want you to feel bad about this too so I felt compelled to answer.
Posts on cloth trainers/PLing
lol - Think about it this way ... Noel isn't an idiot. Sabine is just manipulative.
Caleb has become pickier with age as well. He is a slow one though. If he is drinking milk and I take it away I can tell him if he wants it back he must eat a green bean. I can do this and get him to eat about half of whatever I want. He also got some new Sesame Street placemats and pretends to feed the characters. I tell him one bite for Cookie Monster and one for Caleb. It has been helping. I will take as many little bites as I can these days. Proteins and veggies are our problems now.
Kids can only eat what they are offered by their caregivers. Make healthy selections or at least choices you are willing to live with.
Fortunately I do not have a picky child [no one in the house is picky]. Seriously consider your presentation of food [your demeanor] and your attitudes about it. For example: Having Dad say that carrots are "icky nasty" when you are trying to get your kid to eat them isn't helpful.