Parent Question: What should I do when my child refuses to eat vegetables altogether?
- Do not force your baby to eat vegetables and do not become discouraged if she initially refuses them.
- A very small portion should be offered to your baby so that she is not overwhelmed.
- Try using vegetables that are popular with most children such as carrots, corn, peas, beans and sweet potatoes.
- Try offering your child raw, frozen, or grated vegetables instead of cooked ones. Sometimes, the change in texture, color, and taste can do the trick.
- Serve raw vegetables as finger foods rather than cooked vegetables (see Finger Foods for Infants & Toddlers).
- Mix vegetables with breast milk or formula if your baby does not like the taste of vegetables.
- Mix foods up by placing green beans in mashed potatoes or broccoli in the rice with a cheese sauce.
- Disguise vegetables in soups, purees, and sauces.
- You may also place a variety of different colored vegetables on one plate to make it look more fun and appealing.
- You may avoid offering your child green vegetables for a while and, instead, offer red, yellow, orange and the many other vegetables which are naturally sweet (sweet potato, corn, etc).
- Use different preparation methods at different temperatures when introducing vegetables to your child again. For example, experiment with sauces or small amounts of dressing to enhance the flavor.
- Serve dipping sauce with vegetables, since kids enjoy dipping foods in sauces such as melted butter with a little lemon juice.
- Get creative (e.g. corn on the cob) and make eating vegetables fun. For example, make veggie art with your child or allow her to help you prepare vegetables. If your baby is a bit older, take her grocery shopping with you. Children enjoy eating foods that they have prepared.
- Children also enjoy foods that stick to their spoon such as mashed potatoes and rice with cheese sauce.
- Soups are also a good way to get your child to eat vegetables.
- Be a model for your child and show her that you eat vegetables, too.
- Be patient – if your child refuses vegetables, offer her them again in a different way (change color, size, texture, etc.) after a few days.
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