Veggies: The Dreaded Enemy
Veggies: The Dreaded Enemy
Why is it that m&m’s taste like a little piece of heaven but will give you cavities but beets taste like and old mop rag and are good for your heart? Was Mother Nature really thinking clearly when these were created? Unfortunately giving your toddlers only what taste good is not going to fulfill your duty of raising a healthy child. Undoubtedly the more you urge your little toddler to take one bite of broccoli the louder he/she will yell “No!” Toddlers are often curious but at the same time suspicious of new foods and though they may be the least bit tempted to taste they will usually opt to feed it to the dog or use it as finger paint across the highchair. It is best to start as young as possible introducing new foods, as they grow they develop a taste for certain foods and become much more picky!
Although it seems like it would be easier to tackle putting a collar on a bee there are ways that are somewhat painless to get you child to eat vegetables.
One mommy told a story of how she hid veggies in all sort of places, such as inside of fruit, Jell-O’s , and even inside of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches!“ It was always very amusing to watch them happily chomping on one of there favorite foods and then suddenly they’d get a slightly confused look on their face (which usually only lasted a moment) and then they would going on chomping totally unaware of what had happened. Sometimes desperate times call for desperate measures!
Try these tips to get your toddler to partake of the dreaded vegetables.
Serve the vegetables first while the toddler is hungry. Usually they will take a few bites because they are hungry, which is great, a few bites are better than none!
Be creative when serving vegetables, camouflaging them in different ways, for example: chop up vegetables and add to pasta sauce, lasagna or even as pizza toppings.
Allow your child to help you prepare a meal creating more interest in the foods when served.
Offer a variety of foods to your child, there are bound to be some vegetables he will tolerate. Remember some foods have to be introduced as many as 10-15 times before a child will accept it. Don’t give up!
Offer your child a vegetable fruit blend, like V8
Lastly if every other attempt is unsuccessful talk to your pediatrician about a multivitamin supplement.
Don’t be put off by rejection, your little anti-veggie monster will eventually accept something. Keep in mind the daily serving for a toddler is much less than for an adult, so just a few bites may be more than enough. For a toddler usually one teaspoon per year of age is enough and ½ a piece of fruit is a serving size.
Make and effort to sit down and enjoy a portion of vegetables with your child, make it a fun time. Children tend to like to imitate adults! Set a good example.
Be patient and Good luck!
Fun food games:
Counting Down
Line little pieces of vegetables up and count down as they vanish down the hole
Decorate Food into faces
Ask toddler to eat the eyes, nose, mouth, hair etc
Picnic
Let them have a picnic on the floor and dress them up like a familiar cartoon character. Usually when a toddler is having fun with meals they will be more apt to try diffent foods!
Why is it that m&m’s taste like a little piece of heaven but will give you cavities but beets taste like and old mop rag and are good for your heart? Was Mother Nature really thinking clearly when these were created? Unfortunately giving your toddlers only what taste good is not going to fulfill your duty of raising a healthy child. Undoubtedly the more you urge your little toddler to take one bite of broccoli the louder he/she will yell “No!” Toddlers are often curious but at the same time suspicious of new foods and though they may be the least bit tempted to taste they will usually opt to feed it to the dog or use it as finger paint across the highchair. It is best to start as young as possible introducing new foods, as they grow they develop a taste for certain foods and become much more picky!
Although it seems like it would be easier to tackle putting a collar on a bee there are ways that are somewhat painless to get you child to eat vegetables.
One mommy told a story of how she hid veggies in all sort of places, such as inside of fruit, Jell-O’s , and even inside of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches!“ It was always very amusing to watch them happily chomping on one of there favorite foods and then suddenly they’d get a slightly confused look on their face (which usually only lasted a moment) and then they would going on chomping totally unaware of what had happened. Sometimes desperate times call for desperate measures!
Try these tips to get your toddler to partake of the dreaded vegetables.
Serve the vegetables first while the toddler is hungry. Usually they will take a few bites because they are hungry, which is great, a few bites are better than none!
Be creative when serving vegetables, camouflaging them in different ways, for example: chop up vegetables and add to pasta sauce, lasagna or even as pizza toppings.
Allow your child to help you prepare a meal creating more interest in the foods when served.
Offer a variety of foods to your child, there are bound to be some vegetables he will tolerate. Remember some foods have to be introduced as many as 10-15 times before a child will accept it. Don’t give up!
Offer your child a vegetable fruit blend, like V8
Lastly if every other attempt is unsuccessful talk to your pediatrician about a multivitamin supplement.
Don’t be put off by rejection, your little anti-veggie monster will eventually accept something. Keep in mind the daily serving for a toddler is much less than for an adult, so just a few bites may be more than enough. For a toddler usually one teaspoon per year of age is enough and ½ a piece of fruit is a serving size.
Make and effort to sit down and enjoy a portion of vegetables with your child, make it a fun time. Children tend to like to imitate adults! Set a good example.
Be patient and Good luck!
Fun food games:
Counting Down
Line little pieces of vegetables up and count down as they vanish down the hole
Decorate Food into faces
Ask toddler to eat the eyes, nose, mouth, hair etc
Picnic
Let them have a picnic on the floor and dress them up like a familiar cartoon character. Usually when a toddler is having fun with meals they will be more apt to try diffent foods!
Sometimes it will take of bit of creativity and effort, but are little darlings are definetly worth it! You will sleep better at night knowing youve done all you can for the health of your child.
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