Comments on: Picky eaters and the hidden vegetable controversy

By: Creating a Happy, Healthy Relationship Between Your Toddler and Food — PhD in Parenting

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 04:33:49 +0000

[...] tell you that if you just put healthy food in front of your kids, they are guaranteed to eat it. My experience with a picky eater tells me that is FAR from the [...]

By: Becca

Becca — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 01:43:17 +0000

I have 2yr old. He started baby foods at 6months. I started with just veges. He loved them, then slowly added fruit. Now for the last 4 months he will not touch any vegetable. So I started hiding the veges and buying gerber graduats fruit and vege sippers. I also will put carrot juice in his apple juice. I still offer veges at table but have learned not to force it. My husban has ocd and was a picky eater also. He will still only eat corn and french style greenbeans. I love most veges so I hope my son will eventauly start liking veges again.

By: Cassie

Cassie — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 17:25:59 +0000

My three year old has actually gone 3 days without eating and then because his stomach shrunk so much he started throwing-up water. DON’T let him go hungry, it won’t work if he’s already proven that he’s more stubborn than you. The first thing you need to do if he is aware of texture is buy a better blender. Get a Vitamix. They are super spendy but worth it if you are motivated to try hiding foods. Start off by adding foods that have little flavor and are the same color as the food you are adding it to (zucchini, garbanzo beans, white beans, red beans, use apple or pear sauce instead of oil when you bake). Start with small amounts, like 1 tablespoon, and gradually increase over time. Also, if you can, expand to more flavorfull foods like cauliflower and more colors. Check out thesneakychef.com for some puree recipes you can add to things.

By: Elana

Elana — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 20:49:17 +0000

I gave my son only veggies to begin with because I heard of the veggies before fruit thing. Didn’t work. Period. Also, if your child won’t eat other than cheerios, aren’t hidden veggies better than none at all? I still offer whole foods at all meals. But he won’t eat. Period. (Again). And he has lost weight in the past. I have been in contact with drs, nurses, nutritionists, feeding specialists, occupational therapists, the list goes on. Hiding butternut squash into muffins works for him. Of course I would prefer he eat whole foods. He simply won’t and would sooner starve.

By: Karen

Karen — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 17:56:32 +0000

I often think that my children are just like me. Sometimes I don’t really want to eat what I’m cooking either, especially when I plan our weekly dinner menu in advance. Tonight is salmon, baked or mashed potatoes and broccoli. But if I’m not in the mood, I know from experience that if I don’t eat dinner I’ll be hungry later and I’m old enough to really understand the nature of that consequence, even tho I have the option of snacking before bed (which my kids generally don’t have).

They have been picky eaters on and off through toddlerhood. Ours are about the same age as yours and my oldest, now 5.5 claims to dislike veggies she used to enjoy while our 3 year old, having been recently diagnosed with gluten sensitivity, now wants only strawberry yogurt, tho she used to be all about fruits and veggies.

I’m so thankful for breastfeeding! Even now- nursing once per day, I’m more relaxed about food intake in our 3 yo. We talk a lot about nutrition- the why’s and most importantly (imo) my husband and I do our best to model healthy eating at meals and snack-time. Even if they are exploring their own tastes now, they can see our results.

One last thing- we are careful about what we deem a “treat,” trying not to exclusively give sugary snacks pride of place on the “treat” list. Fruit is often considered a treat, especially those that are not available year-round.
I think/hope time and respectful communication works in the end.

By: Kelly

Kelly — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 16:53:10 +0000

I think you do what you’ve gotta do and every kid is different. Before introducing solids to our exclusively breastfed son, it was going to be sooooo easy. We would offer a variety of foods several times a day and he would grow accustomed. Well, it turns out, he wouldn’t sit in a high chair, didn’t want to sit still period, rejected most foods, didn’t care if he was hungry or not. Just recently he was diagnosed with Sensory Integration Disorder–which explains a lot! Anyhow, we’ve worked hard to just be consistent and offer and let him decide. What hasn’t made it any easier is that we eat a wide variety of foods and fresh, seasonal fruits and veggies. So just when he does get used to something, we’re onto a new season.

But a few things that I think have really helped. We have worked hard to keep mealtimes positive. If he wanted to sit in his highchair, great. If he wanted to sit on our laps, great. If not, great. And it was really hard. With his allergies, we kept him off the main allergy list until 15 months and we have only introduced a few allergenic foods now at 20 months. I hate the idea of a family member having separate food, so I made everybody’s food hypoallergenic. Only for him to not eat it a ton of the time . Another thing, because he loves to be held and part of things, he has always watched/helped me cook (depending on his age). And he plays in the fridge. So he is always handling fruits and veggies, helping wash them, pulling them out of the fridge and putting them back in. This has given him the opportunity to try things like cilantro several times just because it is so much fun to pull the leaves off. Or take a bite of a tomato or whatever he finds. And we smell things. Since he cooks on my hip, I hand him spices to open and we make a big deal out of smelling them when he gets them open.

A little bit younger, things were so hard. We didn’t know or understand when things were too much for him. Developmentally at around 16 months, maybe a little earlier, he got the understanding that if he didn’t want something on his plate, he could pick it up and hand it to us. And we learned to show him things, offer him things and put not overwhelming amounts on his plate. We even learned to always keep his favorite food of the moment on the table so that it was always a part of his meal. Instead of keeping him in a rut, it has allowed him to eat something comforting and then move on to something more adventuresome. And he’s doing a million times better. This spring, when plums came into season, I would hold him everyday in my arms and eat a plum and offer him some only to get a vehement NO!. It took three weeks for him to decide to take a bite. When peaches came into season, he tried one the first time he saw it. And for some reason he seems to like fruit in its original form. So really, the sweet thing has made little to no difference. When we started him on wheat and soy, I offered him the Toffuti ice cream sandwiches everyday for several weeks. From the time I offered, until the time he took a bite until the time he would eat them, a loooonnnng time passed (he’s underweight so I’m trying to fatten him up).

Anyhow, after having dealt with all that, I no longer question moms who hide veggies or fruits. I’m sure for as difficult as it has been with our son, many people have things a million times harder. Raising Your Spirited Child is a great book for those who have kids with sensitive palates.

By: Lauren

Lauren — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 14:10:36 +0000

My daughter (2.5 yrs) happily ate everything I put in front of her last summer, including all varieties of veggies, fruit, beans, dairy, meat, etc. This summer? Well, let me put it this way: so far today she has eaten a handful of blueberries and a few cheerios. She has thrown bananas and crackers on the floor. I agree with Goldberg’s idea that you need to foster friendly attitudes towards veggies for kids. My husband and I love vegetables. But my toddler hates pretty much everything right now (including cheese. and often, peanut butter. she won’t eat!). So what’s a concerned parent to do in the meantime? I can see “hiding” veggies to ensure adequate nutrition while hoping to work on the larger issues. Additionally, it seems like constantly putting veggies out and having the child hate them might not encourage good attitudes towards veggies.

Thanks for the ideas on how to deal with BOTH issues simultaneously.

By: Andrea

Andrea — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 12:32:43 +0000

I disagree about the veggies before fruit thing too — breastmilk is very sweet, and most bf babies have no problem transitioning to less-sweet food Besides, if that was the problem, what would stop a child from rejecting veggies once introduced to the wonders of fruit? I know from my own experience that my first son loved a number of veggies that he simply will not eat now, and hasn’t since he was about 3 years old (and he was started on veggies first as per old school starting solids “rules”). At almost 6 he’s starting to eat some of them again, mainly because we just kept offering (and I presume, he gets bored of eating the same stuff over and over.)

By: mudmama

mudmama — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 11:29:10 +0000

I have 5 kids, 4 birth one step, one of my children has an ASD and one has ADHD. Both of these children are extremely picky eaters. The one with the ASD has severe texture issues and the one with ADHD is a super taster – extremely sensitive to bitter flavours, spice, anything strong tasting.

I don’t want to address fruits and veggies but I want to offer that paents closely look at what their kids DO eat and examine if there might be a sensitivity going on. Grains, gluten, and dairy products can all affect everything from mood to digestive issues to what kids will eat. If your child will only eat bread products it may sound insane to say this, but grains might be the thing you should remove from their diet.

When my kids went gluten and casein free it totally changed their willingness to eat fruits and vegetables too – for the good.

By: Valerie

Valerie — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 11:13:53 +0000

I am mom to four in their 20′s now. All breastfed, started foods at about 6 months. Firstborn started out well with various foods, and then became more and more bland in his taste preferences. White foods, maybe one veggie, some fruits but preferred canned variety in juice, no casseroles or mixed together foods, simple bland foods. He is now married and 28, made it through two tours in Iraq (as a reservist) on bread, potatoes, meat (and dessert, of course) – appears healthy, and is actually trying new foods here and there in his twenties. Slow starter, perhaps.
Even as an adult, he has trouble with strong scents – even pleasant ones (had to quickly leave a Yankee Candle Store – too much scent).
I didn’t cope with an extreme situation but often wondered why he was so extra sensitive to tastes. Interestingly, he still has real difficulty in swallowing pills, and has a strong gag reflex. As an infant, he would often spit up after breastfeeding and would likely have been treated for reflux now. Still gained fine. Watching a younger sibling learn how to eat baby food, he’d gag when it became messy.
It seems there are many factors that can contribute to ‘finicky eating’.