My kid wont eat vegtables....

I grew up in the old school way of thinking. My mom would prepare our plate and if we didn't eat what was on the plate, we didn't eat. Not sure old school works as well anymore though.

I agree that you just need to keep offering the veggies. They may choose to try just a couple bites and refuse after...but keep offering it day after day, week after week. Both of my kids (now 9 & 14) LOVE salad. They used to hate it when they were younger...but we made them at least eat some of it (if not all of it) as younger children. The only veggie I won't make my kids eat is asparagus because they visibly gag (texture problem). I can live with that. And I don't make my youngest eat mushrooms - cause that's the only veggie I hate! Good luck...just keep trying - they'll come around eventually!

My kids will eat vegetables (they are older though - 7, 12, and 15) however, they like them better with ranch or melted cheese.

I am probably the meanest mom in the world... I don't let my kids leave the table until they finish them. I don't give them much, and if they want more they are absolutely welcome to them. But my kids know they better just eat them or they sit at the table for a very long time.

You do know that forcing kids to eat sets them up to have issues with food, right? Forcing them to clean their plate negates their own hunger cues, resulting in over eating later in life. Forcing them to eat certain foods can actually reinforce their aversions to those foods.

My kids were extremely picky when they were little......but I made it a rule that they had to try the vegetables on their plate. They would take a bite. It takes a person 40 tries before they learn to like something. Eventually, they ate it.

Also, remember this:

Children are not people or humans. They do not get choices. They do not have preferences or even taste. Just shove that *kitten* in and screw what they think about it.

This is very important to remember.

*heart*

Unfortunately, two of my children have a sensory integration disorder as a part of their autism. The texture of some foods make them gag. Cooked vegis make that list. They love them raw!! I often incorporate purees into our food to make sure they're getting their nutrition and because some vegis are just not good raw.

Squash puree is good with cheddar cheese so I add that to burritos, mac and cheese . . . Jessica Seinfeld has a really good cookbook along these lines.

Some children are picky for whatever reason. I like to give them the benefit of the doubt until I understand why they're being picky.

My kids love green smoothies! They call them banana smoothies even though they are green and they know what I put it them.

Water, Spinach and a large banana is a good starting point. Tastes like banana

You can add other greens and fruits, play around and try new things.

I am probably the meanest mom in the world... I don't let my kids leave the table until they finish them. I don't give them much, and if they want more they are absolutely welcome to them. But my kids know they better just eat them or they sit at the table for a very long time.

You do know that forcing kids to eat sets them up to have issues with food, right? Forcing them to clean their plate negates their own hunger cues, resulting in over eating later in life. Forcing them to eat certain foods can actually reinforce their aversions to those foods.

1) I never said I forced them to clean their plates, just eat their veggies.
2) I don't believe that forcing them to eat certain foods will reinforce their aversion to those foods
3) You parent how you see fit and I will parent how I see fit. I was not telling the OP how to parent her children, just how I parent my own.

BTW my children both love almost all veggies now. Even after I "forced" them to eat them. So it worked for my kids.

My kids are a little older now, and they actually say things like "YAY, we're having green beans!". Because they are so better than alternatives that might show up on the table, like asparagus or cauliflower (which they still eat with minimal complaint). When we started "forcing" our kids to eat vegetables, my son would put his head down on the table and cry (he was about 4 at the time). Now it's just an accepted fact that vegetables are a part of dinner, and there is no possibility of dessert or seconds of the entree until the veggies are gone.

That's actually the kind of thing I was suggesting, and it is not the same as hiding them in foods. You can puree all kinds of things and put them into spaghetti sauce, taco meat, hamburgers, meatloaf, etc. and they won't be tasted. They'll be eaten, but that isn't teaching kids to appreciate vegetables as they are. Hiding them in that manner, rather than transitioning into eating them raw or steamed, actually reinforces the idea that vegetables are gross.

That's not true in the least. I raised my kids loving vegetables in many forms, beginning with those they ate in the spaghetti and pizza sauce and later to the same vegetables in whole, raw form. You can conjecture all day about how it will work but I have the proof of having two grown children who were raised to be veggie-loving healthy adults who LOVE vegetables in all forms, including steamed and raw. My son is now actually a trained chef and he uses all sorts of exotic veggies I've never even tried and experiments with different ways to serve them. Eating a vegetable in many different forms and varieties is a great way to have them explore a culinary repertoire that has no limit. Eating veggies only if raw and steamed is unnecessarily boring and simply an exercise in parental control. I have less interest in controlling my children and more in opening their minds and hearts to all sorts of experiences, both culinary and not. If pureeing a veggie for a 3-yr old avoids a fight and gets the veggie in, go for it. Otherwise, you're just torturing your kid without reason and could end up turning them off for life.

EDIT: If kids see YOU eating and enjoying veggies, they will come to a stage in their development where they want to do everything the grown-ups do and they will emulate you. Until then, anything you can do to remove the stress and conflict from the dinner table will serve them best in the long run. Look at all the people here with eating/food issues ... let their relationship with food be a simple one of nutrition/enjoyment and not family politics.

I puree veggies and put them into things, they knew it and they think spinach in brownies is normal.

I think putting a small amount on their plates is a good idea. I grew up with a two bite rule. I had to eat two bites of everything. My kids grew up with the same rule. After two bites if you don't like it, then you've met the requirement. I didn't hold dessert as a reward or punishment either.

I am also an advocate of children helping in the kitchen. The number of young adults in my acquaintance unable to cook for themselves is scary! You also have to experiemnt with cooking methods...my daughter is enthusiastic about baked zucchini fries, otherwise, she eats her two bites and calls it a day!

I also think letting kids grow vegetables is a great idea. Mine have had a small garden since they were little and getting to eat something they've grown and cared for all summer was exciting to them.

I am very much against hiding and sneaking food. It's devious and sets it up so the child does not trust your cooking or his/her own palate. It takes away his desire to choose to try vegetables because they are forced onto him/her.

Now my first question to you is your child a super taster? Does his father or other family members have a problem eating vegetables?

Ask your kid why he doesnt like vegetables do they taste bitter, bland, or is it the texture? Remember children have many more taste buds than us, and that can make it difficult to eat complex tasting foods that have bitter compounds like vegetables especially curciferous veggies like broccoli, brussel sprouts, and cabbage.

Next you want to include him into cooking if he's old enough to stir he's old enough to help. You can give him a responsibility such as every night his job is to make the daily family salad. Let him have control over what goes into the salad, and praise him up and down to the hilt on what an excellent cook he is and how he really knows how to make the best salad of your life. If he's too young to cut up veggies Mom might need to help with the knife stuff and let him assemble.

When you go grocery shopping expose him to the produce section. Talk about the vegetables. This is the perfect time to learn especially about the exotic vegetables country of origin and the health benefits in that veggie. Have him pick out a fruit or vegetable, and ask him to fix it for the family.

Another thing to look at is how we prepare vegetables. If mushy isnt what he is opposed to than cook the veggies and let him slather them with whatever sauce he wants. if he only likes ranch then let him have all the ranch in the world if he can only eat them witch cheese then cheese it up. If he can handle raw then avoid cooking. My fiance is a notorious super taster they only way he will eat any vegetable is if it is fried. I think it reduces some of those bitter compounds. Look at tempura fried. I know some people are going OMG fried the devil's food, but unless your child has obesity I think getting him to try new foods and be open is more important.

Finally, talk as much as you can in a positive tone about how great vegetables are. Present him with the facts.

Give him choice, give him independence, teach him that food is fun, it's about experimentation, and curiosity. Veggies are our friend.

Bad parenting advice of the day: Stop feeding the kid anything but vegetables. In a couple days he'll be so hungry he'll eat drywall.

^^^this^^^ it's the only way...
if you blend them or hide them they will never learn to just eat them. I know... my mother blended any veggie I wouldn't eat outright and i was in my 30's before I started trying to eat them myself.

my children all eat tons of different vegetables. if they didn't eat them with their dinner, they got them for breakfast, and then for dinner the next night untill they were gone. and they would get their veggies on their plate first with NOTHING ELSE, once the veggeis were gone, then they could have their meat and potoatos (or whatever, you get the idea).

^^^this^^^ it's the only way...
if you blend them or hide them they will never learn to just eat them. I know... my mother blended any veggie I wouldn't eat outright and i was in my 30's before I started trying to eat them myself.

my children all eat tons of different vegetables. if they didn't eat them with their dinner, they got them for breakfast, and then for dinner the next night untill they were gone. and they would get their veggies on their plate first with NOTHING ELSE, once the veggeis were gone, then they could have their meat and potoatos (or whatever, you get the idea).

I hope this is a joke. God, I hope this is a joke.

I am very much against hiding and sneaking food. It's devious and sets it up so the child does not trust your cooking or his/her own palate. It takes away his desire to choose to try vegetables because they are forced onto him/her.

Bull****. What three-year-old is privy to every ingredient and every recipe put on the table?

Smoothies...