Making your toddler eat vegetables will not be an easy task. But, you as a parent would like to see your kid eating healthy, and that is where the battle begins. Food is medicine in a way, it can be used as prevention, and also it can be a poison. Processed foods and sugar are the poison I am talking about. I’m not saying you shouldn’t let your kid have candy now and then, but it has to be in a small percentage of his/her daily food intake. Eating healthy will provide your kid with a better life, better sleep, and he/she will be less prone to acting out. Below we will share some methods to get your toddler to start eating vegetables.
Yes. Many of the methods are sneaky, but this doesn’t mean you should stop offering vegetables on the kid’s plate or stop insisting the kid eat them. It is important to get them to learn to like vegetables. As a parent, you need to teach and hold your status as the “boss”. Sometimes even two or three bites of the carrots or the broccoli can be considered as a win because your kid has consumed at least something nutritional.
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Juicing is one of the “sneaky” methods to make your toddler eat vegetables.
Juicing is easy and many parents’ favorite way to get nutrition from the vegetables into their toddler’s body. You would want a juicer that can get all the juice out from the vegetables and fruits and also one that is easy to clean.
Try to include your toddler in the juicing process. You ask him/her what to add in the juicer, or when you are using a banana, for example, you ask the toddler to dived the banana into pieces by using his/her hands. Eventually, the toddler will be like, “Let’s juice some veggies and fruits”. The toddler doesn’t even have to do anything. He/she can sit there watch you cut all the veggies and fruits. You can explain to him/her the whole process, talk and laughing while you are juicing. It can be a nice moment for you two to bond and make your relationship stronger.
Usually, when juicing veggies, the standard combo is celery, carrots, and apples to add some sweetness. There is very little chance that your toddler won’t like this combo. After some period, you can add different veggies to his combo and see what your toddler will like and whatnot. Another delicious combo is spinach, beets, lettuce, kale, and cucumbers.
The more veggies you add, the more minerals and vitamins the juice will have. Juicing will take out the fiber from the fruits and veggies, but that is a small price to pay for the many other benefits you will get from it.
Try making smoothies
There is almost zero chance that your toddler will agree to eat a handful of spinach or kale. Guess what? If you add it in his/her morning smoothie mixed with other veggies and fruits, the toddler won’t even notice the spinach or the kale. You can camouflage the veggies by adding strawberries, bananas, yogurt, chia seeds, and lots of water, so it’s easy to get through the straw.
Hiding the veggies in food for your toddler
Now, this is a sneaky method, but it is all for the toddler’s well-being. There are few ways to hide veggies in food. If you are cooking muffins, you can add shredded beets, carrots, or zucchini in them. When you are cooking meatballs or meatloaf, you can sneak some celery in the, just chop them finely so the toddler won’t notice it. If your toddler likes cream soups, you can puree cauliflower or squashes and add them to the soup. You can add chopped spinach to your pasta sauce. And, you can sneak mashed cauliflower in your mashed potatoes.
Try to offer dips
Toddlers will love to dip foods into dips, and here is your chance to sneak the vegetables. Eating the vegetables on their own is not fun for the toddler, but if you offer a dip with the veggies, there is a greater chance that he/she will try and eat one. Usually, they will go for ranch dressing or hummus dip. You can hope that your toddler won’t just lick off the dip and leave the veggies uneaten.
Making desserts from vegetables
I bet this came as a surprise, but there are real desserts you can make using vegetables. One of the most popular recipes is the one for chocolate avocado pudding. This one is not only easy but also super delicious. All you have to do is mash one ripe avocado with some cocoa powder and some maple syrup.
Try serving vegetables they do eat with food the toddler does not like and nothing else on the plate.
Let’s say your kid likes to eat broccoli sometimes but dislikes cheese. Now, what you can do is serve your toddler a plate with broccoli and cheese and nothing else on the table, so he/she will have to choose to eat either one or both of the foods. In this case, the toddler will probably choose the broccoli and leave the cheese uneaten. Still, this is a win because you made your kid eat some veggies. You can try some other combos depending on what your kid likes and dislikes.
Serve the vegetables first
It can be easier to get your kids to eat vegetables if there isn’t any other choice. You can put few vegetables on his/her plate before you bring the rest of the dinner. There is the possibility the toddler will munch on the veggies while he/she waits for dinner. The best would be if you all sit down and have a plate of vegetables in front of you. Then, just start eating and maybe talk about how good and healthy the vegetables are.
Reward your toddler or better say “bribe” them
I bet we are not proud of this option, but many parents try this option, and they get their children to do the things you ask them. If your toddler asks to watch TV, you can say, “yes, you can, but only if you eat vegetables while you watch TV”. The kid will be focused on the TV and might eat a lot more veggies than what you would expect them to eat.
Lastly, let your toddler get hungry
No, this does not mean that you need to starve your child or put an ultimatum that unless they eat the vegetables, they won’t be eating anything else. You have to be a responsible parent, not a torturer. What you can do is say no to eating snacks a few hours before lunch or dinner. You must resist the temptation to give them any snacks. Bear in mind that this can lead towards your kid finishing all you have served on his/her plate. Yes, including the veggies.
