Health Update: 3 Ways to Help Your Baby Love Fruits & Veggies

Love all the great ideas here! I have always said 'Drink for health. Eat for pleasure.' I found that implementing a 'veggie garden' juice mixed with pure natural fruit juices is an excellent way to ensure my son receives a well diversified group of produce in his system....and he loves it! I choose the glass jarred organic types from Whole Foods and also some fresh Naked Green Machine or fresh carrot juice from the cold area. ;)

Try getting the veggie chicken nuggets or the broccoli and cheese bites. I have a hard time getting my 15 month old to eat most veggies so I feed him the veggie nuggets. They are full of fiber and are better for him than regular fried nuggets.

My daughter is 3 1/2 years old (my third child)and will not eat veggies ever! I have tried just about everything. If I try sneaking veggies in with her food, she gags and sometimes vomits. She loves rice and chicken together so I put a zucchini in the food processor and added it to the rice and chicken and it worked. but to this day that is the only veggie she has eaten without gagging and vomiting. Any suggestions? HELP!

My own children are 29 and 32. They ate anything we ever gave to them. Our granddaughter is 3. She eats literally anything we ever give to her. If the parent is not fussy and does not comment on the child's reaction to food, the child will eat. Model enjoying your own food, name the food for your child, and do not comment on what they do or do not eat. Most fussy kids are created to be that way by the parents' likes, dislikes, and inappropriate comments during any given mealtime.

I found a great blog with some good suggestions on how to get your child to eat more foods. http://momscompass.blogspot.com/2010/12/feeding-children-separate-meals-vs.html http://momscompass.blogspot.com/2010/12/healthy-snacks.html

Also forgot to mention- don't use frozen veggies EVER- they taste like poo and won't do you any favors in the kid department, so don't even set yourself up for failure like that. Stick with fresh cooked veggies EXCEPT for corn- Canned corn is always a favorite, and it's a lot sweeter than fresh corn year round...if you don't want to serve it as is then try throwing a can in cornbread.

1. start with orange fruits and be creative in the way you make them. Carrots, pumpkin, sweet potato, and yams...they are all fairly sweet and easy to prepare. We started with carrot puree, pumpkin soup, steamed sweet potato and worked our way to fried carrots, baked pumpkin and sweet potato french fries. We keep small packs of precooked favorites in the freezer for days that she's not in the mood for the veggies we cooked that day- and she will take them fine.

2. Don't be afraid of greens. Skip the puree of the leafy greens because that's going to give them the bitter face- if they are too young to chew then give them soup! Boiling the greens with a little chicken soup and ginger will make a lovely broth that they will really love and then SLOWLY add in the veggies. Start out with 100% broth, then 95-5% pureed veggies, 80-20% pureed veggies...you get the picture right?

The flavoring is really a key factor because if YOU don't like plain veggies just think how much they will HATE them- so use salt (personally we skip the salt in favor of Mrs. Dash when we can but a little bit of salt vs. eating a whole plate of veggies- we're not afraid of salt)

3. Look for things they like. Watch them eat when they start to eat table foods- and don't be afraid to make 'special' dinners just of things they like. IF they really like cheese then make cheesy broccoli, or if they really like ketchup then let them eat sweet potato fires with ketchup- don't be afraid to cover it up if need be. Also fresh carrots, celery, cauliflower, or broccoli make great dippers instead of chips.

4. Don't make food the enemy!! Just because you or "America" has a weight problem doesn't mean you should be outlawing ANY foods- teach your children moderation! I hate seeing all these dumb mothers come out with 'I don't allow sugar in the house'...why? Because I can see an entire generation of binge eaters being CREATED! Mom won't let you eat sugar at home? Well that just makes them sneak it, or worse- over eating it when they get the chance

This is just LAZY parenting...because instead of letting your kids eat what they want and just monitoring how much and teaching them that too much of a good thing is bad- they just call it all bad. Sugar, fat, and salt don't make people unhealthy...PEOPLE MAKE PEOPLE UNHEALTHY! We've had sugar for hundreds of years and it's just today that it's really reeking havoc with our health, and that's because we don't even try to control ourselves!

So don't start kids off with bad habits, teach them proper portions FOR ALL FOODS! If you want to know about my daughter- well she¿ll eat ONLY veggies for dinner if we let her¿she actually just started eating meats at 38 months. Her favorites are collard greens and broccoli, and she HATES them being covered up with anything. She loves veggie broth and she drinks that as her drink for dinner. She¿s never liked ¿sugar water¿ drinks at all- at school she drinks date juice by choice.

I would suggest purchasing a juicer. I was able to introduce veggies to my son that way with ease. I would often add a mixture of carrot and apple juice to his cereal. You really do have to be creative.

This is just a theory and not a fact. I eat tons of fruits and veggies and have been breast feeding for 9 months. I can't get my baby to eat any fruits or vegetables. Any other ideas?