14 month old refuses to eat fruit and veggies

[Momof4]

Oh SecondAve, I'm with ya! I have a little girl who only eats about 5 veggies but I keep trying to introduce interesting new ways to talk her into eating. She ate small raw brocolli florets for me last month because I told her she had to eat the whole forest. Her Mom was impressed!

My new baby girl hates fruit, all fruit! I serve fruit with every meal so I'm fumbling around trying to adjust but it takes some practice and you figure it all out. The most difficult time I had was with a little boy who wouldn't eat combined foods and now I'm out of practice with making nice simple dishes like a Shepherd's pie or chili!

With every new dc child comes new challenges. I have a 14 month old on a bottle still and I don't mind. I think it's completely up to the parents to decide when their child finishes the bottle.

[SecondAve]

Thanks everyone for the replies. Today I just put the bottle on the highchair tray and continued on with serving the other kids. Low and behold they picked it up and started drinking it. Drank the whole thing, not the usual slapping it away when I do it. I can handle this bottle thing for a while if they feed themselves. I'll just have to continue plugging away with the fruit and veggies issue. The best piece of advice you all gave was to not offer the yogurt or applesauce alternative. I am one of those people who always worry that a child is hungry, so often they end up getting fairly large snacks. And I do give them alternatives if they refuse what I offer. This ends today, with the obvious exception of knowing that they truly do not like a certain fruit/veggie, then they can have something else. Thanks for drawing to my attention my own part in this

[Judy Trickett]

Hi All,

Just wondering if any of you have any tips for getting a 14 month old to eat fruit and veggies. I offer them at each snack and just veggies with lunch, the child refuses them all the time no matter how prepared. I try to hide them in meals and the child leaves the veggies every time. When I serve fruit I even try to squeeze the juice in their mouth to get a taste for it, doesn't work either. At snack time I often resort to giving the child yogurt or applesauce.

Yesterday I asked the one parent if the child eats fruits or veggies at home and was told only pureed ones. I hate to say it, but there is no way I will be pureeing the fruit and veggies and I feel the child is too old to continue on with baby food. I already have to give the child a bottle twice a day because the child refuses to hold it themselves.

Advice is much appreciated.

Stop giving the child any attention for these control issues. He IS controlling you. And you will always lose in a battle of eating because you can not force feed a child. So, in short, YOU are the only one who ends up frustrated.

Personally, I would stop holding the bottle at all. If the child wants to drink the bottle then HE can hold it. He'll learn pretty quick that if he wants to freak out about having it held for him it won't work. With the veg. I would just give him small amounts of the other foods and if he chooses to not eat the veg then it is also his choice to be hungry. He's not gonna starve himself to death. You are catering to his whims and that is why he won't eat other things. Just stop trying so hard.

[JennJubie]

I have a 14 month dcb who outright refused to eat veggies or hold his own sippy cup when he started. I simply kept offering. If he didn't hold the cup himself, he didn't get it. He knew how to do it, he just didn't want to. As for the veggies, he eats them now, too. He would eat everything else on his plate, and then stare at his veggies and scream at me for more food. I would show him his veggies. It took a few weeks, but now he eats them because he knows that he's not getting any other option.

[MonkeyMamma]

I agree with others to just keep offering foods. Our job is to provide healthy food. The child's job is to decide what they will eat of that food. Having a son with food issues, I can say that forcing a child to eat is a surefire way to cause more issues with food.

As for the bottle, it may be worth considering, especially for wee ones new to care, that being held to bottle feed is about more than just nutrition. Some children need more physical touch and comfort than others. If holding them for five minutes while they have a bottle gives them the reassurance they need to continue on with a happy day, it's five minutes well spent to avoid hours of frustration for both the child and care giver.