I am at my wits end with my 3 yr old DS who will NOT eat ANY fruit or veg for over a year. I am not exaggerating!

I am tired of people telling me to keep offering it as it takes at least 10 times- I've been offering it for over a year now!! He flat out refuses to even put it in his mouth! I do't know what has happened, as a baby he used to eat everything, even cucumber sticks and many fruits.
The ONLY fruit he will eat occasionally is bananas (he used to eat them every day!)Also used to eat mashed potato,

I can't hide them in pasta sauce, meat loaf/patties etc as he will not eat them either! He won't even eat spaghetti bolognese sauce, any bakery items (sausage rolls etc) apart from donuts, hot dogs, etc.

Typical day-
Breakfast- 1 slice of bread with nutella
weekends will eat pancakes or bacon and a "nibble" of egg
lunch- ham and cheese on a plate or peanut butter sandwich, yoghurt or custard
dinner- I serve what we have, but he only eats- plain rice, some meats, fish fingers, potato gems, chips, sometimes plain pasta.

Please help- I am open to ANY suggestions!

Hope i can give you a few suggestions and something might work - how frustrating for you though!

-I make my son up a plate for lunch with capsicum and carrot sticks, sliced cucumber, crackers, cheese, or a cut up sandwich as well and often fruit sliced up then I sit him in front of the TV or we pretend to have picnic on the floor and watch TV and he just sits and eats - he will eat more this way than at the table.
- for some snacks i give him a little cup with sliced beans, in it or peas or corn kernels - he eats these raw
- he likes the four bean mix you get in the can
- i have an 8 month old and he will eat her pureed fruit frozen from the ice block tray - he thinks it's an icy pole *this may work* you can puree tinned peaches or apricots too and freeze them.

Other than that good luck

my 4.5 yr old is the same, refuses to eat any vegies, dosnt matter what they are he will just not try them. i have tried hiding them, pureeing them and adding them into other foods but nup just refuses to eat any. He will eat fruit, its just the vegies he wont eat, sorry i cant help you but at least you know your not the only one!!n good luck and if anything works for you please let me know!! smile

hi there!

It is really hard when they don't eat what they should be eating!! When they don't though, it is really important that we don't substitute foods that are of little nutritional value instead just so we feel better that they ate something. A childs palette is determined by what we feed them. You start off with a clean slate - then when they have breastmilk, the flavours of your diet end up being tasted by your baby. Then you advance to solids and they generally start off with bland food with no salt or sugar added. As they get older people introduce "treats" or even regular meals of foods high in sugar (such as most fruit yogurts, custard), fats and salt (such as fried nuggets, chips etc) then slowly their palette adjusts to craving fatty salty sugary food. people don't do it intentionally - they just want their child to eat! I am very unpopular on this site for suggesting that these foods are held off or extremely restricted until much older due to this.
from the typical day you have suggested it looks as though most of his diet is based on salt sugar and fat. My suggestion would be remove it all and don't give it even as a treat until he is up and running again.

Theres a few things that are important that can help and I apologise if you are already doing some of them!
Firstly: eat as a family for each meal. Don't give him a plate and stick him at the table. It is important that he watches other people enjoying food. kids model what they see.

Secondly: don't draw attention to his eating. this means don't praise him for having a mouthful. don't get cross because he doesn't. this puts pressure on them and can make dinner time feel like they are performing. they need to be able to have the freedom to like and dislike foods, without the pressure. Don't ask him to try something. Don't bribe him with dessert. Just let him sit and choose to eat if he wishes. if he doesn't, he will later. if he doesn't eat at meal time, just calmly tell him thats fine and he can have something at morning tea/lunch whenever the next meal is. Just make sure the next meal is nutritionally sound. (eg if he refuses lunch, don't make afternoon tea a cake, make sure its a sandwhich/vegies and dip etc) He will get the point that he can choose not to have tea but the consequence is that he has to wait a while to the next one. If my 3 yr old has decided she doesn't want a meal, thats fine - but she is only allowed to have a bowl of natural yogurt or an apple when she decides she is hungry. I let her have this anytime without question unless the next meal is within 15 mins.

thirdly: be honest with him. tell him calmly that the foods he is eating will make him sick and he needs to eat these foods to ensure he stays healthy. I tell my dd it will help her poo so it doesn't hurt. (we had a day when it hurt her to poo due to an overload of sugar at a xmas party. since then she is only too keen to do anything to help her poo so it doesn't hurt!)

phone ringing back later.
I would be taking the basic stuff that he eats that is nutritionally of value and working with that as a basis.

Hi there

I have a 4 year old DS and have seen the struggles with eating. I have gotten so frustrated at times - but looking back that so didn't help at all.

My DS and I love to cook together. He has his own little apron and a little knife (just a kids one or butter knife) that he uses. I let him help chop the vegies (even though sometimes they look terrible) or I let him chop up the scraps and peelings. He feels important.

If we are having a vegie slice I let him stir everything together. We also cook cakes and other things as well. This helps so he can feel like he is eating what he has cooked. Even if maybe you start with some muffins or something and then branch out to vegie/savoury stuff latter.

If you are concerned about the nutritional side of things - get a multi-vitamin for your DS. This will help supplement anything he may be missing until you have a win with the other foods.

Another idea is to maybe have a sticker or special treat chart if he eats his dinner without fuss for so many nights. Bribery sometimes is a good thing.

We also try a bit of reverse pyschology with DS. We say things like "you're not a big enough boy to eat all of that". We also have carrot eating races to see who can eat a peice of cooked carrot first. We call broccoli trees.

I wish you all the luck with this.

sorry about that!

I was going to say, use the things he eats - rice pasta bread etc and add to it. you can buy or make pasta that use vegies instead of wheat eg pumpkin gnocchi. You could also get a juicer and get him juicing vegies and drinking them out of a cool glass with a special straw. i think getting them involved with the cooking is really important. My dd is 3 and has been involved with the cooking since she could sit on the bench. She chops the vegies for us, can make scrambled eggs, she is allowed to do anything in the kitchen except use the stove or appliances. Sometimes we give her a heap of ingredients and let her do whatever. it doesn't matter if she makes a mess. its part of learning. tonight she made herself a pizza. but I definatly do think that by continuing to give the not so good foods - you won't break the cycle. Not sure what your own eating habits are, but you may need to stop buying the stuff you don't want him to eat otherwise its a little hypocritical if sees others eating it.

Some food ideas :

toasties
avocado on toast
eggs on toast
scrambled eggs with very finely chopped spinach, cheese and natural yogurt
wholemeal pancakes with grated apple or mashed banana in them using natural yog and milk.
pancakes with cheese in them
savoury pancakes - basic pancake mix toped with tomato based pasta sauce and cheese and then grilled.
enchiladas/burridos
quesidillas - 2 tortillas with cheese, shredded chicken, pineapple, avocado
dry fried in a pan or put into a toasted sandwhich maker (the flat ones)
chille con carne
baked potatos
soups with big dollops of sour cream or natural yogurt
steamed vegie dumplings

even interesting foods that you can dip or eat off a stick satays etc...
also don't think they only eat bland foods. my dd loves all sorts including curries, hot pots and things that are spicy or sour. even my 8 month old enjoyed some potato from a masala curry the other night!

a lot of food issues stem from exposure to foods, being under pressure when eating - which starts from the first moment you give them solids and also the families attitude to foods. If you try and give a generally healthy diet, but use a lot of processed fatty, salty or sugary foods as a treat or quite regularly - you will train their tastebuds to seek these foods out. The consequence is also that other foods taste bland.

I did this myself and was surprised at how awful the things I was used to eating tasted. I used to have packet cake mixes or flavourings for slow cooker, soft drink etc. Not a lot, but maybe every couple of weeks. I decided to give them all up after becoming pregnant and reading about each individual ingredient. After 6 months I had a sip of soft drink and it just tasted like chemicals. Same with a packet cake mix. It tasted like chemicals. As long as I was eating them, my palette was stuffed. Same goes for kids.

I know that was heaps of info! I am very passionate about this topic! I am more then happy to answer any questions if you want me to expand on anything.... but basically, this is all about teaching good food attitudes from the start. That is why I don't believe in bribing or tricking kids into eating. I think they should be encouraged to ENJOY the food, rather then it being something they have to do.

All the best with it!

i don't know if this will help because my daughter is a lot younger, but I can't get my almost 17mth old daughter to eat actual veges, but she gets her fruit and veges (apart from bananas, they are her fave) from the Rafferty's Garden fruit and vege squeeze packs. Sure they say they are for infants, but isn't the whole idea getting your child to eat fruit and veg? They come in all sorts of flavours, and my daughter loves em.

My 7yr old niece occasionally has one as well, they taste great, i've eaten one at occasions as well, and (even though the packet says to decant them before you give them to your child) they can just suck the fruit and veges out of the packet.

hope that helps, after all, we just want them to get the healthy stuff in any way, am i right?

hope that helps, after all, we just want them to get the healthy stuff in any way, am i right?

wellllll.......you kinda want them to recognise what food is. Teaching good food habits is kind of all encompassing. Not just you have to eat the healthy stuff so you can live to enjoy junk food. the aim should be to teach them to enjoy proper nutritious foods.

Thanks for all your suggestions.
DS is not bribed to eat food, nor do we usually have dessert. The foods I listed are the foods he WILL eat, NOT the only foods he is offered. We eat fairly healthy; we don't have fried food and only have take away once a week. He is served the same meals as we have. He will eat stew, corned beef, chicken, sausages etc,(when I say "eat", I mean 1 or 2 bites!) but never eats the vegies or fruit on his plate. I just put them on the plate hoping that one day he will eat them!! If he doesn't eat it, he has nothing else.
He goes to childcare 4 days a week where he is only ever offered healthy food- he doesn't eat most of the meals served there either!
I think he is living on bread!! He won't even eat anything with sauce!

He has also helped me with the cooking since he was tiny, cuts the ingredients with a knife/measures ingredients etc.- just won't eat the finished product!!
We have decided to give him some multi vitamins- well, on the days he will eat them!!!

but why would he eat fruit or veg if nutella or chips is part of the offering? Thats why taking any foods that are not nutritionally sound should be taken out of the equation. From your list he is picking the foods that have no nutritional value. You can have the healthiest diet in the world, but if you are offering things like nutella and potato gems then the diet means nothing if he will only eat these.

all the best with it!

OC1246,
99% of meals do NOT have chips/sweet food offered. You make it sound like i'm offering my son only junk food. Most nights we have meat and veg/pasta/meat dish with rice etc. In regards to the nutella, frankly, with our hectic mornings (both my husband and I work -me 4 days a week-we are both teachers and leave the house at 7:30am), I couldn't care if he has Nutella and bread, as long as he's eaten something before childcare. Breakfast is the only time he has it, and it's the rest of the day I'm concerned about.
Just because he has nutella and the occassional hot chips isn't the reason he doesn't eat fruit and veg. It's not like he wont eat it every night because he had hot chips last friday!?! Most kids would eat more junk than him, but still eat fruit and veg IYKWIM!

Hi there

Look, I am really sorry if I have misinterpreted your post.....I was going by the "typical day" food list that you put up in your original post. If you are after some help, then the forum users can only go by the information that you provide.

It comes down to, if you are having trouble with getting him to eat appropriate foods - then only offer him appropriate foods.

If he is filling on breads/rice, maybe cut down on it or incorporate it with vegies: try stuff like vegie sausages (breadcrumbs, cheese, herbs, grated vegies, egg. It may be a matter of cutting down on carbs and making meals that are more incorporated meat and veg (such as currys, stews, shepards pie - using vegies, soups, ploughmans platters and get rid of bread/rice for some meals altogether.

Hope you find a way!

My little man has just turned 2 and for over 6 months now he has flat out refused to eat veggies or any type of meat other than sausages.

He used to just eat steamed vegies by the handful from the moment he could pick them up at 6 months, so he has been eating textures for ages. As for meat, He will not try anything, regardles of how I cook it, steamed, slowcooked, grilled, pureeed....

It bothers me everyday. Everyday! But then I try and rationalise it and he is healthy, sleeps well, is well behaved (most of the time), is a good weight (16kg) and height (96cms), so can't get too upset.

I just hope he gets over it as I loathe dinner time everyday!

Good luck

I am at my wits end with my 3 yr old DS who will NOT eat ANY fruit or veg for over a year. I am not exaggerating!

I am tired of people telling me to keep offering it as it takes at least 10 times- I've been offering it for over a year now!! He flat out refuses to even put it in his mouth! I do't know what has happened, as a baby he used to eat everything, even cucumber sticks and many fruits.
The ONLY fruit he will eat occasionally is bananas (he used to eat them every day!)Also used to eat mashed potato,

I can't hide them in pasta sauce, meat loaf/patties etc as he will not eat them either! He won't even eat spaghetti bolognese sauce, any bakery items (sausage rolls etc) apart from donuts, hot dogs, etc.

Typical day-
Breakfast- 1 slice of bread with nutella
weekends will eat pancakes or bacon and a "nibble" of egg
lunch- ham and cheese on a plate or peanut butter sandwich, yoghurt or custard
dinner- I serve what we have, but he only eats- plain rice, some meats, fish fingers, potato gems, chips, sometimes plain pasta.

Please help- I am open to ANY suggestions!

Hi, I know exactly how you feel. It is a nightmare having a child who wont eat any fruit or vegetables. My son is a very fussy eater and wont eat fruit or vegetables. I have even taken him to a doctor because I was so concerned. The doctor told me not to worry so much, as long as he isn't unwell and lethargic and he looks healthy.
He is still a very fussy eater so I bake him muffins with fruit and veges hidden in them (I puree them), I give him V8 juice, he has multi vitamins and I give him Naturo bars (they are 100% fruit). I also make sure he has plenty of calcium in his diet.
I use to get so stressed about his diet and now I am happy as long as he eats a few healthy things everyday.
Goodluck with it all smile

I completely agree with OC1246. My DD would eat everything and anything up until about 14M then started the "fussy eating". I'm a strong believer that children eat what they're given. I didn't change a thing to deal with this fussy eating I kept offering the food I always had and if she didn't eat it she didn't get offered anything else until the next meal time and so on. What if you didn't offer any of the foods on the list of foods your child would eat? I think he would get hungry enough to eat what he is given? This is just my opinion/suggestion and may not be something you are willing to try but trust me he will get hungry enough to eat whatever is on his plate. If you are short for time in the morning maybe making a fruit salad the night before or giving cereal a go as well its just as quick? I don't offer the same breakfast 2 days in a row i alternate between cereal/toast/fruit and sometimes something special on weekends when I have time. I also give DD a multivitamin and will end a lunch with a Raffertys Garden sachet to suck on as well if I think she hasn't had enough fruit/veges so far that day. These are just ideas of what works for me and I understand that every child is different but maybe one or 2 of these might help you out as well GOODLUCK smile

My DS only likes pumpkin and mashed potato masheds together but i by him V8 fruit and veg juice it makes me feel abit better obviously its not as good as the real stuff but its better than nothing. Dont stress to much about it, apparently i was the same when i was little now i absolutely love all my vegies.

Thanks for all your suggestions.
DS is not bribed to eat food, nor do we usually have dessert. The foods I listed are the foods he WILL eat, NOT the only foods he is offered. We eat fairly healthy; we don't have fried food and only have take away once a week. He is served the same meals as we have. He will eat stew, corned beef, chicken, sausages etc,(when I say "eat", I mean 1 or 2 bites!) but never eats the vegies or fruit on his plate. I just put them on the plate hoping that one day he will eat them!! If he doesn't eat it, he has nothing else.
He goes to childcare 4 days a week where he is only ever offered healthy food- he doesn't eat most of the meals served there either!
I think he is living on bread!! He won't even eat anything with sauce!

He has also helped me with the cooking since he was tiny, cuts the ingredients with a knife/measures ingredients etc.- just won't eat the finished product!!
We have decided to give him some multi vitamins- well, on the days he will eat them!!!

I have encouraged my almost three year old to eat by just leaving it on the table. If she says she doesnt want it, I tell her it is not for her, it is for me. Curiousity or hunger gets to her, and she will often try it. it may be half an our or so after I have put it out, but I just leave it ther on the table around where she is playing.
She will also try new thing when her older cousins are eating with her, and they do cheers with the food, and will only do cheers with her if it is the same food item as they have (eg - brocolli, cucumber etc)
She wont eat cooked carrots, but will eat raw carrots, so we often have a raw carrot or cucumber before dinner. If she says no, I just leave it on the table, and we eat ours. Most times she wants to join in, and after a few minutes will eat hers.
She will also try new things when mum and dad are not there. so if she is with grand parents or auntys, they tell me about new food she has eaten.

As a treat, I offer her the raffertys fruit packets. Try him on the yoghurt or custard squeezies first if he hasnt tried them, - he might like the novelty of it all and them try the apple and cinnamon one thinking it is custard or yoghurt.
I get a lot of her vegetables in her as soup in a novelty cup with a lid or straw (pumpkin and sweet potato is her favourite - blended - no lumps!)

To make sure my little one is getting all of her vitamins, I give her the formula toddler milk on her cereal or mixed as a warm milo every two or three days.
good luck with it all smile

ok - i have a ds 3.4yrs and dd 17months (my dd eats like a champ - NO worries..DS on the other hand grrrr)

i TOTALLY understand where you are coming from - my ds has been a fussy eater from the moment we started solids

my son has LOADS of energy and poops 2-3 times per day - he is between the 50-75% on the weight chat

for a long time i worried about what he eats....

"typical day"

Breakfast

porridge + milk (BIG bowl - cos i know he likes it)
often 2 tubs yoghurt too or again big bowl (tubs r easier tho)
sometimes he will still be hungry so he then gets either a jam sandwich or eats plain bread (strait from bag)

Lunch
my Biggest issue is lunch

agian usually a sandwich - if not already with breakfast

Snacks (choice of following depending on what he has eaten already)
cheese, saultanas, banana, dried apricots, tub peaches, fruit bar... or in summer he LOVES stone fruits

Dinner
My son will NOT eat veg and meat alone........... HAS to have some form of pasta with it
he will eat tuna morney, spag bol, chicken & pasta etc

BUT he often picks out veg and wont eat that part or same with meat.... i used to get upset bout this (and sometimes still do) but now i just say...ok but thats it for the night...... and if he outright refuses dinner he goes to bed early without his 30min play before bed time

OCT... i noticed you seem pretty set in your views... but i can understand this ladies post cos i have tried not giving my son pasta with dinner and he has gone over a week without dinner - i have a VERY stubborn boy and he WILL go hungry rather than eat something he doesnt like



like i said DD 17months is GREAT!! she eats pretty much anything/everything

DS is strange in that he doesn't like chocolate, he wont eat icing off a cake/muffin/donut etc.... he likes lollies but gets a couple on saturdays as a treat

Goodluck - i try not to worry - my son has TONS of energy and isn't sick so i figure one day he'll eat more of the good stuff...i just offer and if he doesn't eat it then so be it

My DD is 3 yrs old. and a very picky eater. (i can't blame her, i was a very picky eater myself). Dh and i have different views when it comes to dinner and disipline. I went along with his way, which was not to force her to eat anything (as he was forced as a child). i think this only made matters worse.

DD is a chocoholic. Loves chicken nuggets and her yoghurt.

Breakfast can be
Milo Breakfast Cerial OR netalla on toast OR yoghurt

Lunch can be
Basic sandwiches Or banana.

But dinner .... oh dear....
I will put in front of her want i put in front of us.
She would take one look and say i don't like that. She hadn't even tired it. Plus we know that she would like it if she just put it in her mouth.
So now, its my way. We give her meat. mash veges etc.
When she decided to not even try - She got sent to bed with nothing. (felt so bad....)
When she tries and eats what she can, she get desert - which she loves.
It is actually starting to work. Yeah... she still hasn't really touched her veges at all, but at least she eats some of her mash now.

We have been harsh, but something needed to change.
Also She is sick at the moment and has been refusing to take her medicine. So i got out a small packet of malters and laid them out. when she refused to have it, i ate one. and then another... and she soon learnt that if she grumbled she was not going to get anything. It worked. She took her medicine without 3/4 of the grumbles that we had that morning.
Kids will be kids. can't blame her for being picky. But i need to find new ways to Blackmale her to eat it.
Sounds bad, but oh well.

I am having the same problem with my dd 3.5 and ds 20 months.

I honestly think it's just a stage they go through although frustrating i try to ignore it a bit honestly. We have weeks where they'll be great and eat everything and then go another couple of weeks where they'll eat nothing.

At the moment my kids are living on yoghurt and vegemite sandwiches!!

I was told by a friend of mine (after she had spoken to her child health nurse) "It is our responsibility as a parent to provide healthy and nutritous food for our kids - and it's there responsibility to eat it. If not, Oh well!"

I had a laugh, and it honestly made me feel much better as a mum. Sometimes you can do the right thing and it still doesn't make a difference!!

This is just a message for mums struggling with this issue. I am a foodie, I love preparing and eating food. I have adult friends that dont like to eat veggies- one wont even eat food that is green! I find the fact that tastes can vary sooo much very facinating and so therefore have studied children and their eating habits and have found that....
Most children are suckers for fruit kebabs, even ones that dont usually eat fruit on their own.
Healthy dips also are a winner for children.
My favorite trick however is to put freshly made pumpkin puree or soup in casserole type dishes.
Children also respond well to eating in social situations, they love to try what their friend has.
Also when making corn type fritters or scones put in other grated veges.
In saying that I think that no matter how some parents try some kids are just not onto the smells and textures of fruits and veges. My 5yr old often opts out of meat but my 2yr old loves all protein. Our systems vary so much. So I say to the mum who originally wrote the question that every child has its challenge and you sound like you are doing a good job. Good luck with your problem, you may find that it just dissloves by itself

Does he like fruit juice? Ever considered buying a juicer and adding carrots and celery to orange and apple juice etc?

You could also do fruit smoothies and tell him it is a milkshake...even add ice cream!

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. My DS is a tough one- hasn't given in yet with anything!
An update:
I have been putting apple puree into pikelets, pancakes and scones without his knowledge, and mixing benefibre into all his food!
There is no way he'd ever touch a fruit kabab, or dip! (I've thought of the dip, but no luck!) I mix pureed vegies into casseroles and spag bol, but he won't actually eat the pasta sauce (any sauce for that matter!), and casserole, although he likes it, he only eats 4 or 5 cubes of meat!!
Eating with other kids doesn't influence him either unfortunately- quite often I pick him up from childcare and all he's eaten all day is a slice of bread! Been planning on trying the milkshakes again (have previously unsuccessfully!).

one day I'll get there I hope!!