I hope you enjoyed my series on how to help your child eat vegetables. If you missed the first two parts, here they are:
My child absolutely hates vegetables. What do I do? Part 1
My child absolutely hates vegetables. What do I do? Part 2
Today is the third and final part. Your child hates vegetables? Keep reading. You will find something that you can try today and help them enjoy eating them.
1. Serve vegetables when your child is a bit hungry. Not too hungry, just a bit hungry. A good time is 30 minutes after they wake up from their nap or, if your child is older, when they get home from school.
2. If your child is young and you have introduced solids already, allow them to feed themselves. Put steamed, roasted, boiled vegetables on their plate (or table) and allow them to explore. Have the sea salt, butter, and their favourite spices on the table to let them choose whatever flavours they want on their vegetables.
3. Sometimes children don’t like mixed foods. If you see that offering simple meals works well for them (for example steamed broccoli and cauliflower with grilled fish), then keep it up. You don’t have to make complicated stews and soups to convince them to eat their vegetables.
4. Go to a farmers’ market or visit a farm together to show them where vegetables come from.
5. Grow a garden in your backyard. If you don’t have the space, plant vegetables together in pots on your balcony. Tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans, carrots, and green onions, are all good choices.
6. Be patient and don’t take anything your child does or says personally. Easier said than done – you might slave for hours coming up with and preparing a meal for them that they end up not liking. It stings, but you have to move on and start fresh the next day. Tomorrow could be the day your child has a breakthrough in liking vegetables (or at least a few of them).
7. You are the example. If you and your partner don’t eat vegetables or if you make bad remarks about them, your child will learn not to like them either.
8. Don’t give up! No matter how hard you try and how much your child refuses, keep offering them vegetables. Things won’t change overnight. But if you are patient and consistent, they will change eventually.
I hope you enjoyed all these tips and tricks. Now it is time for YOU to take action. Choose 3 of them, write them down on a piece of paper, tape the paper to your fridge, and apply them this week. Let me know how it goes and whether your child opens up a bit to eating more vegetables.
What tips did you like the most and would like to try this week?
Image courtesy of winnond at www.freedigitalphotos.net
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