Parenting

Out of my 4 kids, 3 were picky toddlers. I ended up doing the whole 'stealth' nutrition thing a lot - banana bread, zucchini bread, smoothies, spaghetti sauce with pureed veggies (though one kid wouldn't even eat spaghetti, lol), 'chicken noodle' soup (with tiny cut up veggies) and so on.

I didn't sweat it. I kept putting food in front of them, food that they saw me eat. If they saw me eat it, they were more likely to try it. I tried to sit down and eat with them at the same times. With each child, they were less picky watching their siblings eat. My youngest was the least picky having spent time in childcare with a caregiver that was a vegetarian and cooked very nutrition veggie-filled food. Watching 5 or 6 kids eat the veggies was a lot of peer pressure, LOL, and she tried things my older ones would have thrown off the table. She did backslide at home, though. Still, she's the only one in the house that LOVES olives and snacks on them.

But yeah, my strategy when I gave them veggies was that I didn't say a word, I didn't coax them, I just put it in front of them. Over and over again. I think you have to present it to a toddler something like 16 times before they'll even entertain the thought of trying it. And even then, it's a crapshoot. I just made sure my kids got the 'stealth' veggies, a multivitamin and tried to relax.

Remember too - their tastes change. I remember my older 2 DDs liking totally opposite foods - when we'd have a bbq, my younger one loved baked potatoes and my older one loved steak. Neither loved salad. I used to worry my younger one wasn't getting enough protein and that my older one wasn't getting enough carbs and that neither was getting enough veggies.

Now, as teens, my older one loves everything, and my younger one hates potatoes and will only eat some steak and tons of salad. So they do change eventually. Sometimes they come up with new things - my youngest (6 yrs) is going through a phase where nothing that I make for her school lunch is good enough. She refuses to eat anything healthy and eats only her 'treats'. It's easy to fall into the trap of coaxing and giving a lot of attention to them because you are concerned about their nutrition and some kids will use this. I was doing this with my 6 yo and her lunches, and once I realized it, I had to step back. Now I tell her, "You can make your lunch" then leave her alone. And then I inspect what she packs. Oddly enough, she has creative ideas and has been packing healthier lunches. Sometimes it's about attention and control.

Good luck!