Suggestions for the picky eater
My daughter is 11 months old and is still not showing much interest in feeding herself. When I try to cook vegetables (carrots, green beans and so on) for her to nibble on herself, she just plays with them. She is more than willing to eat what I feed her out of a jar. I am concerned that she won't be a vegetable eater in the future. She loves bread and will nibble on a piece for an hour, but won't touch fruit or vegetables. Any suggestions? I don't want her to be picky, like her mother, if possible!
You'll have to experiment with different fruits and vegetables and various ways of serving them to see what your daughter prefers. You should continue to offer her soft-cooked (cooked till they’re just soft so they retain their sweetness and vitamins) vegetables and fruits but don’t force them on her. Just let her know they're there.
Playing with food is almost always the first step in learning about it. Eventually she will want to feed it to herself. She'll just do it at her own pace. The less an issue is made of it, the more it is likely to happen. It sounds like you are giving her the opportunity. Let her make a mess.
Some suggested serving alternatives
- One idea for getting her to eat fruit and vegetables is to mix them into other foods. Have you tried serving her banana bread or carrot cake?
- Also, maybe you just need to disguise the vegetables a bit. Try mixing some apple sauce into the potatoes, heating it a bit, putting a dab of butter and maybe a sprinkling of brown sugar on the top
- Creamed vegetable soups are good
- Mix grated vegetables into minced beef or turkey, make a meatloaf and serve her small pieces of it. Mix pears into a little vanilla yoghurt
- Have you tried avocado or papaya? They are a perfect texture for babies and full of flavour
- Try a little cheese dip or sauce for the cooked vegetables
- Make use of fruit juices, and fruit and vegetable juice combinations.
I have a ten-year-old son who was — and still is — a picky eater. It is a daily worry for me, but I make sure that I have on hand all the foods he currently likes (and I approve of). We keep bags of little baby carrots and a low-fat dip on hand at all times. Baked potatoes serve as a great place to mix in cooked broccoli and some grated cheese. Otherwise he would seldom eat broccoli.
You will eventually find what works for your daughter. You do realise that a week later she'll change her mind again!
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