How to Get Your Toddler to Eat Veggies

During our transition to more solid foods from purees was a bit longer of a process than I thought.  For our little one she didn’t get her first tooth until 11.5 months!  She’s a late bloomer there…but EVERYONE tells me that little ones that get teeth later have healthier teeth down the road, so we’ll take that!!  Plus, we’ll see how true it is in years to come!

We tried stepping into solids from purees a time or two and she was not interested at all, infact she cried a couple of times.  I knew she wasn’t ready.  Yet I knew when she got ready, she’d be ready all over!  She loves to eat and snack!  She would snack all day long if I let her but I don’t!  I try to make sure she has three solid meals and that snacks don’t interfere with that.  Don’t get me wrong she eats plenty of snacks!!!!! I did notice once she was able to eat crackers and her organic cookies that her taste buds changed and she wasn’t quite as keen on her veggies.  So here are a few tips and tricks we found along the way to make sure she was getting a well rounded and balanced diet.  Sometimes you just have to sneak in veggies, especially if they aren’t too fond of the taste!

As you begin to transition from baby purees into solids a great stepping stone is the Gerber Lil Bits.  They begin to thicken up the puree, and as it states, put lil bits in the puree.  So developmentally they are taking baby steps into a bit more solids.

A few ways we like to get veggies in for our little Miss:

1. Mix two of the Gerber Lil Bits Together.  Elle’s favorite combo was: Apple Blueberry with Mixed Carrots, Corn & Butternut Squash Sometimes you have to just give them a bite of fruit then a bite of veggies.  Sometimes I’d mix them in a bowl together.  Either way we made sure she got veggies along the way!
2. Make a puree Smoothie.  Another way to sneak in those good veggies for these babies is to make a smoothie using the baby food.  You can look up as many baby smoothies as you wish on pinterest so I’ll not bore you with more.  Just simply put some fruit and some veggies in.
3. Popsicle.  Yes your toddlers will love popsicles.  Blend together a fruit and a veggie puree and freeze.  Simple!  They’ll never know!!!  I’m telling you, these little tricks can do the wonder sometimes!  We did the sweet potato, apple, carrot and cinnamon combined with a bit more apples.
4. Let them explore.  Sometimes this does the trick of letting them explore foods with their own hands and fingers.  Developmentally they love it and it’s great for their fine motor skills, they are so focused on feeding themselves they forget that they really don’t like the taste!!!

Sometimes you have to slowly introduce veggies and don’t be afraid to continue introducing a veggie they didn’t seem too fond about at first.  Our Elle didn’t like puree green beans but she will eat them now that she is eating more solids and can pick them up with her little hands.

Hang in their mama’s because your littles will get the hang of it sooner or later!!

Do you have any additional advice?  I’m a first time mama so we’ll take all the tips and tricks we can!