The best advice I ever read about "getting" your child to eat vegetables was basically to not impose your own personal dislikes on your child. In other words, adults at our table are not allowed to say "yuck" or "I don't like ________." This has worked wonderfully for our two boys, now ages 4 and 1-1/2. It took some convincing for my husband to do this, and some redirection the few times he forgot.

When our first boy was old enough for solids, we started out with vegetables, not fruit. I believe this helped him to learn to like the actual flavors of food instead of just the sweetness. We also avoided sugar for about the first year, including steering clear of all the "baby" food with added sugar, i.e. teething biscuits, you name it. You'd be surprised if you read the labels on these things. I made all the baby food for our son. In a pinch, I tried to give him some jarred food, and he turned up his nose. He was already accustomed to "real" flavors, and the processed food just didn't cut it.

I am not a "granola" mom, but I believe that children should be encouraged to make healthy choices. It's not difficult to make your own baby food, you simply steam organic vegetables and fruits, mash them or chop them to the right consistency and freeze in ice cube trays for single-serving ease.

We also have a garden, and our boys are actively involved. Both of them, even the 1-1/2 year old, will go out and pick tomatoes off the vine and eat them, as well as picking and eating herbs like basil, chives, parsley, mint.

I believe it is just a matter of making healthy foods available, and demonstrating healthy eating behavior. Our 4 year old likes candy, when he gets it. And he doesn't ask for it that often, even now. For example, it is almost Halloween again, and he didn't even finish his candy from last year's trick-or-treating.

This may be a shocker also, but it's true: he doesn't like fast food. It is absolutely true. He does not like french fries, or chicken nuggets. We only go to fast food places occasionally, when we are in a hurry, but what does he order? A side salad. Yogurt. An occasional hamburger. He never chooses fries, he prefers whatever "healthy" choice they have, like apple slices, oranges, what-have-you.

We are following the same program with our 1-1/2 year old, and both of our boys will eat anything. My 4 year old is going through an "I don't like sauce" phase, on pasta for instance, but we have found that if we call it "meat juice" or anything besides sauce, he will be more likely to eat it.

All kids are different, and different methods work for different kids. And if you didn't start them out with vegetables early, I wish you luck now. But, it can be done. You can do it. Just don't visibly turn up your nose at things at your own table. Experiment with different vegetables, flavors, cooking methods. Try new recipes, and encourage your kids to help in the kitchen. Get them excited about foods, and they will be more willing to try new things. And you just might end up eating more vegetables yourself.

Learn more about this author, Melinda Redd.
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