How can I get my son to eat more vegetables?
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Anonymous
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He's 9. He can't eat many raw fruits and veggies because of oral allergies. I cook everything. And for years, he's been just fine with 8-10 different steamed veggies, plus things like sweet potato fries, peas, lima beans, etc.
But he's off almost everything, and now it's causing some constipation issues. I don't want to force him to eat things, because my mom did that to me and it caused some real food issues. I'm sure I wouldn't do anything near what she did, but I'm nervous about it. He's been such a great eater up to this point. He will eat veggies if I put a bit of cheese on them. But doesn't cheese constipate? He eats beans, too. But again, he's not eating "enough" to deal with constipation. He eats only whole grain breads with higher fiber content (3 or 4 grams a slice). How else can I get fiber in him? Ideally, it would be from veggies, but I'll take anything at this point. |
Anonymous
| Oatmeal has fiber. Will eat drink a smoothie with fruit and veggies? |
Anonymous
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l tell my kids to eat what I give them because I don't want them to be picky eaters, and this includes all kinds of veggies. I do salads a lot, and they actually don't mind eating it now. I'm sorry you had such a bad experience, but you can see why your mom may have made you eat your veggies: otherwise, you might have had constipation issues like your DS does.
When my 10 yr old DS tells me he feels constipated, I tell him he needs to eat more fruits/veggies and less junk food, and if he continues to have constipation issues, it can really hurt and bleed when he poops. He eats an apple almost every day with lunch now. |
Anonymous
| Fruit has fiber. |
Anonymous
Yes, but he is allergic to fruit. |
Anonymous
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Fruits? Pear juice can help a lot with constipation.
They make chocolate covered prune pieces that my DS will eat - you'll find them with the raisins in a purple package called "PlumSweets". Ketchup or ranch dressing as a dip for veggies? Or butter? |
Anonymous
All fruits? Even juices? |
Anonymous
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Green monster smoothie with banana, if he can tolerate it, peanut butter, milk/water, and a huge handful of spinach. It's so good and good for you.
Oatmeal Add chia seeds to yogurt. |
Anonymous
| Oatmeal Squares cereal helps my ds get his fiber. |
Anonymous
| How about vegetable soup? Will he eat that? You could even try to purée some extra vegetables into the broth (carrots, spinach, cauliflower etc). How about mashed cauliflower as a substitute for mashed potatoes? I think you can even do part mashed potatoes and part cauliflower. Also try roasted vegetables. They taste so good compared to steamed. Can you make muffins with grated carrots and zucchini added to it? |
Anonymous
| No joke, two fig newtons a day keep you regular. |
Anonymous
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If your talking about oral allergy syndrome, it's not all fruits, just certain ones like fresh pineapple. He should be able to eat most fruit and veggie.
Don't focus on veggies do much as a balanced diet overall. Try to have a protein and a heathy carb at every meal and give multivitamins. Also make sure your portion sizes are small enough and you're not expecting them to eat too much. Remember, they probably won't starve to death or be malnourishef; this is America. |
Anonymous
| Have you tried sautéing veggies in butter with spices? Or roasting them in olive oil? I'm a vegetarian and would rather be dead than eat steamed veggies - most veggies taste bland and mushy when steamed. |
Anonymous
Probably not if he has oral allergy, but juice doesn't have fiber. Raw fruit put through the blender would still trigger oral allergy. |
Anonymous
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OP here. He's allergic to a lot of fruits and some veggies. Apples, mangos, bananas, carrots, avocado, peaches, berries. When they are raw. I cook a lot of them, even fruits (baked apples). And he eats those. And he drinks one orange juice or one V8 juice a day. (They've been pasteurized and changes the proteins enough they don't cause a reaction). But cooked fruits and juices lose a lot of the fiber.
As far as the rest of his diet, he eats very well. I'm trying to avoid the constipation problem. To the vegetarian, yes, I do roast them, but not as often as I should. I'll start doing that more. He loves roasted cauliflower. And roasted butternut squash. I slack off on those in the hot months. I'll try to be more And oatmeal squares poster, I'll try those. He has nut allergies, too, so many cereals are off limits. But those look safe. Thanks. Thanks for the feedback. I've gotten some good ideas. |