3 creative parenting tips to get your child to eat all their vegetables.

During pregnancy, we do our best to eat healthy, vegetable and fruit-packed meals to deliver a healthy baby. While nursing, we’re equally mindful of what we eat because what we eat still affects our baby. But what do you do when your child no longer needs your body to nourish them? To help you, we’ve compiled a list of things you can do to get your child to eat all their vegetables.

1. Incorporate them into your meals.

When given food options, your child will usually go for the one that does not have some odd-colored vegetable on the corner of her plate. To get your little one to eat all her vegetables, try incorporating them into your prepared meals. Does she love noodles? Add some peas to your Fettuccine Alfredo. Add bits of broccoli to her macaroni and cheese or tomatoes to her favorite chicken dish. Get creative with your meals, and your little one will learn to enjoy the veggies presented to her. Or better yet, get her involved with selecting food at the grocery store and help prepare the meals. 

2. What she doesn't know won't hurt her.

If she refuses to eat something because there are vegetables in it, try to hold off on telling her until she’s passed that phase. Make a special sauce or sneak lettuce into her smoothie. Sometimes, the bitterness of the vegetable causes children to refuse to eat it adamantly. If you want your child to enjoy her broccoli or Brussels sprouts, present them with a special dipping sauce. Children love finger foods and will surely enjoy eating their vegetables if they can dip them in a delicious sauce, similar to how they dip their chicken nuggets. But be careful not to let the combinations slide into pushing junk foods.

3. Introduce them at an early age.

When you begin introducing your child to solid foods, be sure to include vegetables in there. The sooner a child is introduced to vegetables, the more likely they will acquire a taste for them. If you’re currently nursing an infant, eat the same foods you want your child to eat. Doing so will help develop your baby’s taste for vegetables. Once they're old enough to grasp the concept of rewards, add "eat vegetables" to her mobile chore chart app and reward her with goodies from a universal wish list like Wishfinity.