Feeding babies junk food

Yep, for me with the most of the stuff like fruit shots or things like that is now a days it is all artificial sweeteners in them. Aspartame, Stevia although plant derived can be mixed with all other (plus to me it tastes mank ), Acesulfame which is in a lot of flavored waters.. All all the drinks now that used to have sugar in them in now full of all these false sugars..

Thank god we dont need to bargain herself with fruit she eats that non stop, nearly have to stop her most days.. But with the veg and other food it is just keep trying chases0102 (I think)... Tied it all with herself, asked her to help making the food, tried to sneak it in here and there.. One thing we found good as she likes cripsy things is those frozen vol a vants or puff pastry. Putting some veg paste into the puff pastry and made twists same with vol a vant. really didnt want to go down that route as tis a pain really if you are just making for one, but got a tiny but of veg in.. It is very frustrating, started putting a little of everything on her plate.. After five goes she might take a piece of carrot and go mmm yummie and thats it..

Have you tried cooking with him? Would he maybe taste as he goes or something like that

Honestly you can have two kids who have been offered exactly the same food from the start and one will still be fussy and one will eat everything. I know this cos that’s what’s happened with my fraternal twins. If your kid eats well there’s a good deal of that down to the individual involved.

chases0102 wrote: »

Very interesting thread folks, some really solid, practical advice.

My toddler (nearly 4) is not great with veg and brutal with fruit. He also adores chocoloate or anything treat related. A constant battle in this regard, always asking for treats (where he is often told that they are not to be eaten every day, only at special occasions and a Saturday - although I would say grandparents are fairly loose with this!)

My question is, is how can I get him to try foods? He won't touch anything green, has gone off carrots, won't look at fruit (although he will have a fruit smoothie every so often). We cook healthy, homemade meals most of the time (fresh vegetable sauce with some pasta, potato/sweet potato/salmon, homemade soup and some brown bread etc) but will never eat an apple, banana, brocolli, etc. I have no doubt it is about control, and psychological but unfortunately we feel it is having a nutritional impact.

He gets quite bloated (he has a very thin frame) and also, recently, has began pooing without noticing it - there has also been wet issues here too. We are bringing him to the doctor to explore these this week, but just wondering, on the whole, if anyone had some successful strategies to encourage fruit and veg....or food that is not white/yellow!!

My oldest a fussy so and so but is improving. They will eat fruit but the only COOKED veg they will entertain are peas and corn.
However, they will eat everything else raw - carrots, sugarsnap, red orange yellow peppers, stalks from the cabbage even fecking turnip!

I think it's generally understood that home cooking is best. Comments around there being no excuse to ever take food from the freezer aren't helpful. The more children you have the harder it becomes to cook from scratch 7 days a week. Throw in two working parents and that level of peer pressure becomes even more unhelpful. I'm not surprised some posters have been triggered.
The odd fruit shoot is unlikely to lead to a life of crime either. A relaxed approach to eating with effort made when effort is the available is best most parents can strive for.

For what it's worth I'd sooner feed a sub one year old a pouch than a KFC.

MarshmallowPop wrote: »

Convenience is in and home cooking is out in a lot of households these days.

Not everyone has the skills or confidence to cook from scratch either. I did Home Ec in school so learned how to cook then but even though my mom cooked everything from scratch she never asked for us to help in the kitchen. My siblings never learned to cook and didn’t until in their 20’s. They had a knowledge of good, healthy food so they wanted to teach themselves at that stage but if someone was coming from a house where they themselves were brought up with convenience food it’s a vicious circle.

I don’t know what’s being taught in relation to healthy eating etc in schools but I can imagine it is very difficult to counteract what’s happening at home.

[QUOTE=bee06;116692070]Not everyone has the skills or confidence to cook from scratch either. I did Home Ec in school so learned how to cook then but even though my mom cooked everything from scratch she never asked for us to help in the kitchen. My siblings never learned to cook and didn’t until in their 20’s. They had a knowledge of good, healthy food so they wanted to teach themselves at that stage but if someone was coming from a house where they themselves were brought up with convenience food it’s a vicious circle.

I don’t know what’s being taught in relation to healthy eating etc in schools but I can imagine it is very difficult to counteract what’s happening at home.[/QUOTE]

Like anything it can be learned. I was raised by a typicaly Irish mammy in the 80s/90s in that the kitchen was her domain and you weren't allowed in there. Everything was cooked for the 5 kids. When I came to leave home I didn't have the faintest idea how to cook anything. I asked if she'd show me some basic things before leaving home and was told no.
Out on my own I hadn't a clue how to cook or manage my finances. I ate Koka noodles and Campbells meatballs until I decided I couldn't let that continue long term. I went into a bookshop, looked for a recipe book I thought I could manage and taught myself to cook.

We all know we need to eat healthy and that processed food isn't good for you. You might not be able to cook but you need the will to make a change.

(I still have that first book!)

River Cottage Baby and Toddler cookbook is a good one too - a bunch of healthy things for all ages - with targeted things for babies, folks doing weaning etc etc

I just give mine whatever I'm having. She's into gymnastics so it all gets burnt off or turned into muscle.