Toddlers and Veggies - It really CAN happen!

I was on the phone the other day with a friend, and she could hear my son Alex babbling in the background.

"What's Alex up to?" she asked.

"Eating lunch. He's talking to his carrots at the moment."

My response was met with a stunned silence before she squeaked out ... "He eats CARROTS???" On the disbelief register it ranked right up there with me saying, "I just won the swimsuit competition for the Miss America pageant."

Well of course Alex eats carrots. Why wouldn't he? He also eats peas, ham, turkey, pasta, fruits, and occasionally a bite of dog food if I'm not quick enough, but what's so shocking about that?

"My son won't eat anything except yogurt and mac and cheese."

She confessed this is a stage style whisper, as if we were two CIA agents passing on the street and vital information on the TFO (Toddler Food Operation) needed to be exchanged in a hurry.

As a mother to a child who may not eat a LOT of one thing, but who generally tries most anything I put in front of him, this blew my mind.

"When did he start doing that?" I admit to selfish reasoning behind this question. If my son was going to soon randomly start deciding that yogurt was his primary food group, I needed to know about it. I also needed to know exactly WHEN to expect this dramatic change.

"About a month ago. He just started shaking his head and saying no to everything I put in front of him. He'll go hungry rather than eat any veggies or meat. It's killing me, but what do I do? He's got to eat, right?"

So I thought about it. And I thought about it some more.

And then I gave up and asked my pediatrician. He had no idea.

Then I got smart and asked a family friend who's been babysitting toddlers for years. She's also someone who's been a secret operative for the TFO for decades, so she clearly had the best answers.

First, and most importantly, (she said), never let them see you sweat. Convince them that it's no big deal to you if they eat or not. This eliminates the "rebelling against food gets mommy worked up and that's fun" game.

Second, use your food processor liberally. If they want mac and cheese, give them mac and cheese, but grind up some veggies to mix in with the cheese sauce. A totally unexpected, and totally CIA type move.

Third, try cooking veggies or meats differently. Try covering fresh veggies with parmesan or spices and baking in the oven. Try baked chicken instead of grilled. If all else fails, throw the meat in the processor too. Add ground meat to spagetthi sauce (even if it's for spaghetti-o's) or cheese sauce to put over veggies.

Fourth, make it fun. Now this part of the information is highly classified, so be forewarned, I'm going to tell you, but I may have to kill you afterwards if you misuse it. Kids like fun. Who knew? Dust off those cookie cutters and put them to good use. Anything and everything that you can cut out and make into fun shapes, do it. Use peas or carrots to decorate cooked chicken or fish (be sure your toddler has been cleared by your pediatrician to eat fish as it's a high allergy food). A great way to make this work is to cover the chicken with sliced provolone or mozzarella and melt the cheese a bit. This gives the veggies something to stick to. (See I TOLD you this was classified info).

And should all that fail, you have only one choice left.

Start stocking up on yogurt and mac and cheese, you're going to be in it for the long haul.