Tricksy vegetables

Baby had been relatively easy with vegetables up until about 2 or 3 months ago when he started to refuse anything that looked like veg.  I was slightly upset to start but has since read that this is quite normal and that children do go through phases of being not too fussy about food and then becoming quite picky.  A colleague at work had also warned that this was something to look forward to.  There is research to suggest that this might have something to do with the development of taste buds and/or the immune system; there are suggestions that it might be the remnant of a survival instinct as certain tastes and colours/shapes may be associated with danger.

Whatever the reasons, I believe that making too much of a deal about it could put Baby off vegetables for good so have kept my disappointment pretty low key.  What Ihave found that the pickiness is less profound when he is genuinely hungry e.g. when we have a meal after he has been playing outside.  This leads me to think that it has more to do with choice- he is fussier if it is not imperative to eat. 

I think the format of the vegetables is also an issue.  He is happy to eat chopped up bits of carrots and beans, e.g. in a risotto, but we will not like these if they were presented in chunks or as whole beans that he would need to cut up , e.g. as accompaniments to a roast.  Convenience seems to be a factor here.

He is also more amenable if there is sauce.  So the inconvenience can be ignored if it is a piece of tenderstem broccoli that is seasoned with soy sauce in a stir fry.

I guess the idea is to keep things fresh and to not force the issue.  So far giving him vegetables in a format that he would like and not letting him have too many snacks in between meals seems to help.

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