22mo won't eat meat -- help!!

[pookee]

This may be a rare one - DD won't eat meat.  I will confess that I'm not the best chef in the world as I'm new to cooking, but I have been impressing myself with some of the dishes that I've made (most are from 'deceptively delicious' or the 'absolute beginner's guide to cooking' (yes, I'm serious)).

I've tried meatloaf, hamburgers, bison burgers, chicken breasts in tomato sauce, chicken breasts marinated in something wonderful, turkey breasts, pork (did not go over well, but that's not a surprise), chili with hamburger and beans, pot roast -- and I try variations of the above with melted mozzarella cheese, cheddar cheese,  parmasean cheese, ketchup, BBQ sauce.  The cheese technique used to work, but not so much anymore.  She'll eat eggs... sometimes. 

I know that she likes her food separate - for example, casseroles have too much going on for her.

I thought that maybe I was overcooking the meat, so I bought a meat thermometer and take it out when it tells me to.

Nothing has seemed to work.  What do I do???  Help!  I'm at a loss here.

[Seona1973]

my ds doesnt eat much meat either - he does seem to like fish and breaded chicken breast strips and the occasional sausage. He will also eat spaghetti bolognese but only if you use a very small amount of sauce as he doesn't like the texture of mince much. Plenty of vegetarians cope without meat so I dont worry that he doesnt like it as much as his sister does.

[tylersmommy]

Meat...not so much with my kids. I'll admit, I skipped the meat puree when they were babies, but a lot of toddlers don't like the texture of meat no matter what. I don't think Tyler willingly ate any kind of meat until he was 3. Mackenzie is 22 mo and spits it all right back out. I offer it, they decline it, so I treat their diet like vegetarians. I make sure they get enough protein through dairy and nuts, and iron comes from either fortified adult cereal or their multivitamin. It's really common, so don't stress!

[Colin Macs Mom]

Colin would eat meat like nobody's business as a baby, but once he was fully on table food he became a vegetarian. He would eat the occasional chicken nugget but that was it. One day I gave him some spicy mustard to dip it in (no idea why) and he ate TONS! So I had cracked it, sort of.

Now, he will eat chicken, pork loin, all-beef hotdogs and he LOVES salami. He still prefers pasta mostly, but at least he will eat other things too. I just kept offering what we were eating, for months and months even though he refused it every time. And then one day he ate it. For him texture is definitely a factor, plus he doesn't like things that are especially chewy.

[fifibobandmore]

My DD doesn't like eating meat even she doesn't like the texture of the chewed meat on her tongue. Have you tried minced meat? I went out and bought a mincer so I didn't have to keep buying ready minced meet from the butcher all I do is cut a small section of the meat and mince it up myself and she is happy eating this as she doesn't have to have much meat in her mouth at one time. I alos don't make a fuss if she doesn't eat her meat as I have a friend who is a veggie and he has given me loads off iron rich recipes. Instead of giving your LO meat you can give them Avocardo, Aprocots, broccolia, spinach (my DD will only eat spinach if it is hinden in her food as a purree in the liquid of her saurces) peanut oil once they are over 1 and anything that is a leaf grenn vegetable. I am seeing him agaiun later as he has got some new recipes for me as he experiments with food and if his 3 year neice eats it then he has high hopes my DD will eat as his neice is a little younger than my DD but my DD is alot more fussy with her food.

[Mama2boys]

Ds is a vegetraian as well, will not eat meat and spit it right out ..i add protiens through beans...

[anniedooday]

mine will only eat hot dogs and bologna. some times if things are chopped enough I sneak it through on pizza.

[jendodge]

My 23 month old doesn't eat meat either.  I have been through this before.  My now 5 year old didn't eat meat either.  Around the age of about three and a half she began nibbling at the meat on her plate. I just kept serving it to her, and now at five she eats meat pretty good.  Keep offering other sources of protein - nuts, nut butters, cheese, eggs, etc... and don't stress. Offer a daily vitamin if it makes you feel better.