2 year old won't eat any fruit or veggies

[jlsmith]

My sweet DS has gone from eating pretty much anything I put in front of him to refusing to eat any fruits or veggies. He has started throwing fits when I put him in his highchair and when I put food on his plate he says NO without even trying it. I can only get him to eat raisins and sometimes all fruit dried fruit with no sugar. Not to mention the fact that I can only get him to eat chicken and no other meat. I know I can't force him to eat but I am wondering if anyone has any suggestions. I've tried giving him new foods and also giving him his favorites but he turns his nose up at all of them. I'm so frustrated and I feel like he can sense my frustration. I want to teach him good eating habits but I don't know how to do that if he won't eat! Please help.

[LeesMom]

We went through this (esp. with the fruit and veggies) a couple months back. We had to go toward the dried fruit bars or raisins as well. What worked for us was making DD a "salad bar plate" in one of those divided plates, filling the different sections with things like peas, beets, chopped egg, cheese, etc. (these were things that she liked previously). I think she kind of liked being able to pick from a bunch of different things and also I guess it looked kind of nice. I also tried little mixed fruit plates which she seemed to like. I think it was some kind of stage she was going through when she was refusing them (as she used to LOVE fruits and veggies) and grew out of it after a few weeks... hopefully this will happen for your DS too! We also did sweet potato fries in the oven... I used the store-bought ones but I bet they'd be easy to make at home (and healthier). HTH 

[gpmom]

Believe it or not my dh hated all fruit and veg when we married.  I have gotten him to like some but when he was a baby he would not eat them either.  His mother actually dipped chopped up pieces of hot dog in baby food like carrots to get him to eat them.  He used to say that salas is what foods eats.
Good luck, I would not suggest the hot dog trick, it's really hard to un do!!

[Katet]

By 2yo both my boys were out of the highchair & I found that they often ate better sitting at a toddler table or the main table with us.
Do you eat meals at the same time, as that can make a huge difference to a 2yo too.
Both my boys also went through food refusals, but at much younger ages (9mo & 14mo respectively) I found the key was to offer lots of variety & always offer 1-2 foods that I was pretty sure they would eat... my 4yo still doesn't have a big range, but does eat 1-2 foods from each food group. Also toddlers have very varied appetites & I swear there were times I felt they lived on air & hardly ate for days.