How to convince your toddler to stay raw?

[RaisingAlex]

My three year old, Alex has been raw his whole life. He is around cooked food when we go to my parents, and they often suggest to him or try to tempt him into eating "their" foods. Alex already knows better, he knows how his food is soppose to taste. He will not eat anything that tastes bad, so I can't imagine any child wanting to eat cooked food that does not know it or has not had it since birth.

Alex uses the word NO when he needs to and tells gramma that her food tsates bad, he just refuses it. He does not like it. He will go into her cooler and get a apple, or a carrot, or whatever she has that he likes that is raw.

Its all in the training, I guess.

[freshlight]

My three year old, Alex has been raw his whole life. He is around cooked food when we go to my parents, and they often suggest to him or try to tempt him into eating "their" foods. Alex already knows better, he knows how his food is soppose to taste. He will not eat anything that tastes bad, so I can't imagine any child wanting to eat cooked food that does not know it or has not had it since birth.

Alex uses the word NO when he needs to and tells gramma that her food tsates bad, he just refuses it. He does not like it. He will go into her cooler and get a apple, or a carrot, or whatever she has that he likes that is raw.

Its all in the training, I guess.

Gosh, what a wonderful and wise child! Thank you so much for sharing!!!

[beckx]

i would just make her food special... cut specially, named specially, made together out of things she chooses... maybe learning about different raw foods together, or planting a garden.

if she's really feeling isolated, maybe reading books/websites about raw families together would help? or alex's blog? (link in melissa's signature) to be able to say, "look at these big strong kids

[MelanieM]

I think some people don't understand that there are very young children that express extreme interests of their own, and that any form of manipulation just isn't going to work. (Assuming you're inclined toward manipulation even being an option.) I think it's perhaps impossible to understand this, unless you've parenting a child like that yourself. Spoken as someone that was once stuck in the house for 10 days because her 18 month old refused to put on pants. And no, there was absolutely anything I could do about it to convince him otherwise, and I tried most everything humanly (or humanely) possible.

So to the OP... it sounds like you are very respectful of your daughter's wishes, which IMO is the most wonderful gift you could give her. Keep doing what you're doing - offering her healthful choices and being open to listening to what she has to say - and you can't go wrong.

[HolyGuacamole]

A study was done on children and the influence of their peers on food choices; Two groups were formed, children who liked corn but hated peas, then a second group in which the children liked peas but not corn. The researchers took one child from each group and placed them in the opposite group. It was only a matter of days until the children's preferences switched to match the group.

Too true.
My son who is 3 and 99% raw asks for kale, salads, and green smoothies to eat, wants carrot/apple/spinach juice in the morning, etc., and is generally a really healthy kid who eats great stuff.
This morning we were checking out a local Waldorf school and at snack time, they offered the kids carrot sticks and organic cheddar cheese crackers. EVERY kid there ate the crackers and ignored the carrot sticks, including mine.
I wished they'd just not offered the crackers at all, but they did, and given the choice, every kid there went for the crackers.
And I promise you if he were offered pizza or an apple (apples being something he asks for all the time), particularly if it was what everyone else was eating, he would darn well choose the pizza.

I think you should offer healthy raw foods whenever possible and pack them for your child to take with her if that's a part of her day, expect your child to eat as you do at home (I wouldn't even give non-raw options) and tell the child you trust them to make good decisions about what to eat when you're not there. You control what you can for the good of your child, and as for what you can't control, don't worry about it. You're setting an amazing example for your child by eating raw. She's learning from it. That's good enough. Really. *hugs*

[HolyGuacamole]

Keep doing what you're doing - offering her healthful choices and being open to listening to what she has to say - and you can't go wrong.

Exactly. :)

[Aleesha Sattva]

well i don't believe in forcing children, no matter what the age - to do anything.

i can only speak for my own life here cause honestly every single child is different but i remember when my eldest went to preschool (she was only one who went)... she changed a LOT. suddenly i was no longer the wisest person in her life. everything was "ms. smith says to do it this way" and "ms. smith says to blahblahblah"

it's an added bonus of homeschooling, that you don't need to deal with this kind of peer pressure and teacher influenced behaviour. they soooo mirror their first teachers.

anyway, i would only offer raw at home and whenever she is with you outside the home like a restaurant... and allow her to make her own choices when she is out on her own like preschool. when she eats cooked and has a cough or mucus etc... be sure to continue pointing out to her that yes, it's the cooked food that does this.

let's face it, she may be 3 but she's very intelligent. she WILL make the choice that is right for HER. it's your job to guide her in the right direction, offering the best choices you can... and standing beside her while she learns her own lessons. we don't learn their lessons for them... we are simply along for the ride!

[Zella Juice]

All we have is raw foods in the house..so that's what is available to him. We changed the way we ate and he eats that way and that's just how we are. He is 9 now. It has been 2 years since we switched. We have gone through the sneaking of cooked food. I know right away when he sneaks it. He gets a cough and I can hear him up all night coughing and sniffling. Finally one day I was like "did you eat cooked food?" and he said yes...he ate a doughnut. He is starting to realize that while it might taste good at the time..It makes him feel yukky for days and it's not worth it. I think kids go through the same revelations as we do when we go back and fourth from raw. And finally end up choosing raw if we stick with it..and drink those green smoothies.

We went out to indian food and I let him have some vegan rice and entree. I made sure he had only a little bit cause he will eat too much and feel too full. He was so excited that he was going to have cooked. He was jumping up and down. After he said it was good but he wouldn't want to eat like that all the time. He was fine going back to his raw foods and even ate an apple when he got home. Which I was happy about cause it would help digest that stuff.

For him, I had to force this way of eating because he was always sick. This was the only way he would be well. So, it was a really good way for us to keep on track. I am all for forcing a 3 year old to do what you want them to do. You are the parent. And when you get reports that they are eating crumbs off the floor you take them aside and say.."Stop, eating crumbs off the floor, or a toy will get taken away"..they are smart..they can handle it. I did feel bad forcing my son to eat this way in the beginning...but it just motivated me to find the best recipes that he would love. Now we try and mimmic the cooked foods that he loved. And at halloween..when he collected candy..we went through his bag and tried to come up with a raw version of each piece he had. So, we make it fun and it becomes like a bonding thing between us. I think this works when the whole family is raw and it becomes part of who they are. They will be proud of it and not resist it as much.

It's defintaly a challenge that has the sweetest rewards. A life change that has made us stronger, happier and healthier than we have ever been.

[Anais]

It's amazing to hear all these different opinions. Thanks to everybody for all the ideas and inputs.

I know raw toddler Alex, he is an amazing little boy. And we talked to Dr. D. about his daughter. I talked to a friend whose daughter was vegan for most of her childhood and now started raw at 12yo. So we really studied that part.

I'm not for forcing my child to eat or taking away toys if she does stuff I don't like. That will just make her lie to me, she already started not telling me the truth, something I never thought would happen. She was not telling me her real feelings because she feared I would be mad at her! She needs to learn how to make her own decisions. I completely agree on the peer pressure thing. I know that she loves her raw food, but doesn't want to feel left out, and I don't blame her. If I feel social pressure sometimes when I go to business luncheons and am having my little salad, telling people I already ate because I don't think it would accepted if I was the weirdo in front of the client, how is she supposed to handle it?

We have decided to give her some cooked vegan. All she asks for is bread, so I will buy or make bread. That will hopefully make her feel better at school, and at home, I keep offering what I eat without forcing it. She is smart, and she will make wise choices.

I will post an update in a couple of days about how that is going!

[choleblack]

Anais-

Just a quick thought, have you talked with the teacher about the class maybe doing a "unit study" on the colors of fruits & veggies or something along those lines that might get the whole class interested in those types of foods. They could read books, do coloring pages, plant seeds in glass jars & watch the roots grow. Sometimes that's all it takes & getting her class interested in the way you eat at home might help make her time at school easier as well. Of course you could always do those activities at home together as well.

Chole

[Aleesha Sattva]

I know raw toddler Alex, he is an amazing little boy.

We have decided to give her some cooked vegan. All she asks for is bread, so I will buy or make bread. That will hopefully make her feel better at school, and at home, I keep offering what I eat without forcing it. She is smart, and she will make wise choices.

I will post an update in a couple of days about how that is going!

I agree... Alex is a very amazing little man indeed.

Bread? Really? Wheat is soooo bad for us - of course it is your choice, but perhaps something less harmful would be a better option?

[Anais]

For anyone who is interested - here is an update: We decided to introduce some vegan cooked food into her diet. Now she got a plate with cooked food and her bowl of fruit/blended fruit/smoothie at school. She also gets crackers for snack time like all the other kids, and canned fruit (yikes, tons of sugar, I know!). I talked to her teacher and she said she had never seen my daughter so happy. For now she has had pasta, rice, bread and crackers. She is only tasting all the new stuff, but eats very little of it. If she is hungry she comes and asks for her raw dishes. No trouble with constipation, I guess since she is eating just very little amounts. After two days, my husband and I realized that her behaviour had drastically changed. She seems to be much more independant, balanced, happy, relaxed and self-confident.

I feel totally reliefed, so I guess we did the right thing:-) It has taken so much burden off my shoulders (my husband is not that much into raw right now). Now, I can even have some cooked stuff once in a while without having to hide. That immediately kills any cravings.

[Anais]

Oh, and I know how bad bread is, but we didn't have a real option. She had totally idealized bread, she only wanted that exact kind of white bread that everybody else at school is having. She is eating one slice a day, max. I can life with that. Funny thing is that when I was pregnant with her, I kind of lived off that bread (I wasn't eating raw back then). Should be more carefull with the next one when it comes to food choices during pregnancy!

[rawma-mama-8]

I am a single mom who was mostly raw for 2 years...
strictly raw for the first year...and then slowly got
hooked back onto cooked food...found out I was
pregnant and tried to line up support, job
community so I could raise my child raw
and then I lost the job during my first trimester-
lost my then raw community and ended up
a homeless pregnant woman with no family or support...
a fate I never thought would happen (mostly due to
sex discrimination and lack of genuine and caring friends.)

Now I have established some stability. I moved my
1 year old out of the shelter we were living in about a year ago.
He is now two and I am finally in a financial position to choose
raw. Before, I ate for calories due to lack of money
and having to rely on foodbanks (had to due to anemia and
vitamin b-12 deficiency (common on raw) I am getting
vitamin b-12 injections weekly now so I think I can handle
the transition...wondering if there are recommendations
out there on how to make the transition smoothly for me
and my spirited two year old (who is quite addicted to
carbs and sugars- not the raw kind)

Help - single mom trying to get back to raw~

Thanks for any wise words and support on getting low
cost produce in the inter city during winter.

private messages welcome: dakakeshiva@gmail.com

[klomasius]

I make sure I discuss nutrition and it's benefits with my child and when he's at home with me, he eats the same diet as I do, with some exceptions. He will have to figure it out for himself to some extent though....as long as I provide him with a sound, nutritional base and he understands why one choice is better than the other and he eats as healthy as possible, as much as possible...he will make better choices than his peers. Whether now or later when he's a little older. I've seen it already and he's just 7.

VERY true, all one can do really is keep talking to their kids about better health choices and WHY these are better and what happens to the body etc.

When parents become too dogmatic and 'this is the way it should be' I believe there is a tendency to link the lesson with the negative reaction the child has (in the same way some people can't eat broccoli or other vegetables because they were forced to eat them as a child).

I know it's hard, bringing up a child is such a complex activity with no hard and fast roadmap.

My advice would be to emphasies the positive, make colourful and tasty raw treats, make them together and get her involved in the kitchen.

Do you know of any other raw tots or kids? This goes a long way to helping children (yes, even 3 year olds), identify and understand that they are not alone and confirm that other kids are leading a similar lifestyle.

If you know of no other kids, maybe check youtube and type in terms like 'raw kids' etc. you might find some great stuff you would watch with her. Show her pics of kids eating raw from this thread section too.

Since my son was about four we have gone through lots of raw photos (in particular the photos only threads of this site, they are great!) and each time he has come across a tasty looking dish we play the 'I wanna make that!' game where he shouts out 'I wanna make that!' and points to it.

Also, I am very keen on getting the Book Evie's Kitchen by Shazzie that has lots of colourful foods (complete with gorgoeus pics) for kids and a lovely picture of her little daughter on the cover.

Seeing a raw food book aimed at kids with a glowing raw little girl on the cover might also help you to emphasise the positive link between raw, fun, health and excitement.

Check out the link below:
http://www.detoxyourworld.com/acatal...s_kitchen.html

Don't get too down, kids want to explore new things, that's what they do best! Just keep on emphasising the positives of raw and making lots of tasty foods available in the fridge, freezer and cupboards, keep discussing her health, her body and the food connection and she will have a great basis for healthy eating later in life!

p.s. I reckon you've done a FANTASTIC job with her being raw for three years! Go you!