Vegetables are the classic battleground because they're often bitter, cold or unfamiliar. The aim is repeated, relaxed exposure, not a one-off victory at dinner.
No 'three peas and you get pudding.' Bargaining tells them veg is the bad thing to survive. Just put them there, casually.
Hummus, yoghurt or a favourite sauce makes a strange vegetable far more inviting to a cautious toddler.
Put veg sticks out before dinner when they're genuinely hungry and grazing, not at the end of a full plate.
Eat and enjoy your own veg without comment. Seeing you do it, many times, slowly normalises it.
Free: 5 word-for-word scripts for toddler meltdowns Grab five of our most-used calm-down scripts, free to your inbox — the fastest way to feel ready for the next hard moment. Send me the free scripts →Many vegetables taste bitter to children, and toddlers are biologically wary of new and bitter foods. It's normal and usually improves with calm, repeated exposure.
Blending veg in is fine for nutrition, but keep offering them visibly too. Hiding alone never teaches them to actually accept and choose vegetables.