How to get toddler to eat eggs?

Question

A long while ago my 2 yr 9 mo old son decided he did not like eggs. He was good enough to taste them (and re-tasted them on a couple later occasions), but he made up his mind he just does not like them. If we even put a little on his plate he'll pick them up and put them on our plate, and remind us "I not like eggs!"

The problem is we frequently have eggs for breakfast, so he's missing out on half the protein (he'll eat sausage just fine so I'm not really worried). My 1 yr old daughter loves eggs and will gladly scarf down his share.

He's a picky eater in general, it's not just eggs. But I've read How To Feed A Picky Eater and some of the other questions on this site and it gives us some ideas. But I'd like to focus a question specifically on eggs since we eat them almost daily, which both makes them an important staple and a useful thing to experiment with.

Anyone have good tricks for getting their kids to eat eggs? Would fixing them differently be worth trying, or would continued pushing just turn him off eggs permanently? How common is it that kids don't like eggs, and then like them when they get older?

Answer 1

"Would fixing them differently be worth trying?"

Given the immense number of ways one can prepare eggs, I'd say 'yes'. Each of my kids like eggs in different ways. One loves them hard-boiled or 'runny'. The other likes them scrambled. Given that the way one prepares an egg can dramatically change the texture, I'm thinking it's definitely worth a shot at seeing if the issue your child has with the eggs is a particular texture.

Answer 2

Our solutions after much trial and error:

Texture: One egg scrambled and cooked in a large pan so that it comes out very thin. Can be folded into a sandwich or wrapped around a sausage.

Flavor: Hard boiled egg - sliced and served with salsa and cheese (egg nachos)

Disguise: Scrambled and stir fried with rice and veggies

Answer 3

You mentioned that Green Eggs and Ham is one of his favorite stories. Have you tried serving him green eggs? A little drop of food coloring can go a long way.

I got both of my boys to drink milk regularly by offering it in different colors. I just add a single drop of food coloring to the cup. Now they ask for milk at every meal.

Answer 4

Let him help prepare the eggs with you. That way, he can be part of the process of making the food itself, and can see where everything comes from. He can also suggest ridiculous ingredients (Honey! Cheerios! etc) and see where those experiments take him.

We sat our toddler up on the counter and let him see the entire process of making the eggs. He was much more interested in both the preparation and the eating once he got involved in the process, rather than just having them appear in front of him. Yes, it's definitely messier-- especially now that he wants to crack the eggs himself-- but just have some towels and the like on hand to clean up, and you should be fine.

Answer 5

I get my 2 year old to eat eggs with this simple "pancake" recipe: Beat one egg in a little container, add 2-3 tablespoons of oats (1minute or 5minute, no problem!), a little dash of vanilla extract. Mix well and store covered in the fridge overnight so the oatmeal absorbs all the liquid. In the morning, heat a bit of butter in a pan and cook as you would a pancake. I serve it with blueberries or other frozen or fresh berries I have on hand and a little drizzle of maple syrup. She devours it!

Answer 6

I scrambled some eggs up and added them to some pancake batter for my son. He never knew! I'm also going to experiment adding breadcrumbs to eggs and see if the texture is different enough for him like that for days I don't want to make pancakes

Answer 7

Taken from this comment. It might work for some toddlers.

Answer 8

Have you ever tried disguising the eggs (scrambled) in a small sandwich. We found this worked for our toddler as he was not fond of cheese too much, but he would eat it with a piece of toast. I was also going to mention add some food color to the eggs, but not sure how safe that is and then they probably would want you to color every egg every time :)

Answer 9

For some reason, scrambled eggs are a lot more palatable than other preparations for MANY kids.

You could also try "soft boiled" dippers. Give toast cut into sticks to dip into soft-boiled egg. There is also something about finger foods and dipping kids really like.

There are also a lot of wonderful ideas that I would have added if they weren't already here, like @mmr's idea to include him in the prep and @KitFox and @Saied - My daughter's favorite has become a scrambled egg sandwich over the years.

Answer 10

Before my 1 year and 11 month old son doesn't like to eat eggs, he is also a picky eater. But now, he loves eat only boiled eggs. There are several things that I am doing to make him like other foods aside from the regular stuff that he likes to eat.

1. I find creative ways to prepare foods, like when he sees it, he would say wow and he will be encourage to eat.
2. We all ate together, so he can see and follow what we are doing. More often than not, he actually does, what he sees.
3. It is also a good idea, if he sees children of similar age, eating a particular food together. Before my son doesn't like eating crackers, but when we visited my grandparents home, and he saw his cousins eating crackers, he was also very eager to eat crackers and he was able to consume 2 packs!

There are other techniques that you can use. Just look for the technique that will work for your child. Every kid is different, so it really takes a lot of patience and asking the experts so you can have an idea.

Answer 11

You can pull my mom's renaming trick - she said, "Oh, this isn't London Broil (which my brother would NOT eat), it's London Chicago." He loved it. Similarly, my sister's tights were too tight, but her leotards (same exact object) were a great fit. Also, Bactine, when applied to my sister's knee, was always called knee-tine. Otherwise she objected...

Answer 12

I'm really surprised that all answers try to help the parent to force the child to eat something he does not like. Would you all eat what your boss told you, even if you found it disgusting? I certainly wouldn't, and I don't expect my child to swallow what raises his bile.

Children are born with an instinct that tells them what their body needs. If you don't feed overprocessed (heavily seasoned or sugary) food, this instinct will keep your child healthy and fit. Once you have destroyed this instinct, by instilling in him a craving for spices and sugar, you must fight this craving at every meal. He is no longer able to taste, what is good for him; he is not yet able to understand what is supposed to be good for him; so you must substitute for his disfunctional self-regulation.

The solution is simple: The whole family must return to more natural and abstain from unhealthy foods. It is necessary for the whole family to do this, because you are your childs example and you cannot morally expect a child to renounce what his parents allow themselves. Or you can keep keep fighting. Eggs, spinach and other foods will never compete with sugared cereals and pizza.

Also, a child needs neither eggs nor spinach. He will get what his body needs, as long as he cannot evade to junk food.

The best parenting happens when you finally understand that your child was not born to make you happy.