Hands on
Give them raw or lightly steamed as finger foods, together with cottage cheese or guacamole to dip them into.

Miniaturise
Try the "baby" vegetables like cherry tomatoes.

Attempt the unusual
If you're having no luck with spinach and beans, why not try sprouts or mange tout? He may surprise you.

Flavour it
Sometime we expect our children to eat things that we wouldn't particularly enjoy ourselves. Cauliflower is pretty unpalatable without cheese sauce. Creamed spinach with a dash of nutmeg is so much yummier than plain old boiled. Try cooking vegetables in different ways and he may take to them.

8 tips for picky eaters
1. Make every bite count: Go for foods that pack a lot of nutrients into a small serving – fish, eggs, bananas, sweet potatoes and broccoli are good examples – and avoid "empty" calories in sweets, chips and refined foods.

2. Eat together: Children learn many things by imitation. Set a good example by eating a healthy diet yourself, and make meal times social times. Sit down together, chat and enjoy the family time. Without TV!

3. Play with your food: Toddlers like to play with their food, and within reason, allow this. Make eating fun – let him use his fingers, give him a little bowl of mashed avo to dip his carrots into, arrange his food in a fun shape on the plate.

4. Go small: Toddlers have little tummies, and an overload plate is off-putting for anyone. Offer a child sized portion, and he can always ask for seconds.

5. Let him help: Choosing apples or pears at the greengrocer, sprinkling sprouts on the salad or even getting his plates out can help him feel involved.

6. Give a choice: Toddlers like to be in control, so let him choose between reasonable alternatives – beans or carrots, fish fingers or sausages, boiled egg or scrambled. Offer a limited choice, as the question, "What do you want for supper?" is only likely to get you into more trouble!

7. Change the texture: Children often object to texture, rather than taste. Try grating apples and carrots, instead of slicing or dicing them. Mash a banana with a bit of yoghurt if he won't eat them plain. He might eat smooth cottage cheese, but not chunky. And at around 1 year, babies show a distinct desire to finger feed on chunkier food rather than to down the mushy mixtures that constitute starter foods.

8. Change location: What toddler could resist a meal served in the Wendy house, or at a teddy bear's picnic on a rug on the lawn? You don't want to have to mount a Broadway production in order to get your toddler to eat a meal, but do try simple, fun ideas, like serving his sandwiches in a lunchbox outside, or taking a picnic to the park.