G’day everyone! American mom living in Melbourne here with 3 kids (8, 6, and 3).
So I’ve been trying to get my family eating healthier and I keep reading about how amazing olive oil is, especially for kids. Brain development, heart health, all that good stuff. Problem is my kids are OBSESSED with butter. Like they want butter on everything. Toast, veggies, pasta, you name it.
I bought what I thought was decent olive oil from Coles (wasn’t the cheapest one but wasn’t fancy either) and tried getting them to dip their bread in it like my Italian friend does with her kids. My 8 year old took one bite and said it tasted “weird and oily” and my 6 year old wouldn’t even try it. The 3 year old just threw the bread on the floor lol.
My husband thinks I’m being one of those annoying health nut moms and says butter is fine, kids have been eating butter forever. Which fair enough, but I really do want to get more of the good fats into their diet without it being a battle every single meal.
Has anyone successfully made this switch with picky eaters? Is there like a milder olive oil that doesn’t taste so strong? I saw someone mention kid-friendly olive oil brands but I’m in Australia so not sure what’s available here.
Also genuinely asking - is olive oil THAT much better than butter for kids or am I making a big deal out of nothing? Because if it’s not a huge difference I might just give up this fight and save my energy for the vegetable battles haha.
Would love any tips from other parents who’ve been through this!
I reckon you’re going about it the wrong way mate. Kids can smell when you’re trying to make them eat “healthy” from a mile away haha.
What worked for us was sneaking it in rather than making a big deal. I stopped doing the whole dipping bread thing because yeah nah that’s never gonna fly with Aussie kids who’ve grown up on Vegemite toast. Instead I just started using olive oil when I cook their scrambled eggs, roast their chicken, make their toasties in the pan. They had no idea I’d stopped using butter for most things.
The Coles oil is probably fine for cooking tbh. Don’t stress too much about getting fancy stuff for the kids, save that for yourself. The mild ones are definitely better for sneaking past picky eaters though. I use the Cobram Estate one in the light green bottle, it’s Australian made and pretty neutral tasting so the kids don’t complain.
Your husband’s not completely wrong either to be honest. Butter’s not the devil, olive oil’s just better for heart stuff long term. I still let my boys have butter on their morning toast because pick your battles right? But their dinner’s cooked in olive oil now and they’re none the wiser.
Also pro tip - if you mix a bit of olive oil with butter when you’re spreading it on stuff, they don’t notice the difference. Like 50/50 blend. Gradual changeover works better than cold turkey.
Don’t beat yourself up about it. You’re doing great just by thinking about this stuff. Most kids around here are living on chicken nuggets and chips so yours are probably doing alright.
Oh my gosh Kat thank you so much! This is exactly what I needed to hear. You’re totally right, I was making it this whole THING and the kids could tell I was stressed about it which probably made them more resistant.
The 50/50 butter and olive oil mix is genius! I’m going to try that tomorrow morning. And honestly just hearing that it’s okay to let them have butter on their toast takes so much pressure off. I’ve been feeling like such a failure every time they ask for it lol.
I’m definitely grabbing that Cobram Estate bottle next time I’m at Coles. The one I have now is probably too strong for them anyway. Do you know if they have it at Woolies too or just Coles? I usually bounce between both depending on what’s closer.
Also the scrambled eggs tip is perfect because that’s literally what they eat for breakfast like 4 times a week. I can totally sneak that in without them noticing. Same with the toasties!
My husband is going to be so relieved when I tell him I’m backing off the butter battle haha. He’s been giving me the “here we go again” look every morning at breakfast.
Really appreciate you taking the time to reply. Makes me feel way less alone in this whole trying-to-feed-kids-healthy-food chaos!