To raise my child as a vegetarian?

[rstuk]

Both myself and DH are vegetarians and we would like our children to be vegetarians too for both health and ethical reasons, however I'm a bit unsure because all of the websites i've checked have conflicting opinions on whether or not this is good for a small child (digestion issues etc) and our parents (non/ex-vegetarians) think we're 'depriving' the child
Help anyone? i'm completely lost

@ mrsjay - No, my 11 year old DS has his black belt in karate for example !

thats OK Bhuddist monks do martial arts don't they admit it you are a right hippy

Hah, I know. We're quite normal, honest, and DH doesn't even have a beard

Raising your child vegetarian is entirely up to you and will do your child no harm either way. Just make sure you are providing a healthy, balanced diet (like most parents try to do anyway).

I'm sure the Vegetarian Society will have some helpful and encouraging info on their website. It must be quite a common query for them I would think.

And about gelatine in sweets you'll have to gradually develop an approach to these that seems right to you. Personally I let my two decide for themselves, though I think DH (who's stricter) told them that jelly and some sweets have gelatine in them, and then they decided they didn't want them. Jelly, marshmallows, and Haribo's are the main culprits if trying to have a pure veggie childhood I'd say !

I've been veggie since I was 12. DH is not. DD, 15 months, mostly eats veggie by default, but is sometimes offered meat. Despite BLW and a relaxed attitude she's not very interested in food, so for us I'm glad that she has the variety.

But I don't think it's in any way odd to raise a child veggie, particularly if they are given the option outside the home.

I'm vegetarian, plan on feeding my dd the same as me at home but she can eat meat at grandparents etc.

I suppose I would talk about people trying to live an ethical lifestyle which might include vegetarianism. I just think calling it a lifestyle gives ammunition to the stereotyperers. After all, you don't talk about a carnivorous lifestyle, do you?

Happy veggie for years, DH would eat meat when out. Now thr kid discovered meat, so I cook it. She really didn't have any till a few weeks ago, but her bowels are happy. I would have not been able to devour a plate of meat like mine two did yesterday.
The only problem I have is washing the pan and plates afterwards, I do find it vile, so if they want meat, they have to wash up. I don't mind cooking it, although I really have no clue when it's done, so they eat theirs half burnt, cause that's the way the cookie crumbled.
Also, no idea about how long can you keep meat in the fridge, we go to the butcher's and it has yo be ready for me to just shove in the oven, pan, I add some spices etc, but I'm not playing with it, sod that for a game of soldiers.

I guess just stick strictly to the use by dates Dilidali, even more so when you're unfamiliar with it. Just thinking would you be happier to serve mainly veggie meals to DH and DC Dilidali - I think you should try to do what you're happy with ? Maybe just cook prepared meat occasionally if you're OK with that ? Could DH cook any meaty meals for him and DC ?
At least you have an agreement about the washing up

We're not a veggie household but my dd (7) is practically a vegetarian through her own choice. She's never really eaten meat but will occasionally eat a birdseye chicken nugget if pushed (does that class as meat ). Now she won't eat fish at all . This isn't due to her not being offered a range of meat/fish - homemade / hidden she's just not interested.

She's super healthy with loads of energy! She does eat lots of nuts and seeds though.

So long as they have a varied diet I wouldn't worry about it at all!

Some (not all) of the vegetarians I know, children and adults alike, are rather tubby - they seem to exist on masses of carbs.

I could of course say the same about omnivore friends, I just can't help but suspect that if the tubby vegetarians had more protein, they'd not be filling up on quite so much pasta.

A good vegetarian diet is undoubtedly healthier than mine, so I'm certainly not being snug - I just don't think it's a given, either way.

My DNiece and DNephew and they do just fine. It's hard work though as veggi toddlers can still be mighty fussy and you can't resort to ham sandwiches and chicken nuggets.

Dd was initially brought up as vegi. Dh is vegi ( not tubby at all but then he doesn't eat pasta or rice or cheese), and wanted dd to be vegi.

She soon decided as a toddler that she wanted chicken, sausages, etc.

Though oddly enough now at the age of 12 she barely eats meat, says she doesn't like the texture. She will eat a chicken nugget but not chicken. Will have sausages but not a pork chop. She's ok with mince but won't eat a burger.

My two veggie children are very healthy and slim Jenai
I'm sure that's because they are very active as well as enjoying good healthy food (with few sweets or puddings - though they have a pudding at school) I also wonder if extended breast-feeding has been good in helping to regulate their appetites throughout the baby and toddler years ?

jenai I think there are a lot of chubby folk, veggie or otherwise

But I struggled to lose pregnancy weight gain on carby diet. I discovered veggie low carbing, lost a lot of weight and am now not restricting carb but my choice meals and carb tolerance have changed, and I'm a stone lighter than pre-pg with a low-normal BMI. So you're not wrong that protein and fats have their place in a veggie diet.

Of course I meant smug, although it is true that my waistband is a little snug

I think it's mainly teens/young adults who struggle to eat a balanced diet, vegetarian or otherwise.

I'm quite keen on eating far less meat.

My family look at me like this when I suggest it though, sadly.

YANBU, if your choice is genuinely based on what you think is nutritionally best for them. You most certainly would not be unreasonable to give them some meat or fish either, though.

Whilst a vegetarian diet may not be the worst thing you could do for a child, some meat and fish certainly wouldn't harm them either. And lots of studies indicate it may do them some good.

I used to be vegetarian but ended up craving meat and decided there was a reason for this. I do eat it now and again, but I don't go mad with it. There's a happy medium in nutrition and I personally feel that a vegan diet makes no sense other than from a purely ideological perspective, and I think it's slightly reckless to impose this on a child. But that's just my view. I now give my son meat and fish, but not any old crap, and not very often (fish once or twice a week, meat once or twice a week)

I would say, if you're thinking of a purely veggie diet, do some reading about soya products. There seems to be some very worrying research findings on the effects of soya products on growing children, especially boys (and thus also mothers' consumption of it whilst pregnant).

I would raise my child as a vegetarian because ethically I disagree with eating meat, so I would not give my child something I disagree with on that level.

Yes, you can get by quite nicely on chips, pasta, pizza and cheese as a veggie teen (I did) and it's certainly not a given that you won't be overweight. In general though veggies have lower BMIs and less chance of diabetes, heart disease, bowel cancer etc.

We try and all have pulses at least once a day and as adults are careful not to go too crazy on the cheese and ice cream, but we are fairly active too (walk and cycle everywhere as we choose not to own a car) which helps!

Morally of course vegetarianism is a bit of a minefield as logically ethical veggies should all be vegan due to the inevitable culling of young calves as part of the milk trade but I love my cheese too much to be morally consistent

I would have preferred for my dc to be veggie like me and dh. We opted for veggie at home and their choice when out and about. I struggled seeing them eat meat initially and would prefer them to be veggie. Eldest at 4.5yr old appears to be a committed carnivore and is trying to convert us.

That was "all" as in our family, not all veggies! I'm not a veggie spokesperson by any means

If you go down the route of insisting that your children are vegetarian please can you ensure that they eat (a normal range of) vegetables and other vegetarian staple foods. I work in a school and find it so frustrating that so many of the vegetarian children do not eat vegetarian food, e.g. Won't touch a vegetable, won't eat cheese etc...