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AIBU?

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Original poster

Can i breast feed my DD-to-be if i'm vegan?

246 replies

GrannyGrissle · 08/06/2018 21:29

Recently turned to a full vegan diet and it suddenly dawned on me that it can't possibly be vegan to breast feed my baby when she is born in November? How did i not know/realise this?

OP posts:
Absofrigginlootly · 09/06/2018 00:08

*that cows milk

Not co a milk

frogsoup · 09/06/2018 00:10

The massive frip-feed in the ops next post will be that she's actually giving birth to a llama.

NotBadConsidering · 09/06/2018 00:14

Nope, that's wrong. Tell me what's been animal derived on this ingredient list:

www.smababy.co.uk/formula-milk/wysoy-infant-formula/

The "soy is bad for baby boys" thing is an overstated myth. Extensively hydrolysed formulas may be based on cows' milk originally but pure amino acid formulas aren't. Neocate for example. Not that someone should get that prescribed just because of wanting to feed your baby vegan.

wejammin · 09/06/2018 00:16

Pregnant vegan here with 2 very much alive healthy DCs who breastfed.

It is perfectly possible to raise vegan children who aren't malnourished, despite some of the comments above (no idea about macrobiotic diets, that sounds full on)

Human breast milk is very very vegan for human babies.

AssassinatedBeauty · 09/06/2018 00:19

Apparently it's the D3 that is from an animal source.

TheDisillusionedAnarchist · 09/06/2018 00:19

Wysoy has lanolin in it. It’s not vegan. There is a French vegan formula which some people import

LaContessaDiPlump · 09/06/2018 00:19

op, I'm a vegan and you are, in the nicest possible way, being a wee bit batty. Please breastfeed your baby if you would like to; if cow's milk is for baby cows, then human milk is surely for baby humans.

As an aside, I know two vegan mums who've breastfed their kids and the kids are just fine (the oldest is now 3 yo and very healthy)! Just make sure you take a good multivitamin containing B12 while bf (Holland and Barrett do a good vegan one).

Good luck with your pregnancy!

RedLily84 · 09/06/2018 00:20
Hmm
NotBadConsidering · 09/06/2018 00:27

Wysoy has lanolin in it no it doesn't. I just posted a list of its ingredients.

AssassinatedBeauty · 09/06/2018 00:39

Lanolin is the source of the vitamin D3.

NotBadConsidering · 09/06/2018 00:54

Lanolin is a source of vitamin D3. Is it definitely the source in this case? Not lichen-based? If so I'm happy to be corrected that it's not 100% vegan because of that but either way it's a bit disingenuous to say it contains lanolin.

nocoolnamesleft · 09/06/2018 01:25

Let's put it this way: if it were vegan, then the companies would advertise it as such to increase their market share, now that we're not prescribing it for CMPI/A (given both the concerns about phyto oestrogens, and the rates of cross reactivity). Wysoy is proudly proclaimed to be approved by the vegetarian society. No mention of the vegan society. You can be damn sure that if it were vegan they'd be shouting it from the rooftops.

agnurse · 09/06/2018 02:36

As far as vegan diets for children and adults - as a rule, with planning, they can be adequate, with the exception of vitamin B12. This is found only in animal products. The solution is to take supplements, or to find foods such as soy milk that are fortified with vitamin B12.

Missingstreetlife · 09/06/2018 05:38

$$ There's a lot of that about

GinIsIn · 09/06/2018 05:45

Oreos are vegan. You should just feed the baby those, to be on the safe side. Hmm

RantyMare · 09/06/2018 05:46

Trip trap trip trap... Over the bridge...WTF? What has being vegan to do with breastfeeding?
Some people may say if you couldn't breastfeed and (mainstream) formula fed, that wouldnt' be vegan. I would say it is though..If you couldn't afford specialist vegan formula then you'd not have a choice wet nurse perhaps

All our native mammal species feed their babies from their mammaries...We can too.

RantyMare · 09/06/2018 05:47

Regarding B12, a lot of it is heritage.My B 12 levels are too high, and I am a vegan. Of course it isn't life-threatening, but was I to take a supplement I doubt I'd be doing any good. Plus B12 used to be in plant products, until we humans effed up the natural way of things.

Namethatchange · 09/06/2018 06:27

www.viva.org.uk/soya-based-infant-formula-fact-sheet
Wysoy is definitely not vegan. Amino acid based formulas are not vegan, Neocate contains fish oil. Obviously if you are vegan the only way in the UK to continue with the veganism with a neborn is to breastfeed. If the OP is serious and not trolling I am a bit concerned for the baby, I hope she returns and updates with how she is planning to feed her newborn.

flumpybear · 09/06/2018 06:40

@GrannyGrissle please reconsider being vegan, you ‘don’t get it’

PerfectlyDone · 09/06/2018 07:25

Has anyone here tried Neonate? It does NOT taste nice. Unlike breastmilk which is yummy Grin

PerfectlyDone · 09/06/2018 07:25

Neocate.

I have never tasted baby.
That would be wrong.

Oblomov18 · 09/06/2018 07:43

Is this in classics yet?
Great thread.

IrisAtwood · 09/06/2018 08:50

@Mrscloppity, read the link for a very basic introduction into how a vegan diet can be deficient for pregnant and breastfeeding women.

@BertrandRussell, thanks.

sweetkitty · 09/06/2018 08:52

Yes you can I was practically vegan and I breastfed 4 big healthy babies for over a year each.

CactusFred · 09/06/2018 09:00

Brilliant.

I don't think there's anything MORE vegan than breast milk being fed to the baby it was made for. Confused