Vegan baby

[Expecteddeclathon]

In your opinion, is it ok for a baby to be vegan from weaning (6 months)?

We brought our children up vegan, so yes, I think it’s fine. We got advice from a dietician but I knew what I was doing as I’d been vegan for years and read a lot about meeting nutritional needs for children who are vegan. Our children are adults and older teens now and are healthy.

Breast milk is vegan. I wasn’t being exploited, I wanted to feed my children with my milk.

Get professional advice if you’re unsure of anything, but ignore people who have an opinion for the sake of it with little actual knowledge.

It's about not exploiting animals. In my interpretation of veganism your rescue hen's eggs would be fine. In principle I would eat eggs from my own hens if I had them. In reality I think they would turn my stomach after so long not eating them but that's a different thing.

Another one chiming in to say that breast milk is definitely a dairy product. Although that doesn't mean it can't also adhere to vegan ethics.

Personally, I think it seems quite difficult to ensure a baby/toddler gets a well-balanced diet without any animal products whatsoever, but if a parent is willing to make sure they do, then why not.

Veganism always seems a little backwards to me, though, as I'm sure vegans aren't as strict in making sure that they don't use any products that involve the exploitation and suffering of humans, including children. Like putting the cart before the horse. But that's by the by.

I think it’s really important that little children get a full diet:

You can source milk from cows that keep their calves at foot (freeze the milk if needed to use little and often)

you can source meat that is raised and killed on the farm.

your can source eggs that are raised in small groups outside, with a varied diet

Your child’s gut biome NEEDS a full range of foods at an early age. Not loads, but definitely some.

I would find ethical products and store them in the freezer if needs be, to make sure my child gets little and often

i wholly support your decision to be vegan as a grown adult, but I think a vegan diet for a little kid does negatively effect their growth and health in the long term x

yeah, sure, your baby will be fine! ..
and if not- well, then …at least you didn’t harm any animals in the process! (And that’s by far more important than anything)

the point is - it’s your risk to take and a bunch of anonymous strangers (most without qualifications in this area), cannot possibly advise….

perhaps look into studies done? There was one done in Finland

I’m not a vegan but I would say your logic is flawed.

Humans are meant to drink their mother’s milk. Just as calves are meant to drink their mother’s milk. Calves and other mammals don’t drink the milk of other mammals, only humans do that.

I have no real opinion on the nutritional basis for a baby being a vegan from the start but it would seem a bit strange for a vegan mother to feed her child meat… I can’t really articulate why it doesn’t make sense but it just doesn’t.

We are a vegan family .we did go vegan when the DC were around 3 and we faced a lot of pressure from in-laws so we went back to vegetarian..which I massively regret.
So we have been vegan approx 10 years .
Everyone just decided for themselves to be vegan at different points .. literally a year apart we all went vegan one after another.. youngest was 12 at the time he chose to be vegan.
But yes I do think being vegan is fine for babies .. anyone already vegan knows exactly what vitamins to keep an eye on ..so shouldn't be an issue

Cows produce milk for humans because their calves are taken away. Their milk is primarily to feed their young. Therefore a vegan would not drink milk from a cow or any animal.
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I was wondering how Jains get sufficient nutrition. Jains are the only know religion who are vegan; others, like Hindus, may be vegetarian but will have dairy.

Op might find articles about Jains and nutrition interesting. Just a thought. Here is one:
http://www.jainvegans.org/nutrition/

I don't think it is advisable due to the need for allergen exposure for immune system. You can inadvertently create serious issues down the road.

There is quite a bit of research in the last 5-6 years in Western countries has shown the importance of allergen exposure before babies are 1 for their immune system.

Personally I wouldn't want to risk the potential for a life long condition in my baby due to a voluntary diet belief.
I didn't eat meat when my eldest was weaning but I did do all allergens with him.

only a dietician can explore this with you, not a nutritionist or people on mumsnet. Personally no I don’t think it’s healthy, I’m a vegetarian but am not raising my dd as one. Eggs and meat are very important for brain development, babies need healthy fats which your breast milk will provide for now but you’re not going to breastfeed forever are you?

Yes, of course it is, as it is not commercial/exploitative, and comes from the baby's mother. In the same way as vegans don't object to calves drinking cow's milk.

Oh for Gods sake. Being a vegan is about not exploiting animals. Saying that your breast milk isn’t vegan is like saying that doing your own housework is slavery.

Breast milk is vegan. (It’s actually in the definition).

I think if you’re breastfeeding and really proactive about a balanced diet, then as a baby it’s probably fine. However, your baby will grow into a toddler with strong and often illogical opinions, and it may become a lot harder to ensure a balanced diet when they refuse 70% of the food offered. Toddlers have a big preference for predictable relatively high nutrient density foods, which is not necessarily easy to achieve for a vegan diet.

Your child will then go to school and to many children’s parties / clubs / childcare; it’s difficult to enforce a certain diet if the kid isn’t old enough/aware to make those choices (obviously it’s possible - and in the case of allergies etc there is no alternative, but as you do have a choice, I’d consider carefully whether it’s something you want to have to navigate for all those years until they can police it themselves).

My kids both eat meat (although probably less than most kids as I mainly shop/cook veggie food out of habit). I think being encouraged to try all foods, without certain foods being ‘off limits’, has helped them eat a balanced diet through the potentially fussy years, and foster a more healthy attitude to food. They know I don’t eat meat (and why) and that they can make their own choices if/when they decide to.

I would be worried about iron levels OP. Human breastmilk doesn’t have sufficient iron for a developing baby past 6 months. They pack formula with huge amounts of it, but those of us who breastfeed longer than that have to make sure there is plenty of iron in foods we’re weaning our babies with. I do that by including small amounts of meat in my baby’s diet. I don’t know how to do it with a vegan diet so I would definitely be having a conversation with a dietitian in your position, OP. Iron is crucial to brain development.

You didn't do a poll @Expecteddeclathon so not sure if you really wanted a wide range of opinions or just other vegans agreeing with you.

Had there been a poll I would have voted YABU. Unless someone is very nutritionally aware, there seems a risk with a purely vegan diet. My opinion would be that it's better to opt for a vegetarian diet until the child is old enough to make a choice between sticking as a vegetarian, becoming vegan or indeed becoming a meat eater.

Of course it’s possible to have a vegan baby you just need to be really considerate of the difficulties involved. As an adult vegan you understand which foods you eat and what amount you need to eat them in order to get the broad variety of vitamins and minerals you need to thrive.

iron stores deplete rapidly by 7 months and even omnivore babies can routinely find themselves deficient in iron by a year old if they aren’t sufficiently eating enough iron fortified foods, formula or dietary sources of iron. Babies and toddlers can be particular about eating and sometimes survive seemingly off of air so trying to get the requisite amount of plant based foods to get them enough calcium and iron can be hard.

however my friend has a thriving toddler on a vegan diet and she worked with a nutritionist to figure it out for his ages and stages and has his iron and b12 levels checked regularly (they aren’t in the uk) and she’s continued to nurse him past 2.

give it a go but do make sure to research the ideal amount of day, calcium, iron, b vitamins etc for them and adjust as per your child’s preferences and appetite

I wouldn't risk it because I would be worried they would be deficient in something. I think it would be ok for the first year when they can rely a lot on breast milk but after that they mainly get their nutrition from food. They need a lot of calcium and protein but they have small stomachs so I know it would make me anxious. Most of my vegan friends did not give their babies a vegan diet.

Milk, eggs and meat are not the only allergens. Millions of babies are raised vegetarian across the world every year and come to no harm because they weren't exposed to meat. I don't really understand this argument if you aren't planning on feeding your child the potential allergen anyway - the child can choose to introduce them later on if they want to.

You need to speak to your health visitor who can no doubt signpost you to a dietician. Your baby really should be exposed to a range of foods. Source your meat and dairy ethically (and stop believing the untrue nonsense of social media about the farming industry) and allow your child to make their own choice when they are old enough to do so

I've been vegetarian for 29 years and I don't feed my children meat at all. I don't want to touch or prepare meat, I don't want to support the industry and that's my choice. My DH on the other hand is a big meat eater so they get it regardless, but it's his responsibility. Don't really understand how vegans and vegetarians are "shoving" their beliefs but meat eaters aren't? What about if parents are bringing up their children halal or kosher, is that also shoving their beliefs onto them? Can't believe there are such narrow minded veggies out there tbh.

I think the point is that human breast milk is dairy, as it's an animal product.

But it can be both dairy, and ethically vegan I suppose, just as some people have said that unfertilised eggs from a rescue battery hen can be ethically vegan despite being an animal product.

So, there is no ‘ normal’ diet, just choices as to what you choose to eat and not eat and it’s perfectly possible to have a vegan diet that fills all dietary requirements (OP, you know this already, but this for the people at the back). I can guarantee that an NHS health visitor will have an opinion so if you need advice go for a private nutritionist.

OP I didn't answer your question and I will from the perspective of a life long vegetarian who has been vegan for almost a decade and raised a vegetarian child.

My parents made mistakes with our diets. They were hippies in the 70s/80s trying to follow an Indian inspired vegetarian lifestyle with little knowledge of nutrition. We lacked protein massively and ate too many carbs. This didn't affect my brothers too much but it contributed to my weight problems IMO.

My DS is tall, healthy and strong. But as a teenager he's chosen to occasionally eat chicken. I would rather he didn't but it's his choice - he is slim/underweight and has a limited repertoire of food and low appetite. I don't think that's anything to do with being vegetarian but it certainly made it harder to get enough nutrition into him. I would do it again, but I would not have been able to raise him vegan even if I had wanted to. Cheese, yoghurt and eggs are his main protein sources.

My main protein sources are tofu, tempeh and seitan. He will eat tofu of those but not the others. How many toddlers are happily eating seitan and tempeh? Not a lot. If you have one, lucky you! I know non fussy kids exist and I'm sure if you give them those foods from weaning they will be more likely to eat them. But it's a risk. Cheese, yoghurt and eggs are very palatable and nutrient dense. That's what toddlers and young kids need.

Ethics are important and I appreciate that. But nutrition for young children is more important. You may need to compromise.

I didn't say they were, one of the studies is in relation to eggs another in shellfish and others in nuts. Dairy is a common allergy which toddlers require aims at the milk ladder and multiple frequent low exposure for immune system build up (read milk ladder information).

Also the prevalence of severe allergy is much much greater in Western world rather then SE Asia for instance where more babies are raised vegetarian. One theory behind this is the Western body immune system doesn't have to fight off serious diseases or illness as much so instead turns inwards.

Later exposure to allergens has shown a higher frequency by a few percentage. The studies are freely available to read.

No… the point is that humans are meant to drink from their mothers. As calves are meant to drink from their mothers.

What other species drinks the milk of another species?