Vegan baby dies at 6 weeks old

[lyrabelacqua]

I was shocked to read in the Mirror this morning about a baby who died at six weeks old weighing just 3lbs after his vegan parents fed him just soya milk and apple juice. Apparently they didn't want to compromise their vegan principles by feeding him formula. Would breastfeeding that poor child have compromised their principles?
I have a vegan friend who has never fed her children animal products but she breastfed them till they were two and they're perfectly healthy and happy.
The stupidity of some people is astonishing.

surely speedy that case is another one of neglect? Its not the vegan diet- as the link states- but if you're going to choose to limit your childs diet you have to be willing to make an extra effort to make sure they get what they need.

Both my sisters are veggie, I was for over a decade (didnt find it compatible with dairy intolerance) and theya re raising their kids as meat eaters (although both are married to meat eaters) as they believe its best for a growing child, the boys can make their own choices when they are older. But even if you raise as vegans / veggies, there are options out there but its going to be a lot harder and you will need to be more inventive if you are going to see them thrive.

As for obese kids yes i think thats abuse when its severe- i thought the recent case was stupid simply because the child was already losing weight suppotrted by Mum (and the purpose of potentially removing him was?...) but generally its a sign of neglect when severe- we all have natural variatiosn in what is right for us.

agree with Enid - the mirror article was misleading.

neglect and cruelty in my opinion, but seems to be rooted in ignorant and unusual views.

(veganism is not an ignorant / unusual view btw!)

Agree with Speedy.

It just totally underlines the need for a National Health Service, free at the point of demand, available with support and information for the dangerously stupid.

But that would interfere with individual rights and the pioneering spirit.

So sod the babies.

Thank God for the NHS and for Health Visitors and Midwives and follow-up care

So very sad

Tales like this do make you realise that however stupid HV's are, some of their clients must be stupider than them and they are therefore godsends.

I will never slag one off again.

It sounds very sad. DS2 ended up starving as well. I was giving him breastmilk, he failed to gain weight, We topped up with formula- he failed to gain weight. He slept an awful lot. I visited my HV at least twice a week to weigh him, I went to my GP's, eventually when he was 6 weeks old and you could feel and see all his bones - he had no fat on him at all- the HV decided he had to be referred up to the hospital. Where he was found to have a cord infection, which was treated and off he went.

When I look at the photos of him then now I can see how ill he looks, but at the time- because the weight losss was gradual, and because the scales were always dodgy it took ages to pick up. And that was with health professionals fully involved.

Presumably these parents had no outside help, maybe they couldn't afford medical care (presumably the child would have been entitled to something but I know that the system is complicated over there). Personally I think the story is one of a complete system failure.

The thing is though that these people had access to medical care (they live opposite the hospital) but chose not to use it. If they'd had access to an HV they probably wouldn't have let her in.

My HVs were fabulous as were my midwives and obstetricians. I have nothing but positive praise for the NHS.

The amount of free information available in health clinics on nutrition, breastfeeding, weaning, potty training, immunisation etc is so underappreciated and undervalued. People are so quick to pounce on mistakes but forget to keep it in context and remember that the NHS helps millions of people.

The USA fails most of its citizens on healthcare provision and I pray that we never adopt its model.