do vegetarian mums have to have vegetarian babies?

[bobblehead]

Hi
I have been veggie for many years now, although I'm not against meat eating in principal. Someone told me the other day that as I was vegetarian it would be better for my dd to not eat meat when she was weaned (something to do with the digestion). Personally, I would probably prefer not to give her meat until she is old enough to decide for herself, but as dh is a huge meateater I don't think this will be an option unless I can give him good reasons for it. Do any wise mnetters have any experience of this or know why it would be better for her to be veggie?
(sorry, this is a bit rambling hope it makes sense)

No. I am a veggie, my kids eat meat. When weaning you do tend to start with veggie foods, but I did feed mine chicken/turkey by about 6 - 9 months.

Now aged 6 dd1 is thinking of turnong veggie

Um, this sounds like bollocks. Why would your diet choices affect her digestive system?

Do what you (and your DH) want.

I'm not veggie really. I don't eat meat, but do eat fish (pesc something or other I believe). But DD (3.5yo) has always eaten meat and she loves it. I know that I am not organised enough to prepare the type f veggie meals that would inlcude all the right stuff/bts for a growing child, so meat was the easy option for me. Although I never actually debated it anyway. I don't like meat to eat but I am happy to cook and prepare it for DH and DD.

I am the same as Hulababy. I don't eat meator chicken, but I prepare it and have raised my DD on it.

as far as i know there is no reason why your child shouldn't eat meat just because you are veggie

I am veggie and so is ds,.. but if he wants to eat meat later on when he can decide thent hat's fine!

Thanks for all your replies. I know she will eat mainly veggie when with me anyway, but her dad would be so disappointed not to give her meat.

why would he be disappointed? it's just meat!

I was just going to ask the same thing, starlover. It's only food; it's no great shakes what she eats, surely?

My dd was veggie for the first two years, as it was easier for me to taste her food and check for temperature and so on if it was veggie - it's quite hard to make sure it's OK if you can't try it yourself. I can't say it bothered by meat-eating dh at all

ditto wwb... dp eats meat but he coul;dn't give a toss what Linus eats! lol
well... taht's a bit of a lie! he likes it to all be organic etc etc... but he doesn't care if he has meat or not

dh has an obsession with meat for some reason!Actually an odsession with food, but meat in particular.Think he just wants to share his favourite thing with her (but who knows the way the male mind works!)

I'm veggie but DP isn't.We eat Veggie at home for most meals but sometimes DP and DD will have a meat "extra".
Our DD was veggie until she was 3 when she decided she wanted to try meat. Our DS is veggie (16m) and will probably be so until he decides otherwise.
I find it easier (like WWB) when it comes to cooking and preparing DSs food -I haven't cooked meat for about 16 yrs so wouldn't trust myself not to poison someone! Also I do have my doubts about some of the crap added to meat/ stuff fed to animals (and you can't always get organic/free range etc everywhere).

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I'm veggie and so is ds (although at 13 months, he's not exactly asking for the other stuff!)

For me, it's just a case of knowing how it is produced, I just couldn't feed it to him.

Must admit I'd rather dd was veggie, especially as I haven't seen organic/free range meat where we are (although to be honest I haven't looked!). I do cook meat for dh but think the veggie things I cook do tend to be healthier. She can make up her own mind when she's old enough anyway.

I can't figure out why some vegetarians feel compelled to give their kids meat; "We want them to make up their own minds" said some vegie friends. But you could equally argue "Why impose meat on your children when they are too young to choose?"

Anyway, I think do whatever you like, it totally doesn't matter. (speaking as someone who was vegie for 16 years but tucking into chicken tonight...)

I didn't feel compelled to give my dd meat; dh eats it, and she asked to try it. I could hardly say no when her daddy eats it - how would I have explained that away?

how about veggie dads and veggie babies (DH is veggie, I'm not, so we agreed that DS would be veggie unless/until he wants to try eating meat)

I am not trying to start an argument but am I the only veggie who finds it weird that as a veggie you'd feed your child meat?

Vegetarianism is a choice that I made for myself, and it's not for me to force it onto my dh or my dd. It doesn't bother me whether anyone finds that odd; we're all different and we all see things in different ways.

(Winnie- I was wondering that too)

(leaves quickly before the fur starts to fly...)

Does what we feed our children make us any less vegetarian? I don't think so. As I said in my last post, being veggie is my choice, and not one that I feel I can make for anyone else. My My dh is a meat eater; dd was veggie until she was 2 but then chose to eat meat - their choice, and I have to respect that, just as I expect people to respect my choices. My dd now understands where meat comes from (she's 4.5) but still choses to eat meat - and that's her decision to make, not mine. I've never forced my ideals or opinions on meat-eating on anyone, and I'm not about to start now.

I'm not interested in a scrap but I am interested in knowing why people think it's such a big deal. Do you think that I'm not so good a vegetarian as those who don't allow meat in the house? Surely it's what I put in my mouth that defines me as vegetarian, not what my daughter puts in hers?

I'm veggie as is dd (13 motnhs) but dh isn't...well, we call him an "at home vegetarian" because I don't cook meat for him. I would if he asked me to, but he's quite happy to eat whatever I make. Anyway, dd is veggie for now, for practical as well as moral reasons. We've agreed that once she's old enough to understand where meat comes from and how it gets from the animal to her plate, if she still wants to eat it, I won't stand in her way. I'm giving her what I regard to be the healthiest start in life, but I won't take away her choice to eat meat if/when she makes it.

I am a meat eater and dh is a very, very strict vegetarian. We agreed when I was pregnant that ds would be raised as a veggie until he could make the choice for himself whether or not he eats meat. I agreed this for an easy life really, knowing how much it would upset dh that our children would "contaminate" themselves by eating animal flesh.

ds3 is now almost 3 and seems to be making an association between dead animals and meat and on a couple of recent occasions has wanted to try meat products. dh is adamant that he does not try it but I want him to. So we are stuck in a bit of a quandry really, and I am not sure what to do.

Did you eat meat while pregnant Queeneagle?