What did/ do you do if one parent is veggie?

[AliasGrape]

Maybe this should be in weaning but it’s not just about the actual weaning process so went for here.

I don’t eat meat, DH does though rarely.

He thinks that dd should be given meat as part of her diet as a child and that ‘we can’t impose being a vegetarian on her’. (I have tried explaining that whatever we feed her we’re ‘imposing’ on her).

I’m not against her eating meat - I don’t particularly feel comfortable buying or cooking it anymore so tempted to just say that when DH is cooking/ feeding her he can give her meat if he likes and when I’m cooking/ feeding I’ll do veggie options?

She’s only tiny still but I’m just thinking ahead.

What do other people do?

(Apart from fish fingers ect - I mean I wouldn't cook a steak or mince. But freezer food I don't mind chucking in the oven)

I was vegetarian when we had our first (though not anymore, a decision I made for my own health reasons), but we had always had a vegetarian meal of some sort and then maybe 3 times a week, dh made something separate (with meat) to add to it for himself. So we kept that up. Even omnivores don't need meat every day, so dd had meat when it was available and then we all ate vegetarian the other days. I did, however, make her some meat meals for breakfast/lunch as I didn't have an issue with preparing meat, and I did want her to eat a well rounded diet.

Generally speaking, most kids aren't picky about meat, so if you can have a generally varied diet with lots of vegetables, legumes, etc. and also include meat, you'll be doing fine. Mine are now 7 & 2, and invariably, at every meal, the first thing they clear their plate of is the vegetables, which I can't complain about.

My good friend at work was a veggie (brought up as one) and when she was pregnant really craved KFC. She had had a hideous first pregnancy (lost her baby quite late) and was determined to give her body whatever it craves. She said it was quite nice but a bit greasy.

Sorry - off point (and she has gorgeous healthy twins - not that I put that down the KFC).

Kids need lots of iron so unless you’re feeding them a veggie diet where you are really paying attention to meet their iron needs (which is absolutely possible!) I think some meat is good. Nutritional needs for a growing child trump ethics in my opinion.

I am not veggie, my DH is. DS eats meat but not every day, and when I do buy we go for high quality, organic, unprocessed etc. There is a middle ground between eating meat every meal and full vegetarianism.

Generally speaking, most kids aren't picky about meat

Dinner lady when Ds was in reception told Ds that the ravioli was vegetarian. (They had photos of the children with dietary restrictions pinned to the inside wall of the serving hatch wall)
I don’t think the dinner lady took his vegetarianism seriously.
Apparently by all accounts ds had taken a few mouth fulls then proceeded to projectile vomit over his friend and neighbouring children
It looked something out of horror film because of the tomato sauce.

I had to go in to give him a change of clothes as they didn’t have enough for everyone he was sick over.

Ds is 18 and now vegan.

Kids need lots of iron so unless you’re feeding them a veggie diet where you are really paying attention to meet their iron needs (which is absolutely possible!) I think some meat is good. Nutritional needs for a growing child trump ethics in my opinion.

I've been given the 'but they won't get enough iron!' lecture lots of times, always by people who feed their children things like chicken nuggets and chips, or known carcinogens like processed meat, and think that's a balanced diet...

My friends did what you suggested, the mum does the bulk of the cooking so it's veggie, but the dad (who never cooks) will take them to McDonald's, and at his family they eat meat. By teenagers one ate meat, one did not

I'm veggie, DH was heavy carnivore for years and is just coming out of a weird vegan period. Anyway! We didn't restrict meat, fish, eggs or dairy for the DC. Lots of our meals are veggie by default but the sc have not been raised veggie.

I did my mum and dads shopping orders a few times early in lockdown and was agape at the amount of meat bought, their thinking is stuck in old fashioned "only a meal if it has meat in it" ways and it was so odd.

DH is a pescetarian and I eat meat. My parents who do all of our childcare are vegetarian. DS is 5 and eats meat and fish. He used to be horrifically fussy so there was no way he would have eaten lentils and pulses etc. If he wants to stop when he is older that's fine. Its a pain though as kne of us is always eating something a bit different to the other two!

I’m not against her eating meat - I don’t particularly feel comfortable buying or cooking it anymore so tempted to just say that when DH is cooking/ feeding her he can give her meat if he likes and when I’m cooking/ feeding I’ll do veggie options?

This seems totally fair to me. Neither dh nor I eat meat, so we never had to worry about it at home, but always said that dd was free to eat meat in school/restaurants/other people's houses if she wanted to. To the best of my knowledge, she hasn't ever wanted to try it, but if she changes her mind at some point, that will be her decision.

My friends have a similar situation if the husband cooks meat they will offer but the children at home mainly eat a veggie diet. When the kids went to nursery they didn’t say the kids where veggie allowed them to eat what was offer. The older daughter when she started school and the KS1 free meals asked parents to say they would like the veggie choice. (Now 7 and doesn’t eat meat at all) They will allow the son the same choice once he at school.

Kids need lots of iron so unless you’re feeding them a veggie diet where you are really paying attention to meet their iron needs (which is absolutely possible!) I think some meat is good. Nutritional needs for a growing child trump ethics in my opinion

I am a rubbish cook and apart from making sure they had veg with every ready meal/quorn product it doesn’t seem to have done either of my 2 any harm never eating meat.
We are both from quite short families. Both children tower above us. Even dd is taller than her 5ft 10” dad and Ds is taller.

Husband is vegetarian, I'm not. We mostly eat veggie at home out of convenience. If he'd wanted to bring the children up vegetarian, I would have been fine with that. He's happy for them to eat meat and will even cook meat for them sometimes.

I do eat meat on occasion but rarely have it at home (I'm a lapsed vegetarian who flirts with the dark side with the odd bacon sarnie) and so myself and DP have a mostly veggie diet, out of habit.

We are weaning our little one now and won't be giving her meat for a while. Mainly because we don't often cook meat, and so we don't often have it in the house. Also we just don't see the point. There are so many lovely things to eat that are veggie and I can't imagine giving her meat just for the sake of it.

Once she's older she can make the choice herself. She's not missing out on anything fundamental by not having meat under the age of 1 imo.