Vegan mums vegan baby

[Freshermums]

We are Vegan and intend to bring our baby up vegan too, have any other vegan mums felt supported by midwives / health care professionals on this?

Are you going to breastfeed?

Well, that's all well and good unless your baby needs formula. I would assume at that point you would abandon the vegan ideal?

Can you not get vegan formula then? They do lactose free so I always assumed there would be a vegan version

I have a friend who is vegan, who didn't aim to bring her children up vegan (vegetarian, yes), but ended up doing so for one because of dairy and egg allergies.

That child is perfectly happy and healthy, and essentially vegan (I can't think what he might have that isn't vegan but I guess there could be something). The others are vegetarian but not vegan, and all are as healthy as each other.

You would need to take vitamin D supplements, probably vitamin b12 too. Your child may also need supplements because of the high fibre nature of a vegan diet...they can get full too quickly before they get all the nutrition they need. I personally would never dream of doing it, but then I'm not a vegan. I would feel so worried that the baby wasn't getting everything that it needs to thrive. Maybe have a chat with GP/nutritionist?

It's not an optimal diet for a young child and you will need to seek out good advice to make sure all your child's nutritional needs are met.

You will also need to breastfeed to natural term i.e. 3-4 years.

It's not a problem as long as you breastfeed exclusively and continue to breastfeed until at least a year old. Arguably the child should have milk to drink beyond that too but you can probably meet their needs with fortified almond milk.
Definitely no vegan formula though.

Have a read of www.firststepsnutrition.org/newpages/Early_Years/eating_well-early_years_vegans.html
You can get soy formula (saw it in Asda) if you can't/don't want to bf. I also joined a vegan baby group on fb for advice and support.
My vegan lo is 11m and thriving, our hv seemed surprisingly supportive of his diet (not about other things).

It definitely works way better if you breastfeed. The only vegan formula milk is soya based, and those are not recommended under 1 year due to the levels of phyto-oestrogens. If you can extensively breastfeed, and supplement vitD, then it's pretty doable, though still need to be aware of not falling into the trap of all the weaning foods being either low cal, or low protein or both. The advice is for all children under 5 (not on significant amounts of formula) being on an appropriate multivit, regardless of which diet they're on, and I would have thought the vegan society could tell you which are vegan.

OP to answer your question, I have no experience of this but would imagine it varies wildly from HCP to HCP or area. You could print off everything from the NHS choices site that explains how vegan pregnancy, infancy and childhood is healthy as long as X Y and Z is done to have to hand in case you come across someone who has very negative opinions on it and also to make sure they are aware of your and your baby's requirements/precautions for health. I really do think it's down to luck, not consistency of training, at this stage in the "vegan revolution" as to what midwives and HCPs think.

Make sure you see a nutritionist. Most vegan /vegetarian (I know a lot of milk but no eggs vegetarians) children I have met are stunted-we're talking five year olds no bigger than my three year old. I'm sure it's possible to raise healthy vegan children but children's nutritional needs are very different to adults so you can't just feed them what you eat, get some professional advice.

Lol I was a vegetarian child with 4 vegetarian brothers, all of us are fully grown. One was a professional standard tennis player as a teenager and the others are all marathon runners. There are 2 vegetarian offspring of us who are both full sized, fit and active. Being vegetarian does NOT stunt children’s growth. What a stupid suggestion.

I've been veggie since mid teens and the tallest kid in the family. And the healthiest. As long as you get good advice on nutrition and diet.

That is not a good idea. A young child after weaning from breastmilk, needs vitamins that are not easily obtainable in a completely vegan diet. Don't compromise your child's health for your principles.

AdalindSchade The OP is a vegan not vegetarian

I can't see a problem if you are breastfeeding, but if you don't then, while non dairy formula is life saving for some babies, it isn't the best way to provide nutrition.

My friend is vegan and she has raised her children vegan too. Both boys are very healthy, and amazing swimmers. The hey are now 16 and 14 and I don't think have been affected due to being vegan.

You know what to do

You need to be very well informed indeed to raise a vegan child. Breastfeeding essential till 3.

if we have to make so much effort to get vitamins/minerals/proteins etc if we are vegan, isn't that an argument that says we are designed to eat meat/animal products

i really dont mean to be goady, and am fully aware that this might make me sound like i am - and i'm not looking for a bun fight, its just something that can in to my head while reading this thread. I dont believe in bashing anyones beliefs, i'm not saying either is wrong

back atcha lonicera I was responding to Ttbb above me

Our situation is slightly different because I am vegetarian and my DS (2 years old) is allergic to dairy, so most of the food in the house is vegan by necessity.

My DS's dietitian (we've seen her 3-4 times in 1.5 years because of my son's varied allergies) did not necessarily seem concerned when I mentioned that we eat vegan at home, but she did seem happier when I said my DS has meat at nursery and with his dad.

In my opinion, there is no benefit to my son eating meat outside of the home. I don't feel it is good for the environment, the animals, or him, but I think that having a balance of meat out of the house/vegan in the home is an acceptable compromise until he can make his own decisions. If he never ate out of the house then his diet would be vegan, but this is too difficult to implement with nursery/grandparents/dad.

For what's it worth, I've not seen a HV in over a year (DS is now 2). So their opinion is really not that important if you have done your research and believe you're doing the best for you DC.

I take most of my information from nutritionfacts.org, it's a fantastic resource and has information about child nutrition.

Oh and while I was breastfeeding I was zero dairy due to DS's allergy, then once I stopped breastfeeding (11 months) my DS went on to Neocate formula (his was prescribed so was free, I've heard a tub can cost £40 a pop), then Alpro soya (don't buy the 'for kids' version, it's full of sugar).

Hope this helps a bit.

As a pp has said there is no dairy-free formula that is suitable for under 1s; soya formula is too high in phyto-oestrogens and whilst there are formulas that are suitable for those with dairy allergies this is because the allergenic protein in the dairy has been denatured so as to make them safe. They are still made from milk.

I'd say keep an open mind. Bf might work out just fine for you then cross the weaning bridge when you get to it.

Lots of very ignorant comments here. Would be a bit understandable if it was 1917 and we didn't have all the information available SUPPORTING a vegan diet being suitable for ALL humans.

• www.bda.uk.com/news/view?id=179
• www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs394/en/
• www.vegsource.com/news/2010/05/world-health-org-and-un-recommend-populations-eat-plant-based-diets.html

OP, my seven year old and two year old are lifelong vegans and thriving. Neither has even had so much as a cold. Full of energy, fit and healthy.
I'm long term vegan (18 years) and present very confident and knowledgeable to HCP, and none have ever made the veganism thing an issue, except to say well done. My pregnancies were great - all blood work perfect. No morning sickness either.

Please join: www.facebook.com/groups/VeganParentsUK/, and follow www.facebook.com/VeganChildren/?fref=ts.

nutritionfacts.org/ is my go to resource.

Also www.facebook.com/groups/veganbreastfeedingsupport/ if you need/want support re breastfeeding.

Congratulations!

I thought most of the comments were on the side of positive.

It is very convenient to say that people who are against vegan diets for children are ignorant. Many health professionals and indeed the NHS website advise caution before feeding children under five a vegan diet. Children have developed rickets and malnutrition on these vegan diets. Not good.

Any restrictive diet needs to be researched- god it's hard enough when kids eat anything to make sure that they get everything they need. It's common sense surely?

I've been veggie for over 30 years still now and alter my diet according to my age, any illness or deficiencies, etc. I know I have a tendency to be low on iron and bit b - and that I need to eat more protein to stop going barshit.