I was raised vegetarian, was at a stall yesterday and met a couple of perfectly healthy from birth vegans, you should not need eggs or milk to raise a vegan child but you do need to be informed. The only time I think you’ll need to be flexible is if you cannot breastfeed as it may be better to use cows milk formula than soya formula- best to ask health visitor.
I am not a nutritionist and don’t have children yet, you should do your own research but the important bits are:
B12- get enough yourself when breastfeeding and you could wean baby onto junior soya or oat milk at 1 year, other milks not recommended as too low calories and rice milk can be too high in certain metals. Also children’s cereal is usually fortified (watch out for D3 or be flexible on that if you choose). Nutritional yeast and marmite both are usually fortified with b12 as well as naturally containing other b vitamins so are good options to flavour foods.
Iodine- sea vegetables (I.e. kelp in smoothies), iodised salt, organic baked beans, organic potatoes.
Fats- peanut butter, coconut cream, coconut oil, avocado, seeds and nuts
Omegas- flaxseeds or flax oil or algae supplements
D- sunshine, mushrooms and fortified foods I.e cereal and soya or oat mik
Iron- tofu, pulses and leafy green veg (I.e. kale, cabbage, spinach, lettuce, spring greens, broccoli etc), dark chocolate- each always eaten with a source of vit C to improve absorption, cereal usually also fortified
Calcium- tofu, pulses and leafy green veg
Selenium- Brazil nuts (1 a day meets rda), spinach, mushrooms, pinto beans, brown rice, seeds
Magnesium- leafy greens, bananas, squash, sweet potatoes
Zinc- beans, chickpeas, lentils, tofu, walnuts, cashew nuts, chia seeds, ground linseed, hemp seeds, pumpkin seeds, wholemeal bread and quinoa
I haven’t done the others as vegan diets are often higher in other minerals and nutrients (and actually in some I’ve listed like magnesium and iron) than a standard British diet.
So what I would take is that any vegan child should probably have a diet high in leafy green veg (in soups, smoothies, salads, cooked one pot dishes and as a side dish) ideally a variety as they vary in how high they are in each nutrient. These foods are also higher in protein than other veg. Some should be sea vegetables for iodine.
Also pulses, again a variety- in soups, dishes, added to salad, in hummus or pâté even roasted and seasoned as a snack, and some tofu. Again as well as essential nutrients these are fairly high in protein foods.
Finally nuts, seeds and fat sources such as avocado in a moderate amount. Nuts and seeds are also decent sources of protein.
Along with a couple of portions of fruit and a couple of other veg and a small amount of grains (cereal, seeded toast, couscous, pasta, rice, oats etc- wheat is highest in protein)
And soya or oat milk, perhaps with soya or coconut yoghurts.
Ideally everything organic to have higher quantities of nutrients.
Salt should be iodised version.
Use of meat subs such as vegan quorn shouldn’t be problematic if once or twice a week.
Finally occasional treat foods like crisps, sweets, chocolate, fortified chocolate soya or oat milk, vegan ice cream, custard, biscuits, cakes etc. Probably not necessary nutritionally but imo important from a social point of view so child isn’t left out.
To reiterate this is not the advice of a dietician and is from my own research and just how I plan to raise my future child.
Hope all goes well!