Newborn baby vegan

[starflake]

I'm due in December and I'm contemplating raising Baba as vegan. I'm vegetarian years & only eat a minimal amount of dairy, if Baba is vegan I'll go down the vegan route also. I'm contemplating this as I know the benefits of not consuming dairy or meat but I've never raised a baby vegan! My other DC are meat eaters bar one who is veggie like me. I'm looking for advice on formulas & how difficult it will be weaning etc. I'm planning on breastfeeding with some combi feeding so maybe one or two formula feeds a day after supply comes in. I'm not posting this in pregnancy section as I'm not up for a bashing on how harmful this will be for baba. TIA

Good for you. The vast majority of the population don't care or can't make the connection either, for whatever reason. It's sad, but it's part of why I don't just give up and go to a steakhouse - I genuinely believe everyone has the capacity to be compassionate. If one single person lurking on this thread thinks "hmm, maybe my diet is exploitative", and looks into veganism further as an alternative, then that's great. Perhaps one day you'll think drinking cows milk is bizarre too.

Pretty sure rickets is caused by lack of vitamin d.

I breastfed 6 months then my DS had Nutramigen (I think that was the name) - smelt disgusting but he took it as he was severely allergic to dairy (and still is) , he later went onto soy formula. He’s not vegan though. I got the formulae on prescription due to his allergies.

Hi there and well done for making ethical choices for your baby. Assuming you are able to breastfeed for the first six months, you can then raise your baby happily and healthilty as a vegan. You do have to make sure he or she gets the right vitamins and mierals but as a vergan yourself, you'll aleady know about where to find nutrients. Make sure you give A, D and C vitamin drops in the first few months and then a multivitamin after 6 months. There are some good vegan ones out there. Also, follow a good vegan food writer for baby weaning recipes like @PlantBasedBaby_uk and check advice and leaflets from The Vegan Society. I think PETRA also has a vegan kids' fod guide. Best of luck!

Rickets can also be caused by lack of calcium.

The best thing you can do is follow expert advice and if that advice is to not put your baby on a massively restricted diet the dont do it.

Just out of interest if your baby is vegan do you avoid the non- vegan vaccines also?

No, ricketts is caused by a lack of Vitamin D. The NHS suggests all babies are given vitamins A, C and D from birth.

FAO, INeedNewShoes
Just a thought did your parents choose for you whether you would be a meat eater or non meat eater?
Did you have a child's choice when you were a baby/toddler?
And if so what did they choose?

And you mention not discussing until the children are 7-8, did your parents discuss with you whether you wanted to be a meat eater or not? And at what age did you know and choose to be an eater of dead flesh.
My little girl, thanks me for guiding her towards not being an eater of animals and fish.
She thinks they are cute.

It's laughable when people call it "ethical". Importing all those soy beans, coconut water, etc..
People living longer therefore using more energy, food, hospitals, tranaport for longer.

Mhmm, yeh, cause ethics!

I have been vegan my entire life, as have most of the people where I come from, a shit diet is a shit diet, it really doesn’t matter if it’s a shit vegan diet or a shit omnivorous diet.

Where are you from Simon.
Yes there are junk eating vegans and junk eating meat eaters

Genuine question, if you raise a child vegan from birth and then they get to, say, their teenage years and decide that they don't want to be vegan anymore, do their bodies have the capacity to process animal products if they have never consumed them before?

Some people claim to get sick eating meat after being veggie but I understand that’s been proven rubbish and is probably in their head (or possibly- an allergy) more likely an urban myth though since it always seems to be a friends neighbours daughter

Not entirely sure what coconut water has to do with veganiam but okay...

*veganism.

Genuine question, if you raise a child vegan from birth and then they get to, say, their teenage years and decide that they don't want to be vegan anymore, do their bodies have the capacity to process animal products if they have never consumed them before?

Absolutely no reason why not. Psychologically is different to physically of course.

@starflake look at First Steps Nutrition trust for their weaning leaflet for vegans - it’s really useful for when your baby is 6 months +. You can download it for free.

www.firststepsnutrition.org/eating-well-infants-new-mums

Scroll to the bottom

Absolutely no reason why not. Psychologically is different to physically of course.

Thanks. I didn't know if the body reached a certain level of maturity without ever having processed animal products, whether it would then be able to?

No. Meat allergy is possible but very rare and caused by certain medical conditions. Human bodies are adaptable. I've known a couple of lifelong vegetarians who have started eating meat or fish with no issues. Personally I could never do it and would vomit if I tried but that's a psychological issue not a physical one. Most lifelong vegetarians couldn't consider eating meat.

What on earth did I just read?? Do you consider yourself to be a dairy animal?? Is it against your ethical compass to breastfeed your own child?!

I'm vegetarian and it never occurred to me to bring either of my children up to be vegetarian, it's not my decision to make. If they decide to become vegetarian or even vegan I will encourage and support, and in the meantime I will encourage a well balanced and age appropriate diet.

Fucking vegan baby formula.

Give me strength.

I'm vegetarian and it never occurred to me to bring either of my children up to be vegetarian, it's not my decision to make.

Except you did make a decision for them by raising them to eat meat. It's just a different decision to the one suggested by the OP.

in the meantime I will encourage a well balanced and age appropriate diet.

Both vegetarian and vegan diets can be balanced and age appropriate. This is what the NHS has to say on the topic.

Fucking vegan baby formula.

Give me strength.

It has already been established you can't get vegan formula in the UK but that aside...why? All formula is fortified and has to meet the same nutritional criteria. Any dairy free and hypothetical vegan formula would have to meet the same nutritional standard as non vegan formula.

That's the "natural" human diet though. Seriously this thread reads as a wind-up, and if people seriously think they need to feed their baby a vegan formula instead of breast feeding then they need to give their heads a bit of a wobble.

You've received lots of advice here OP, pften conflicting, so I thought I'd put this here:
https://www.firststepsnutrition.org/eating-well-early-years

First Steps Nutrition are a really well respected, independent organisation (not funded by food industry or formula companies) that deal with all things nutrition.
If you scroll down, you'll find a PDF of their guide for vegan families.

In brief, there aren't any safe vegan formulas for under six months, and they suggest using expressed breast milk and making sure you know where to find local support before the baby arrives, to give you the best chance to meet your own goals.