Any vegan mums with a vegan toddler?

[Superleo837]

My little one is 14 months and he’s 80% vegan for the last few months. I’ve noticed he’s slimmed down a lot and a few others have mentioned too. I know they do slim down at this age. He has an amazing diet - currently chomping on avocado toast. I make sure he has a very full and varied diet. I suspect a dairy intolerance as his eczema has completely gone as too has his wheezy chest. I’m just wondering if anyone had found similar? 🌱🤗

Not a toddler any more, and not fully vegan (DD is vegan at home with us but veggie for school dinners) but ours is healthy and full of energy.

I'm sure it's language rather than intent but I don't like the word "slimming" for babies! Most children do lose the baby-barrel shape at around a year though as they start walking and running round.

Yes slimmed down isn’t the right word for a toddler. He’s got so much more energy and I suspect he’s running around more now. I’m glad yours are thriving. My eldest is similar to yours veggie at school although he has a vegan lunchbox -he had the veggie Xmas dinner at school last week.

I have a vegan 2 year old who’s been vehan from conception/birth. She was a Michelin man with rolls for days from the day she was born but when she started walking it melted off. She’s still got lovely bits of chub where she needs it but she’s mostly slimmer and more muscular than the other toddlers we come across who tend to be more potbellied and run a lot slower 😬 that might sound offensive. I don’t mean it to be I’m just not sure how else to describe it. I used to get worried and I was guilty of adding extra calories with omega 3 rich oils to her food because I was terrified I might end up somehow malnourishing her even though she’s far healthier than every child we know. I stopped that because she quickly realised I was messing with her food lol and wasn’t a fan of oily rice or veg. She has beautiful long dark brown hair, fast growing strong nails, never had a single patch of eczema or rash in her life other than a bad case of nappy rash once when we were struggling with reusable nappies and blow outs 😬 she was crawling at 5 months and fully walking at 8 months 3 weeks and the HV sung her praises in her 2 year developmental check where she sailed through every task. I appreciate not everything is to do with her diet but I just wanted to reassure you about the weight thing. We are so used to seeing chubby as healthy but it really isn’t. Underweight is obviously still not good but slimmer children are usually a lot more agile and find climbing easier etc. That doesn’t go for all toddlers but I’ve definitely found it with my daughter and our friends who have vegan children. Hope this helps!

I'm perhaps not on the right page here, but my DD is incredibly active, slim, fit & tall and has an incredibly healthy diet which also includes natural foods such as eggs, milk & cheese.

I have a 3 1/2 year old who has been vegan since just before he turned one, he is also slim. He's a bit short for his age apparently but I am also short. It doesn't bother me at all but I do get told by my MIL to give him some cows milk to make him taller . He's very healthy and has not been properly ill in his whole life so far. Had the odd cold/ vomiting but has never yet been laid up ill on the sofa. He still runs around and what's to play in between vomiting episodes!! I think this is largely to do with his diet!
People will always comment more on a child they know is vegan as its so against everything they've ever known that a child can grow up healthy without eating meat/dairy, don't doubt yourself her loss of chubbiness will be down to her growing and moving more. All very normal!

My 17th month old has been vegan from conception and is 75% for height and weight, she was born on 50% for weight so definitely hasn't lost any!

@Aliceryley

Hi everyone

I hope don't mind me crashing this thread.

I'm reaching out to anyone in the Greater London area who is a vegan mother and interested in taking part in an online interview with me to share your experience.

I'm am currently carrying out doctoral research on vegan parenting and hoping to speak to a range of vegan mothers at various stages, from pregnancy through to having school aged-children.

I would welcome anyone who might be interested to drop me a line here, or at [email protected], and I can provide you with more info to see if you or anyone you know would like to take part!

All the best

Alice

You might get more takers if you start your own thread.