Should I raise my child vegan?

[Howtolivelife]

Okay, I get it, milks important, but is giving my child soy milk or almond milk really a better solution? My mother certainly doesn’t agree.

I myself became vegan some years ago for personal reasons and was wondering if raising my child with that lifestyle would be unbenificial, how would she cope at school? There’d be so much she could and couldn’t eat that it leads me to wonder if the other kids would poke fun because of it.

What’s a mother to do?

I was a vegetarian, now vegan. I cooked meat and fish for my children when they were small, but if I had a baby now I wouldn't bother.
Oldest child is vegetarian by choice, but interestingly says he would eat cruelty-free meat if it existed (laboratory grown meat).
Other child eats meat, but in reality only likes chicken, in certain meals, bacon and pepparami.
I have stopped buying or cooking meat, although DH will occasionally buy and cook chicken for him and DS2.
In reality even our meat eaters eat mostly vege or vegan.
I think it would be easier to raise a baby vegetarian than vegan but both can be done healthily.

Absolutely not.

Fabricstash, the R4 programme was interesting - the bit about children and milk especially so - dieticians saying they would not recommend substituting plant based milk for cow's milk - not only calcium but iodine, b12 etc.

One of my best friends is vegan and so are her DCs. They eat fabulously well but I observe it's a lot of work. Her DCs have really never had school dinners, for example, because the vegan choice is something like pasta with tomato sauce and DF is like 'why should I pay for that?' Her DCs' lunchboxes are amazing! But she puts more time and effort into cooking than I would like to.

She also has never 'made' the kids vegan, in that they have always been able to choose what they want to eat outside the home. And she didn't make a massive deal about it on sleepovers etc. I think they were veggie when the kids were very young, that's about where she was on the journey though rather than a choice to raise the DCs veggie rather than vegan.

@Theunamedcat

Isn't there medical reasons to not do this from the start? You could start them omnivore then change it to a good vegan diet

I think (think) I've read somewhere that if you raise them from birth not eating meat they can react badly to it I personally would not like to take my child's choice away

I’d want to know more about this from a health professional who knows what they’re talking about before I took the word of someone who thinks they might have read something somewhere!

@Mrgrinch

Absolutely not.

Well that’s decided then

No; feed them a vegan diet at home and talk about meat /animals when they’re old enough, but vegan is, current fashionable foodstuffs not withstanding, a hard path to follow in a world of children’s parties and schools dinners.

If you honestly think you can get every vitamin and mineral into your child as a vegan then I haven’t a problem with it. That is reliant on the child being a great eater and a rule follower when out and about at parties etc.

Personally I’d probably go with the bulk of their food being vegan. But then allow some personal choice.

@leavesthataregreen yes the casein in it is addictive. Haven’t you heard people saying ‘I could never be vegan, I could never give up cheese’?

@FreeBritnee

If you honestly think you can get every vitamin and mineral into your child as a vegan then I haven’t a problem with it. That is reliant on the child being a great eater and a rule follower when out and about at parties etc.

Personally I’d probably go with the bulk of their food being vegan. But then allow some personal choice.

When I worked as a family support worker I was horrified by the food some children were being fed in apparently omnivorous households. Not a vitamin in sight, microwave burgers for tea, eaten from a plate on the floor as there was no dining table.

It’s more likely in my view that other factors such as income, cooking skills and poor housing would have more impact on a child’s diet than being vegan.

My sister is a vegan and we've talked about this (she doesn't have kids yet) we both thought the child being a vegetarian would be easiest to cater for outside the home (at school/friends houses/eating out etc) but they can have mainly vegan at home (her partner isn't vegan/veggie). It seems like a good compromise and easier for the child until they can decide what they want to do

My husband is vegan, and I mostly eat vegan or veggie but do eat meat perhaps once or twice a year for a special occasion but this is not cooked in the house.
We are choosing to raise our DD as vegetarian, although due to issues with breastfeeding we use additional formula which all seems to contain fish oil. We felt that vegetarian would provide the better nutrition (with less effort than attempting it vegan at the initial stages) for a small human, and that veganism could be a choice made later on the same as eating meat would be a choice if she wanted to.

On a side note it does piss me off no end when your nutritional intake gets questioned constantly when you are a vegan, many meat eaters do not have healthy diets, and it's not entirely unusual to hear grown adults say they don't eat veg/like healthy food, but no-one starts banging on about their macros or b12 etc

I agree with the comments on i would like it to be the child’s choice - but the conversation back that meat eaters aren’t giving them the choice - it’s a real difficult balance!

We are a meat eating family but varied with vegetarian meals we have tried to reduce meat eating for environmental reasons. My daughter doesn’t like eating meat (texture more than anything) so she eats a very vegetarian diet already. My other daughter I can’t see giving up meat she loves a steak!

Majority of our family is vegetarian and a few have decided to become vegan. My SIL has bought her two children up vegetarian now adults I don’t think their lives are affected by their parents choice - one has become vegan and one is still vegetarian but a little more relaxed (she travels a lot so accepts that sometimes meat products used)
My other SIL is vegetarian, at home the kids eat the same but nursery/school meals she leaving it by choice - the older child will choose a vegetarian options.
My sister is vegan and unsure she is trying for a baby she would like to bring it up vegan but her meat eating husband is against it.

As long as a balanced healthy meal being provided it’s none of my business how parents bring their own children up.

I've left it open to my kids, but only if they will eat a balanced vegan diet. Dd 9 is veggie & sometimes asks to be vegan. I say she can, provided she replaces dairy & eggs with pulses, tofu, seeds etc. She's not prepared to do that yet, so remains veggie.

I don't think it would be an social exclusion issue, but then I live in Brighton so there are plenty of herbivores of all ages about.

I'm interested to know what you all think of the alpro growing up milk? With the giraffe on the front. My dc have it with their cereal, it's vitamin & mineral enriched but also quite high in other weird sounding ingredients.

I wouldn't. I'm vegetarian and eat vegan a reasonable amount of the time as I don't have milk, eggs or much yoghurt. I think you're making things unnecessarily difficult for them nutritionally especially from baby and toddler age.

I also think it limits a lot when out and about and with friends. Things like parties, meals out and snacks at friends will all be a faff. I'd feed them mainly vegan as they get older as its what you'd be cooking anyway. But I think I'd go vegetarian until they can make the choice.

On a side note it does piss me off no end when your nutritional intake gets questioned constantly when you are a vegan, many meat eaters do not have healthy diets, and it's not entirely unusual to hear grown adults say they don't eat veg/like healthy food, but no-one starts banging on about their macros or b12 etc

Yes to this!

My FIL expressed ‘concerns’ when my daughter said she was vegetarian. He was actually really rude so I’m being kind there. And these concerns for my child’s diet from a man who ‘doesn’t like green stuff’, eats lots of processed meat and has midnight snacks of sweets. 😬 He’s overweight and has type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol. But yeah, my child’s diet is concerning when she eats lots of fruit and veg, beans, lentils, homemade healthy vegetarian and vegan meals etc. I just ignore the comments from him and others but it’s annoying when their diets are lacking in nutrition.

@Burgerqueenbee I agree on people questioning your nutrition as a vegan/vegetarian. When loads of people eat hardly any veg and loads of processed meat! Like when did they get so concerned with nutrition?!

@Warmduscher, I think I know what PP is talking about re not being able to eat meat easily if raised veggie.
I heard a dietician (sorry not sure who) talking about it on the Scott Baptie podcast. The idea was that your gut bacteria acclimatise to your diet whether it needs to digest more meat or more veg, and if you change your diet it should be done gradually to avoid digestive problems.
I used to know a woman who grew up vegan and now eats all kinds of meat and seafood multiple times a day - she switched for her husband so they could eat out more, so it's certainly possible.

I would. It’s completely possible to offer your child a well balanced vegan diet. As long as they always feel they have a choice - so you’re never saying ‘no you can’t eat that’ but saying ‘we don’t eat that at home and these are the reasons why but if you want to try it you can’.

Ours are veggie from birth, they understand why we don’t eat meat and have never asked for it.

I actually think bringing them up to eat meat gives them less of a choice - it’s much harder to stop eating something you’ve eaten all your life than choosing to start eating meat and dairy. Dairy especially is addictive.

I’d definitely do it.

Lots of kids eat a veggie diet at school as it's often the option that covers children with dietary restrictions like no pork. I know it's not quite vegan but is meat free at least.
There are lots of kids who are dairy free and egg free because of allergies too.
No meat/fish, dairy free and egg free is quite close to vegan I think and covers a lot of food that your child is likely to be offered.

Don't do it. Cows milk is the best and almond/ other substitutes isn't really milk, it just happens to be white.

I know people who have brought their kids up vegan but they scratch cooked everything and took a vegan child nutrition course before their eldest was born. (Before vegan food was trendy). Listen to the inside health programme (bbc radio 4) and learn as much as you can

Cows milk is the best

It is the best......for calves. Shame they don’t get to drink it.

I made my own decision at the age of 7 to become a vegetarian and it didn't really effect my wellbeing or time at school. I'd say it is more advisable to be a veggie so they don't miss out on essential vitamins such as calcium and vitamin D. Make sure their teacher is aware of it but try to avoid other children knowing as they don't always understand. If you prepare them lunches you could use quorn ham and lunch meat substitutes so know one is any wiser. You could also tell your child that if they want to eat something they can so they don't feel too restricted

I’m Mum to kids with cow milk protein allergy and we are a pescatarian household but I’ve starting giving the girls meat.The issue with not having cow milk for toddlers is making sure they get enough calcium, fat and iodine. If you are vegan there are a lot more macro and micro nutritive to consider. It’s all well saying leafy green are a good source of nutrition but few toddlers and young children eat them.