Should baby be vegan

[Confusedmaa]

My daughter is vegan and currently pregnant. What do other vegans do in terms of bringing up their children. Should the baby be strict vegan or would being brought up with mainly plant based diet but some non vegan elements be ok. Would the baby need extra vitamins once fully weaned? Would intolerances build up if they aren't introduced to all food groups? I feel that she should explore all of the options. On more of a social point, I had a vegan friend growing up and they were never invited to parties or to anyone's house for tea. They always seemed so upset when treats were offered at school or birthday cake shared out as they weren't allowed any. This was in the 80s so not much understanding back then. I know that's not the end of the world and I really don't want to come across as ignorant but I'd just feel like I want to hear peoples experiences.

I think eating animals is a choice someone makes when they understand it.

Is that going to affect a child's health though, in the same way a restrictive diet might?

How many children love lentils?
A vegetarian, rather than vegan, diet could be fine. I know a woman who has brought up three children (now teens) as vegetarians although she has now become vegan herself. They are perfectly fit and healthy but she says that getting enough protein and essential nutrients into them as babies and small children on a vegan diet would have been nigh on impossible.

Yes this is my point. You can get all these things, but animal products - like it or not - tend to deliver more of certain nutrients in a smaller serving. Because children simply don’t eat the same quantities it be ones more difficult to ensure these level as are met. That’s not to say that some children may like chowing down sufficient lentils and quinoa and fortified bread to get their quota, but quantity-wise it isn’t going to be easy.

Though vegans presumably aren’t getting it from fortified cow’s milk.

Milk isn’t in any case a good thing to fortify with iron as calcium acts to decrease iron absorbtion, as do fibre and phytates in grains.

This

Tophelleborine · Yesterday 09:16
BillyJeans · Yesterday 08:48
Why should eating meat be the starting point? Meat-eating should be the choice someone makes when they are old enough to understand that choice.

Totally agree, and I'm a meat eater

Because like many mammals we are omnivores and our bodies are designed as such.

Small amounts yes, they wouldn't be a staple for the purposes of calcium.

@itwasntmetho glad you've educated yourself a little since you mocked me that lentils are protein not calcium - lentils are in the top 10 vegan foods for calcium

Mocked you? Are you both Calliopespa and FloofPaws then?

Calliopespa said about needing piles of lentils as a follow on from a conversation about calcium specifically, which kind of makes a straw man argument because calcium is in pulses/ veg/ plant milks at much higher rates, so course you would need piles and piles of lentils which is unrealistic, but you can still use these as protein. It's not unrealistic to meet calcium needs with other plant products, but it would be with lentils.
I'm shocked they're in the top 10, there are veg and bean types with 100's of mg per cup, lentils offer under 40mg per cup, no one in their right mind would use them as a source of calcium and think that was enough.

No we are not the same person - though you did presume I was building directly upon her calcium argument for her.

What I believe we are both saying in common is that certain nutrients require quite considerable volumes of vegan food to get the same level of nutrition you could get in much more “ toddler sized “ portions of animal product. That doesn’t ( necessarily) mean that you can’t have vegan children- or even that they can’t be healthy. But I think it’s important to at least acknowledge the challenges and be aware. Some children wouldn’t eat sufficient volumes to get what they need. Mine wouldn’t have - one in particular. I even struggled with one to meet the iron quota with bits of red meat as they just weren’t a big eater . Two of my vegan friends supplement iron on medical advice.

In some cases, yes.

Weird. How are the countless life-long vegan adults alive? I know loads. My kids are teens and tweens and I've managed to keep them alive and healthy too. Never had a sick day, in fact.

Never had a sick day? Now we’re thinking yours just one of those parents in denial who send their Dc into nursery because they are “ never sick” but everyone knows they are responsible for spreading most of the bugs. Young children get sick, it’s a part of building their immunity. That’s just a silly claim.

My two year old loves a lentil chilli! It’s a staple on the nursery menu for all the children too - and we are in a very Tory area of the south east.

If kids don’t like lentils as they are you can blend beans and red lentils into other sauces. It takes effort but my daughter eats a more varied diet with many more nutrients than some of her meat eating friends and the dietitian we see for her allergies never has any concerns about the protein or calcium content of her diet. I think meat eating families are often complacent about nutrition to be honest- eating animal products doesn’t mean a child is automatically going to be healthier!

I feel the child should be able to decide for themselves as a young adult. To enforce a vegan diet on a baby would not be acting in their best interests. In hospital - there is no enteral (artificial) feeding option available by dieticians because they say themselves- it just cannot meet the nutritional requirements of sick patients. Take from that what you will. I do not intend to offend.

Sorry meant to say that in hospital there is no vegan enteral feeding option available.

It is vitamin D that cow’s milk is fortified with not iron. My point was that vegans need to supplement vit D but most non vegans are getting it supplemented too through cow’s milk.

Or if certain foods don’t meet your moral standards- say killing horses, dogs, cats, or any other animal is against your moral code- then raise your children by your own morals, with the understanding that of course once they’re old enough it will be their choice.

Well feeding tubes might be different but the British Dietician Association say a well planned vegan diet is suitable for all stages of life. Children can be perfectly healthy raised as vegans so it’s no more not acting in their best interests than someone who feeds their child animal products. You could argue giving a child an occasional biscuit isn’t in their best interests but it’s fine as part of a balanced diet, and a plant based diet can be a balanced once (in terms of macro and micronutrients).

I think the first concern has to be the well-being of your child. If you’ve got a quinoa and kale muncher then fine. But lots of parents have to work quite hard at getting food into little people - even with more nutrient dense goods. At that point I think I’d compromise my beliefs for their health tbh.

We’re vegetarian and DS’s nursery was vegan (that wasn’t why we picked it, they switched after he started).

Extended BF to at least 2, and she’ll need to give her baby vitamin drops (Vit D, and iron is also recommended where I am).

Aside from that it’s fine - DS eats tonnes of vegetables compared to his friends, likes fruit over chocolate (though he likes fruit sweets best of all), and is fit, healthy, and doing well in school. Thriving on it. And it isn’t hard to accommodate at school/clubs etc.

My two year old loves a lentil chilli! It’s a staple on the nursery menu for all the children too - and we are in a very Tory area of the south east.

Yep DS went to three different nurseries in two countries, neither of which were India, and lentil daal featured heavily on all three menus. As well as lentil bolognaise, lentil soup, lentil shepherds pie. All hugely popular with the non-vegetarian kids too.

There is also some evidence that vegans actually consume more UPF than non vegans. And also that vegan junk food can be even more highly processed than non vegan junk food. For example the dairy spread substitutions are made from finer particle ingredients that the body doesn’t handle as well as it ironically does butter. Ie a vegan cake made from such ingredients can be unhealthier than a cake made from butter. There are studies on this. I don’t doubt that a well executed vegan diet can probably be healthy. But with regards to a child surely it’s best to just let them decide for themselves when they are old enough.

How many kids love lentils? Well those that have been weaned on them and eaten them for years probably.

My kids didn't like meat when they first started eating it at 14 months, but here they are eating it regularly.

Introduced lentils, pulses, legumes etc early, the more the child will accept it as the norm. Just like carnivores do with meat. It's not hard.