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.

It really isn't!

In your opinion there is nothing to debate, others clearly thought otherwise.

And I can imagine the sort of people that think giving your own child your own breast milk doesn't come under vegan. 😅

@BillyJeans

I remarked it was she said, the actual mother raising her child lol. Maybe her experience is different to yours ...

Although if you do have high calcium/protein suggestions that aren't upf I would be really happy to pass them on ❤️

I know! I do despair!

I never struggled to feed my children enough protein, calcium or anything else on a vegan diet. I suppose if you don't know much about nutrition you could think it would be hard.

Some people feed their kids crap regardless of whether they're vegan or not. I chose to feed my children a healthy vegan diet with very few processed foods and certainly a lot less processed foods than any meat eaters I knew. It didn't stop my in-laws judging, which was laughable as they fed my partner mostly crap as a child, and both had/have heath issues relating to their bad diet and being overweight.

If you don't know much about nutrition and want to raise kids vegan, you need to improve your knowledge.

That’s not true at all about general health advice. The British Dietic Association states a well planned vegan diet is suitable for all stages of life.

Evidence for this?

@HighHoping was that aimed at me?

My sister made a choice to include eggs and cheese in her child's diet. She found it difficult to get enough protein and calcium without.

Someone else commented they found it easy which is great for them. She knows plenty about nutrition and is a good cook. She came up against mild fussiness and dietary preferences and chose to adjust to ensure her child was well nourished. Sounds like a good parent to me!

We're a vegetarian family so would never have judged her anyway but it sounds like some of you would have 🤷🏻‍♀️😬 and we wonder why vegans sometimes get a bad rep. "If you don't think it's easy you're maybe a bit thick and don't understand nutrition" was the jist you were going for.

I'd suggest people who are a bit thick and don't understand nutrition really aren't worrying about it at all lol

OP, can I suggest you watch The Gamechangers documentary, so that you can understand better why your daughter is vegan (health perspective, not ethics), Cowspiracy, What The Health, and Forks Over Knives. Just might set your mind at rest re the baby's diet.

Breast milk is vegan. Veganism means avoiding animal exploitation as far as possible and practicable.

There is soya formula made by SMA. It’s not vegan as it contains lanolin (oil taken from the wool of sheep) for vitamin D, but it’s pretty close.

@Confusedmaa Completely understand your concerns but it is possible to bring up a baby vegan and for them to thrive. This book was written by a dietitian and is very useful https://plantbased-kids.com/plant-powered-little-people-paula-hallam/

I am vegan and my daughter has allergies so we have had the added support of a dietitian because of her allergies but at no point has she or any other medical professionals (and we have seen a lot because of her allergy!) expressed concern about her development or diet. Her allergies are to dairy (discovered when I was pushed into giving her formula in hospital when we had issues latching - have EBF ever since) and soya. There is no connection to these allergies developing and my vegan diet during pregnancy btw!

i would recommend your daughter joins the vegan parenting group on Facebook which is a great community https://www.facebook.com/groups/veganpregnancyandparentinguki/

in terms of worries about inclusion, things have moved on! My daughter’s nursery accommodates for vegan children, and your daughter can make sure that she takes food to parties etc so your grandchild can eat and not feel left out.

some parents choose to raise kids veggie because of allergens. If milk and egg aren’t introduced during weaning, you won’t know if there is an allergy and once introduced they have to stay in the diet regularly to maintain the tolerance. One solution if your daughter went down that route is her kids could have egg and dairy at your house so her house remains vegan.

You’ll need to quote the studies. Are they good quality with big sample sizes, peer reviewed, do they evidence any benefits alongside the risks etc.

No, it wasn't aimed at you as I'd have quoted you. For me, I've never found it difficult and just said I suppose people could think it's difficult if they didn't know much about nutrition. I've spoken to people who think it's only possible to get calcium from dairy products for example.

Personally I couldn't care less what other people feed their children, I only care about my own children's diet. I don't comment on what other people feed their children unless they comment negatively on mine.

Here's a great book on the topic
www.barnesandnoble.com/w/healthy-eating-for-life-for-children-amy-lanou/1126846132

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6470702/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32873905/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8176147/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7682057/

Here are some but it's hard to study. Risks aren't certainties.

I agree.

And as for the “ not your business “ comments, parents do - and should - continue to offer advice for the duration of a child’s life. I offer it to my parents as well. It doesn’t mean anyone has to take it, but it’s natural to take an interest/ care/ be concerned.

Speaking with my scientist head on, I'd personally not be keen to essentially'grow' a baby into an adult without introduction of foods such as fish, eggs and some meats to help the child grow with a range of dietary choices. But that's just me

Wasn’t there some parents who brought their child up vegan and the kid ending up being malnourished and died. I vaguely remember the court case in the papers.

Was that the child who was only fed breast milk and fruit and veg? I don't think most vegans would only feed their child those things. The parents were not feeding their child sufficient nutrients. The parents were basically fuckwits who were starving their children, hence why it made the news.

And as for the “ not your business “ comments, parents do - and should - continue to offer advice for the duration of a child’s life. I offer it to my parents as well. It doesn’t mean anyone has to take it, but it’s natural to take an interest/ care/ be concerned.

In OPs case though, it sounds like OP doesn't know much about the topic. If OPs daughter also isn't confident, she needs to seek the advice of a dietician who can provide knowledge. In OPs situation, the best advice she can give her daughter is to see a dietician.

Sadly some people don't research what a body needs from certain diets. How to pair foods for absorption purposes and that, even though you're eating a source of say calcium from a vegan based diet, that just consumption isn't sufficient in all cases.
Human bodies are complex machines and need the right input

I think dairy has had such excellent effective marketing campaigns in the past that it's ingrained in us to equate milk products with calcium like it's almost exclusively from milk, it's a very western idea.

Calcium is a mineral, it's not some type of fat, it's in nearly every leafy green, nut bean and seed, a child who is not drinking milk with have a larger appetite for decent portions of real foods.
1 cup of collard greens provides almost as much calcium as a glass of milk, some dried figs and a couple of tablespoons of chia seeds in your porridge has more. I know this because my child was dairy intolerant.
I'd be more concerned with replacing the fats than the protein or calcium, I'd want to dress things in olive oil, include nuts and make nut butters with coconut oils.

Well nutritionally as a growing human being I would not be bringing my DC up as vegan

I think it's a choice you should be able make yourself when you're old enough as to what you want to eat

@itwasntmetho - dairy is a really effective way to absorb
Calcium - other sources are more difficult to absorb, so countries with more of a sway to dairy diets compared to leaves/bean/pulse etc ingest a high amount of calcium per day in their diets. I'm not saying you're wrong, it's just really complex biochemically speaking about content of nutrients such as calcium, and what the body can absorb from that source