Breastfeeding as a vegan

[FunnyOrca]

Hello,

My baby is 4 weeks old and is exclusively breastfed. It is going well with regards to latch and comfort.

I sought advice about from a midwife about her cluster feeding. It was a midwife at a breastfeeding group, not my own, so she does not know I’m vegan and I didn’t bring it up. She asked how I was eating and said I would need about 10g more protein and additional fat than my regular diet.

I am not super aware of my protein intake, short of just making sure I have a source with each meal. I am aware now that I probably need more. Does anyone have any tips for snacks etc that might bulk up protein? I’ve seen the “protein” milks and wondering if they are worth it?

I am also finding myself incredibly time poor in the kitchen! I have ingredients to make an edamame and chickpea hummus and just have not had time! I’m reaching for a lot of fruit and if I get a minute I’m spending it making coffee to keep going!

I am vegetarian. I eat a lot of daal, black beans, chickpea curry, tofu to get protein.

I'm on WLI and to be honest actually tracking my protein intake was eye opening. I always thought I was getting enough protein but I really wasn't.
I eat at least 90g per day now. I eat a lot of tofu. I buy the marinated ones from Lidl and eat 1/2 to 1 packet a day across lunch and dinner. Switch to soya milk if you're using oat. I buy my protein vegan clear protein powder and have two portions a day (it's a flavoured drink) and I also eat a vegan protein bar or alpro protein yogurt most days. I love the jade and joy bars, they are actually delicious.
I buy tempeh and grate it and fry it to add to rice dishes or sprinkle on pasta if I'm having a pasta meal. Edamame beans are pretty good. I also make seitan with vital wheat gluten but you can buy it in whole food shops.

Disappointed - I’d thought this might be about whether a baby can be vegan if breastfeeding

Short answer yes! Breast milk isn't an animal product :)

Where is the child's father in this? He should be batch cooking you dishes like bean chilli and tofu curry that you can just pop in the microwave.

Do you eat nuts? Walnuts and almonds are good sources of protein, and easy to grab and eat.
Don't over do the Brazil nuts though as they contain selenium.

Nuts are actually a shit source of protein. They are extremely high in fat and calories and relatively low in protein. Almonds for example have 579 calories and 50g of fat per 100g and only 21g of protein. Walnuts are even worse with 650 calories, 65g fat and only 15g protein. Nuts are a great snack for a breastfeeding vegan due to healthy fats but not as a source of protein. Compare with air fried tofu for example which has 232 calories per 200g, 18g fat and 16g protein and that's including olive oil for frying.

Whizz up a sauce using silken tofu which can be used on pasta, on noodles, mashed potato etc. Making a hummus is all very well and good but if you don't have time, just snack on the edamame. Fake meats are higher in protein and ready prepared so easier to eat.

I snacked on protein yogurts, hummus and veg, nuts, seeds and dried fruit, roasted chickpeas, soy milk smoothies, tofu etc

Haha 😂

I thought the title might attract this conversation!

Huel is worth looking!

Now I've started wondering if cannibals could be classed as vegan?!

Interesting! Only if the flesh they ate was willingly and freely given by the human before they died I guess.

But humans aren't animals... or are they?!

You joke, but I swear we have had exactly this question from someone a few years ago!

Of course humans are animals.

Well yes, I was being tongue in cheek. In the way that animal rights are distinct from human rights, and the context of veganism.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/3272591-Can-i-breast-feed-my-DD-to-be-if-im-vegan www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/3272591-Can-i-breast-feed-my-DD-to-be-if-im-vegan]]]]

Pre-marianted tofu, a container with quinoa , a lentil soup you just heat up,…. You can have quick options, but I mainly came here to tell you: do not forget to take omega 3 and specifically DHA and EPA. For both of you, but mainly baby’s brain development.
I hope you have all the other supplements sorted and especially vitamin D and vitamin B12.
As someone else already said, soya milk is your best option.

Funnily enough, me too😂

😂

Another vote for Huel but not the ones you have to blitz yourself because my husband loves them but they’re just gross to me. I love the strawberry and banana black so high protein. Every bottle is 400 cals and I think 20G of protein. It’s a full meal and has tons of vitamins in. It’s still my go to when I have both children and don’t have time to make lunch or breakfast

They all cluster feed in the early weeks, it's completely normal and is how your supply gets established. As long as your baby is gaining weight roughly as expected and producing plenty of wet and pooey nappies you're doing fine.

My understanding is that you would notice any nutritional deficiency in your own body well before it affected the quality of your milk, but of course it's important to look after your own body anyway.

Nuts and seeds are great protein-rich snacks, but some more than others so do research, also anything made from pulses, especially soy, or seitan, which I think is wheat protein. Nuts and seeds are also great for adding fats, pulses less so. Olives and avocado are also good for fats.

The kitchen will still be there when you're no longer chained to the sofa and while it might feel endless, this stage really doesn't last very long. So embrace as much convenience as you can afford for now. Raid the 'toy meat' fridge in the supermarket and pick whatever you fancy that has a good proportion of protein and fat.

Congratulations

They're not a shit source of protein. Even from your post it's clear they are comparable with tofu. They contain a lot more fat in addition to the protein, which is good for OP as she has been advised to eat more fat. She's not calorie counting.

Also she has her hands full and with nuts you just have to open the packet and not air fry stuff.

They are comparable with tofu but three times the calories! That makes them a shit source of protein. Unless OP is seriously underweight and needs to bulk, she doesn't need to be eating 100g of nuts.

ETA for some reason I put 200g of tofu but I meant 100g. 100g plain tofu has 15g protein and 120 calories.