Vegan baby - worried about allergies

[Milsta]

Hi there -

I’m currently just 12 weeks pregnant, but planning ahead for when our first baby arrives next year!

DH and I have been vegan for about 9 and a half years now and we both have always been sure about raising our future children vegan too (until they are old enough to choose otherwise, if they ever do).

I plan to breastfeed initially, however I have been learning more and more about weaning (for when the time comes) and we are super torn about this decision. So I wondered if any other vegan families had any thought/experiences when it comes to this..

I have read quite a bit of research on how, when weaning a baby, introducing common allergens frequently and at an early stage can reduce the risk of them developing these allergies. We had always thought we’d never give our baby animal products from birth, but we are now having doubts as to whether this is a responsible choice in terms of developing allergies.

Even as long-term vegans, mistakes occasionally happen. E.g. food at a party mislabelled as ‘vegan’ when it actually contains milk. Or travelling abroad to a country that doesn’t have the same understanding of veganism and unknowingly likely consuming some level of milk or egg within a dish.
For my husband and I, we have never had any medical issue with this sort of thing making us sick, as we had grown up eating milk/eggs. Obviously we’d be unhappy about it but it was never dangerous.

However, if our baby never eats milk/eggs/etc., they are at a higher chance of developing an allergy and we may not know to be careful with these allergens.
For example, if they have never consumed milk and then one day accidentally eat something at school, a friend’s birthday party, on holiday etc., we wouldn’t have allergy medication ready because we wouldn’t know they were allergic?

I know this is probably just me overthinking things, I really hope it all makes sense, I just feel so conflicted about this. I am really passionate about veganism and hope to instil positive compassionate values in our child.. but I also don’t want to be doing something to put them at risk.

I know it is completely our choice at the end of the day, but wanted to hear some thoughts that cover both sides of the dilemma so I can make an informed decision.

Anyone else been through this and have any stories to share?

Thanks so much!

Yes, seeing as no one is taking the breast milk from you by force and feeding it to other babies.

You’re not overthinking it al all op.

Just as someone has alluded to above, we got the same advice about nuts. To introduce them gradually and keep feeding them, including different types of nuts in order to reduce allergy risk.

DC1 had an allergic reaction (massive rash all over face and body) the first time he had egg. We had to get him tested and then we were advised to re-introduce it slowly and through different forms eg to start with baked in cake/meatballs and then leading to just egg itself. So same sort of advice.

It’s neglect! And surely breast milk isn’t vegan?

Breast milk is vegan because you're giving it willingly.

Vegan sausage? Is that a bit like vegan breast milk?

It’s just something to be aware of that’s it’s not guaranteed to avoid allergies with this approach

A vegan diet is not neglect. You need to ensure that you get adequate levels of things such as B12 but it’s absolutely possible to be completely healthy and well nourished on a vegan diet !

Breast milk is not vegan.

You can say it is sourced ethically.

But it is definitely not vegan

That is not the definition of vegan

No, it's vegan.

What's your definition of vegan then?

Cross reactivity to shellfish proteins = dustmite allergy.

It's also possible for cross contamination in useful foods such as seaweed/nori/etc and, not that it'll be used straight away, but a shellfish allergy is an absolute contradiction for botox (which can be used for medical reasons as well as current trends in facial aesthetics). Add to that the possibility that they're used in non food products that may not be labelled and accidental giving of non vegan things such as seasonings/sauces and wines and it makes absolute sense to try to reduce the likelihood of a shellfish or crustacean allergy as well.

I just looked up the first definition.

Vegan is a person that does not eat or use any animal products such as meat, fish, eggs cheese or milk

Vegans dont drink milk.

Hence why people are confused at the OP feeding her baby breastmilk.

If you Google it, most vegan organisation agree that breast milk is vegan, since it does not involve the exploitation of animals.

Good friends of ours are vegan with near-vegan kids. But they do give them egg, milk and fish (basically, common animal derived allergens) at frequent-enough intervals. They were strongly advised to do that from an allergy perspective.

There are different types of veganism.
Im not really bothered.

I would never make my own child a vegan though. I think it should be a choice as an adult

Saying breast milk is not vegan is hugely missing the point of veganism.

Not really. 99% of vegans think breast milk is vegan.

I also don't make my child vegan 🤷‍♀️.

"The point of veganism"

Which veganism?

There are many different types of veganism, with varying beliefs

I'm not vegan, but we all make choices about what we do and don't feed our children.

It's actually banned in some countries and definitely not recommend for children. Due to nutritional deficiency on a vegan diet

There are several news stories online about babies and toddlers dying after being put on a vegan diet

No. They weren't fruitatarian. There are multiple stories online of children dying from a vegan diet

Sadly, children die if their parents are neglectful and fail to care for them properly. That is not exclusive to vegans.

All diets have the potential to be nutritionally inadequate. Vegans have to work harder to ensure that all needs are met, but it can be done.

I am not a vegan and have no personal axe to grind here. I am just making the point that we all make choices about how to feed our children.

I’ve been vegan since I was 11. I weaned my babies as vegetarian, they are adults now and all still vegetarian. I have a friend who raised her twin girls as vegan from birth and they are very healthy 12 year olds now. A properly planned vegan diet can be perfectly healthy for children but just due to the allergy risk I would raise them as vegetarian when they are being weaned and then transition to vegan once the allergy exposing period is over.