vegan babies? xp: food and nutrition

MelissaMiso · April 2013

Hubby and I have been lacto-ovo veg for two years and I was pescaterian for eight years prior. The munchkin (Phia, 11 months) and my tanking milk supply have decided to ween without any input from me while hubby and I are moving towards more of a vegan diet.

I need some ideas for cow milk alternatives as well as balanced vegan diets for the baby. Thus far she has been open to tasting, and liking, a whole variety of veg foods, including humus, curried vegetables, felafel, and various fruits/veggies. I'm mostly worried about the best non-dairy milk choices but I also want to make sure she is getting a balanced diet. I would have no problem if she got some lacto-ovo foods if it's healthier but would prefer minimal dairy products.

TIA for ideas and suggestions.

BrittanyDoesDerby · April 2013

Hey! My LO is not quite food ready yet, but DH and I will be raising her vegan. We will be giving her both soy and almond milk. No dairy, obviously. As far as food, we plan on giving her what we eat... lentils,beans,tofu, seitan, tempeh... lots of leafy greens mixed into other vegs, sweet potatoes, avocado...etc. It's quite easy to provide a balanced vegan diet if you have access to the foods. The biggest issue with a vegan diet is the lack of B12, and you can sometimes find food fortified with it. We used nutritional yeast as a cheese replacement of sorts and it is packed with B12.

zaraceligon · April 2013

you can also try hemp milk,hemp milk has more nutrients than soya and almond milk.

hannafemme · April 2013

I responded with a lot of info on the other post, but wanted to post here as well to let you know that you can PM me with any questions. We are raising a thriving vegan toddler!

tjkdlhb · April 2013

***waves**** Hi!!!!

Ditto consulting a doctor or dietician about it. I'm sure it can be done healthily, but you will need to do your homework.

brownmouse · May 2013

So we are not vegan or veg, but my daughter has a milk allergy, so we don't use milk in our house. Not to mention milk grosses me out, but that is another topic. We have found that almond milk replaces a lot of the nutrients that she is lacking from milk, and she LOVES it. We try try avoid using soy because it comes with its own set of issues, so almond milk was a good substitute for us. I even got my milk loving husband drinking it.

Dobie_Mama · May 2013

zaraceligon:
you can also try hemp milk,hemp milk has more nutrients than soya and almond milk.

Hemp milk would be my suggestion as well. We aren't vegan but my oldest wouldn't touch milk for several years and hemp is what we used.

AlexisLA · June 2013

I am not a doctor, but I don't think the baby really NEEDS a milk-like beverage once she has been weened off the breast. That being said, if your little one likes to drink a milk, you could make your own nut or seed milks in a blender. If you buy packaged, which I do right now, just make sure it doesn't have too many additives and try to find organic. Carageenan is not supposed to be good for you.

Vegans need B12, so make sure your baby is taking a supplement with that. A few foods have it like nutritional yeast and fortified foods.

Talking to a doc is a good idea but be careful because some are already against the idea and may try to push you away from it. You may want to find a doc or nutritionist who is well versed in plant-based diets. They can be very healthy for baby as long as you give them whole foods which it looks like you are.

I am about 95% vegan (hard to be perfect living in Midwest farm country) and plan to do the same with baby. I personally believe cow's milk/dairy is the least healthy thing to consume, especially for a child, but most main streamers would disagree.

ap142193 · July 2013

I'm not an expert on the vegan diet or infant nutrition, but having recently done quite a bit of research on food allergies myself, I would be wary of soy products ( or at least products with a significant percentage of soy).

annabelle.27 · August 2013

Coconut milk? It is supposed to have the same type of medium chain fatty acids found in breastmilk

MelissaMiso · August 2013

I've noticed a lot of new baby food products that have coconut milk in them.

vegan babies? xp: food and nutrition

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