Can BLW work for vegetarians?

leah1615

I just don't see how he can get enough iron.  I have a history of anemia, including being severely anemic during pregnancy, so I'm a bit worried.  Can I do BLW and feed him rice cereal? OR, should I just let him have steak for the sake of iron?

FutureMrsLemon

IMO and I admittedly dont know a TON about BLW but I wouldnt feed my kid meat (I am a veggie too) just for the sake of iron. If I worried about Iron I would be more likely to get an iron supplement (they make them in liquid form) or up his intake of iron rich veggie friendly foods.

Here is a list of Iron rich foods he needs less than 8mg daily:

Iron	mg
Iron in Breads, cereals, and grains
Bran flakes, 1 cup	11.0
Oatmeal, 1 packet	6.3
Pasta, 1 cup, cooked	1.7
Samolina, Cream of wheat, 1/2 cup cooked	5.5
Wheat germ, 2 tablespoon	1.2
Whole wheat bread, 1 slice	0.9
White bread, 1 slice	0.7
Iron in Vegetables (1/2 cup cooked)
Sea vegetables	18.1- 42.0
Swiss chard	2
Turnip greens	1.6
Sweet potatoes, canned	1.7
Turnip greens	1.6
Pumpkin, cooked	1.7
Potato, baked with skin	1.7
Turnip greens	1.6
Prune juice, 4 oz	1.5
Spinach cooked	1.5
Beet greens cooked	1.4
Potato, 1 large	1.4
Bok choy cooked	0.7
Peas, cooked	0.65
Green beans, cooked	0.60
Tomato juice	0.6
Broccoli, cooked	0.55
Watermelon, 1/8 medium	0.5
Iron in Legumes (1/2 cup cooked)
Lentils	3.2
Black eye beans	2.6
Navy beans	2.5
Pinto beans	2.2
Lima beans	2.2
Kidney beans Rajmah	1.5
Chick peas (200 g)	6.2
Iron in Soy foods (1/2 cup cooked)
Tofu	6.6
Soybeans	4.4
Tempeh	1.8
Soy milk	0.9
Iron in Nuts/Seeds (2 Tablespoon)
Pumpkin seeds	2.5
Figs, dried, 5	2.0
Dried apricot, 5	1.6
Almond, 1/4 cup	1.3
Tahini	1.2
Sesame	1.2
Sunflower seeds	1.2
Cashew nuts	1.0

It looks like the easiest way for him to get the most iron is to feed him a variety of foods from this list, and especially lots of beans. I imagine chickpeas would be a great option, even if they had to be cut up. 

WyoGal

I'm confused.  Are you and DH vegetarians?  If so, you'd just need to make the similar dietary changes for your LO that you'd make for yourself regarding iron.  This would include lots of beans (esp. chickpeas), spinach etc.  

Any diet can BLW, you just need to eat a balanced diet and allow your LO to eat it him/herself.  If your diet includes iron-fortified foods (including cereals), just offer them to your LO instead of spoon feeding them.  I was running low on breakfast ideas and we tried mushed up raisin bran the other day for M and just put it on the spoon and let him go to town.   If you want to skip baby cereal for whatever reason, you can do adult cereal.  However, BLW is less about skipping cereal for the sake of skipping it and more about not believing cereal is required as a beginner food, if that makes sense.  If iron-fortified cereals are part of your plan for a well-balanced vegetarian diet, there's nothing wrong with them being part of your LOs plan.

tmp-214118062502913

I really hate when people say you can only get iron and protein from meat - it is so untrue.  DH and I are vegetarians and we have raised a very healthy, strong 14 month old so far without a bit of meat in her body.  Great levels for iron, AND we do BLW.

We never fed her the cereal - that's not really necessary and is a habit from back when people fed babies solids early (like 4 months).  If you do want to feed them, that's fine, but we skipped them with no problem.

I feel like a broken record, but many people have told me it has been helpful - there's a link in my siggy to my baby blog.  In the sidebar is a link to my BLW-related posts, and there is also a link lower down to a Facebook album where I show pictures of DD feeding herself and the types of food we feed her.  It really is doable to be a vegetarian, do BLW and have a healthy and strong and balanced baby!

tmp-214118062502913

Oh, BTW I was anemic when I was PG as well and have had a history in the past of anemia.  A balanced vegetarian diet can give you just as much iron as meat, I changed my diet and was more aware of what I ate and was no longer anemic when non-PG, and when PG I did take iron supplements for a while.  But blood tests have shown that DD has never had an iron defiency.

cindy453

of course you can... we aren't vegetarian, but we haven't given Emmy meat yet. I did buy some tofu to cut into cubes and give her. I also cook with her baby cereal sometimes, or make it really clumpy (mix with yogurt) and she eats it. 

sunnyday016

We're about as not-vegetarian as they come and I still wouldn't give DD steak. That's not exactly something she can gum down, and she only has 2 teeth.

If you're worried about iron, I don't see the problem with doing rice cereal. You won't get kicked out of the "club"!

mrs.mkd

We never did rice cereal - but when we first started BLW, she loved spinach and beans - now she only wants to eat fruit. So, if you do your research you'll find plenty of ways to get iron into LO's diet - and assuming that you and your DH plan a balanced veg diet for yourselves, you can pretty much just give LO whatever you eat.

leah1615

thanks for the responses everyone, very helpful!  It looks like he will be just fine getting iron from various other sources!  

leah1615

mdjunebride:

I really hate when people say you can only get iron and protein from meat - it is so untrue.  DH and I are vegetarians and we have raised a very healthy, strong 14 month old so far without a bit of meat in her body.  Great levels for iron, AND we do BLW.

We never fed her the cereal - that's not really necessary and is a habit from back when people fed babies solids early (like 4 months).  If you do want to feed them, that's fine, but we skipped them with no problem.

I feel like a broken record, but many people have told me it has been helpful - there's a link in my siggy to my baby blog.  In the sidebar is a link to my BLW-related posts, and there is also a link lower down to a Facebook album where I show pictures of DD feeding herself and the types of food we feed her.  It really is doable to be a vegetarian, do BLW and have a healthy and strong and balanced baby!

Oh yes, I will definitely check out the BLW section of your blog.  I love your blog! 

MissyOlivePants

We are vegetarians in the process of going vegan. My DD (nearly 2yo) has never had a piece of meat and rarely has dairy (mainly just cheese).

Our pedi was concerned about her iron levels because of us going vegan - but when she had bloodwork to test, she was quite surprised because DD's level was completely normal!   As FutureMrsLemon listed, there are a LOT of ways to get iron w/o animal product. In fact, it's going to be healthier because you won't get all those bad fats & such with it.

If you're concerned, and don't want to out-right give your LO rice cereal or oatmeal, you can always add it in with other foods for the extra iron. I do that with flaxseed meal & wheat germ all the time.

cindy453

I add ground flax seed to EVERYTHING! I use it in cookies, bread, pancakes.. pretty much any baked good has some flaxseed in it.