Posted by
Phoenix
20 yrs ago
Any veggy babies out there?
Am currently weighing up the pro's and con's.
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I would talk to a pediatrician first- Babies need certain proteins that can only be found in meat.....otherwise you have to give them substitutes....talk to your doctor first.
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Two excellent books on this are:
The Vegetarian Mother and Baby by Rose Elliot, who has raised her own vegetarian children. Advice and recipes.
Also Rose Elliot's Mother, Baby and Toddler Book.
The Vegetarian Baby by Sharon Yntema. It's some 20+ years old but still a classic... if you can find it.
An excellent resource is the UK Vegetarian Society. It's website has information on nutritional requirements for babies and children (references from scientific literature), how to wean on to a veggie diet.
http://www.vegsoc.org/info/familyindex.html
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crj
20 yrs ago
Not sure what makes a veggie baby, but our baby is 8 months and hasn't had meat yet. He has yogurt, cheese, egg yolk - and tofu for protein. But we have not introduced chicken yet although we will once he takes a bit more chunky food.
It is important to get nutrients as said above.
SuperBabyFoods is basically a veggie diet for the baby, so you might want to pick that up. Although she babbles on a lot it is a good book. You can order from PaddyField
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My first daughter was raised vegetarian until she was a year. Like CRJ above, I used the SuperBabyFoods book - which outlines a very nice vegetarian diet. As for getting complete proteins and irons, a legume and whole grain diet can give you enough proteins and other nutrients. I found the diet really wonderful and my daughter thrived on it. She takes meat now, mostly fish and chicken and is rather lean for her size. I don't mind that. There is too much of an emphasis in our society on meat and meat and meat.
My daughter eats more vegetables than anyone else in her school, and just last night grabbed broccoli florets off of the serving plate and shoved them into her mouth and said "yummy." My grandmother was so floored her mouth hung open.
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Thanks all!
I have come up against quite alot of resistance from pretty much everyone I have spoken to about this- so far he is veggie at 9 months, never sick and growing up fine. Just wondering whether I should introduce meat or not, as I presume now is the time. I obviously do not agree with meat eating personally, but the whys and wherefores of either argument re: him are weighing me down - hubby and I cannot agree.
Already using Rose Elliot and other books, but will check out the SuperBabyFoods book, thanks again.
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Forgot to ask!-
HKchoichoi- out of interest, was your decision to not introduce meat until 1 year a conscious decision, or just that she didnt like meat texture?
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I didn't introduce meat because I chose not to. I figured that she could get enough from the food she was eating. (I really liked the philosphy Ruth Yaron was promoting in her book, although she is longwinded as CRJ points out.) She ate better than other kids, ate the legumes and the whole grains, (my husband called it her power jook) lots of pasta with tomatoes (complete Iron with vitamin C for absorption) and so there was no need to do it. Koreans are also really into feeding their babies lots of meat - I find it a bit gross and disgusting their focus on it.
When she did start meat at a year (under a lot of pressure from my inlaws) we had a bit of a hard time with the texture. But from nannying, I learned some pretty good ways to prepare meat that the texture isn't so off putting. She eats meat now - although she prefers her vegetables and whatnot. She likes fish better than red meat, and likes chicken as well.
All the most recent studies on longevity and living longer healthily point to a diet which does NOT focus on meat products, but instead has a far more higher concentration of vegetables and whole grains. (not to mention fewer calories.)
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crj
20 yrs ago
I just wanted to add, I would be happy doing veggie for one year, but husband wants to introduce meat. So we agreed with chicken only, and to start after he starts to eat chunkier food - so maybe 9-10 months.
It is not worth causing an argument over if your hubby disagrees. Outside of hubby, it doesn't matter what other family/friends think!
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Our baby - now a toddler of 18 months is also veggie. She has always had a good weight and eats all her food. We give her almost anything organic - beans and pulses evry day plus dairy plus veggies plus starch (couscous/rice/quinoa etc) plus stuff like advocado which she loves and she eats the lot. I have given her some fish a few times when I see organic salmon but mainly because other people keep telling me she needs the meat. A balanced and varied veggie diet is perfectly fine for babies and better than hormone packed meat probably. There are also a lot of web resources too. I like http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com even though it also has meat recipes. I wouldn't worry at all about not eating meat unless she is refusing a lot of the veggie stuff.
The one thing we did do was to add Flaxseed oil from around 6 months - a teaspoon a day or so. You can use Omega 3 but its made from fish oil which has a lot of chemical residue.
I am happy to keep her veggie until she tells me she wants meat and then - well I am not sure what we will do... presumbaly give her meat occasionally?
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phoenix,
crj and hkcc's recommendation about super baby foods is good - it is basically a veggie diet.
mine is 6 months and since we don't have any issues with meat, we will introduce it in 1-2 months time. but i don't plan to introduce excessive amounts, i am more keen to get him to eat healthier foods and greens (he tried french beans puree today).
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minidom: When did you introduce quinoa to your baby? What about lentils - is it ok to introduce at 7 months - just worried it might cause a lot of gas. Also wondering about tahini. My husband has allergies to diary - eggs, cheese and milk, so I don't want to introduce these until baby is 1 yr.
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:-))
20 yrs ago
My 2yo is semi-vegi. I am vegi and never buy or cook meat at home. She started eating meat off other people's plates when we went out, and I did not stop her because she has been a fussy eater with poor weight gain and I was glad she was enjoying food. Her daddy is an unrepentant carnivore and sometimes cooks sausages and bacon at home, which she loves. So now I am hard pressed to impose a vegi diet on her, but will tell her later on why I don't eat meat and hope she feels the same way. In the meantime I have consented to having some family meals with meat on the side so that daddy won't offer her so much sausage and bacon which is processed and not the best kind of meat she could be eating.
If her food intake had been any worse, I would have introduced meat sooner because it is a good way to get a lot of nutrients and calories into a child without much bulk - you need a good eater to thrive without meat. I rationalise it because it is such small quantity in the grand scheme of things and regarding animal suffering, I eat fish because I would rather kill a fish than a pig, and I would kill a pig for the sake of the health of my child!
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Thanks so much all, I feel alot better, and am going to put off introducing meat for a while yet, if at all. He eats lentils, pulses, tofu, dairy etc, and I feel I am giving him more 'tastes' and variety than some other mums I know give their kids, for now. My initial feeling was to have him ask for meat and if he liked it , to carry on. I dont see this as any different from giving him meat now and then him choosing not to eat it later on ( other than any health aspects, which are my primary concern). I have been veggie for 18 years, and am not wasting away or unhealthy, but then, I'm not 9 months old and growing. I really do feel alot better, so many thanks for all your advice. Also good to know I'm not the only one!
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Atta
20 yrs ago
There is absolutely nothing wrong with a veggie baby. My baby was a veggie until she was a year old, after which I introduced a little white meat (seafood and chicken). She is now 3 years and a healthy happy girl.
Iron is usually the nutrient that is lacking in vegetarian babies. Include a variety of whole grains, pulses, dried fruits, green leafy vegetables and fortified breakfast cereals as good sources of iron. Include vitamin C-rich foods in each meal to enhance iron absorption. The whole grains and pulses will also the offer the protein.
My intention is not to take over this thread with advertising, but you might be interested in knowing that I am teaching a course on healthy cooking for infants and toddlers at the YWCA (English members department) in November.
Have a look at this website or if you have any questions you can send me a PM.
http://esmd.ywca.org.hk/
Course title: Healthy cooking for infants
Course code: YY204
Course title: Healthy cooking for toddlers
Course code: YY205
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Hi Janey,
We kept a list of all new foods we gave ehr - testing a small amount of new stuff every 2/3 days until she was around 10 months when we went on holiday and she ate all sorts of stuff and we sort off thought sh was now OK to eat anything. The best bet is to try a bit one day and check her poo - we had given her one thing (I cant remember now what it was ) that made her sloppy so we stopped it but the rest was all fine. Lentils she started having at around 9 months and quinoa I guess aroudn the same time. You will know what makes her gassy and all babies are different so test it and see. We also give her a teaspoon of hazelnut puree every couple of days which she loves. Peanuts and sesame are supposed to be more likely to cause allergies so she only got sesame recently (she doesn't really like them and hates sunflower seeds but likes pumkin seeds) and she has not yet had peanuts. We used egg white only until she was around 12 months or so but now she gets it all. Good luck...
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