Vegetarian babies

[Fossey]

Any vegi mummies out there bringing baby up vegi give me some advice on where to start when I introduce protein? I have 3 or so weeks before I begin. Just going to do a search but wanted to ask here first

 

[Mervs Mum]

I think reallytinyamy can help with veggie babies

 

[reallytinyamy]

https://www.youngveggie.org/recipes/kids_kitchen.html

sorry only just seen this..

the above may be helpful

Chloe has chhese and eggs every day for protein, either in sauces or on their own, obviously careful with the eggs as Larissa is younger.

I've just started introducing rice and lentils.

To be honest, I didnt worry too much about it until recently as Chloe has kept her milk intake right up but now we are progressing so much its a worry.....

so, lentils...mashed with vegetables, cheese, eggs, beans again mixed with veg....

 

[reallytinyamy]

https://www.annabelkarmel.com/features/vegetarian/vegetarian-baby
https://www.vegsoc.org/info/infant.html

I have also found these useful

 

[bumpalicious]

Hi there

My little one is nearly one now and she has been veggie so far. I think the thing to watch in addition to protein, is that your baby gets enough iron. So think green veg, a little spinach mixed with mashed sweet potatoes for example goes down very well with most babies. Also brocoli is good- blended with sweet potatoes and added to other dishes when older.
Dried apricots are a very good source too, simmer in hot water for 5 mins to soften- blend half to one dired apricot to a puree and mix in with baby's rice, porridge etc. Makes it nice and sweet too.

Hope that helps x

 

[Fossey]

Thank you so much. Would you advise going to the follow on milk as I have been told it has more iron in?
When can they have baked beans?
And eggs what is the situation there, I can't give eggs for a while can I? As was hoping to scramble them etc but I know there is an age issue.
I was hoping to do lentils, never used them myself but I heard they were good. She likes broccoli anyway so that's good, haven't tried spinach yet, she doesnt like green beans, but I guess we could mix with something else. She likes peas. And thanks for the tip about dried apricots as bought some fresh ones and didnt get around to doing them as looked fiddly!

 

[reallytinyamy]

I joined an online group which has good recipes for lentils, will try and find the details and PM you.

I give Chloe follow on milk for the iron, she has stage one before bed as that takes longer to digest and she has follow on during the day. Chloe ;loves spinache with cheese

 

[beancounter]

oh i need to book mark this for later! when can you give quorn and tofu and such?

 

[ani]

Also remember that when you give something rich in iron, you should try to also include a source of virtamin C at the same meal to help absorption, so a fruit dessert or something. I keep forgetting this myself!

 

[Fossey]

Yeah I was going to ask about Quorn

 

[freckleonear]

Quorn is safe to give in small amounts but shouldn't be given as a main protein source to children under the age of three due to the low calory and high fibre content. Tofu is fine from 8 months in moderation as with all soy-based foods.

 

[PeanutBean]

Byron is veggie. Don't forget there is protein in milk. We had a splash of milk to all his blended foods and he has porridge and weetabix each day with milk too. We give scrambled eggs every now and again and have also given tofu though he found it a bit hard to manage as it's a bit crumbly (we just grilled plain curd lightly and offered it as finger food). And cheese of course too. We've not given lentils yet but we've a variety of beans to try him with when we get time to prepare them.

I agree about watching iron intake too. Green veg is definitely the way forward. I laughed the other day at a cow and gate advert for follow on milk saying the daily iron intake would need 20l of cow's milk compared to two cups of follow on milk, failing to mention how much iron is obtained through food! We wondered about iron as we are moving straight to cow's milk when I finish breastfeeding. I discussed this at some length with my HV and she felt that given Byron's diet (about 7 or even more servings of fruit and veg, all home cooked with nothing added and lots of greens) that we did not need to worry about iron.

We don't give high protein foods every day given the amount of milk Byron has. I was chatting with my Mum and she said there has been research that shows that when babies are able to choose they tend to have the same things for a couple of days and then move on to something else, rather than getting complete balance every day, if you see what I mean.

Hope it goes well for you!