Vegetarian Mums and Babies!

[soon2b6]

Peanutbean - Im glad he was given veggie food and not the fish.
Hi Ani and Aatos - a vegan Nanny, thats a stroke of luck!

Well, what is everyone having for Christmas dinner? (there - I said the C word,lol) or just generally meals around Christmas?
We are having one of two things, the favourite with the children is a roulade filled with ricotta cheese and sweetcorn or a delia recipie with parsnips and cheese (kids like the first better even though the latter is more festive) OR we will have a Christmas ring which is a ring shaped baked dish with pureed chestnuts and cranberries and goats cheese, I think this is a lovely Christmas meal but the flavours are a bit "aquired" IYKWIM. We dont do starters as the kids eat too much and only have little tummies, they usually dont have the room for puddings but I always make one I have some home made ice cream as a substitute.

 

[PeanutBean]

We always have veggie toad in the hole at Christmas. It was a rare treat when I was young and it became my tradition so DH adopted it when we started spending Christmas together.

 

[soon2b6]

Thats one of our faves too

 

[Kitten]

Hi Ani!

Christmas dinner I'm making something simple - puff pastry square with pesto, asparagus, tomato and parmmesan on it. I'll be filling the void with roast potatoes, carrots, parsnips and sweet potato

 

[toffee87]

We've made those pesto things before, but with feta! They are delicious!

 

[Seraphim]

Have any of you changed your diet to accommodate BF and colic??

 

[abster]

No I didn't, other than limiting caffeine intake and not eating peanuts. #1 was very vomity til weaning time, because she always took more than she needed and when she was tiny she really suffered with colicky trapped wind at night until I started using infacol and doing baby massage - I'd bring my crying baby downstairs and do the baby massage til the trapped wind came out and hten she's give me a big smile and go back to sleep. It was a lot better after 3 months, when her digestive system was properly developed.
Is this the kind of thing you were asking about? How old is your little one?
Abi x

 

[abster]

D'oh! She's 19 days old - I just saw your signature. She's a beauty! Defo try the Infacol (I think some of my friends used Dentinox). You can't do baby massage til they're about 6 weeks old, but it's a wonderful thing to do with your baby adn has lots of benefits.
Abi x

 

[Kitten]

I use Infacol with every feed. I stopped at 12weeks and had to start it again because he was so colicky. I have cut out curry and fresh chilli as both upset him and I make sure I get at least 1500-1700 calories.

 

[Seraphim]

Thanks ladies

We got some relief from infacol, but colief has made the biggest difference... helping digest the milk rather just just making her burpy. She's much happier.

When I looked at the lists of suspect foods it was just about 95% of what I eat And I need to eat just about all the time at the mo

 

[Kitten]

God yeah. I ate like a horse for the first few weeks but then my appetite gradually sorted itself out. I still get mega-hungry phases now and it doesn't always correspond with him feeding more, I guess it's as the milk adjusts to their age or whatever becoming more fatty etc.

 

[PeanutBean]

I didn't change my diet other than by eating lots. I know there are some foods that can cause problems but I never noticed any particular connection with anything. We didn't eat much garlic though just in case. Byron was pretty colicy. I used infacol too.

 

[Joyzerelly]

Great idea for a group!
I'm Joy, I'm 28 and both me and my OH are vegetarian and our baby will be raised as a vegetarian too. We plan to teach our child exactly where meat comes from right from the very start (as sensitively as is possible - you can get quite a few children's stories with this gentle education in mind) I see no point in lying to my baby. Just in the same way I will teach my child that murdering other people is utterly unacceptable I will teach the same about murdering animals, as that is what we both believe. (All this aside from the health/hygiene issues regarding eating flesh).

 

[jen1604]

Hi Joy!
Congrats on the pregnancy!I've never seen any childrens stories about being a vegetarian,I'm going to look out for them now,they sound like a good idea.

Ooooh theres loads of us veggie mums now.How exciting xxxx

 

[Seraphim]

I'd be very interested in books and stories for LOs.
I haven't looked yet, but recommendations always welcome

 

[kirsten1985]

Anyone else got an OH who doesn't agree with being a vegetarian? Obviously he is not bothered what I do when it comes to meat, but he keeps saying he doesn't agree with us not giving Freya meat, and it's starting to annoy me! I just keep telling him that as soon as she understands, it's her choice, but he thinks she is 'missing out' (despite what I keep telling him!!). Hmph.

 

[abster]

Just persist... that's what I did!

 

[Seraphim]

Anyone else got an OH who doesn't agree with being a vegetarian? Obviously he is not bothered what I do when it comes to meat, but he keeps saying he doesn't agree with us not giving Freya meat, and it's starting to annoy me! I just keep telling him that as soon as she understands, it's her choice, but he thinks she is 'missing out' (despite what I keep telling him!!). Hmph.

No I don't, my hubby is the vegetarian...

It's a seriously tricky territory, and I believe how it affects your lives and relationship is more about how you handle it than the decisions you make.

Hazel coming along has had a huge impact on me, as I knew it would. It may sound trivial to a bunch of vegetarians, but I've been so proud of myself that I've overcome my biggest obsticle several times since I've had her... eating out for convenience/quick lunch. I haven't had anything meaty in months and months and months now.

Anyway... back to the point

Whilst I don't agree with your OH either, is it more about him feeling heard than the meat itself? About his identity?

I've hardly eaten meat in 10 years, but all that time I have never been a vegetarian because that was my husbands choosing and I didn't feel the need to pigeon-hole myself.

As a non-vegetarian my only worries about LO were things like birthday parties, jelly and ice cream say. But the world is catching up, and I've since met lots of lovely people who've shown me it needn't be an issue. Maybe your OH just needs to find similar answers for himself?

I guess it is easier for me as the non-vegetarian parent in that I don't miss meat, I think the vast majority of meat products are completely grim - even if you move away from the animal welfare arguments - it's trash food.

I think the 'trash food' argument is a good starting point - if you're looking for one BBC have been doing a good documentary type programme at the moment 'Britains Disgusting Food' - as if we need any more telling

You're joined in parenting, and the only positive way through IMHO is mutual respect, even if you don't start off agreeing 100%.

Hope that makes some sense and might help

 

[PeanutBean]

I'm lucky as DH is vegetarian. When we first got together I never set out to convert him or anything like that. I'd some time ago learnt that you simply can't make people not smoke or not drink or not eat meat or whatever else. I think we'd been together a year and a half when in a drunken stupor he confessed to me he had decided to turn veggie but hadn't wanted to tell me in case he failed. Needless to say he didn't fail and hasn't eaten meat since. In the early days when we talked about veggie kids he felt he wouldn't want our children to be veggie but over time he has become more and more passionate about animal welfare. Possibly more than me I think because he was an adult and not a child so thought about it long and hard and rationally. Because of his increase in feelings about the issue by the time we had Byron he was utterly clear that he wanted him to be raised veggie with the hope that with some careful teaching Byron will choose not to eat meat when he is older.

I realise my story doesn't offer any advice! I suppose the moral is people need to find their way. As your DH isn't veggie himself I think he must have further to come to find where you are and where you want your baby to be. But if the tables were turned and it was you trying to fight your corner I'm sure you'd feel frustrated and concerned about your baby's health. I suppose the only answer can come from lots of talking. Is there any way of finding some middle ground? There are plenty of arguments in favour of the health side and the animal welfare side but the world is still so geared towards meat that I can understand if he feels your LO will be missing out.

 

[Kitten]

Anyone got any good recipes that are suitable for LO?

We have quite a tight food budget and I'm looking to change some of our main meals in the New Year for when we start blw. At the mo we eat:

Monday - quorn spag bol using passata (so could remove the quorn and parmesan and just give LO spag, passata & veg)
Tuesday - pasta bake (LO could have this cooled down although I might just give him pasta, passata, veg & cheese on a plate rather than baked)
Wednesday - quorn pieces with brown rice & veg (we hate this so need an alternative)
Thuesday - veggie burgers and homemade chips (LO could just have chips but it's not much of a meal..)
Friday & Saturday - We don't have anything set atm so need to think of something as we tend to get a pizza from Morrisons or something random
Sunday - Veg, yorkshires, roast veg (LO could have bits)

So yeah, need 3 meal ideas really and maybe something to top up on a couple of days. I know he won't eat much to start with but I'd like to have our meals sorted so he gets used to them when sitting with us etc.