Veggie kids?

[becstar]

I'm vege and husband rarely eats meat but we're feeding La meat... i felt weird about it at first because I hate the thought of chewing on flesh (ick) and didn't want to give it to her either, but I am a mummy who worries more than I need to about her getting all the right nutrients etc and it just seemed easiest for us to raise her eating meat and then let her decide when she's older.

 

[xemmax]

my mum was veggie, my dad wasn't, and they brought us all up as veggies. i'm a very strict vegetarian now - in fact i was almost a complete vegan before i fell pregnant and reintroduced dairy products back into my diet.

OH was very interested in learning about vegetarianism after we met and he became veggie after a couple of months so it was an easy decision for us to bring our children up with our morals.

i just want to give my children the same options that i had. i was taught about vegetarianism but always knew i was "allowed" to eat meat if i wanted to. i was always around meat, watching my dad eat it, but i only ever tried it once at a friend's house where i was pressured into it. however, my older brother now eats meat and my little brother only remains vegetarian through habit and isn't bothered in the slightest about any of the reasons why my mum and i are vegetarian.

i think you have to be prepared for people to slate you for the decision to bring your kids up as vegetarian, and i've been told on several occasions that it was "unfair" of my mum to make the decision for me. i think it's rubbish, we have to decide for our children either way, but i think my family is proof that it can be done openly and that children can feel free enough to change their minds. sorry for rambling! xx

 

[sugarpuff]

i'm a vegetarian (no fish, gelatin or other meat based stuff) and have been since i was 15 - my mum and sister were vegetarian which made me want to become one (my sister has since gone back to the dark side lol )

my husband on the other hand is very much a meat eater ! he barely eats vegetables and couldn't live without meat.

we will be letting audrey eat meat, but i probably won't really be pushing the meat issue, if she wants it she can have it, but i'm certainly not going to be dishing up loads of the stuff. if she wants to become a vegetarian when she's older that's her decision

if my husband had been a vegetarian though, i expect we would have only given her a vegetarian diet as that would be what was normal for us

x

 

[hekate]

me and my OH are both vegan and we will definitely bring our child up vegan as well....
I don't think it is "unfair" or "forcing" them....no more than bringing them up as meat eater...or christian....or anything else particular to your own beliefs....you will always pass some of them on to your children no matter how "liberal" and open minded you are!

as for your midwife telling you to eat fish....I think she may be misinformed....
I had numerous blood test.....this pregnancy and last....as well as before and in between and I NEVER have been deficient in anything! not Iron, Calcium, Vitamin D, Folate or B12 etc

 

[sugarpuff]

i completely agree with you about how it isn't unfair to bring a child up to eat what you do, it's common sense. like you say, it's the same about religion - no one has a whinge when 2 catholics baptise their baby as catholic and demand that they ought to let them be jewish (just an example !) so i don't see how food should be different.

my midwife was always super impressed with my iron and whatnot levels, even before i informed her that i was vegetarian

 

[K477uk]

I'm veggie, and OH isn't... But even if he was I think I would have tried Isaac on meat, because I would have wanted him to experience it.

I think I'm more of the camp of letting them decide and trying as much as possible to keep a neutral position until then, but that's my choice. I do think it's a little unfiar for things to be forced on children, but as you say it happened everywhere, religion, football clubs (!) and people don't have a problem with it! I certainly wouldn't tell someone they are being a bad parent (as I doubt they are!) because they chose to bring up their child. I think it's more about how you handle the questions... If you make out that eating meat is def bad and that they could never have that possibility of eating meat because of an imposed view.. Is that wrong? I have the same opinion of people who do the same and eat meat, you can't be veggie because... And then refuse the choice.

We all know what is best for our children now, we just prehaps have to be mIndful that at some point they will need the independance to make their own choices, and we have to respect that and support it.

 

[Drazic<3]

Thank you for all your views and opinions girls, it's really helpful.

xemmax - that is exactly what we are going for, she won't be forbidden from eating meat, she will just know we don't and why we don't. As you have said, my problem will more be other people. They will think they are clever confusing her or trying to feed her meat behind her backs so we will need to lay down the law. Again, I don't mind what he choice eventually is, but I will not have anyone 'force' views upon her. She will always have the choice, but just as if she was born into, for eg, a Jewish family she wouldn't eat pork, meat won't be on the menu at home!

We have vegan family and their little boy was raised vegan and now he is old enough to choose he always eats vegan, happily.