Weaning a child onto vegetarian diet

[2bmum]

Looking for tips and advise, I'm wanting to bring my lo up veggie until old enough to decide whether he wants to eat mean or not. Not finding much info or advice from hv or doctors.

 

[Lu28]

I don't have a huge amount of advice hon but as far as I know, it's a case of making sure LO is getting enough protein etc which I guess would be similar as to how you get protein in for yourself. I know there's a few on here who are bringing babies up as veggies, hopefully they'll be able to help more!

 

[2bmum]

thank you

 

[kirsten1985]

Hey! I will be bringing Freya up to be veggie, however I don't mind if she decides to eat meat when she is older.

I found this site useful :
https://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/veg_diets_for_children.html

I haven't mentioned it to HV or doctor, but I'm guessing they won't be much help, they never are...

I was veggie when I was younger, ate meat for about 2 years then went back to veggie. My OH is a bit put out though, he eats meat and was looking forward to feeding Freya it! Nevermind, lol.

There are people in the BLW thread at the top who have veggie babies too.

 

[2bmum]

thank you, I'll have a look round that website later I've been veggie for 22 years. I don't mind if Oliver does'nt want to be veggie when he's old enough to make the decision for himself, but until then we're veggie all the way

 

[freckleonear]

Vegetarian babies need good sources of iron, protein, vitamin B12, vitamin D and zinc.

Iron is less easily absorbed from non-animal sources, but good vegetarian sources include pureed apricots, molasses, lentils, fortified cereals, eggs and green leafy vegetables. Serving vitamin C at the same time increases the amount of iron absorbed.

Dairy products, beans, peas and soya products such as tofu are good sources of protein. Eggs are another excellent source of protein and iron. Hard boil them and then stir them into chopped or pureed vegetables. If there is no history of food allergies, then peanut butter is a great nutrient dense food after 6 months.

Vitamin B12 is only found in animal foods, so dairy products and eggs are a good source. Otherwise use specially fortified foods such as soya milks, low-salt yeast extract or veggie burgers.

Vitamin D is found exclusively in animal foods, so a supplement may be needed. It can be found in dairy products, eggs, fortified foods such as margarine and some cereals, and is also made by sunlight on the skin.

Pulses, wholemeal bread and egg yolk are good sources of zinc.

Quorn products can be useful for vegetarians, but they shouldn't be the main source of protein for young children as they are relatively low in calories and high in fibre, which fills the baby up too quickly and can also interfere with the absorption of minerals. Textured vegetable protein is hard for young children to digest and can also be high in salt.

Hope that helps!

 

[Lu28]

Is Quorn mince ok for babies? That's all we have in lasagne and spag bol...

 

[freckleonear]

Taken straight from the Quorn website:

Is Quorn ok for my baby?
Quorn products are perfectly safe for children and babies but because of the high energy requirements demanded by the rapidly growing child, we do not recommend that Quorn products replace meat totally in the diet of young children and babies (less than 3 years old) because of their low energy densities (number of calories per gram) and satiating (satisfaction of appetite) effects. However as part of a well balanced diet Quorn products are perfectly safe to introduce to young children in small amounts.

In other words, it should be fine as long as it is only given occasionally in small amounts and better sources of protein are given regularly.

 

[Lu28]

Thanks! She'll have chicken and dairy products too so no problem there.

 

[jen1604]

Hi!
I'm bringing up a veggie LO (and will be bringing up another one too once my little man arrives) so I'm happy to help if you have any questions but I think Freckleonear covered most of it I'm always happy to help if you ever want to PM with any questions or anything about it though
I'm lucky that my HV raised her kids veggie so she was really helpful with it,its rubbish that yours aren't much help
xxx

 

[beancounter]

we're veggie, I was beginning to thing I was satan the way I would say 'we don't eat meat' and then the HV/whoever would say
'does.. that mean.. he will not eat meat???'

Um. well, I think thats what I just said. About us not eating it? is it such a crazy idea? Perhaps we could have a sticky veggie support thread, the HV don't seem to know anything

 

[kirsten1985]

Yeah the sticky idea would be great! I daren't even mention it to my HV.

 

[jen1604]

Or maybe a Veggie Mums and Babies group in the groups section?xx

 

[kirsten1985]

I just started a veggie mums and babies group! (about a minute ago, lol).

 

[MoonMuffin]

Me and DH are not Veggi (we don't really eat a lot of meat anyways though), but my DD LOVES tofu! We've been giving it to her since we started weaning her, we just cut it in cubes right from the package and she loves it. I love it too so it's a great way to get some protein in their tummies. She really doesn't like meat, chicken, etc. anyways so I'm glad she likes tofu.
Hope that helps.

 

[Fossey]

I am bringing Liss up veggie. Ive been one 30+ years so it is important to me. If you are veggie yourself its just a case of giving what you have within reason of course and watching for sugar/salt etc. Quorn/TVP etc are fine to give.

 

[Fossey]

Yeah the sticky idea would be great! I daren't even mention it to my HV.

My HV has been really good about it. Asked the dietitian some questions for me and gave me advice on vitamins etc. You should mention it as she might surprise you. Mine gave me loads of leaflets. knew most of it but it was supportive you know.