We are newly vegan, (first of the year), I have a 19 month old daughter and a 3 year old son. It is very hard. People judge unfairly and my son's preschool never listens/understands when I tell them that he can't have certain things. I pack a lunch for him every day and he isn't old enough yet to speak for himself.

Have you checked out the vegan lunch box? http://veganlunchbox.blogspot.com/

It's a mother writing about what she packs in her son's lunch. It's really interesting.

I am not a parent but I have already decided I will raise my children vegetarian and possibly vegan and have been told by many that "I cannot do that" because it is tantamount to child abuse. I think that belief is stupid, there are doctors who support a vegan diet at all ages because when done right you end up with healthy happy children.

I think you should be prepared for other parents to criticize your choice, and when your daughter gets sick they will blame her diet and not the fact that she was licked or kissed by another child in daycare. I think you are doing the right thing by sticking to your guns and proving that your chosen lifestyle is not endangering your child. 

We only recently went vegan, but we raised our two kids vegetarian. As another poster suggested, I finally had to resort to "allergies" to stop well-meaning but incredibly intrusive people from making us nuts. One of my DD's favorite sandwichs as a kid was a sandwich spread made from cottage cheese, shredded swiss cheese, scallions, finely chopped green pepper and tomato. One day, the "lunch duty lady" came up, took Siobhan's sandwich out of her hand, made a rude comment about "eating weird stuff" and threw her sandwich in the garbage, where she said it belonged. Both my kids are healthy and always were, but if they got so much as a cold, people said it was because they  didn't eat meat. Our pediatrician was always amazed that my kids weren't anemic...he thought not eating meat spelled nutritional disaster. Today DH, DD and I are vegan, as is her boyfriend, and DS is still lacto-ovo. My only regret is that we didn't go vegan 25 years ago...then the kids would have been. Good luck with those who criticize...it comes with the territory, I fear.

I have a 7 year old mostly vegan boy and one on the way....

I love having someone else to roll my eyes with when a mcdonald's commercial comes on, or a meaty cooking show. He also told me that IF he gets married, he wants it to be a vegetarian girl! way to think ahead! ;)b

gosh, i feel like im bragging, but he is a great kid! :)>>>

I wouldn't change a thing....and I sure hope boy #2 is as easy...i have a feeling he's going to be a devil >:D ;)

Your son is fabulous! I've read several posts where you've talked about him, and I loved his response to that veggie video.  He sounds so very smart! You didn't sound like you were bragging at all, and if you weren't...you should have been!  ;) I'm sure it will go smoothly with any other children you have b/c they have a great mom!  :)

I agree, little2ant should brag! Good for you. I agree, vegan parenting is not that hard when you explain things to your kids. My 5 year old has been vegan all her life, and is very strict just on her own. "Does that have cow's milk in it?"  "Is it vegan?" I hear stories from her friends parents, who say they wish their kids were as committed to a healthy diet!

Anyone who wants to share, I am almost finished with my book. It will have some info on vegan parenting, mostly cuz I just get really pissed off when I hear those horror stories about bad vegan parenting, and people think it is about veganism. No, it is about uneducated parents. I nursed my daughter, and fed her vegan food after that. And she is freakishly healthy and strong!

Thanks for starting this post! Seriously, if anyone wants to make a contribution, you can e-mail me at eval(unescape('%64%6f%63%75%6d%65%6e%74%2e%77%72%69%74%65%28%27%3c%61%20%68%72%65%66%3d%22%6d%61%69%6c%74%6f%3a%71%75%69%6e%74%65%73%73%40%63%61%72%65%32%2e%63%6f%6d%22%3e%71%75%69%6e%74%65%73%73%40%63%61%72%65%32%2e%63%6f%6d%3c%2f%61%3e%27%29%3b')). Unfortunately, it will need to be soon, as I am trying to get my book submitted by May 23rd at the latest.
;)b

quintess....do you mean share vegan kid stories?
i can email you some good quotes from noah!

That's too bad. People like that can be so hard to deal with! Yes, I am a vegan, but I almost hesitate to tell people (or ovo-lacto vegetarians) because I don't want them to feel a divide. Yes, I agree we are all in it together! I am not the strictest vegan, I will admit. We eat honey and don't ask a million questions on the very rare occasion we go out to eat. Is there whey in the pita bread? I don't know, and will survive if there is. I have had other hard core vegans totally act shocked that I am not more "strict" in those ways, but maybe that is what has kept me a vegan (or 99.9% vegan) for almost 17 years. Anyhoo...just a little commiseration! :)

Little2ant.....
Sure, anything you want to share that you think would make a good addition to my book. Mainly, I would love to feature a couple other people who can say, "Check out my flippin way healthy vegan kid!" besides me. It's funny, my daughter is "little" too, but bigger than I was at her age! And waaaay healthier than I was, eating hot dogs and other junk! ;)

mdvegan...
adoption is so cool! I think you could transition kids over without too much trouble. All my daughter's meat eating friends love the food we make, and some even say it is their favorite! Even if they were attached to hot dogs, for example, you could give them veggie dogs occasionally if they needed some familiarity. Also, all the adoption agency would need to know is that you would make healthy meals. They don't need to know if you're vegan...at least I wouldn't tell them....

OK, enough procrastinating...back to my book.... :P

Does anyone have adopted vegan children?  If DH and I ever have a human family to raise, we want to adopt, but not a baby.  We're more interested in the 2-6 year old age group.  I wonder how hard it would be to transition them over?  What would adoption agencies think about our plans?

Kudos to all the veg parents!

I remember an article in VegNews a few months ago about veg*n parents adopting... You should probably check it out if you can. I'm going to hunt for my copy of the issue... hold on... Ok, I can't find it. But it's out there somewhere. I wonder, do they have past articles posted on their website?

Ok, I'm sorry for asking what may be an uneducated question (but that's how we get educated right?).  Naturally, with my recent engagment there are children questions.  My husband to be is omni but I plan is to raise my (possible child) as vegan as possible and allow them to make their own choices when they get old enough.  The questions I'm getting are if I'm vegan while I'm pregnant, my child may be born with lactose intolerance.  I think this is silly because I know plenty of people who are lactose intolerant and their parents ate meat, but still, is there any information on this?  I'm going to have to prepare myself with an arsenal of data. 

I think its a crock!
just tell 'em little2ant said so! ;)
really though, I have several carnivorous relatives who are LI.....
don't they say everyone is really LI and that our bodies just adapt to drinking milk from another species?

Biodancer, I'm just wondering if your husband to be has been consulted on this.  For it to go smoothly I think it would need to be a mutual decision.