vegan parenting
Posted by nmpixie on May 01, 2008 · Member since Jan 2008 · 1243 posts
I have a vegan 2 yr. old, and thought it would be nice to meet other vegan parents. Share stories, recipes, ways to deal with doubting relatives, etc. For example, I had the doctor do an extra anemia test when my mother-in-law was visiting, just to shut up her very nice, very annoying concern about what my daughter eats. She's just now starting to understand that there are some things we do not eat. I'm slightly worried about pre-school and beyond.
oh, and by the way.....
anyone who is worried about breast-feeding while vegan......don't listen to doctors or well-meaning grandparents who think it won't provide enough nutrition! As long as you keep consuming enough calories and get enough calcium...(baby will always get enough from you but at the expense of your bones and teeth if you are not getting enough...) and I also suggest feeding on demand!!!!!!!
my little one has been exclusively breast-fed and is a whopping 21 pounds at 6 months of age!
I can second that. I was vegetarian when I nursed DS and vegan when I nursed DD. DS didn't really begin eating solid food til he was nearly a year old, and DD not until she was 6 months old. They are now 17 and 13, very healthy, good teeth, and lifelong vegetarians. (We did cave in and go back to limited use of eggs and dairy when DD started school).
My 5 year-old son went to my niece's b-day party without me and her step dad gave my vegan son a hot dog and hamburger. My son told him that he doesn't eat meat and the jerk told him it was vegan food. I was so angry. Why do people like to get a rise out of "the crazy vegans"? My poor kid didn't poop for like 3 days >:(
wow, that sucks! especially since he tried to tell him! I would be livid!
How did your son feel once he found out? Or did you not tell him?
Are any of you stay-at-home moms? I will effectively be, just working at night/weekends when my husband is home. I have to pull my daughter out of preschool at the end of this month because we can't afford it. I feel like now she's gonna be behind when she goes to kindergarten as far as just being used to going to school, and being around other kids, and away from me. To tell you the truth, she hates to spend a whole day with me usually. I don't know what we'll do all week long. She just gets bratty and mean and cries for her dad. I'm freaking out. I feel like a horrible mom on like 18 different levels. I'm gonna be thirty in a couple weeks, we're in collections with the hospital. I can't afford to do anything. She asks to go to the children's museum, and I have to make excuses because we can't afford to go. I supported my husband through school, and now he got a teaching job making less than he was before. I guess I just need ideas for activities, and ways to teach her things like reading and writing w/o shoving it down her throat.
Don't worry about reading and writing so much before Kindergarten. I would work on getting her to write her name at least, and recognize all the letters and numbers, but beyond that, don't stress (I'm a former elementary teacher).
Check for local playgroups or meet ups. If there are not any, start some! There a so many play groups here that meet and get together and it doesn't cost anything. Use the web to network.
I am pretty much a SAHM. I work in the afternoons but both my kids are with me, so my days are free to hang with my youngest. I actually love it!
I did not have the opportunity to stay at home with my first one, and I feel like I missed out on so much. They are only little for such a short time. Enjoy it!
Take her to parks, hikes. scavenger hunts....when you are preparing food, have her "help". You might even want to create a daily schedule that breaks down the times into half hour increments-this could be a way of teaching telling time skills at the same time. Get a white board and write out the daily plan. Include arts and crafts, reading time, play time, writing time, lunch, snack. etc....doesn't have to be anything super organized, but she might like to know whats coming up next (draw pics to illustrate the activity next to the written version). Kids thrive on consistency and
do much better than just a "free for all" all day long.
My husband is a teacher too. I know what its like to be living off of nothing! :)
Can you teach any skills to kids after school? I teach after school art classes and make pretty good money doing it. Could you tutor? Or teach yoga or something?
Parents are always looking for after school activities for their kids.
thanks, l2a. Great ideas. I'll be keeping my job, although I may have to step down from my position and take a pay cut. I think a schedule is good, for me, at least. I mostly worried about the socialization aspects, so a playgroup is a great idea. I'll see what I can find around here.
I am trying to find other mothers out there that are raising vegetarian children. We have three kids, 6, 4 1/2 and 2 (the oldest two are girls and the youngest is a boy). They are very healthy happy children who are very active and growing well. We have always been a very healthy family, I nursed all three of them for 13 months, made their baby food, bought organic milk, only let them have healthy snacks.
After reading The Skinny Bitch in September my husband and I decided to go dairy free and reduce our already reduced meat intake. We started limiting the kids dairy but weren't really sure what to do about them yet. Then we received the China Study for Christmas adn we are totally floored with this research. We are SOLD! We decided to go all the way, really eliminate all meat from our diet as well as totally eliminate dairy for the kids and mostly reduce everything else for them as well.
Of course we aer getting a lot of resistence from our parents and family, I am nervous about them socially, with birthday parties, cafeteria tables, sleep overs, things like that. Although I know in my heart this is truly the only way to live a healthy life. My mother in law is terribly concerned about their nurtirional health and that this will harm them. So I am tryin got reach out to other mothers who are raising kids this way to find out what your experience has been and what you think and do to be sure your vegetarian kids are getting all they need.
This has all been discussed on here before, so I'm sure you'll find something of interest. I would also suggest checking out the what did you eat today: kids edition on the dine 'n' dish boards. That being said, I think as long as your children are eating a varied diet, they're fine. Some things that people are always asking about:
Calcium- in nondairy milks, tofu, and of course, green veggies, heck even in sesame seeds, and you can always take a vitamin
Iron-My daughter and I have both had our iron levels checked numerous times and never once had a problem. We eat a lot of dried beans and leafy greens. I think its even in dried fruit. What kid doesn't like dried fruit? If it is a problem, it is suggested to eat iron rich foods w/ Vit. C rich foods=spinach salad w/ mandarin orange slices
Protein-You already have this down probably, beans, tofu, Stan, nuts and nut butters, seeds. I have noticed that my daughter(almost 4) needs more protein than I do, probably because she's more physically active. Sometimes she gets crazy cranky and after she eats a soy yogurt or Pb and j chills out considerably.
B-12-In fortified breads, cereals, milks, and also in nutritional yeast. My daughter loves yeast on pasta, soup, potatoes. She likes to eat it plain, which grosses my husband out to no end.
Omega's 3 and 6-Omega 3 is actually in canal oil, as well as flax seeds and other stuff. You're probably fine on it. It's omega 6 that is harder to get it is in walnuts, not sure what else. So, you may want to supplement if that is a concern. They make vegan omega oil blends, as well as vegan DHA oils.
As your MIL sees that your kids are fine and thriving, she'll get over it. Be patient with her, you may need her to babysit! ;D
Our 2 year old son has been as vegan as possible since conception and he's doing fantastic. Last checkup he was near the 75th percentile of height, weight, etc. Some of the important foods we make sure to incorporate into his snacks/meals regularly...
NUTRITIONAL YEAST- can't suggest this one enough, loaded with so many vitamins & minerlas, including B12, Folic, Protein, Zinc and on and on. Just make sure to get the Red Star VSF (Veg Support Formula) or Maxi-flake varieties, as there are some varieties that do not have the B12 and such. The brighter yellow flakes are the good ones. We sprinkle it on pastas, pizzas, tofu, in avocado dips, on Tings and Snap pea crisps, on bread & earth balance, etc, he LOVES it.
BLACKSTRAP MOLASSES- big source of iron, calcium, potassium and vitamin A, we drizzle a little into his bottles with the almond milk or soy milk, shake it up and he loves it. Also drizzle it into baked beans and veg sloppy joes, on pancakes/ployes, etc. Has to be Blackstrap, not golden or any other variety. Remember the old stories of kids being given a spoonfull of molasses every day in the old days, there was good reason for that !
HEMP OIL, FLAX OIL- both are great sources of omega acids and good fats, but the Hemp includes both the 3's and 6's in better ratios, we drizzle a little to mix in his bottles, drizzle and stir it into avocado dips with nutritional yeast and iodized (iodine source) sea salt, sometimes on his bowls of og whole wheat pasta mixed with E.B. (Earth Balance veggie butter, good fats source) & nutr.yeast, etc.
Other nutritious foods he enjoys and gets regularly are green peas (good source of protein and iron, great warmed with E.B. or Olive oil & nutr.yeast), organic Tofu (good calcium, protein, iron & good fats), he loves it raw, right from the block, with a little nutr.yeast sprinkled on or just plain, Black beans (good iron and protein) mixed with some olive oil & nutr.yeast, all kinds of fruits especially Apples, Oranges, Pears, Bananas & Peaches, he LOVES them all, Almond butter on a spoon or on some toast, he's starting to like green leaf lettuce and a little spinach, etc. Hope this is helpful !
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