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- New vegan mom hesitant about raising baby vegan. Desperately seeking advice & thoughts from other moms.
New vegan mom hesitant about raising baby vegan. Desperately seeking advice & thoughts from other moms.
Started
by Songcatcher Siren
on January 9, 2013
HI All,
I know its terrible...if its good enough for me, why isn't it good enough for him? Its the healthiest way to live, right? SO why not be assured that its the healthiest thing for him? I'm a long time vegetarian, newly vegan.
I am a person who second guesses myself a lot. Its detrimental. My boy is 7 months old. We planned a home birth - I ended up induced at the hospital (still managed natural, but it wasn't the birth experience we wanted). I breast fed and loved it, but my baby was very very colicky and cried all the time. The pediatrician suggested trying a special formula for a few days to see if it had an impact. It did. Not on him, but on my milk supply (pumping didn't help), and he never went fully back to the breast despite months of trying. Finally my supply dried up as he was only taking nips. I'm so sad I wasn't able to continue to breast feed him & lost that precious time.
That is just an example of me being wishy washy and lacking the confidence to stick to my guns. I know that I can keep myself vegan...thats not an issue. Its dealing with my family (extended) when it comes to him. They will NOT understand & will call it just another one of my hippy dippy things, but they will be angry as they will think that it is detrimental to my son. THey don't want to hear 'evidence'. Its not what 'normal' people do. My mother will try to sneak him cows milk and cheese and hot dogs, I know it.
I'm also concerned that I won't provide him a well rounded enough diet. He is formula fed now, so is getting 'modified cows milk' in that. (And yes - I shudder at that thought - but he has to eat!).
Any advice? Anyone else that was nervous about doing it 'right' and raising a healthy, concientious child?
I actually just asked the same question, sort of! I too wonder about raising an infant vegan (my second child child, my first is an omnivore, shudder) once they are off breast milk and the supply dries up. As far as relatives go it's really up to you as I learned with my first child to set the ground rules. My mother even let my 2 year old drink some coffee! That was it for me and now if I leave my children with adults that don't get it, I make sure to have prepared food ready for them. But with my second I too want to ensure they are growing correctly. All the brainwashing from the milk industry has made me unsure now, but I am seeking alternatives and suggestions.
Thanks for the comment, Rosebud, and for also letting me know I'm not alone!
I think if it were me I would buy a couple of the books recommended on here for raising vegan/vegetarian children. It's definitely possible as there are plenty of happy and healthy vegan families out there. So, perhaps look into some research on it and find a good book that can give you plenty of advice. Also, look for blogs written by other vegan mothers out there and seek them out for advice.
Re your family ... stick to your guns and don't be bullied!!!! Set the rules and read up on all the facts too, so you don't question yourself too.
I am raising my twins vegan. They are 2 1/2. I highly recommend the book, raising vegetarian babies and kids. It's really for vegans, but they titled it vegetarian for some reason.
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