Raising baby Vegitarian???!
Answers: Hi,I have a six month old son and he is on solid jared baby food and cereal.He tried the chicken and turkey but he hated it.(Gross.I thought they smelled like dog food)I do not like meat much myself.Has anyone raised their kids vegitarian from the start and what did you feed them before they were one.How were they health wise and what did your Pediatritian have to say?Thanks.
I also normally do not eat meat, and thought to at least try to feed my daughter chicken, which she too didn't like. I give her tofu which she enjoys also fake meat like morning starters I use sometimes for cooking or tempeh (he is still probably too young for that yet) and I gave her some of that. Also you can mash up some beans into a puree kidney beans, soybeans, ect. All really great for you. My doctor actually seemed to encourage the beans and tofu, she said it is good to have a lot of variety of protein and other foods. Start with tofu, you can buy silken tofu 1st and mash that up.
well, my mom fed us the fruits and vegie babyfood, it doesnt smell as bad, she also would put peaches, and other fruites in our cearel or whatever, and now I have 3 little brothers and me and we're all quite healthy.....and all 4 of us are vegetarian....
First and foremost you need to talk to the pediatrician, or find a pediatrician that is knowledgeable about balanced vegetarian diets.
However this is solely about me and my experiences with my daughter (11 months now)...
My Pediatrician is a vegetarian herself, she is from India, so she was really cool about it. She was extremely knowledgeable and informed. She raised all her children vegetarian (no meat in their diets, period) and she said that my daughter will be perfectly healthy. So far she has been, she's been in the top 90% percentile for height and weight and has reached all her milestones earlier than expected.
Though I personally eat a vegan diet (no meat, no eggs, no dairy) I give my daughter food with cheese and eggs, but I only purchase organic food for her. She is still breast fed all the time (she's 11 months old, I breast feed maybe 6 times in the course of 24 hours).
The rest of the time I give her organic yogurt, I give her organic cheese (1 oz only per day though), organic fruit and whole grains (I like to make my own baby food, I buy bulk organic pears and apples and bananas and mix it with organic baby rice and baby wholegrain cereal). She's old enough now to eat some finger food, she eats teething cookies and dehydrated fruit.
She eats pureed lentil soup, she loves it - my pediatrician approved lentils at 7 months, but you should check with yours. I have been giving her yogurt since 8 months of age, before that she mostly ate fruits, veggies and cereals (and I started at 6 months as well with the solid food). My pediatrician said I can start giving her either whole cow's or soy milk to drink from a cup once I wean her from breast milk (which won't happen until a few months from now).
I know a handful of people that were raised from birth on vegetarian diets, but worldwide there are millions upon millions of people that have not eaten meat their whole lives (religious reasons or ethical reasons).
I have a friend in her 30's who was raised a strict vegetarian from birth. She has the most illnesses of anyone I know. She has asthma, allergies to lots of different things and is sick virtually every month.
Obviously we cannot know for sure, but both she and I wonder if her restricted childhood diet has played a part in her poor health.
I know in many countries children are raised as vegetarians, but it is not an easy thing to do well. Perhaps you should persevere with some different forms of meat, or maybe fish? I would imagine that meat isn't very pleasant when it has been processed and jarred. Maybe if you prepared something fresh for him he might like it better.