vegetarian children with allergies and intolerances

[Guest guest]

Dear Vrgparents,

 

Does anyone have children they are raising vegetarian or vegan who have food

allergies and intolerances (e.g. milk, wheat, soy, etc). How have they

dealt with this? How have they dealt with naturopaths or mainstream doctors

pressing for the introduction of fish and or meat, or products derived from

animals like thymus and fish oils?

 

my thanks

Chana

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email to everyone. Find out more about what's free from AOL at

http://www.aol.com.

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

My daughter used to have ear infections all the time. It turned out to be milk,

so we switched her to soy milk and she hasn't had a single ear infection since

then. We also switched my son to soy milk just a couple of months after he

started drinking cow's milk, and he hasn't had a single ear infection, ever. We

haven't gotten any crap from their doctors because we don't bring it up, we just

take them in for checkups and if they get sick (which these days is VERY rare).

If their doctor ever tells us we need to feed our kids meat or milk, we'll very

politely tell them where to cram that dumb information! We have to go to the

clinic at the Air Force base my hubby is stationed at, and I believe their

nutrition training is about on par with my astronaut skills. If they're pushing

meat or milk on you or your child, just smile and nod, and know that they don't

know what they're talking about.

 

crkotzin wrote: Dear Vrgparents,

 

Does anyone have children they are raising vegetarian or vegan who have food

allergies and intolerances (e.g. milk, wheat, soy, etc). How have they

dealt with this? How have they dealt with naturopaths or mainstream doctors

pressing for the introduction of fish and or meat, or products derived from

animals like thymus and fish oils?

 

my thanks

Chana

<BR><BR><BR>**************************************<BR> AOL now offers free

email to everyone. Find out more about what's free from AOL at

http://www.aol.com.

 

[Guest guest]

My son has a dairy allergy. We figured it out when he was about 10 months

old after about 2 days of random fits of vomiting. When it first happened we

went to the hospital, they suspected a virus but couldn't find anything

wrong with him (no feaver, not dehydrated no other sign other than vomiting

- but not while he was there). They never asked us about our diets.

 

Once I made the connection, I called his Dr. and told her my observations.

She told me it sure sounded like that was the cause, and that I did a great

job being so observant, and by all means stop giving him animal milk.

 

Anyway - we've not had any problems with his Dr. She's always told us that

if he's eating a variety of foods, then he's doing just fine. We give a

multi-vitamin just to be safe, but she said she didn't recommend them till

children were 4 (he's only 3.5 now). It's more for our peace of mind (she

said this was fine, if we wanted to give it for that reason though).

 

We've never felt forced or have been asked to give him any thing in our Dr.

visits. I'd say if you are being told/forced to do give something, you might

want to look into a second opinion (ie change Dr.'s), or just bring in some

research on your veg*an diet - and a detailed menu of what your child is

eating over a week or month and show them how it compares to what your child

needs at their age (our Dr. said to strive for that rather than every meal

as some kids could be picky but usually get what they need during the week,

and they also don't always eat a lot in one sitting, so they could be

getting enough even if it doesn't seem like it at the time).

 

Missie

 

On 2/25/07, crkotzin <crkotzin wrote:

>

> Dear Vrgparents,

>

> Does anyone have children they are raising vegetarian or vegan who have

> food

> allergies and intolerances (e.g. milk, wheat, soy, etc). How have they

> dealt with this? How have they dealt with naturopaths or mainstream

> doctors

> pressing for the introduction of fish and or meat, or products derived

> from

> animals like thymus and fish oils?

>

> my thanks

> Chana

> <BR><BR><BR>**************************************<BR> AOL now offers free

>

> email to everyone. Find out more about what's free from AOL at

> http://www.aol.com.

>

>

[Guest guest]

i'm glad this issue was brought up. the mother of one of my husband's

students has had to switch her son to a mostly vegan diet because of

allergies. way back when, i directed her to stepaniak's " becoming vegan " as

a resource for transitioning. however, her son is also allergic to soy, so

a lot of vegan resources are an annoyance/frustration to her because they

impress so much on soy as a replacement for...well, everything. she also

has him (and the rest of her family) on a fish oil supplement because of

omega questions. sadly, when she asked me about how we deal with omegas in

our family, i hadn't slept more than an hour the night before being up with

a sniffly newborn and i mumbled something about flax and didn't give very

good information. i also didn't give very good information when she

brought up soy " issues " other than to mention that we try very hard to limit

our soy to only whole soy products like edamame, tofu, tempeh and miso,

while heavily restricting isolated soy protein products. not that that was

useful info for her anyway since her son can't have soy anyway, but hey, i

was barely conscious at the time. but i would REALLY like to direct her to

some information about dealing with soy allergies on a vegan diet. so if

anyone has ideas, i would love to pass them on.

 

chandelle'

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

I do. When my son had dairy, he had some not-so lovely gastrointestinal effects

along with eczema that has almost completely resolved once we went vegan!

It's not a true " allergy " but it is an intolerance. He also has a true allergy

to walnuts.

My dh is allergic to walnuts, melons, bananas, peanut mold (but not the

peanuts).

 

No one has ever suggested any animal products, although occasionally they

express disbelief that dairy could be connected to eczema. I just picked a new

pediatrician when one gave me a speech about how " vegetarian is alright, but

vegan is too much " I told him to look at his own associations words on it! (The

American Academy of Pediatrics says that awell-planned vegetarian OR vegan diet

is appropriate and healthy!

-

crkotzin<crkotzin

< >

Sunday, February 25, 2007 9:06 PM

Re: vegetarian children with allergies and intolerances

 

 

Dear Vrgparents,

 

Does anyone have children they are raising vegetarian or vegan who have food

allergies and intolerances (e.g. milk, wheat, soy, etc). How have they

dealt with this? How have they dealt with naturopaths or mainstream doctors

pressing for the introduction of fish and or meat, or products derived from

animals like thymus and fish oils?

 

my thanks

Chana

<BR><BR><BR>**************************************<BR> AOL now offers free

email to everyone. Find out more about what's free from AOL at

http://www.aol.com.<http://www.aol.com./>

 

[Guest guest]

My 3-year-old has a peanut allergy, and also went through a period of a

full year where he didn't gain any weight. But you know, through all

that, I don't think the pediatrician ever asked about our diet in any

more detail than " how well does he eat? " which I think is a rather silly

question, because most parents aren't going to say " oh, I feel him a

bunch of processed crap. " I just don't mention it if they don't ask, but

I also make sure I'm very well educated about our diet so I can quickly

and thoroughly answer any questions that do come up, and immediately put

an end to any suggestions that we " need " animal products in our diet.

Heather

 

crkotzin wrote:

>

> Dear Vrgparents,

>

> Does anyone have children they are raising vegetarian or vegan who

> have food

> allergies and intolerances (e.g. milk, wheat, soy, etc). How have they

> dealt with this? How have they dealt with naturopaths or mainstream

> doctors

> pressing for the introduction of fish and or meat, or products derived

> from

> animals like thymus and fish oils?

>

> my thanks

> Chana

> <BR><BR><BR>**************************************<BR> AOL now offers

> free

> email to everyone. Find out more about what's free from AOL at

> http://www.aol.com. <http://www.aol.com.>

>

>

[Guest guest]

yes, my son is gf/cf and soy free,sugar free, corn free, low phenol and no

additives. I have to cook everything from scratch and I tell all of his teachers

that he isn't to eat ANYTHING but what I pack him. He also is starting enzymes

(houston's).

 

Our ped knows that he is gfcf and has other intolerances but we haven't talked

about being vegetarian. He is pretty open to our alternative parental decisions.

Personally, unless I need help or my kids are extremely sick for no apparent

reason, I don't really get into our diet. I am sure if you asked a local group

of vegetarian or alternative folks they can give some names of peds that might

be a better fit. HTH

 

Kelli

-

crkotzin

Sunday, February 25, 2007 6:06 PM

Re: vegetarian children with allergies and intolerances

 

 

Dear Vrgparents,

 

Does anyone have children they are raising vegetarian or vegan who have food

allergies and intolerances (e.g. milk, wheat, soy, etc). How have they

dealt with this? How have they dealt with naturopaths or mainstream doctors

pressing for the introduction of fish and or meat, or products derived from

animals like thymus and fish oils?

 

my thanks

Chana

<BR><BR><BR>**************************************<BR> AOL now offers free

email to everyone. Find out more about what's free from AOL at

http://www.aol.com.

 

[Guest guest]

nobody has to put up with a doctor who is pressuring lifestyle changes

you've educated yourself out of. we looked really hard to find an

AP-friendly, veg-friendly doctor on our area and we were referred to a

wonderful one through motheringdotcommune. she is awesome. she thinks it's

great that our kids are vegan. she's said repeatedly that our son is the

healthiest child she sees and she wishes the rest of her parents were as

conscientious as us about what we feed our kids. the only thing she asks

about supplementing is b12, but when we explained about fortified products

like soymilk and nutritional yeast, she was satisfied. never hassled us

about co-sleeping or going without vaxes or anything else at all either.

look around a bit because it's a much more positive, productive relationship

when your kids' doctor seed eye-to-eye with you and you don't have to go in

every time anticipating a big battle. i would especially be suspicious of

working with a doctor who is not current on medical research and persists in

hanging on to old, archaic medical ideas (like dairy for calcium, meat for

protein, etc.).

 

chandelle'

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Chandelle,

 

I limit soy for myself and my son. There's a great book out, also by Jo

Stepaniak, called the Food Allergy Survival Guide (I believe; I'm too lazy

to look it up). Anyway, all the recipes are vegan and free of common

allergens. It's also got some great information in it.

 

Marla

 

> i'm glad this issue was brought up. the mother of one of my husband's

> students has had to switch her son to a mostly vegan diet because of

> allergies. way back when, i directed her to stepaniak's " becoming vegan " as

> a resource for transitioning. however, her son is also allergic to soy, so

> a lot of vegan resources are an annoyance/frustration to her because they

> impress so much on soy as a replacement for...well, everything. she also

> has him (and the rest of her family) on a fish oil supplement because of

> omega questions. sadly, when she asked me about how we deal with omegas in

> our family, i hadn't slept more than an hour the night before being up with

> a sniffly newborn and i mumbled something about flax and didn't give very

> good information. i also didn't give very good information when she

> brought up soy " issues " other than to mention that we try very hard to limit

> our soy to only whole soy products like edamame, tofu, tempeh and miso,

> while heavily restricting isolated soy protein products. not that that was

> useful info for her anyway since her son can't have soy anyway, but hey, i

> was barely conscious at the time. but i would REALLY like to direct her to

> some information about dealing with soy allergies on a vegan diet. so if

> anyone has ideas, i would love to pass them on.

>

> chandelle'

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

>

>

> Dear Vrgparents,

>

> Does anyone have children they are raising vegetarian or vegan

who have food

> allergies and intolerances (e.g. milk, wheat, soy, etc). How have

they

> dealt with this? How have they dealt with naturopaths or

mainstream doctors

> pressing for the introduction of fish and or meat, or products

derived from

> animals like thymus and fish oils?

>

> my thanks

> Chana

 

>

[Guest guest]

There is a special place in heaven for people like you...

 

louanne54 <louanne54 wrote:

>

>

> Dear Vrgparents,

>

> Does anyone have children they are raising vegetarian or vegan

who have food

> allergies and intolerances (e.g. milk, wheat, soy, etc). How have

they

> dealt with this? How have they dealt with naturopaths or

mainstream doctors

> pressing for the introduction of fish and or meat, or products

derived from

> animals like thymus and fish oils?

>

> my thanks

> Chana

 

>

[Guest guest]

A friend of mine's daughter has Sensory Input Disorder, and she's also

OCD/bipolar.

I know they had tried eliminating red food dye (they found there was a

connection) but I don't know if they did anything else. I've offered some

info I know of for some of the elimination diet, which they had been doing

at one point, but I know with everything else they were going through at the

time it was a whole lot.

They opted for homeschooling as well - and have been doing great, too. It

makes me want to do it too - but I think the school we found for our son

will be a good fit (though i still have some questions for them, but we have

another year before we can enroll him anyway, I have time to find out for

sure).

 

I am always in awe of parents who have gone through what you have, and what

my friend has gone though - I was there for her to get out her frustrations

through the worst of it - and you have more than one you're dealing with! I

know we see many of the same reactions with our son with dairy and when he's

reaching low blood sugar - temper tantrums, tanking mood and so on. I guess

because I've been there in some ways with my son - but not in any major way.

So I have a tiny glimmer of what it's like.

 

You are just amazing.

Missie

 

On 2/26/07, louanne54 <louanne54 wrote:

>

>

> >

> >

> > Dear Vrgparents,

> >

> > Does anyone have children they are raising vegetarian or vegan

> who have food

> > allergies and intolerances (e.g. milk, wheat, soy, etc). How have

> they

> > dealt with this? How have they dealt with naturopaths or

> mainstream doctors

> > pressing for the introduction of fish and or meat, or products

> derived from

> > animals like thymus and fish oils?

> >

> > my thanks

> > Chana

>

> >