vegan kids

[Guest guest]

Hi all,

We are a vegan family with a 7-month-old daughter. We don't have a lot of vegan

friends and no vegans in our family, so we do a lot of educating and defending.

However, having a new baby in our lives has caused people to redirect their

arguments, i.e. babies need cow's milk, meat, dairy for growing bones. And

having a girl, people seem to really like to talk about research that has shown

that soy affects female hormones.

 

Anyone have any experience with such discussions? People we know seem to really

try to invoke the parental guilt ( " don't you know what you are doing to your

poor kid? " type of thing). I'd love to hear people's thoughts... or direction

to counter arguments.

 

Thanks a bunch!

T

[Guest guest]

Hi Tara

 

Welcome to Vegan Chat.

 

Jo

 

 

 

 

On Behalf Of Tara

22 February 2010 12:08

 

vegan kids

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi all,

We are a vegan family with a 7-month-old daughter. We don't have a lot of vegan

friends and no vegans in our family, so we do a lot of educating and defending.

However, having a new baby in our lives has caused people to redirect their

arguments, i.e. babies need cow's milk, meat, dairy for growing bones. And

having a girl, people seem to really like to talk about research that has shown

that soy affects female hormones.

 

Anyone have any experience with such discussions? People we know seem to really

try to invoke the parental guilt ( " don't you know what you are doing to

your poor kid? " type of thing). I'd love to hear people's thoughts... or

direction to counter arguments.

 

Thanks a bunch!

T

[Guest guest]

Hi Tara,

We too have a daughter (our only child). She is 11 and has never eaten animals. Both me and my husband's family eat animals and through the years we have heard our share of rude comments about our refusal to eat animals. We are never outspoken or rude about our relatives eating animals, but every now and then we receive off-handed comments from them. It is absurd that we are made to feel as though we are doing something wrong when all we want is to keep the murdered animals out of our diet. Our relatives are church going people and it is so strange that they condemn our actions when our actions are about not killing! It is very difficult to participate in family get-togethers when an animal is the focus of the meal. We will not do it. Animals are not food to us and it is very offensive to us.

 

We are happy vegans and our daughter's health is excellent since birth. She is growing just fine, but without the many problems we hear other children experiencing. We know that a vegan diet is the ultimate diet for health, but it is also the ultimate experience for mental and emotional health. We do not eat animals because we don't want to eat a murdered animal. We would personally never kill an animal and then eat it. It is pretty simple. It only gets complicated by those whose meat addiction is in full control of their body. Our daughter has been raised with a full understanding of compassion which shows in her maturity as compared with girls her age. All children know that killing an animal is wrong. It is the adults who convince them that killing and exploiting animals is not only o.k. but essential for "good" health. All lies.

 

You have taken a very advanced step by raising your daughter without eating animals and their body fluids. Her physical, mental and emotional health will prove it......who cares what others think or say, they are wrong. Your daughter is on an excellent path, thanks to you and your compassionate husband. We are happy to know that there are people like you in the world!

 

Hearts♥,

Veganlyn--- On Mon, 2/22/10, Tara <taracoss79 wrote:

Tara <taracoss79 vegan kids Date: Monday, February 22, 2010, 4:08 AM

Hi all, We are a vegan family with a 7-month-old daughter. We don't have a lot of vegan friends and no vegans in our family, so we do a lot of educating and defending. However, having a new baby in our lives has caused people to redirect their arguments, i.e. babies need cow's milk, meat, dairy for growing bones. And having a girl, people seem to really like to talk about research that has shown that soy affects female hormones. Anyone have any experience with such discussions? People we know seem to really try to invoke the parental guilt ("don't you know what you are doing to your poor kid?" type of thing). I'd love to hear people's thoughts... or direction to counter arguments.Thanks a bunch!T

[Guest guest]

I would visit The Vegan Society. They have information on raising vegan

children. Visit all the other vegan sites, and also maybe the Vegetarian

Society site, for information. You will then be able to clearly explain why

being vegan is good for you and your little girl.

 

There are some sites that say soy is bad for everyone, but they are wrong. The

only people who may need to limit their soy intake are people with thyroid

problems. Soy is good for balancing hormones and the phytoestrogens are very

good for your health.

 

Jo

 

, " Tara " <taracoss79 wrote:

>

> Hi all,

> We are a vegan family with a 7-month-old daughter. We don't have a lot of

vegan friends and no vegans in our family, so we do a lot of educating and

defending. However, having a new baby in our lives has caused people to

redirect their arguments, i.e. babies need cow's milk, meat, dairy for growing

bones. And having a girl, people seem to really like to talk about research

that has shown that soy affects female hormones.

>

> Anyone have any experience with such discussions? People we know seem to

really try to invoke the parental guilt ( " don't you know what you are doing to

your poor kid? " type of thing). I'd love to hear people's thoughts... or

direction to counter arguments.

>

> Thanks a bunch!

> T

>

[Guest guest]

Hi VeganLyn and TaraMe and my husband are both vegan and we have a two year old daughter who is being brought up vegan. We are lucky that we have not had any rude comments from family - well not to our faces! I am sure that some people probably do buy into the dairy myth but they have not said anything direct to us. I think being vegan has meant that I have a very good knowledge of nutrition, I know exactly what my daughter needs and what plant foods will provide it. Also I am still breast feeding so she is getting the right milk for a baby human. I think the main things that people will worry your child is not getting Tara, are calcium and protein although of course B12, iodine and omega 3 is something that also needs to be covered in a diet. Protein is of course a funny one because most people automatically assume if

you are vegan you will not get enough protein but all foods contain protein and the protein combining is really old hat now. Plus if you ask people to tell you the name for protein deficiency they will not know. It is that rare. I don't even know that most GP's would know. Calcium will of course be provided by breast milk and there are plenty of plant foods containing calcium and fortified soya products. I play safe and give my daughter a liquid B12 supplement. I make sure she gets strawberries for iodine. We sometimes have vegan sushi, there is some iodine in both her multi vitamin and also her fortified breakfast cereal and I mix a bit of flax oil in with her soy yoghurt each day. I did try putting it in her breakfast cereal but boy it tastes bad! I do think the soy research is biased and funded by dairy supporting foundations. I just think, like anything, you need a mixed and balanced diet

without too much reliance on any one food.As a parent you are totally and absolutely doing the right thing bringing your daughter up vegan. So you need feel NO parental guilt.Just make sure you are really well informed and you will for sure be better informed than any omnis. And also, like Veganlyn, me and my husband never criticise what others eat even though often people (outside our family) criticise what we eat!It is so so good to know there are other vegan families out there. Your daughter will be a caring, kind, compassionate, beautiful person. You are giving her the best gift possible.Best wishes to you bothElizabeth (and vegan Beanie )

[Guest guest]

As a mother of four (oldest is 13 years and youngest is 8 months) I can tell you

that you will be judged, ridiculed, thrown under the bus and crucified by

throngs of people regardless of whether or not you consume animal protein. Every

parent does what he or she feels is best for his or her family and if you're

doing it differently then they become threatened and must make you wrong. We

don't vaccinate, we practice extended breast-feeding, we are vegan, we are

atheist, we home birth - the list goes on and on. We do what we do because we

feel that it's what is best for OUR family. We never tell anyone else what to do

and because we know how it feels, we don't offer advice or criticism either.

Unfortunately others don't always share that perspective. On the up side, our

families are so busy criticizing us that they have very little time left to

attack one another. We're more or less the proverbial whipping boy, LOL. The

best you can do is try to ignore it and don't perpetuate it further by casting

your own judgement (not that you would but I know sometimes its tempting). Just

keep doing what you feel is right and don't be discouraged.

 

Katie

 

, " Tara " <taracoss79 wrote:

>

> Hi all,

> We are a vegan family with a 7-month-old daughter. We don't have a lot of

vegan friends and no vegans in our family, so we do a lot of educating and

defending. However, having a new baby in our lives has caused people to

redirect their arguments, i.e. babies need cow's milk, meat, dairy for growing

bones. And having a girl, people seem to really like to talk about research

that has shown that soy affects female hormones.

>

> Anyone have any experience with such discussions? People we know seem to

really try to invoke the parental guilt ( " don't you know what you are doing to

your poor kid? " type of thing). I'd love to hear people's thoughts... or

direction to counter arguments.

>

> Thanks a bunch!

> T

>