Vegan Babies
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I have a vegan baby.
So that means that I’ve collected some information about vegan babies recently.
Guess I should be polite and share…
Before the baby comes, you can have a vegan baby shower. VegNews just published an article with suggestions:
“If you’re aiming for elegance, try hosting an afternoon tea. Cucumber finger sandwiches are an easy and refreshing way to provide some lightness to a meal. If you’re looking for something a little more substantial, try the white bean bruschetta or California sushi rolls. Orange sugar cookies, pear and fig tarts or vanilla cupcakes with chocolate glaze are all sure to satisfy maternity cravings, and those of your guests as well.”
When baby arrives, it’s VERY simple. For the first six months, babies should be fed exclusively breast milk. Everyone who knows anything about babies will agree that breast is best. But the ADA recommends vitamin D supplements for breastfed babies of vegan mothers.
But if breast milk is not an option the experts say to “use iron-fortified formula (soy for vegans).” So, since we are adopting and I am not breastfeeding, we chose a soy formula. Vegan Health says this about soy infant formulas:
As of June 2007*, the following brands were vegan except for the vitamin D3:
- Bright Beginnings Soy Pediatric Drink – vitamin D synthesized from animal cholesterol.
- Enfamil ProSobee LIPIL and Enfagrow Soy Next Step – vitamin D from lanolin; DHA from microalgae; ARA from fungi.
- Parent’s Choice Soy Infant Formula sold only at WalMart – vitamin D from lanolin.
- Baby’s Only Organic Soy Formula – vitamin D from lanolin.
- Ross Labs Similac Isomil – vitamin D from lanolin.
- Nestle Good Start Supreme Soy DHA DHA & ARA and Good Start 2 Supreme Soy DHA & ARA – vitamin D from lanolin.
Click here for thoughts on the subject of trying to be 100% vegan.
As baby grows, he or she will need different food.The ADA continues for older babies: “Since breast milk is such a rich source of nutrients, vegan mothers may want to breast feed for more than one year. Wean vegan infants with soymilk fortified with calcium and vitamins B12 and D. For toddlers, rice milk should not be used as a primary drink because it is low in both protein and energy.”
The Vegetarian Resource Group agrees:
“Certainly it makes sense for vegans to continue breast feeding for a year or longer, if possible, because breast milk is a rich source of nutrients. Vegan infants should be weaned to a fortified soy milk containing calcium, vitamin B-12, and vitamin D. Low-fat or non-fat soy milks should not be used before age 2. Rice milks are not recommended as a primary beverage for infants and toddlers as they are quite low in protein and energy.”
The ADA also makes these specific recommendations for vegan toddlers:
- Vegans, both breast feeding moms and children, need a good source of B12. Options include a supplement or fortified foods like soy or rice beverages, cereals and meat substitutes.
- At least one quart per day of fortified soy milk in order to obtain adequate vitamin D.
- For vegan toddlers, calcium-fortified foods and beverages or supplements may be necessary.
- Babies are born with enough iron for four to six months. After this age, vegetarian and vegan infants need an outside source. Options include iron-fortified cereals or supplements.
- Protein needs can be met with breast milk or formula until about 8 months. After that, add plant proteins from beans and cereals and fortified soy milks.
- Lots of fiber can fill toddlers up quickly. Provide frequent meals and snacks. Use some refined grains, such as fortified cereals, breads and pasta, and higher-fat plant foods like sunflower butter and avocados to help vegan children meet their energy and nutrient needs.
For more information about infant and toddler nutrition, please visit these websites:
- http://www.eatright.org/Public/content.aspx?id=8060
- http://veganhealth.org/articles/preginfchil
- http://www.vrg.org/nutshell/kids.htm
* As of July 26, 2011: The names of some formulas have changed since 2007. For example, Similac Isomil is now known as Similac Sensitive Isomil Soy Formula and Enfamil ProSobee LIPIL is now just Enfamil ProSobee. Nestle Good Start Supreme Soy is now Gerber Good Start Soy Plus.
UPDATE August 25, 2011: My son is now a toddler and no longer a baby. He is still eating a vegan diet and doing great. His growth has been exactly on target and he’s developmentally on-track. After age 1 we weaned him from the soy formula and switched to a fortified unsweetened fullfat soymilk. He loves it and enjoys all his other tasty vegan foods, too. His favorites are beans, pea soup, pasta, peanut-butter on crackers, applesauce, and strawberries.
PS – Here is another article about raising vegan children: http://www.peta.org/living/parenting/raising-a-vegan-baby-the-first-year.aspx
This is great info, thanks for posting ! The only thing I would add, that rarely gets mentioned, is Nutritional Yeast. This is such an incredible food, loaded with a wide variety of important vitamins & minerals, that it should seriously be a staple of every vegan kitchen. The Red Star VSF (Veg Support Formula) in particular is one of the top quality varieties to look for, as some of the others (including other Red Star types) are not guarenteed to contain B12. During pregnancy, veg/vegan women should be certain to incorporate plenty of nutritional yeast into their dishes, it’s wonderful sprinkled on popcorn, chips, crisps, pastas, pizzas, into soups, on salads, into avocado and other dips, etc. But even outside of pregnancy, just in general, nutr.yeast is a very good ingredient to utilize on a regular basis for everyone. I’ve met folks who became vegan and after a little while they didn’t feel at their best, then I suggested that they begin to incorporate nutr.yeast into their diet and it made an enormous difference. The Red Star VSF variety contains a natural form of B12 produced from a fermentation process, along with generous amounts of folic, zinc, other B’s, protein, selenium, iron, etc. My wife enjoyed plenty of it throughout her pregnancy (along with a daily prenatal vitamin of course), which went wonderfully, and our now 2 year old son loves it and licks it from his fingers after finishing a bowl of whatever he had it sprinkled on.
I think it’s so great that you’ve chosen to adopt a child (too few people do) and are choosing to raise it as cruelty free as possible. Congratulations to you and your husband!
.-= revolutionary and joyful´s last blog ..An Existential Cry in NYC =-.
Thank you for the congrats on the decision to adopt.
I’m not sure that too few people choose to adopt. I do, however, agree that there is currently a need for many more adoptive homes, but that the need is for homes for children of color, children age 6 and over, sibling sets, children with medical or emotional special needs, or any combination thereof.
But no matter how many adoptive homes are available, they’ll never solve the problems that cause children to need adoptive homes. Adoption is not a “solution” to any social problems. Adoption is simply a method of family-making and isn’t better or worse than other methods.
I highly reccomend Baby’s Only Organic Soy Formula. They do not use corn syrup or corn syrup solids-the cheapest form of carb out there. It is very extrememly tasty and you might find yourself finishing it off because of that. Most people say that flavor doesn’t matter because formula is utilitarian and taste doesn’t matter to babies, but I disagree. Breastmillk is sweet! Why shouldn’t the substitute taste good? As far as the lanolin is concerned… the formula is made in the US and US sheep here aren’t generally used for mutton. IDK if that helps you decide.
Also adoptive mom’s can lactate with some effort. Just get a pump (double electric would be the fastest method, I reccomend Medela) and pump for 10 minutes every 3 waking hours, suppliment with Motherlove More Milk Plus (its got fenugreek) and try Domperidone, it induces lactation because of the high prolactin levels. This is a Canadian medicine however, I got mine from inhousepharmacy.com 80mgs daily. In 2-3 weeks you chould get a few drops and may make a full supply in 3 months. Adoptive mama’s milk is still vegan of course because of the consent, and La Leche League talks about adoptive lactation as well (also called relactation, but usually when mom has been pregnant before).
So if adoptive lactation isn’t possible I highly reccommend Baby’s Only. Its awesome.
Hope that helps! and Congrats on new baby.
**Also are you adopting a newborn? Could you ask biomom to not clamp the cord for at least 3 minutes? This helps baby keep his iron and vitamin K. The placenta contains 25-40 percent of babies blood. Yet we cut it away automatically. At no other time in life may we lose %25-40 of our blood and still survive, and yet we do this to babies routinely! Maybe they wouldn’t need all those shots if we just let the baby keep all its blood! My baby was not jaundiced after delayed cord clamping
Desiree, if/when I have a biological baby I think I will save the cord blood, but that was not a possibility with this adoption. We’re doing foster-to-adopt, not a private newborn adoption.
I am pregnant and vegan. I eat lots of veggies,fruit,beans,nuts and tofu. I also use nutritional yeast for B-12 and take Calcium and Vitamin D a few times a week along with my Prenatal. I feel amazing and I am right on schedule with weight and baby development.
I intend to breastfeed and then raise a vegan child with very good nutrition.Variety is the key.
My family is vegan. Our 7 month old is currently on Baby’s Only, and has been since about 3 months of age. I’ve read recently about a possible link between infant intake of soy formulas and ADHD (due to high levels of manganese). Has anyone heard of this? He’s been doing quite well on the formula, but this has me worried. Especially since he’s been showing signs of hyper behavior at times. It tends to be when he’s overtired, so perhaps that’s all it is.
Hey – great post. I just came across a new line of Vegan Baby Care products, thought you’d be interested! The website is http://vintagebodyspa – click on “baby.” I found them on Twitter… @veganbabycare. Thanks again for all your great advice!
I am adopting a newborn baby. What formula would you recommend?
Julie – congrats!
I felt most comfortable feeing our son Earth’s Best organic soy formula. But we used Similac formulas first (dairy, soy, and hypoallergenic) trying to find the one that worked best for him… now that he’s a toddler and has outgrown his GER, things are soooo much easier!
Remember, every child is different and each formula tastes a little different too. Most likely, they will feed him/her a dairy based formula at the hospital. You might want to stick with dairy and in particular, that brand, for a week or two and slowly ease him/her into a new soy formula.
Whatever you do stick with commercial formula. Do not attempt to make your own.
Thanks for posting this. We are welcoming a little angel into our home and I’m vegan so I have been a bit confused abouthow to procede.
Hello just saw this and you should really so you research before giving your children soy formula.. it is banned in many euro countries including UK….just look what I found in article below..
The estrogen factor means that babies fed on soy formula will take in the equivalent of five birth control pills daily. In 1992 the Swiss health service estimated that 100 grams of soy protein provided the estrogenic equivalent of one birth control pill. Infants and small children fed on soy protein display early maturation and precocious behaviour with a documented case of one two year old girl developing pubic hair and breasts. Infant soy based formula has been banned in the UK unless with the recommendation of a medic.
Soy formulas are NOT banned in the UK – what are you talking about? Also, your figures and ‘stats’ are completely innacurate.
Thank you Nicola. The commenter called NOS…ANTS is spreading false rumors. His comment is not true. Here is a link about soy infant formula in the UK: http://www.vegetarian.org.uk/factsheets/soyainfant.html
Thanks for the great post. It’s always great to get more info. Thanks for the references too. We’re vegan and adopted. We tried to breastfeed but nothing came so we went with babys only which I buy at lucky vitamins.com and it’s a much better price! He now is 1 and I’m a bit nervous about weining him onto soy. are there any other options out there? What if we fortify the rice milk with a protein powder? He goes through a canister of formula every 2 days at most. He can chow! He’s on solids too and loves fruits and veggies. Any suggestions would be great. Thanks for the post again!
aloha
aloha, I have seen some parents give their 1 year olds almond milk and I have seen advice in magazines to just swtich to water and feed higher calorie meals. But I wouldn’t recommend either of those.
The standard mainstream advice from American experts in pediatric medicine and nutrition ALL recommend soy milk for vegan toddlers. It has more protein and more fat than the alternatives and studies show that it’s safe.