How To Introduce A Vegan Diet To Your Infant
June 16, 2010 by Dan Walters
Filed under Baby Tips
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If you are going to be putting your infant on a vegetarian diet when they are born, you should choose very carefully the formulas and solids that you will be giving your child.
If you are a vegetarian yourself, and plan on breastfeeding your infant then you may need to add nutritional supplements to your breast milk. A lot depends on your dietary restrictions. Vegan or ovo-vegetarians may need to supplement their child’s diet with Vitamin B-12.
But even if you are a strict Vegetarian you should be able provide all the other important nutrients that your child needs through breastfeeding, apart from Vitamin B-12.
If you do not breastfeed your child, it is better to feed them with a commercial formula feed that contains all the nutrients that they need. Some Soy milk or homemade formula milk may not have the same nutrients as commercial formula milk. This could lead to problems with your child’s development.
If you decide that you want your child on a Vegan diet. There are commercial Soy formula milks that do have the right amount of nutrition in them.
After a year you could use additional products such as Soymilk or yoghurt or other nutritional items to supplement your formula or breast milk.
Some nutritionists say that after one year old a child should really be on a high protein, full fat diet. This includes vegetarian friendly foods such as mashed avocados, Yoghurt, Soy milk and much more.
When your infant is ready to change to solid foods, you could add Vegetarian burgers, solid tofu, eggs and cheese.
By increasing your child’s protein and maintaining a full fat diet, you will be supplementing what a vegetarian diet lacks. Your child should develop as normal whilst still maintaining a healthy vegetarian diet.
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