Vegetarian moms with Vegetarian children out there?

[lhastie]

Hi! I'm vegetarian, have been for about 8 years or so. My husband isn't, but we rarely have meat in the house as we cook together and mostly make one main dish without meat.

As of yet, our daughter who is turning one hasn't had meat and for now we figure we'll keep it that way.

I was wondering how many other families out there are raising their children vegetarian. How is it going? Are there challenges you didn't expect? Has it been straight forward because you're vegetarian and they just eat what you do?

Just interested in saying hi to some other moms!

Thanks!
Lauren

[AnnasMom]

DH and I are vegetarian and so far, at 17 months, Anna is too. We haven't encountered any difficulties or challenges yet. We make a special effort to ensure she gets plenty of protein, but otherwise we don't give it much thought.

[boysRus]

for that number of years, hopefully you know how to provide the essential nutrients without the meat. I would mostly be concerned about providing the required amounts of Iron and Omegas (fish oils) if not eating meat or fish.
www.whfoods.com/foodadvisor.php is a site that can help you to find whether or not your diet provides essential vitamins and minerals.

[lhastie]

Thanks for the replies

My iron is always great, the doctors and Canadian blood services always give me funny looks when I say I'm vegetarian as my iron is really good for a woman

We're already giving the little one some ground flax with meals as it helps with the poop I figure I should probably add it to more of my stuff for the omegas! Should sneak it into the bread!

[myrrah]

I am mostly vegetarian (was actually veg for 15 years) and my daughter is mostly veg too. Iron has been an issue for us but we take Floravit with really good results. Apart from that, I offer veggies, fruits, grains, proteins... just like everyone else, only the proteins usually come from non-meat sources. We haven't had a problem so far.

[1moremakes4]

My husband is a strict veg. and I very rarely eat meat. We have 4 children and we have feed them meat... I have two teenage sons that play numerous sports and want meat in their diets. My 2 younger children are not yet fond of meat and rarely eat it. They are 6 and 1. We feel this is their decision on if they wish to eat meat or not, just as it was our decision. Most meals at our home are veg. yet I will cook meat for the older boys. We eat lots of East Indian dishes! Check out the book by Rose Elliot titled The Vegetarian Mother and Baby. It has some great recipes and ideas for raising veg babies!

[lhastie]

Check out the book by Rose Elliot titled The Vegetarian Mother and Baby. It has some great recipes and ideas for raising veg babies!

Thanks! I hadn't heard of that book.

I agree that it will have to be her decision in time. I personally am not keen on cooking it since I won't eat it... I guess my husband could always cook meat for the two of them