Baby news

[sipherlucian]

Hi folks, so i just found out that my wife and i are going to be parents, our first Ive been vegan now for 3.5 years, my wife is not but would practice vegetarianism most of the time.
Im sure many of you have struggled with what books, clothes, and general baby products to use, so im asking you as i treasure vegan opinions above all, would you please recommend.....
1. what books you would use for pregnancy focusing on healthy diets (baring in mind my wife is not vegan), mindfulness and ethical raising awareness.
2. vegan baby clothing and products (websites in europe preferable)
3. environmental impact from raising children and what you can do (example, we are pretty sure we want to use fabric nappies and non chemical cleaning products so anything along those lines would be great)
Im still in shock and want to start getting into it but im struggling to figure out where to begin, as soon as you google top pregnancy books you are overwhelmed with recommendations, there must be a book out there for every child on earth!
Any help to get me on the right path would be greatly appreciated, thank you

 

[Emma JC]

hello @sipherlucian and welcome to the forum

I would suggest checking out some of the vegan moms on YouTube as they have lots of suggestions and recommendations.

You can even watch some of them having their vegan baby.

Just a couple off the top of my head Ellen Fisher (she is about to pop her fourth), Fizz Family (have three vegan children from birth and another one for most of her life), Jon Venus' wife Kathrine Moen, and if you google vegan moms youtube you will find a whole lot more.

This is a good website your wife might enjoy.

Good luck! Emma JC

 

[KLS52]

Hello, welcome and congratulations!

 

[Second Summer]

Hello sipherlucian, welcome and congratulations!

When we found out we were going to be parents, my wife bought a book called Feeding your vegan infant with confidence - this one:

Feeding Your Vegan Infant with Confidence: a Practical Guide from Pre-conception Through to Pre-school: Amazon.co.uk: Hood, Sandra, Blake, Louise: 9780907337294: Books

Buy Feeding Your Vegan Infant with Confidence: a Practical Guide from Pre-conception Through to Pre-school by Hood, Sandra, Blake, Louise (ISBN: 9780907337294) from Amazon's Book Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.

www.amazon.co.uk

I think it served us well, but that was almost 9 years ago now.

I'd recommend anything you can find from the Vegan Society on the topic:

Yes, I am going to raise my baby vegan

Helen Rossiter looks at the challenges and triumphs of raising a vegan baby, and shares her favourite recipes.

www.vegansociety.com

https://www.vegansociety.com/sites/default/files/uploads/downloads/Pregnancy%20%26%20breastfeeding%20PDF.pdf

I wouldn't necessarily take nutritional advice from vegan social media stars unless they hold some kind of nutrition degree, or you've cross-checked with other, perhaps more authoritative sources.

I don't know that much about baby clothing or products. As for environmental impact and nappies: Some babies have sensitive skin, so you may not be able to use fabric nappies.

The other thing I wanted to say was that La Leche League was a massive help with breastfeeding. They appear to have local groups in Ireland:

La Leche League of Ireland - Breastfeeding Support Group

 

[Amy SF]

I’m afraid I can’t help as I’m not in Europe nor am I vegan or a mother, but I want to congratulate you anyway.

 

[sipherlucian]

I’m afraid I can’t help as I’m not in Europe nor am I vegan or a mother, but I want to congratulate you anyway.

best comment yet thanks

 

[shyvas]

Congratulations.

 

[Second Summer]

Regarding baby formula: I'm unsure vegan baby formula exists in Europe. My wife said there was one that was discontinued. There may be another one, but it was using rice milk - and these days you probably shouldn't be feeding children rice milk because of the issue with inorganic arsenic.

There is one or maybe a couple of brands which are almost vegan - soya based, but with animal-derived vitamin D3 or lanolin.

Obviously, do not try to make your own baby formula! Baby formula needs to have the exact right composition since it's usually the only source of food for the baby.

You gotta do what you gotta do when it comes to food - the baby needs to feed! If breastfeeding doesn't work out (and I'd recommend you try really hard to make that work), then try expressing milk. You can then consider supplementing with one of the almost-vegan formulas as expressing milk can be quite the faff.