Veganism and our toddler and the constant judging

[mrvegan]

My wife and i have been vegans for over 4 years now. We have an amazing little guy who’s 1 now and is being raised vegan so far. We’re following as much information as we can get to make sure we’re doing everything right. Plant Based Juniors is a book we’re using along with some other resources.

By far the biggest issue are other people’s opinions including even doctors and our pediatricians. We live in central Europe (Prague) where this idea of raising a baby, toddler, child vegan is a massive NO NO and dangerous! Especially my wife’s parents, who are both doctors, continue to make negative comments on all of this and sometimes even making my wife cry. Recently her mom even mentioned how what happens when our son turns say 10 and he happens to have a McDonalds burger at some party. He may die!

What is this??? What is wrong with so many people judging us? Her parents simply say, we’re doctors you are not and you don’t understand This truly upsets me and even worries me to some degree. Any thoughts on all of this? All this judging gets quite old and tiring in all honesty. Getting sick of it

Sorry to bring up similar points and posts as i have before it’s just that some recent things have happened with our family. Extremely upsetting

 

[Brian W]

You might not be a doctor but your doctor is not the World Health Organization and they say that a properly planned vegan diet is adequate for all ages, as do the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and a number of other official bodies.

World’s Largest Organization of Nutritional Professionals Says Vegan Diets are Suitable for All Ages​

World's Largest Organization of Nutritional Professionals Says Vegan Diets are Suitable for All Ages

 

[Second Summer]

Sorry to hear the people around you are not so supportive. This is not uncommon, unfortunately, especially when it comes to children. As time passes, it does get better - or at least it did for us.

I suppose one thing you can point to is the growing number of children who have been fed a vegan diet and who are absolutely fine. My own daughter has been vegan since birth, and my wife and I had already been vegans several years before she was born.

Another thing you can point out are statements by health authorities in countries such as the USA and Canada - as Brian W does above - which make clear that a vegan diet is healthy for all stages of life, including pregnancy, infancy, toddler-hood and so forth.

Also keep in mind that doctors - general practitioners - often do not have incredibly detailed or up-to-date training about nutrition. A doctor with a recent specialization in nutrition - i.e. a nutritionist, dietician or similar - should hold more sway than a GP or doctor with a specialization in another field.

 

[David3]

Wow, the Czech Health Ministry is quite anti-vegan! Vegetariánství, veganství apod.

This is in stark contrast to the health ministries of the United States, Canada, and the UK.

Eating Vegetarian | Nutrition.gov

www.nutrition.gov

Canada's Food Guide

food-guide.canada.ca

Vegetarian and vegan diets | nidirect

www.nidirect.gov.uk

 

[mrvegan]

Wow, the Czech Health Ministry is quite anti-vegan! Vegetariánství, veganství apod.

This is in stark contrast to the health ministries of the United States, Canada, and the UK.

Eating Vegetarian | Nutrition.gov

www.nutrition.gov

Canada's Food Guide

food-guide.canada.ca

Vegetarian and vegan diets | nidirect

www.nidirect.gov.uk

Germany too. very anti vegan for children

 

[mrvegan]

Sorry to hear the people around you are not so supportive. This is not uncommon, unfortunately, especially when it comes to children. As time passes, it does get better - or at least it did for us.

I suppose one thing you can point to is the growing number of children who have been fed a vegan diet and who are absolutely fine. My own daughter has been vegan since birth, and my wife and I had already been vegans several years before she was born.

Another thing you can point out are statements by health authorities in countries such as the USA and Canada - as Brian W does above - which make clear that a vegan diet is healthy for all stages of life, including pregnancy, infancy, toddler-hood and so forth.

Also keep in mind that doctors - general practitioners - often do not have incredibly detailed or up-to-date training about nutrition. A doctor with a recent specialization in nutrition - i.e. a nutritionist, dietician or similar - should hold more sway than a GP or doctor with a specialization in another field.

Unfortunately her parents just simply dont buy it or believe these organizations. They think it's BS and what they know and all their doctor friends know is the correct way. They are super close minded and feel this is very dangerous to his growth and future. No way to change their minds on this Thank you for your great reply though...

 

[Second Summer]

Unfortunately her parents just simply dont buy it or believe these organizations. They think it's BS and what they know and all their doctor friends know is the correct way. They are super close minded and feel this is very dangerous to his growth and future. No way to change their minds on this Thank you for your great reply though...

It sounds as if it will be a long, uphill battle for you then, I'm afraid.

I've never had to outright exclude family from my life, but I know a few others here have done so. It's not always just about veganism, of course. A slightly less drastic option is to move further away from them so you don't have to see them so often. Anyway, these are perhaps drastic measures, something usually associated with mind-controlling cults. (Which is not what we are, obviously!)

Germany too. very anti vegan for children

Re: health authorities, they are not independent bodies, but rather tools of the nation-states. And while the nation-states obviously wants what is best for their citizens' health, they also have their economies to consider. Which I think is why health authorities in my home country Norway keep promoting fish, cod liver oil and dairy, and health authorities in many other countries often appear to find health benefits in consuming whatever animal products are important to their own economies.

 

[mrvegan]

Re: health authorities, they are not independent bodies, but rather tools of the nation-states. And while the nation-states obviously wants what is best for their citizens' health, they also have their economies to consider. Which I think is why health authorities in my home country Norway keep promoting fish, cod liver oil and dairy, and health authorities in many other countries often appear to find health benefits in consuming whatever animal products are important to their own economies.

very interesting. never really thought of it that way... yah, my wife is super close to her parents but this whole vegan thing just continues to worsen, especially since having our son. it's getting extremely annoying. no clue how we will handle this. what they are trying to do is literally scare her, which I find disgusting. but they are so clueless about the whole subject and they believe they are RIGHT, it'll never work out.. shame

btw.. my wife and i visited Norway 3 years ago and did a 2,000km drive in a van. man, that is THE most gorgeous country, by far, in Europe. by far!

 

[Brian W]

btw.. my wife and i visited Norway 3 years ago and did a 2,000km drive in a van. man, that is THE most gorgeous country, by far, in Europe. by far!

Come to Sweden. 1 in every 10 people you see will be vegetarian or vegan.

 

[Second Summer]

btw.. my wife and i visited Norway 3 years ago and did a 2,000km drive in a van. man, that is THE most gorgeous country, by far, in Europe. by far!

It really is a beautiful country. Fjords, islands, mountains, lakes, forests, snow, ... I often question my decision to move to the UK!

Come to Sweden. 1 in every 10 people you see will be vegetarian or vegan.

Wow, that is a nice stat. Sweden is also a beautiful country.

(Sorry for going off-topic.)

 

[Emma JC]

So sorry you and your wife are having to deal with this, it must be awful.

There are a number of vegan mom youtubers that you could suggest that they watch. I know it is anecdotal but it may help a bit.

Youtuber Ellen Fisher has just had her fifth vegan baby and there are plenty more out there. It may be helpful for your wife to watch also as it will help to strengthen her resolve. Just google ' youtube ellen fisher ' or ' youtube vegan family ' and here is a video by Dr Klaper that may be helpful and the comments on this video are also interesting.

All the best with the years ahead and I hope being here on the forum will be helpful for you. Welcome!

Emma JC
Find your vegan soulmate or just a friend. www.spiritualmatchmaking.com

 

[Lou]

@Emma JC has already made some good suggestions. Besides YouTube vegan moms, there are other celebrity vegan moms. Tabitha Brown just got PETA's award for something. Alicia Silverstone is one of my favorites with her books and blogs.

But these people can only add anecdotal evidence and testimony. Probably easily dismissed by doctors. However it doesn't sound like these people can be convinced with evidence anyway.

 

[beforewisdom]

Society, as a whole, isn't going to become much more educated any time soon.

You can though. It is now 8 years old, but "Becoming Vegan" covers childhood nutrition and nutrition at all stages of life. The author has amazing credentials outside of the vegan community. Reading it will give you solid confidence in what you are doing so you can just let what people say to your roll right off of you.

 

[mrvegan]

Society, as a whole, isn't going to become much more educated any time soon.

You can though. It is now 8 years old, but "Becoming Vegan" covers childhood nutrition and nutrition at all stages of life. The author has amazing credentials outside of the vegan community. Reading it will give you solid confidence in what you are doing so you can just let what people say to your roll right off of you.

thank for this information and book reference. we’ll check it out. yah, we’re growing extremely tired of just constantly being judged. very tired

 

[beforewisdom]

That kind of goes with being a parent.

If you aren't judged by their diet, you will be judged by many other choices you are making for them!

 

[beforewisdom]

For your sanity, you can try logging what your child eats into cronometer.com.

It will tell you how much of each nutrient they got and how close it is to their daily requirements.

You can adjust the targets for their age.

 

[Lou]

I have heard good things about the book, Born To Eat.

 

[Emma JC]

For your sanity, you can try logging what your child eats into cronometer.com.

It will tell you how much of each nutrient they got and how close it is to their daily requirements.

You can adjust the targets for their age.

that is a wonderful idea!!

Emma JC
Find your vegan soulmate or just a friend. www.spiritualmatchmaking.com

 

[Second Summer]

For your sanity, you can try logging what your child eats into cronometer.com.

That is a good idea. I don't have a lot of experience using such apps, but I did log everything I ate for about a week back in the 90s one time, and it was a lot of work!

Also, kids are notoriously fussy eaters, so I suspect just meeting the calorie requirements may be a victory on some days. You'll probably find that you fall short on some nutrients. My advice would be to not be too hard on yourself for not meeting all the requirements all the time. Just make a plan for how you can improve it. Also, keep in mind that most other kids' diets are not meticulously logged into Cronometer, and they probably fall short as well since the average parent doesn't spend much effort thinking about their kids' nutritional needs. (There is nothing magical in animal foods that means just including them in your diet means you will meet all your nutritional needs.)

 

[Lou]

That is a good idea. I don't have a lot of experience using such apps, but I did log everything I ate for about a week back in the 90s one time, and it was a lot of work!

me, too. but it is so much easier today.
First off we have iPhones. and Cronometer is on the computer but also an app. And you can log each food as you are chewing it. Or you can just do it all at once while sitting at your desk
Second, the chronometer app has a barcode scanner.
It also hooks up with other apps. for instance it can track calories burned from Apple Health or various fitness trackers.