Raising a Vegan

My Little Vegan

Last week I prepared Eden's first meals. With a couple sweet potatoes that had been waiting in my hanging basket and a summer squash from my farm share, I boiled and baked then pureed what will soon be her first solid foods. With a piping bag I squeezed them into ice cube trays, covered it up with plastic wrap, and froze.

I am waiting for another couple weeks, until her 6 month birthday, to introduce her to solids, both for her sake and mine. Her's because it's recommended to exclusively breast feed for the first six months (if you are able) and mine because I have an irrational fear about her growing up too fast. I'm serious, it's irrational. I remember staring at her in the hospital, hours after she was born, sobbing because I was afraid she'd be leaving for college soon.

Hours after she was born and headed off to college

I've mellowed out about the whole "growing old too quickly" thing, but I still find transitions hard. Transitioning to her own room made for some long nights. Not so much because she was having trouble as I found the couch in her bedroom quite uncomfortable to sleep on. When Jason finally convinced me I needed to do some sleep training: training me to sleep in our room, I had the monitor up so loud I was waking up to crickets three yards over.

And before I have fully trained myself back into my bed, I have to deal with yet another transition: solids. Soon I will be making the conscious decision to make Eden a vegan. Up until this point I continued my lifestyle and grew, birthed, and raised a baby out of the choices I had made for myself. Now I will also be making choices specifically for Eden, a choice with which many won't agree. In this transition I need to be prepared for another round of, "Are you gonna make her a vegan?".

I came across an article today on VegNews: Three Vegan Parenting Myths, Busted. by Corinne Bowen which I found to be very helpful. She writes,


"After a healthy vegan pregnancy, my daughter entered the world with all 10 fingers and all 10 toes. Despite my smooth and uncomplicated journey to motherhood, I was still peppered with questions and skepticism concerning my diet along the way. It was all well and good to be vegan before, but now that a child was involved, I was going to drop this whole plant-based nonsense … right?


Questions and criticism have continued during the first year of my child’s life and I’m sure I’ll continue to encounter the same challenges at schools, doctor’s offices, celebrations, and vacations as the years progress. Most people mean well—they care about my kid and want her to thrive—but they’re speaking from a place of misunderstanding. It’s easy to get tongue-tied and upset in these situations which is why it’s handy to have some ready-made answers in your back pocket."

The article continues to answer three of the most common questions (and misunderstandings) with well thought out, well articulated responses.Enough from me, though, you should really just read it.

As I begin this new phase, I know I have a lot more than just personal adjusting to do. Here are a few of the conclusions I have reached:

1. It is important to be well-educated on the baby's nutritional needs and the foods necessary to fulfill them. There are all sorts of books and websites heavy with this information. Corinne Bowen's article is a great starting point with links to other supportive dietary information.

2. Like I said in my article Pregnant and Vegan, support is key to success. Especially with the consistent, skeptical questions. Friends, family, doctors are all great support system, but for those who lack support in those areas, find online support. The Kind Life, Alicia Silverstone's website has great forums for vegan pregnancies and parenthood.

3. Have fun with food. I may be scared of Eden growing up, but also I am so excited to introduce her to the world of food! This process can be a lot of fun, and the more fun, I have, the more confident I will feel as I make the choice to raise my child vegan in a non-vegan world.

And because I can't help myself, let's just get one more look at her before she wakes up and moves out.

Pregnant and Vegan

my extremely healthy, usually happy baby

By the time I got pregnant I had been a vegan for five years. Everyone knew me as vegan and the questions of “why” and “what do you eat” had long since past. So when I got pregnant a year ago I was surprised at the constant question, “Are you going to have a vegan pregnancy?” The question startled me every time because I hadn’t thought about it any other way. In fact I believed (and still do) that the vegan diet was the healthier choice for my fetus. Most questions were just curious, some cautious, but a few down right caustic. 

“Do you know what you’re doing to your unborn child?” Their eyes would say. “How can you be so selfish?” And, “what kind of mother are you going to be?”

Was I being selfish? Or perhaps just naive and clueless? I spent a lot of early prenatal appointments talking to my doctor about this, making sure I hadn't just been reading one-sided literature that would severely harm my child.

My wonderfully open-minded doctor helped me regain my confidence and with a little extra attention on my diet I birthed an extremely healthy, usually happy baby. 

This is what I did:

Raspberry Vanilla Protein Shake

1. Protein: A pregnant woman needs 75 grams of protein a day! That is a lot. In order to start off right I made sure to eat at least 30 grams for my morning meal. I did this through soy protein shakes I would make in bulk for the entire week, protein bars (I fell in love with Larabars  and started making my own version), and lots and lots of tofu and beans.

2. Calcium: I made sure to buy calcium-fortified soy milk and orange juice, ate calcium  chews (until I got so sick of them I had to hide the bag), and ate a lot of dark leafy greens. Did you know 3/4 cup collard greens as more calcium than 1 cup cows milk?

3. Supplements: Taking supplements was a new practice, but a very important one. I took (and still take for breast feeding) Rainbow Light Prenatal One, a fantastic vegetarian prenatal that only needs to be taken once a day, B12 (very important pregnant moms!), and Iron. I can proudly say my iron levels stayed great throughout my whole pregnancy).

4. Read. I spent a lot of time on websites and in the backs of cookbooks determining my nutritional needs and planning out how to fulfill them.There are many great resources for vegans during pregnancy. The Vegan Survival Guide by Sayward Rebhal, one of the first books dedicated solely for pregnant vegans, is a great resource I came across after giving birth. I found it important to stay well informed both for myself and my concerned friends and family.

5. Support. I was very fortunate to have a doctor who supported my veganism but I have heard stories of people defending their decision to their health care providers and not receiving their support. It is so important to find a nurse, midwife, or doctor who will work with your lifestyle choices and believe in the inherent health of a vegan diet.

6. Cravings. When the cravings came, I quickly found foods that would satisfy. The grocery store two blocks away carried vegan scones and I spent a lot of my days off stocking up. At home when I craved something sweet and chocolatey I had fast go-to recipes like my no-bake cookies. There was also a time I ate a lot of processed fake meat. Aware of all the foods available to me and with reliable, fast recipes there was never a time I was unable to satisfy a craving.

And in the end...

I had a great, though not without struggles, birth and a beautiful baby girl...wanna take another look? 

As my journey continues I learn how to have a vegan baby who will grow into a vegan toddler. I'm sure there will be lots to share. And maybe next time I'll tell you what I did with my placenta. :)

Do you have any vegan pregnancy thoughts or stories?