[onhazier]

I may be receiving a placement of two little ones tonight. Both are vegan due to their parents religion. No problems. However, I've no idea what to feed the little ones. One is only 8 months old and may be malnourished. The other is about 18 months old.

What milk replacement do you provide when breast milk is not available? What can I cook for the children to ensure they are getting proper nutrition? Is there an appropriate multi-vitamin that I can give them as well.

This is an emergency placement, so I'll need to know what I need to provide for them tonight. It is expected to be short-term placement as well.

Thanks!

[chevyjewel]

Personally, I don't think there is a way to keep babies adequetely nourished on a strictly vegan diet. I think it's a stretch for most adults too. Growing bodies and immature immune systems need proteins and dairy, I can't imagine being so restricted as far as those two groups go specifically.

In any event kudos to you for taking this on. I have no clue and no suggestions but I wish you luck. I hope others have good answers for you.

ETA - If I were in your shoes I'd call up their/or another pediatrician to confirm a vegan diet is not appropriate for growing babies. Then get permission from their case worker to feed them what they NEED, not what their parents are forcing them to not eat.

[OakShannon]

I agree with the suggestion to call the pediatrician. A vegan diet is hard to do well. Some nutrients, particularly B12, are only available in animal products and need to be supplemented. Young children also need fat and calorie dense foods since their tummies are so small. Vegan diets are usually high in fiber, which can fill little tummies before they have eaten enough calories. You might need to cook with more oil to increase the fat and calorie content of the food.

With the 8 month old, I assume he/she is on a soy based formula? Tofu is another good source of fat, protein and calcium. It's also a good baby food because it is very mild and it is soft and easy to eat. My baby likes it a lot. Soy milk is healthy and has fat and calcium for the older baby. I would feed exclusively whole grains because of the extra vitamin content. I would also ask about nut butters. There is much less agreement now that delaying the introduction of nuts prevents allergies and nuts are a good source of fat, calories and protein as well. My 10 month old eats peanut butter with our pediatrician's blessing.

We are vegetarians (not vegan) and our pediatrician gave us a list of iron rich foods because iron is the greatest concern when children don't eat meat. Leafy green veggies, brown rice, tofu, beans, and other foods are a good source of iron - especially if you feed them along with a food that is high in Vitamin C, which makes the iron easier to absorb.

If you have the kids long enough, there are good books with recipes for feeding vegetarian and vegan children. Personally, though, I would want to talk with a nutritionist if I was going to do this long term. I would not personally be comfortable that I could do it well enough to provide for a young child's nutritional needs.

As far as dinner - if they are vegan, I'll bet they are used to eating foods that one doesn't usually think of as "kid food." A common vegan meal at our house would be a vegetable stir fry with tofu over brown rice with fresh fruit for dessert. I also make vegetable soup with a potato broth that my son eats mixed with brown rice. Or whole wheat pasta with butternut squash and other vegetables. I would typically give my son cheese or yogurt with a meal like that to complete the protein, but you can also add something like kidney beans, a soy cheese, or textured vegetable protein.

Hope this is helpful. Good luck!

[NotAMomYet]

Soy milk and rice milk are good things to consider. Check out "Veg Family" for some good ideas, too. Vegan Babies and Toddlers

I think that you should do everything possible to maintain a vegan diet for the children. There are many products available these days to make it easier - including "fake" butter, cheese, milks, and "meat" products (Quorn makes great "chicken nuggets" for kids). As an omnivore married to a 30+ year vegetarian, I've learned quickly how to adapt recipes.

If the baby was still being breastfed (common with vegan babies) you may have a hard time getting him/her to take to milk alternatives. Is it possible for the mother to express milk for the child? (Of course, depending on why the placement is happening, you may not have this option.)

Talk with a pediatrician ASAP to get some advice and tips. And remember - MANY vitamins include gelatin, so read the packages!

[Boulderbabe]

Just out of curiosity, what religion requires a vegan diet? The only one I can even think of is Jainism, and how many Jain babies end up in foster care?

My strong suspicion is that this isn't a religious issue. If it is, it might actually be that the parents are Jewish and keep kosher, in which case you can keep kosher more easily than you can do vegan.

[Mommyofthreetobe]

Im vegan and know a lot about vegan food...baby food however, I do not know...i know it exists becasue of allergies...I also know making it is not the best idea....I am running very late right now to get on teh road for a trip that will take several hours. I will come back on when i can. Untill then, please checkout these two sites, tehy are wonderfulad will help you. Just post your questions to teh forums and you will get lots of friendly answers from peopel who are raising vegan children.

Vegweb.com
Theppk.com (this one has a group espeecially for parents calle the "playground" peopel there will be able to help you out...)

good luck, keep us posted.

[basimah]

I know we really should take life advice from tv but I saw an episode of House where the parents were feeding a baby a vegan diet. The child was underweight and protective services was called due to the parents "starving" the child. Of course the vegan diet wasn't the reason the baby was underweight (a House diagnosis is rarely so simple) but I'm assuming the diet is not part of the reason the children were removed. I get amazed at how often any child rearing practice that is outside of the norm is looked at suspiciously. And I think Rastafarians are at least vegetarian, maybe vegan? I think many Hindus and Bhuddists are vegetarian too. Again, I don't know about vegan though. But the soy based formula was the first thing that popped into my mind.

[athikers]

Please do not assume the child is not well-nourished due to veganism. Speak with the child's ped if possible, in fact, speak with the parents if possible. This is a chance to let them help YOU with their kids needs in an appropriate way. It is quite possible, though you need to be very careful... to give these children the nutrition they need as vegans.

[Boulderbabe]

I used to work at a Gerber plant, btw, and I can tell you that all of their single vegetables and fruits are vegan. There's no added dairy or eggs in anything like their Stage 1 spinach or Stage 2 pears.

The jarred meats and the mixed dishes for older kids, obviously, are not vegan.

[potentialsinglemom]

Originally Posted by onhazier

I may be receiving a placement of two little ones tonight. Both are vegan due to their parents religion. No problems. However, I've no idea what to feed the little ones. One is only 8 months old and may be malnourished. The other is about 18 months old.

What milk replacement do you provide when breast milk is not available? What can I cook for the children to ensure they are getting proper nutrition? Is there an appropriate multi-vitamin that I can give them as well.

This is an emergency placement, so I'll need to know what I need to provide for them tonight. It is expected to be short-term placement as well.

Thanks!

They do have soy milk. Would that be considered vegan?

[greenrobin]

Ifind this very interesting primarily because we are looking at another quarterly visit. During the visit, we have to show the contents of our fridge. No soy milk is allowed, only cow's milk. I don't mean to be a doob, but do they really make allowances for the vegan diet on this? Our agency requires us to have the usual stuff--eggs, cheese, whole milk.

Just curious, I guess.

[fredalina]

Originally Posted by potentialsinglemom

They do have soy milk. Would that be considered vegan?

Soy milk is definitely vegan.

JMO but even if it's not religion but preference, you should do your best to maintain the vegan diet, as long as it's not the cause of their removal of course.

Veganism can be tricky for more than just nutrition. So many foods have animal products that you might not think about. Gelatin, lecithin, mono-and-diglycerides, and sometimes generic "flavor" can contain vegetable by-products. Just do your best and avoid the obvious things and you'll be fine.

[sergekel]

Fruits, fruit juice, rice milk...soy milk, cereal, Bush's vegetarian baked beans are good with rice or mashed potatoes.

I think Boca makes vegan burger patties and you can get those in any larger supermarket in the frozen section. Pasta with sauce, bean burritos (taco bell has bean burritos...tell them to leave the cheese off) They make soy yogurt and virtually any kind of dairy replacement. Hummus is a good spread for crackers...there is always the ole standby of peanut butter and jelly.

Lentil soup (can puree in blender for babies) split pea soup, any creamed veg soup using potatoes and or rice/soy milk instead of milk or cream.

Stuff like banana breads and pancakes can be easily made with egg replacer or ground flax seed for binding. Really, this is not as complicated as it might appear.

It WILL cost more, but health food stores (and even larger supermarkets) carry oodles of ready prepared vegan fare.

But especially for babies...bananas and cereal, peanut butter and jelly, beans and rice. It is really very, very easy.

Good luck with it all. Please don't stress over it. Call the local health food store and explain your situation and they will know of many parents with young vegan children. Maybe you can hook up with some of them, form friendships and they can help you food-wise?

Feel free to PM me for anything. Vegan & Vegetarian Recipes, Articles, Health Resource is a very good resource, as well.

[onhazier]

Thank you for all the input. Sorry I didn't reply last night. You know how it is when you take in a little one.

The children are beautiful and in better health than was anticipated. I suspect that Boulderbabe is correct about them being Jain. You asked how many Indian children ever come into care. For my county, these two are the first and yet we have a very large Indian population.

I've questioned the vegan label since I learned that Mom used Enfamil Lipid formula which is milk based. We're trying to get clarification if they are truly vegan or just vegitarian. I'm hoping for vegitarian because it would open up the diet to milk and egg products, potentially.

While it is expected to be a short-term placement, I anticipate it being legally complicated by the fact that only Mom is in the country.

Oh, and I learned that we're officially licensed as of yesterday as well.

[chevyjewel]

Congrats on becoming licensed AND on the placement!

I hope all goes well for you!!!