Raising vegetarian children - any advice?

can I give them tofu for protein? beans? I know nuts are a no no.
I'd love some pointers for BTDT moms.

I am going to go veggie myself as well. I've been thinking about it a long time, and the babies are my motivation to finally do it.

DH is NOT on board, is this going to be a problem because they will want what he is eating? How do you tell them they can't eat what Daddy is eating? Or anyone else for that matter? What do they eat in restuarants?

Re: Raising vegetarian children - any advice?

I'm not a vegetarian, but I gave DD beans starting around 10 months and she loved them.

On a side note-I think it will be difficult to raise your kids vegetarian if your DH is not on board.

If you do the cooking, it will help that you can prepare vegetarian meals that the whole family enjoys.

However, on those occasions where DH is eating meat/animal products it could be awkward. Would you be okay with them have meat occasionally? That might be a good compromise.

Re: Raising vegetarian children - any advice?

mine ate beans at around 8 months. I would put them in soup.

DH eats completely different then Josh and me...he always has.

Josh is off dairy and gluten. If DH eats ice cream, we get italian ice. I make him special english muffin pizzas when DH orders pizza.

If your kids are eating beans and tofu instead of chicken nuggets, you are making a world of a difference in their life. Nothing wrong with nuggets, but by introducing them to other things, and it helps to see you eating it too, no wrong can come from that.

In my house half my siblings were vegans. my mother would just cook 2 dinners.

good luck!

Re: Raising vegetarian children - any advice?

I have no advice, I was just wondering what your reasons are for trying this....
I think it might be difficult for you for 2 main reasons (and I'm in no way trying to talk you out of it)....
1. Your husband isn't in agreement. Why isn't he, and is this going to cause problems down the road between you two? Are your reasons strong enough to have this come between your parenting styles?
2. You are going to be starting with them. I know many adults who try, and struggle with vegetarian diets, especially at the beginning. I would think it would be easier for you to do this for your children if you already had some practice, and some trial and error of what works/doesn't work.

Good luck.

Re: Raising vegetarian children - any advice?

You can def give your baby tofu -it's a great source of protein.... you can even bread and bake them, to make tofu nuggets. We're not vegetarians, but my son preferred tofu before chicken because it was an easier texture for him. Beans and rice are also another one of his favorites. You can mix in plenty of other veggies to give other nutrients.

We've also cut up veggie burgers for him. Morning star farms makes alot of good vegetarian products.... one of our favorite are the veggie cakes which are brown rice, black beans, corn, peppers and cheddar cheese in the form of a patty, so good!

Re: Raising vegetarian children - any advice?

Re: Raising vegetarian children - any advice?

I'm a vegetarian, DH is definitely not. DD is not being raised vegetarian, but is being exposed to a lot of meat-alternative products (spinach nuggets, veggie burgers, etc). I am going to let her choose when she is old enough to do so. I think it would be really hard to make her a vegetarian at this point, because her dad eats meat.