Vegetarian Diets and Your Infant

If, for dietary or ethical reasons, you have decided that you want to put your infant on a vegetarian diet, you should be very careful in choosing formulas and solid food for your child.

If you plan to breastfeed the infant and you are also a vegetarian, you may need to supplement breastmilk with additional sources of nutrition, depending on your dietary restrictions. If you are a vegan, or an ovo-vegetarian, you should add sources of vitamin B-12 to your child’s diet.

Other than the B-12 supplements, your infant should be able to receive all micro and macronutrients through breastfeeding, even if you are on a strictly vegan
diet.

If you plan to use formula rather than breastmilk, you should stick to commercial formulas, which contain the proper amounts and ratios of nutrients. If you opt for
a homemade formula or soymilk over a commercial product, your child could experience developmental problems from a lack of proper nutrition.

If you want to keep your infant on a vegan diet, you can select a soy commercial formula, as long as it is nutritionally-adequate.

After about a year, you can begin to supplement formula or breastmilk with other sources of nutrition, such as homemade formulas, soymilk, yogurt, and cow’s milk (if you are not a vegan).

Nutritionists suggest that you keep your infant on a full-fat, high protein diet after age one, which includes vegetarian-friendly foods, such as mashed and pureed avocados, soy milk, nutrient-fortified tofu, and yogurt.

When you are ready to switch your infant to solid vegetarian foods, you can introduce solid tofu, pieces of vegetarian burgers, eggs, and cheese.

If you supplement what a nonvegetarian diet lacks, maintain a full-fat diet, and increase your infant’s sources of protein, you should have no problem maintaining a healthful vegetarian diet during your child’s crucial developmental
stages.

The Difference Between Vegan & Vegetarian

If you recently started reading about vegetarian diets, you have probably read all sorts of strange vegetarian terms and categories like "vegan," "ovo-lacto vegetarian," and "semi-vegetarian." You probably wondered what the big deal was. Afterall, what is so conceptually tough about not eating meat?

And you were right!

The distinctions between these sub-categories of vegetarian are actually small, but each is very important to members who belong to the groups. For them, these distinctions aren’t arbitrary lines; they are important dietary or ethical decisions.

Let’s take a look at some of these groups:

VEGETARIAN:

Vegetarian is a blanket term used to describe a person who does not consume meat, poultry, fish, or seafood. This grouping includes vegans and the various sub-categories of vegetarian; however, it generally implies someone who has less dietary restrictions than a vegan.

SEMI-VEGETARIAN:

The term semi-vegetarian is usually used to describe someone who is not actually a vegetarian. Semi-vegetarian generally implies someone who only eats meat occasionally or doesn’t eat meat, but eats poultry and fish.

OVO-LACTO-VEGETARIAN:

Ovo-lacto vegetarians are vegetarians who do not consume meat, poultry, fish, and seafood, but do consume eggs and milk. This is the largest group of vegetarians.

OVO-VEGETARIAN:

Ovo-vegetarian is a term used to describe someone who would be a vegan if they did not consume eggs.

LACTO-VEGETARIAN:

Lacto-vegetarian is a term used to describe someone who would be a vegan if they did not consume milk.

VEGAN:

Vegan is the strictest sub-category of vegetarians. Vegans do not consume any animal products or byproducts. Some even go as far as not consuming honey and yeast. Others do not wear any clothing made from animal products.

Take some time to figure out what group you will belong to when you become a vegetarian. You will want to consider both dietary and ethical reasons for choosing this lifestyle.