If, for dietary or ethical reasons, you have decided that you want to put your infant on a vegan 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 vegan, you may need to supplement breast milk with additional sources of nutrition, depending on your dietary restrictions. If you are a vegan, you should add sources of vitamin B-12 to your diet.
Other than the B-12 your infant should be able to receive all micro and macro nutrients through breastfeeding, even if you are on a strictly vegan diet. B-12 supplementation is just not for vegans
In the U.S. Framingham Offspring Study, one in six meat-eaters between ages 26 to 83 were B12-deficient – Source
If you plan to use formula rather than breast milk, 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 formulas.
After about a year, you can begin to supplement formula or breast milk with other sources of nutrition, such as homemade formulas and plant milks.
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. If you actually take a look at the nutritional information on Breast Milk it only contains 1g of protein and 4.4g of fat per 100grams. Breast milk contains majority Carbohydrates 7g, something to keep in mind.
When you are ready to switch your infant to solid foods, best to start with some mashed / puree fruits and veggies, home made is always better but if you’re time poor or when your just on the go there are plenty of fruit and veggie baby food options in supermarkets and most of them are organic.
If you supplement what a non vegetarian diet lacks, maintain a full-fat diet, and increase your infants sources of protein, you should have no problem maintaining a healthful vegetarian diet during your childs crucial developmental stages.
