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If you're raising vegan children, my guess is you've decided to do so based on a mix of personal ethical beliefs, after reading about the hazards of a standard meat and dairy-based diet, simply because your child has allergies to meat and dairy products, or some mix of all of the above.
Children are naturally loving of animals and many people have to coax their children into eating meat, fish, and milk products. With their naturally inquisitive minds, you will probably find that they are really open to learning about why you eat the way you do and will enjoy telling their friends about it as well. Of course, if you've come to the decision to go vegan after you've already had kids, you might have to do more work with the explanations.
While so many people are unfamiliar with the vegan diet, it's actually not difficult to raise vegan kids.
I would definitely recommend checking out some of the amazing books about vegan parenting:
Raising Vegan Children in a Non-Vegan World
Raising Vegetarian Children: A Guide to Good Health and Family Harmony
That's Why We Don't Eat Animals: A Book About Vegans, Vegetarians, and All Living Things
Pregnancy, Children, and the Vegan Diet
When raising vegan children, one of the biggest obstacles you'll have to overcome will be with the scrutiny people will impart on you for your decision. Though you likely think it's radical to eat the flesh and byproducts of another species, they are used to eating that way, and to them it's radical to avoid animal products. It's a good idea to keep their perspective in mind all the time.
And, never forget that people are very sensitive about food decisions and about their personal methods of parenting. When you combine those two into raising vegan children and vegan parenting, you could create an explosive atmosphere. In most situations, I think it's best to keep discussions with non-vegan parents neutral and as far away from the food topic as possible. If you make very little fuss, they are much more likely to be accepting and go out of their way to make you (and more importantly, your children) feel comfortable in social situations.
I once read there are a million ways to do raising children right and just a few, obvious, ways to do it wrong. Even though we all know that, it's hard not to worry about how we raise our children. Add in wanting to raise compassionate children who don't eat animals and it can multiple those concerns. You can ask questions here about anything related to raising vegan children and we'll get answers from experienced parents for you.
Click below to see contributions from other visitors to this page...
Vegan Baby Bowel Movements
All of my friends with babies are non-vegan so I don't really have anyone to ask. Does an exclusively vegan breastfed baby's bowel movements differ in …
Vegan children and non-vegan grandparents Not rated yet
How do I navigate having my parents or my husbands parents baby sit and they are not vegan? I feel like they might take the "what mommy and daddy don't …
Vegan Snacks for Preschoolers Not rated yet
I have 2 children: 2 and 4 years old. I would love tips on handling preschool snacks. The parents take turns providing snacks and sometimes it is dairy …
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