I’ve been vegetarian for almost 30 years but took the leap into full-blown veganism much later on, just as I entered into motherhood, as it happened. And while I’d always promised to let my daughter make her own choices around food once old enough to do so, starting her off on a plant-based diet felt right to me.
While I felt relatively well-equipped to power myself through plants, nourishing my daughter and ensuring she received all the goodness she needed and deserved was far more daunting.
After speaking to her paediatrician, with a green light to pursue a plant-based diet once my daughter started eating solids, I readily dived into the internet and umpteen cookbooks only to feel instantly overwhelmed with all the research, information and conflicting opinions. I had so many questions: Is my child getting enough iron? What milk can replace cow’s milk? What’s the best source of plant-based protein? How do I make tofu taste good? How do we navigate parties and playdates? Argh! It felt like a rabbit hole and then some.
The last few years have been very much trial and error and learning on the job, so to speak. I’ve read books, spoken to experts, mined fellow vegan friends for recipes and saved more ‘vegan’ videos on Instagram than I care to count. And while there’s not a one-shoe-fits-all approach, the one thing I’ve learned is to never stop learning. Your kids will help you with that too, because their tastebuds and nutritional needs change as they age. So, while a lovingly cooked lentil bolognese might get a thumbs up when they’re a toddler, they might prefer something more colourful or flavourful when older.
But my overriding advice is to ask the experts. Myriad nutritionists and dieticians are trained to help parents manage dietary requirements and make healthy food choices for their children.
