Diet from age 1-2years old

[lfwfv]

Hi everyone!

I so enjoyed reading Dr. McDougall's newsletter about feeding kids! I am 37 weeks pregnant with our first child and am looking forward to breastfeeding my little boy and then feeding him a whole foods, plant-based diet.

That said, i have a couple of questions that weren't really addressed in the newsletter:

For anyone who has raised their children vegan from day 1:

1) Were you able to breastfeed through 2 years? If yes, how often did you nurse per day from age 1-2?

2) Did you do anything specific to make sure the under-2-year-old was getting enough fat for brain development? I know children after age 2 don't need more fat than adults do, but i do know that even McDougall and Jeff recommend breastfeeding until age 2 because of the increased need for fat in an infants diet. Standard advice is to replace breastmilk with whole fat dairy milk. No thanks! I don't buy that that is necessary, but i do think i will need to be aware of getting our little guy enough fat while his brain is rapidly developing...especially if i end up not breastfeeding past the 1st year.

I am not sure if i will be able to breastfeed past 1 year, and i am already trying to think about how i will meet my nutritional needs between 1-2 years. After that, i think i understand well enough how to meet his nutritional and caloric needs.

Thanks!
lfwfv

[Summer]

I nursed five, all for around 2.5 years each, but I couldn't tell you how often because I just didn't keep track! I do know it varied depending on if they were sick, feeling more needy, going through a growth spurt, too busy/involved in other things, not around me, or we were out for the day and also each kid was a very different nurser. I did not do anything special for food beyond breastmilk, all my kids ate whatever we were eating.

[blueberries]

I nursed several children beyond 2 years. Nursing was probably more than 75% of their diet at one year and that decreased gradually over the next year. Though they haven't been completely vegan, they were essentially vegan before age 2, and we have never been cow milk drinkers.

I do make sure they get healthy fats such as seeds, a few nuts, and avocado once they start solids. I'm still trying to learn what Dr. McDougall says about children, but I don't understand why one would try too hard to restrict whole food vegetable fats for healthy growing children. I think children fed only whole plant foods from birth will learn to regulate their appetites to what they need. I do give my children a vegan DHA supplement.

[jamietwo]

For the folks that haven't seen Dr. McDougall's newsletter about feeding children this way - here it is!
http://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2012nl/sep/children.htm

To answer your questions (based on my experience):

1) Were you able to breastfeed through 2 years? Yes. My initial plan was to breastfeed for one year, but as we approached the one year mark it was obvious that my little one was nowhere near ready to wean. We ended up practicing child led weaning which took us through the toddler years. If yes, how often did you nurse per day from age 1-2? I didn't track this either, but some kids will nurse a long time and then go for a few hours. Mine, especially in infancy, nursed a few minutes, napped a few minutes ... around the clock!

2) Did you do anything specific to make sure the under-2-year-old was getting enough fat for brain development? Thanks to breastfeeding throughout the toddler years, I had no worries about fat, nutrition or any type of development!

Good luck - you can do it! What seems "strange" or "old" with regard to nursing now will not seem that way when your little one is one or two years old.

[Lasko77]

I nursed several children beyond 2 years. Nursing was probably more than 75% of their diet at one year and that decreased gradually over the next year. Though they haven't been completely vegan, they were essentially vegan before age 2, and we have never been cow milk drinkers.

I do make sure they get healthy fats such as seeds, a few nuts, and avocado once they start solids. I'm still trying to learn what Dr. McDougall says about children, but I don't understand why one would try too hard to restrict whole food vegetable fats for healthy growing children. I think children fed only whole plant foods from birth will learn to regulate their appetites to what they need. I do give my children a vegan DHA supplement.

Agree and agree and agree.

I would never, ever even consider restricting fats from my active, thin toddlers diet. I don't care what anybody tells me. Whole food plant fats are not going to harm him. I add nuts, seeds, avocados and coconut products everyday. My son is in the 5th percentile for weight, so I try to add fat where I can. He simply does not eat enough in volume to supply adequate fat. He eats tiny, tiny portions and that means each portion has to have concentrated fat. He will only sit for a matter of minutes to eat, so for him to get enough fat and protein from beans would mean he would have to sit and eat a full cup of beans. That is not happening!! He eats about 3 beans at a sitting. This is why adding nuts and seeds really is a lifesaver.

I also gave my son a DHA supplement. We ran out and I never got another one. I am not sure yet whether to get it.

[Grammy Ginger]

Were you able to breastfeed through 2 years?
lfwfv

Just try getting the child to stop. They love to nurse once the initial learning curve is passed (some don't have a learning curve). Don't get discouraged by the challenges of the first week or two. Hang in there. Nursing is so much more convenient and inexpensive than using a crummy bottle filled with soy or dairy formula. Gross!

Nursing a child is a unique and lovely experience for mother and child. Yes, it ties you down, but children grow up so quickly; it is good to devote a year or two to your child's best start in life. The child tapers off quite naturally if it isn't a big deal. Feed the child, when hungry but not as a pacifier. Schedules are for bottle fed children. If you go by the child's needs, they will receive the perfect formula for that hour. Breast milk varies in content from feeding to feeding with no rhyme or reason other than the possibility that it is made to order.

I had fat babies and thin babies among my several children who were exclusively breast fed. When they expressed an interest in the items on my plate, I gave them tiny nibbles of green vegetables, then yellow, then rice, then beans, saving sweet fruits for last. They have adventurous palettes and love natural foods.

They weren't raised vegan but vegetarian. Later we added red meat on the advice of the doctor, since several of us were anemic. Bad choice! None of us got over anemia with meat but all got fat and high cholesterol to varying degrees.

[Grammy Ginger]

I remember a statement Dr. M made about potatoes and malnutrition in children in Peru. I can't find the article. Anyway, they were brought back to health with a diet of potatoes and fat. I'm not sure what exactly this means. Possibly, the child needs a bit of guac on their potato to give them enough calories. Maybe Jeff or Dr. M could elaborate.

[lfwfv]

Wonderfully helpful info everyone, thanks!

Yes, i think my tentative plan is to nurse as long as we can, and to be sure to introduce plenty of avocado, nut butters etc. to our son when he starts eating solids. I agree that kids need the freedom to eat more of those foods, not even just for the fat, but also for the calories, because most whole plant foods are relatively calorie dilute for their little bellies. McDougall makes it clear that the higher plant foods are perfectly acceptable for kids who need the calories.

Not so sure about the DHA supplement yet....i believe Dr. Esselstyn has very negative feelings towards them. I will need to do more research on that particular subject.

Thank you all!
lfwfv

[Grammy Ginger]

Hold off on nuts. They are one of the most allergy causing foods. It is supposedly best to wait for these foods until after age two. But do your own research into this idea.

[Erbse]

I bf my two girls for many years because they were very keen. First one to 5 ys and 2nd one to 6.5 yrs. That said, the last few years they only nursed for short times and towards the end only morning and night for a minute. They can both (fondly) remember it and said bm is very yummy

I think I started them on things like avocados and pureed veggies, baby rice cereal when they persistently tried to grab my fork when I was eating. (not before 6 months though). They only tasted the food and didn't eat more amounts until at least 9 months. Every child is different though. You can get some that tuck in early and some that seem to never want any solids.

With dd #1 I had some issues due to lack of knowledge (cracked nipples and breast infections). If you have any of those, don't stop feeding even if your Dr wants to "dry you up" like they always seem to suggest. Find a lactation consultant if there is even a hint of a problem. Same with breast feeding. I had a lot of good support from La Leche League.

There is a lot of wrong advise out there. I was told wrong things that directly contributed to my problems with dd #1. Of course that's only an issue if you have a problem.

I also co-slept with both my babies. My lactation consultant friend read the studies about it and said they showed it was only a problem if the mother smoked (or was on drugs, alcohol). Dh slept in a single bed next to us for the first year.

During growth spurts they will want to feed a lot. You might get very tired of it then but hang in there. Once the milk supply (through suckling) is stimulated enough and supply matches demand again, things will settle down. Watch out though, as that is the time when "everyone" will tell you that you haven't got enough milk and need to supplement.

How lucky your wee boy is to have a vegan mother already! My dd#1 ended up with ear infections probably through me eating dairy (we were vegetarians then).

[blueberries]

Good ideas from Erbse.

I second the advice to seek support from La leche League.

Also lactation consultants are often a much better source of help than doctors when it comes to breastfeeding, depending on the doctor. It is good to have some resources lined up ahead of the birth in case you need them. I thought I was as prepared as anyone could be prior to my first child, yet once that little baby was here it was a whole different thing and I did receive some advice that in retrospect was not the best. Any trouble breastfeeding can seem just overwhelming in the first few weeks as you adjust to becoming a mother, and support from partner and health professionals can be critical in those cases.

[Reni]

Hi everyone!
That said, i have a couple of questions that weren't really addressed in the newsletter:

For anyone who has raised their children vegan from day 1:

1) Were you able to breastfeed through 2 years? If yes, how often did you nurse per day from age 1-2?
Currently at this point, as my daughter is 21 months old. On days that I work, she usually nurses as soon as I get home (love this session as we get to 're-connect'), and at least once before bed. She does not always sleep throught the night, in fact it is rare when she does, so ofter we have a dream-feed midway through the night. On weekends she may nurse 4 -5 times a day. I'm ready to wean her, as I'm pregnant now and am not enjoying nursing as much. She however has other ideas, so we go by the motto that I "don't offer and don't refuse".

2) Did you do anything specific to make sure the under-2-year-old was getting enough fat for brain development? I know children after age 2 don't need more fat than adults do, but i do know that even McDougall and Jeff recommend breastfeeding until age 2 because of the increased need for fat in an infants diet. Standard advice is to replace breastmilk with whole fat dairy milk. No thanks! I don't buy that that is necessary, but i do think i will need to be aware of getting our little guy enough fat while his brain is rapidly developing...especially if i end up not breastfeeding past the 1st year.
Yes, I make sure she has tofu a few times a week - it is one of her favorite foods, and she also drinks about 1/2 - 1 cup of full fat organic soy milk a day. I let her have cashew-tofu mayo, avocados, whole wheat breads and nut butters as she wishes. She actually was quite chunky during her first year, but has now slimmed down considerably.

I work with doctors and dietitians everyday as I work for a baby-formula company (hey, it's a job). I was able to pull several very helpful research papers to ease my mind. If you haven't read "Vegan for Life", it is a good read as it lays out nutrients for just about every life stage.

P.S. I'm not worried about soy products one bit. I think that Asian cultures are just fine eating soy products on a regular basis. My only concern is that the soy I buy is organic.

Thanks!
lfwfv