The Complete Idiot's Guide to Vegan Eating for Kids - M.s.j., Dana Villamagna [28]
The Formula Option
If a vegan baby is not breast-feeding, the only option in infant formula is soy formula. This falls under the BPO (best possible option) category. Currently, artificial infant formulas of any kind aren’t as healthy as breast milk in many ways. No soy formulas are approved for preterm infant use, so if your baby is a preemie, it’s breast-feeding or milk-based formula. And almost all soy formulas reportedly contain some animal-based products from the vitamin D supplement in the formula (derived from sheep wool or bird feather extract).
This all points back to encouraging vegan moms to work through any hesitations about or complications during breast-feeding. But for the limited number of moms who truly cannot breast-feed, soy infant formula or milk-based formula in the case of premature babies is the current BPO.
That said, soy formula may increase the risk of babies developing peanut allergies. There’s no evidence to confirm that the phytoestrogen and isoflavones in soy may affect the growth or hormonal balance of developing human babies, but it’s an ongoing field of study because those components have been shown to have effects on animals.
On the plus side, soy formula has been shown to reduce the duration of diarrhea in babies experiencing gastroenteritis. But even then, after that illness is gone, the AAP recommends parents return to breast milk or cow’s-milk-based formula.
If you feed your baby soy formula, be sure to follow the recommended feeding schedules and preparation recipe for the individual brand you have. Be aware that formula-fed babies will have fewer bowel movements because formula tends to be constipating, but still watch urine and bowel movement output and visit your child’s doctor for regular well-baby checkups and weight gain checks.
Your pediatrician or family medicine physician may question your choice of soy formula. Be honest about your reasons and open about your vegan choice. AAP and AAFP guidelines tell doctors to direct parents toward breast-feeding and cow’s-milk-based formulas “in most cases” but do note exceptions for babies with allergies to cow protein and “strict vegans.”
When choosing how to feed your baby, keep in mind that breast-feeding or formula feeding doesn’t have to be a one-or-the-other proposition. If there’s a need to supplement with formula because of reduced milk supply, a work situation, or other reasons, you can still continue to breast-feed. Identify your goals for feeding your baby, get support as necessary, and adjust as needed. Many moms who set a goal to breast-feed their baby for 3 months find themselves still nursing the baby at a year. Some moms who plan to wean at a year end up allowing their toddler to naturally wean themselves over a period of many months.
Parent Trap
Never use regular soy milk to feed a baby. Never attempt to make homemade infant formula or buy it from a source other than major manufacturers regulated by the FDA. As the infant formula tragedies in China sadly proved, not including all nutrients, reducing certain levels of essential nutrients, or allowing contaminants into infant formula can cause the illness or death of otherwise perfectly healthy babies. Don’t take the risk.
Introducing Solid Foods
It can be a shock the first time your sweet little baby is sitting on your lap at dinner and sticks his hand in the middle of your plate. What’s he doing? Trying to give you a clue, albeit a messy one, that he’s ready for solids.
Around the middle of an infant’s first year, he will likely begin to show signs of readiness for solid foods—sitting up on his own, grabbing food from your plate, seeming to be hungry despite nursing as much or more than usual, and decreasing tongue thrust when food is placed in his mouth.
Now is the time to set the tone for your baby’s life-long