Help! Carnivorous kid

[Julie&Leo]

Hi everybody,
I'm new to this forum and soooo glad that I've finally found some people who can help me. I decided to go vegan just recently. Before that, I did eat meat, but only occasionally and only meat carrying the "BIO"-label (which, in Europe, is a label given to meat from animals that were raised and killed in a specific, supposedly "humane" way). Now, I have decided to cut out all meats and dairy products (I never liked eggs so I haven't eaten them in years anyways).
There is only one problem: My little son is 2 and a real carnivore. He always tries to imitate his dad, who absolutely refuses to become a vegan or at least a vegetarian.:mad:
I would like to know if anybody here has successfully "converted" a toddler to veganism (not like it's a religion or anything ;) ), especially if the child's father did not cooperate? I would hate for my child to contribute to the suffering of animals.:(
Oh, and BTW, is honey accepted in a vegan diet or not?
Thanks so much for your help.

[celtic-womble]

Honey is not vegan; if you are otherwise vegan but eat honey you are technically avian. Most people just say they are mostly vegan but eat honey.

I think the first thing is to ask your husband not to eat meat in front of the kid. I thought I could start eating peanut butter again (my 19 month old weaned last week:( ) but monkey see, monkey wanna eat! Try sneaking in some substitutes. If he eats nuggets try the trader joes soy nuggets or health is wealth chick'n nuggets. Hot dogs are easy, there's practically no diffirence because the average meat hotdog is only about 2% meat anyway!

Go slowly, aim for lacto-ovo first. Once you get him off the meat you can start subbing things like soy yogurt for dairy and scrambled tofu for eggs.

My toddler has been vegan since birth and mostly since conception (totally if you ignore that random asiago bagel and sundried tomato cream cheese craving...) so I never had to convert him but he is the greatest eater. I've noticed that omni kids seem to be more picky. I hang out on a moms board and a veggie board and there are multiple posts each day about picky eaters on the moms board but every kid on the veggie board seems to eat great! My kid adores Indian food (he'd eat cauliflower pakoras with tamarind chutney at every meal if I let him), anything with beans, and he's a tofu junkie.

[Julie&Leo]

Hi,
thank you so much for your help. I tried vegan chicken nuggets the other day and my kid just loved them. I even gave him mango chutney instead of ketchup. He didn't even protest. He gets chocolate rice milk now instead of regular chocolate milk. And I'm also trying to introduce him to more different kinds of vegetables. And you're right. I have noticed that he has already become less picky.
Unfortunately, his dad and I are not married and have seperated recently. We still get along, though. But there really is no way to convince him to stop feeding Leo any meat. He just opposes the concept of veganism itself. He thinks that Leo will somehow lack nutrients if he becomes vegan. If anybody has any solution to the probolem, I'd be thankful.
One more question concerning honey: What do you use instead? I always chose honey over regular sugar, because it's more nutritious. Do you take some kind of syrup instead?
Thanks

[Christa]

Agave nectar is a good honey substitute. It is actually made from cactus and I think they use the same cactus to make tequila, but agave is not alcoholic ;). It's a bit thinner than honey, but tastes very similar.

[pghvegan]

maybe you and your family could join a local vegan group. our local vegan group holds potlucks, and all members of the families attend, even the carnivores. it shows people all the foods you can eat and just how healthy others vegans are.

there are a few children in our vegan group and they are some of the healthiest kids i've met. i never worry about bringing my infant around them, since i never see them with colds. :)

or.....maybe you could also go to a nutritionist, together, to address all the health concerns?

just my 2 cents.

:)



~stephy