intro/kids & meat/kids & milk

[Guest guest]

Hi all,

I'm a mom of 2 (5yo and 3 month old) and wife to another vegetarian. I

go back and forth between vegan and lacto-ovo vegetarian fare. I've

done so for 27 years (I'm 35) depending on how I feel. My daughter was

exclusively breastfed for a year before she ever had food of any kind,

and then was vegan until she discovered cheese at 2.5. My son will

probably follow a similar path, but who can tell.

 

We never had a formal talk about meat but questions just arose

naturally. At about 2.5 when my daughter found out other people eat

meat, and that meat is animals, she began obsessing about death. She

would stare at the deli counter in the grocery, pointing to each item

and asking what animal it is, and interviewing the customers standing

there, " are you buying dead meat? " " Do you eat meat? " " Why? " ... and

asking me why we don't eat it. She started to constantly act out themes

of meat, death, and blood in her play. Now when she plays restaurant

she always offers me chicken, or " roasted cow " or something. I just

chalk it up to her trying to find a place for vegetarianism-as-normal

in her world and processing the very heavy concept of meat-eating since

we are surrounded by carnivores. I have told her some of the more gory

details because she asks. Of her own accord she tried a bite of fish

once and a bite of salami once. I was upset, but did not make a big

deal about it, because I don't want it to become the forbidden fruit

that she's then disproportionately drawn to. She hasn't mentioned

trying it again since those two isolated occasions and doesn't seem to

be interested in it. As another poster said, meat in our house is just

not a food category. You might just as likely eat a towel as a piece of

meat.

 

As for the milk/soy milk question - you mau find your child doesn't

like any milk. Mine is a water drinker, she has never chosen any kind

of milk as a beverage. In cereal she'll use whatever is there, either

cow's, soy, rice or oat. I really don't think it's necessary to drink

any kind of milk. The vitamins & minerals can be found elsewhere. It

might depend on how long you breastfeed - mine did til 2.5 so maybe

that's why no other milk appealed to her? Good luck.

 

Zoe