My Perspective on Being a Vegan Changed in Motherhood

“I will never change my ways” is exactly how I felt about being vegan before I had children and ended up learning that it’s okay to ebb and flow and make changes for your needs as they come up.

The beginning of my vegan journey

As a child, I was never very fond of meat. I didn’t enjoy the “bad bites” of meat and often found myself grossed out eating anything from an animal.

Once I began to drive places, I was gravitating to meals that simply didn’t contain meat at all. Fast forward quite a few years later, and I was researching a lot more about my food, what I was eating, and all things about being vegan and vegetarian. I read a book called The China Study and watched YouTubers discussing raw meals and lifestyles. It was the day art of a disciplined life for me.

Plot twist in my plan

During my pregnancy with Claire, I was entirely vegan.

Postpartum, I was breastfeeding and providing her little body with the nutrients it needed, while also taking care of mine.

As part of my vegan lifestyle, I was eating quite a bit of soy, and nightshades because they were steady staples for me, and taking in a good amount of raw garlic for cold and flu season when my body seemed to go into a stress response sort-of state.

At the same time, my tiny Claire was also beginning to show signs of struggle. She was suffering from a pretty intense case of cradle cap and was getting what looked to be eczema on her fresh baby skin, pretty severely.

I started taking things out of my diet that may have been causing her issues, like soy and grains, but unfortunately to no avail, we were still seeing issues for our girl. We noticed that once she started eating solid foods, the more I took things out of her meals, the less she had available to eat. So, I ended up giving her seafood.

Being a mom, I like to try my kiddos’ food before they do, and so I, also, slowly started eating seafood. With some other symptoms coming up for Claire, like belly issues, we eventually added some chicken and turkey to her meals.

Recently, we had to take some iron-rich things out of her diet, and instead, we have tried grass-fed red meat to help add some of that iron back into her meals.

Here’s the thing

Veganism is not necessarily something I wanted to push on my children, but I did plan on having a predominantly vegetarian household.

I bought Claire books when I was pregnant with her and while she was an infant, that she still has today, however, it was not something I believed they needed to only be exposed to. It wasn’t that I wanted them to be grossed out by what meat was because they didn’t know anything about it.

I know the facts are that vegetarianism has health benefits, and I believe that a person’s body can tell and direct them to know what they need. Everything in moderation, is something I believe. There are still some things that we eat that are vegan, there are still some things we eat that are vegetarian. It is not one size fits all for our needs in our home.

When we eat meat, we actively make an effort to buy grass-fed, locally sourced, humanely and pastured raised meat because we know that factory farming is bad. So, we do still pay attention.

Perspective

Alongside my daughter’s food journey, I learned that parenthood can absolutely put you in a different season. It can give you a different perspective, and make you do different things.

I truly thought my position would never change on this, but when your little one has limited food options, you do what they need you to do.

I am grateful for a perspective change in motherhood and for being open to doing whatever you need, my sweet Claire and Peter.

We have continued to find ways to heal Claire’s gut and will continue to support her in the best choices to keep her feeling the best.

With the proper food choices, we have found a lot of success in her health responses. As parents, you will do whatever it takes to support your little ones.

Love always,

Mom