Vegan diets for infants

Vegan diets for infants
by Virginia Messina, MPH, RD
June 1, 2009

http://www.examiner.com/x-5670-Seattle-Vegan-Examiner~y2009m6d1-Vegan-diets-for-infants?cid=exrss-Seattle-Vegan-Examiner

Vegan diets are healthful at all stages of the lifecycle—and that includes infancy. In fact, all babies start out as vegetarians. Vegan infants who are breastfed need vitamin B12 supplements, but other than that, their diet won't look different from omnivore babies until they are around seven months old.

Breast milk is the ideal food for any baby and should be offered until at least the first birthday. If breastfeeding isn’t possible or needs to be supplemented, commercial infant formula, including soy-based formula, can replace all or part of it in an infant’s diet.

For the first four to six months of life, babies don’t need—and shouldn’t have—anything other than breast milk or infant formula. It may look like a boring and unsatisfying diet, but it suits an infant’s needs perfectly. Some vegetables can actually be dangerous to very young babies—those younger than four months.

Babies are ready for solid foods between the ages of four and six months. One sign of readiness is the ability to sit up and maintain balance. Another is the ability to use the tongue to move food to the back of the mouth for swallowing. That takes a little practice for any baby, but very young ones can’t do it at all.

To read the full article: http://www.examiner.com/x-5670-Seattle-Vegan-Examiner~y2009m6d1-Vegan-diets-for-infants?cid=exrss-Seattle-Vegan-Examiner