# Vegan Milk Alternatives for Toddler



## Colleen2 (Jul 5, 2006)

I have NO idea where to post this. NO idea. I've spent the last chunk of time looking for the appropriate forum. Being more an infrequent lurker then a poster, not too familiar with the structure here.

I am seeking some input from the crunchy mams here on vegan alternatives to formula, soy, whole milk AND breastmilk. (







I know I know)

I have 12 mth old and I NEED to have an alternative now, I'm not goign to bother convincing you (i.e. don't need LC support etc), I am simply seeking my options.

I am wondering, can I make my own almond milk for the days he's with his dad? or what are my other wholefood alternatives?


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## spedteacher30 (Nov 20, 2005)

because of my little one's nut allergies, I cringe every time I hear someone suggest almond milk for a little one.

Personally, we go for rice milk, hemp milk or oat milk. Ricemilk is the cheapest and least nutritionally dense. But, it is also the one he likes the best, and comes in convenient 8 ounce "juiceboxes".


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## Colleen2 (Jul 5, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *spedteacher30* 
because of my little one's nut allergies, I cringe every time I hear someone suggest almond milk for a little one.

Personally, we go for rice milk, hemp milk or oat milk. Ricemilk is the cheapest and least nutritionally dense. But, it is also the one he likes the best, and comes in convenient 8 ounce "juiceboxes".

Question about rice milk. As its protein deficient, is it an adequate replacement for breastmilk. All my research has indicated thus far no.
Curious about hemp and oat milk.


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## spedteacher30 (Nov 20, 2005)

none of them are an adequate substitute for breastmilk completely. However, since many toddlers get water when they can't have breastmilk (and the fats and calcium are compensated by foods) we decided that ricemilk is OK for occasional use.

Our doctor told us that none of them can be given without careful menu planning, but that ricemilk is OK just like water is OK.

I nurse my 19 month old when we are together (each morning, evening, night and weekend) but he drinks water or a milk-sub at daycare. When I am away for the night for work, my partner gives him 4 ounces of frozen milk at some point during each day (either for daycare or before bed usually).

my boy is milk and soy allergic as well. There is also a rice-based toddler formula powder called Toddler Health. We haven't tried it, but are waiting for the free samples to arrive sometime soon...


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## Colleen2 (Jul 5, 2006)

Beautiful. You have been endlessly helpful







Thankyou!!!!!!!


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## eclipse (Mar 13, 2003)

When I was a WOTH, pumping mom, my son decided he was done with EBM, so he just drank water. It sounds from your original post that your son will still be nursing when with you, but will be with his father for periods of time without access to breastmilk. If it is just for a day or two at a time, AND he's eating a decent amount of solid foods, I would think plain water would be fine. I don't think soy milk is really a good alternative for a toddler (and soy has done a number on the digestive tracts of all three of my kids). If he's not a big water drink, rice milk should be okay as long as he is getting fat from other sources on the days he's with his dad.


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## dovey (May 23, 2005)

If you're looking for something to boost the fat content of rice or almond milk, you might try adding a few tablespoons of coconut milk in a cup. Coconut milk is high in saturated fats which are important for brain development. My 16 month old daughter loves a drink made from almond milk, coconut milk and a dash of maple syrup.


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## spedteacher30 (Nov 20, 2005)

I know of kiddos with failure to thrive because of their allergies who drink rice milk with olive oil mixed in.

luckily, my kiddo is a tank, so we have never had to worry about adding fat to his milk-subs.

Also, we buy our hemp milk at Whole Foods. It is made in canada. I have seen some recipes for homemade hemp milk on line, but we have not tried it ourselves.

hemp milk is definitely the lowest carb, highest fat, highest protein option I have found.


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## veganf (Dec 12, 2005)

We use primarily rice milk and some almond milk. However that's in addition to breastfeeding, but my third son has decided on his own that he will only nurse before naptime and bedtime, so his breastmilk is limited these days. As long as you are including healthy fats in their solid food diet you should be fine. Breastmilk is important for vegan babies during the first 2 years more than babies on other diets because of the cholesterol. If my kids didn't get at least SOME breastmilk under age 2, I would consider supplementing with donor milk. Internal cholesterol production does not typically reach adult levels until age 2-3. (But obviously some babies are fed exclusively soy formula and still seem to do fine, so I don't think it's absolutely critical.)
But all of my boys have started having some rice milk during the day between 6-9 months of age and are all very healthy (50-75% for weight, 75-99+% for height).
I personally only use soymilk for baking or birthday treats.

You could get a soymilk maker and make your own nut milk, etc. Very easy to do apparently, though I don't own one.


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## ThreeBeans (Dec 2, 2006)

Nut milks are NOT milks. Look at the ingredients. They often have a huge number of additives and sugars in them and dont' provide the nutrients in actual milk.

FYI: while a vegetarian diet is always very healthy a vegan diet is never appropriate for a toddler. Obviously you are still nursing so it's moot at the moment, but trying to make a toddler/young child vegan is a recipe for malnutrition and related disorders.


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## ThreeBeans (Dec 2, 2006)

Why can't you pump and send the milk with your son when he goes to his dad?


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## veganf (Dec 12, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *ThreeBeans* 
FYI: while a vegetarian diet is always very healthy a vegan diet is never appropriate for a toddler. Obviously you are still nursing so it's moot at the moment, but trying to make a toddler/young child vegan is a recipe for malnutrition and related disorders.

Unfortunately I think you are very misinformed about nutrition. Vegan diets are very healthy for toddlers or adults.
And a vegetarian diet is not "always" very healthy. No diet is ALWAYS healthy, it is up to the consumer to make healthy choices within a given diet. You can eat junk on ANY kind of diet if you choose.
Human breastmilk is considered vegan.
I have 3 healthy children who have always been vegan. I have been vegan for 15 years and vegetarian before that. All of my pregnancies have been healthy and uneventful aside from some morning sickness. Saying that veganism is a "recipe for malnutrition and related disorders" is quite ignorant IMO.


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## nighten (Oct 18, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *veganf* 
Human breastmilk is considered vegan.

I'm so glad to see you wrote that -- a while back there was a story in the news about a vegan couple who's child had died from a horrifically unhealthy diet, and (as I understood it) they didn't see breastmilk as vegan. Such a terrible and sad story, I'd hate for people to think most vegans shared such a misinformed opinion of breastmilk.

FWIW, we're raising our child vegetarian but not vegan, but I totally agree that any diet can be potentially unhealthy depending upon the focus. But it's very possible to raise a child vegan or vegetarian and have his/her diet be extremely healthy, especially if the child is breastfed.


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## dawncayden (Jan 24, 2006)

We do rice milk or coconut milk over here. He'll drink rice in a glass or I'll put coconut in a smoothie or with his cereal/oatmeal or bake with either one.


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## Kailey's mom (Apr 19, 2007)

1 avacado
1 banana
2 tbsp flaxseed oil
(sometimes)blackstrap molasses ( dd hates the taste))
30 oz enriched rice milk....or 15oz almond/15oz rice
infant probiotics
infant multivitamin
a heaping spoonful of coconut milk
than blend









honestly,it's tastes like banana more than avacado..although it does turn out a pretty shade of green


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## dawncayden (Jan 24, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *nighten* 
I'm so glad to see you wrote that -- a while back there was a story in the news about a vegan couple who's child had died from a horrifically unhealthy diet, and (as I understood it) they didn't see breastmilk as vegan. Such a terrible and sad story, I'd hate for people to think most vegans shared such a misinformed opinion of breastmilk.

Was that the couple that only fed their baby ground up nuts and seeds and water, and that was it? No breastmilk, or anything else.
Last I read, they are pregnant again and plan the same diet for their next child







:

I believe eating vegan can be very healthy as long as you get enough fat and protein in your diet. Most people that turn vegan as a fad are often the ones that are not eating right. I had many friends in highschool that went vegan, then HAD to start eating meat because they were weak all the time and fainted easy. But they weren't eating a balance diet.

Anyway...sorry to get away from the topic


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## Margot Adler (Jun 2, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *veganf* 
Unfortunately I think you are very misinformed about nutrition. Vegan diets are very healthy for toddlers or adults.
And a vegetarian diet is not "always" very healthy. No diet is ALWAYS healthy, it is up to the consumer to make healthy choices within a given diet. You can eat junk on ANY kind of diet if you choose.
Human breastmilk is considered vegan.
I have 3 healthy children who have always been vegan. I have been vegan for 15 years and vegetarian before that. All of my pregnancies have been healthy and uneventful aside from some morning sickness. Saying that veganism is a "recipe for malnutrition and related disorders" is quite ignorant IMO.

as long as the child is getting a varied diet and sufficient b-vitamins there should be no problem.


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## nataliachick7 (Apr 3, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *dawncayden* 
Was that the couple that only fed their baby ground up nuts and seeds and water, and that was it? No breastmilk, or anything else.
Last I read, they are pregnant again and plan the same diet for their next child







:



what? why would they do that AGAIN if their baby died from that diet?

i thought she was talking about the vegan couple whose baby died because they only fed her soy milk (not formula soymilk-just regular soymilk) and juice. it was all over the news. im pretty sure that they are in jail right now-or soon will be.


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## veganf (Dec 12, 2005)

It's very sad that the only news about vegan diets many people hear are about babies essentially being starved to death







: . In the few news stories I've read about babies dying on a "vegan" diet, it wasn't the fact that the diet was vegan that killed them, they were usually just not feeding the baby enough or age appropriate foods (ie. breastmilk or formula). All babies "should" be vegan until 6 months old if you believe that they should only receive breastmilk







: . So it's not veganism that killed these babies, but unfortunately it's more sensational to put an anti-veg spin on the articles.









The Sprouts playgroup in the greater Boston area is proof IMO that children on a vegan diet are very healthy. There are dozens of children happily playing just like any others, they just happen to eat a vegan diet. Otherwise they're all pretty normal!


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## Colleen2 (Jul 5, 2006)

nvrmind.


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## catnip (Mar 25, 2002)

Commercial organic milk substitutes are (often, not always-read your labels!!!) fortified with calcium, b-12 and other nutrients that are present in dairy milk. If your child is vegan, they need a reliable source of B-12, and fortified "milks" are a good place to get them. Unfortunately, almond milk is very low calorie, coconut milk and rice milk have almost no protein, and the common brand of hemp milk is not calcium or B-12 fortified.

It's a tough call. Soy's got a good amount of fat and protein and it's readily available in an enriched form, but it lacks saturated fat, which is pretty important to the under 2 set. It's also fairly allergenic. We do soymilk, and have had no problems. My 32 month old also still nurses 2-3 times a day most days.

I think if I had to make the decision based on your criteria, I'd go with hemp milk, and supplement calcium and B-12 (and D depending on whether sun is a reliable source with your child's latitude, climate and skin color) seperately. You are also going to make sure you've got a good source of saturated fat.


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## DesertFlower (Oct 20, 2004)

You can make milk out of any kind of nut or seed, like almonds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, brazil nuts, etc. You want to soak your seeds/nuts overnight in about 4 cups water for each cup of nuts. That will remove some toxins from the nut/seed. In the morning you can either change the water and let the seeds/nuts sprout longer, or strain them, rinse them, and make blend them with water in a 1:4 ratio. You then want to srain the with either a cheescloth or one of these http://www.rawguru.com/store/raw-food/nut-milk-bag.html You can then (if you want too) blend the strained milk with some high quality oil (like Udo's, or flax oil), some sweetener, and vanilla or almond extract.
Don't soak hulled hemp seeds.
If you are in a hurry, you can blend some hemp seed butter or almond butter and strain it (or not, for an older child)


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## DesertFlower (Oct 20, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *nighten* 
a while back there was a story in the news about a vegan couple who's child had died from a horrifically unhealthy diet, and (as I understood it) *they didn't see breastmilk as vegan*.









: I'm speechless...


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## alana1980 (Dec 2, 2006)

We use Almond, Hemp, Soy, Rice, Oat, Hazlenut, multigrain milks on a rotating basis. I use soy to cook with and ds drinks the others. I really like the idea of adding a little cocunut milk to the rice or almond milks. I buy all of the "milks" at Whole Foods.


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## Avena (May 27, 2005)

we are starting to make our own! then there is no added weird vit's!


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## ktmama (Jan 21, 2004)

Because of all the additives in these "milks", including sugar (they're not really milk, btw), I would just give water and make sure of a complete and nutritious diet.


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## Neth Naneth (Aug 11, 2006)

When DS was 12 months old his dad mentioned to a friend that he was vegan, and then they asked about him being breastfed.







: I guess the milk part throws people, although they'll know coconut MILK, almond MILK, rich MILK and soy Milk are vegan.







:


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## PikkuMyy (Mar 26, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *ktmama* 
Because of all the additives in these "milks", including sugar (they're not really milk, btw), I would just give water and make sure of a complete and nutritious diet.

Not all nondairy milks have that many additives. And you can get many brands unsweetened now.


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## *green*faery* (Feb 6, 2005)

Hi! We give our son unsweetened rice milk, hemp milk and some unsweetened soy. He also enjoys some diluted 'green' juice, sometimes home-juiced and sometimes store bought green juices. He stated having some of these around a year in addition to a good (veggie) diet and breastmilk (he weaned at 21m)


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## BeanyMama (Jul 25, 2006)

I like unsweeted hemp milk for my little. It's full of omega 3s.

i hate those news reports







: a vegan diet can be so healthy for a toddler, if your not a big idiot about it


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## ilikethedesert (Feb 4, 2004)

We use rice milk, too. Not as a formula replacement, but for a calcium source once solids have been started and my kids start weaning. I think if your babe has started solids and is getting a decent amount of nutrients from food adding in a milk is okay. Rice Dream Enriched is calcium and B-12 fortified and organic and although it does have sugar, it is naturally derived. Trader Joes has the best prices.


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## *Karen* (Jul 28, 2006)

I would mix almond and coconut milk.


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## nighten (Oct 18, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Elfine* 







: I'm speechless...


Yeah -- but unfortunately it's not as uncommon a thing as you might think. Sad, I know. I even had to re-read the OP's post to make sure she wasn't asking about alternatives to breastmilk (still am not sure whether she was or not but I figured since she asked in the Toddler forum she wasn't talking about breastmilk not being vegan, at least in terms of an infant's nutrition).

Either way, anytime someone brings up a reminder that breastmilk IS vegan, I'm all for the friendly bump to pass the word along.


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## kaylee18 (Dec 25, 2005)

In the tragic news-story cases I've seen, if you dig a bit deeper, you find out the parents were well aware that breastmilk is vegan: they just didn't succeed at doing it (as is sadly common, due to lack of social support, bad advice, and artificial-nipple pushing in hospitals), or they decided not to breastfeed (not because they thought it wasn't vegan, but for the same reasons that 30% of American moms overall never breastfeed).

When they find that there is no commercial formula that's completely vegan, they then choose terribly deficient alternatives. Combine that with a baby who sleeps a lot (and sleeps even more once he's starving: not all babies let you know when they're extremely hungry; kellymom.com has a warning about babies "sleeping to death"), a parent who doesn't realize that thin is the opposite of healthy for a baby and who may not even notice gradual weight loss if it happens over a few months, and a passion for a particular diet that borders on religious fervor, sometimes throw in a physican who doesn't recognize the gravity of the situation, and then tragedy ensues.

This doesn't only happen with vegans, either. Sometimes it's an impoverished mom who was given formula samples in the hospital, lost her milk supply to nipple confusion, then couldn't afford formula so she used whatever she had. Sometimes it's a mom who decided to exclusively formula feed and mixed the formula way too thin, or whose baby fails to digest the formula or has reflux and a resulting oral aversion. Sometimes it's a mom who is trying to exclusively breastfeed and has trouble (I know of one case where the mom had had a breast reduction and was never told that reductions could cause low milk supply), but doesn't recognize that there's a problem because the baby's "happy" (sleeps all the time). When these cases occur, if there was any breastfeeding going on, it's trumped in the media and blamed on breastfeeding; and if the parents were vegan, it's trumped in the media and blamed on veganism, with an implication thrown in that breastmilk isn't vegan when of course it is. On the other hand, if the mom was exclusively using incorrectly prepared formula and was not vegan, it's barely mentioned in the media and blamed on the mom.

In many of these cases the sentences are very, very harsh, because the jury is horrified at the photos of the poor baby. They refuse to accept that the baby's starvation was not necessarily evident to the parents, for whom the change was so gradual that they may in fact not have noticed it. They refuse to accept that the baby was not necessarily crying all the time or acting hungry constantly. And they come down on the mom, who they insist must have done this terrible thing intentionally. Tragic from beginning to end.


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