What you should consider with vegetarian complementary foods
Is complementary vegetarian food just as safe for the baby as a purely vegetarian diet for adults? If you are a convinced vegetarian, you certainly want to feed your children vegetarian. You should pay attention to a few things so that your baby receives all the essential vitamins and minerals with complementary food.
Types of vegetarian diet
In the vernacular, vegetarian nutrition means the renunciation of meat and meat products. In practice, however, things get a bit more complicated, because within vegetarianism there are different diets. The most common groups of vegetarians include:
- Ovo-lacto-vegetarians: In addition to vegetable products, the consumption of milk, dairy products and eggs is permitted here.
- Lacto-vegetarians: Again, plant-based foods and dairy products are allowed, but eggs are taboo.
- Vegan: This strictly vegetarian diet avoids meat, seafood and all animal and animal-derived products, such as dairy products and honey.
Is complementary vegetarian food suitable for babies?
One of the basic principles of a healthy diet is: the more varied the diet, the better. Because only through a varied diet can the energy and nutrient needs of your child be optimally covered. So the more products that are excluded from a baby’s diet, the more likely it is that it will eventually lack one or even more nutrients.
Thevegetarian diet is therefore not recommended as optimal, but also not as unsuitable for feeding babies. So you can feed your baby meat-free without having to worry about deficiency symptoms. However, it is very important that you make sure to provide your child with the nutrients that are normally contained in meat with the help of other foods.
Vegan diet not recommended
A purely vegan diet is not suitable for children in infancy. You can find out more about this in our article “Feeding the baby vegan?”.
What to look for in vegetarian complementary food?
If you feed your baby purely vegetarian complementary foods, the nutrients that are normally found in meat – especially iron – must be supplemented by other foods and food combinations on your baby’s menu. After all, a lack of iron can not only lead to anemia, but also adversely affect the psychomotor development of the baby.
The diet should therefore include iron-rich foods such as whole grains (oatmeal, green spelt, wholemeal pasta) in combination with vegetables very rich in vitamin C (cauliflower, kohlrabi, rosehip, spinach) and fruits (kiwi, citrus fruits). Vitamin C promotes the absorption of vegetable iron better than any other vitamin.
It’s all about diversity
Even without meat, your baby can develop healthily. Just make sure that you always make your baby’s menu diverse and varied. At the same time, remember tointroduce complementary foods gradually. If you are not sure whether you are feeding your baby well and sufficiently, you can always ask a nutritionist or pediatrician for advice. However, as long as your child seems satisfied and bursting with energy, there’s no need to worry. If you want to make your baby’s diet even more interesting, you can be inspired by our delicious complementary food recipes, which we have summarized for you in ourspecial complementary food.
