I am an extended breastfeeder to a 3yr old and a breastfeeding counselor to other mamas. I am also a very avid pro-breastfeeder and anti-formula gal. I feel like veganism really falls in line with my beliefs around infant feeding and that excites me.

Does veganism tend to go in line with breastfeeding? I mean, I would assume so. But I'd like to hear more from others.

btw, i'm a flirt

They go hand-in-hand.  The basis of vegan nutrition in following a natural, from-the-Earth diet.  Nothing is closer to that than breastfeeding.  I'm still BF my 17 month old :)

That's what I thought. Thanks, Sara.

that makes me excited :)

congrats on extend-bf'ing too! Its such a great thing to do for our toddlers!

I agree.. to me, my son was Vegan while BF'ing as he was drinking mothers milk as nature intended.  Not another anima's milk. :-)

It makes me sick how at 1yr of age, ppl PUSH for babies to get off the breast and start drinking cow's milk. WHY? For what reason? Or that when the baby gets teeth, they push for them to be on formula! Hello, you don't nurse with teeth! A baby/toddler uses their lips, roof of mouth and tongue.

I have been vegan for 3 1/4 years.   My dear daughter still breastfeeds, and she is 3 1/2.  She nurses about once or twice a day, sometimes she can go a  week without asking for her "booby juice".  Just when I think she is done, she asks again.  I love that she understands me now, if I tell her that she is hurting me she will adjust her suck or position.  I also love that she is a vegan flirt (my hubby and son are omni).

Being vegan rocks!

Extended breastfeeding rocks!

Stepping off my soapbox now.

Since we are starting to see that some foods are filtered through the milk and affect the child, sometimes even making them gassy (such as dairy and broccolli) and peanut allergies in the milk....

then can we really say breastfeeding is veganism?? Because if mom eats meat and dairy, her milk isn't necessarily vegan!

What do you think?

I have a 9 month onld son, and unfortunately breastfeeding for me only lasted about 3 months. I wanted to breastfeed longer, and I really don't like giving him formula, but at this point I don't have any other option. I talked to a dietician about what to give him once he turns 1, and she told me whole cow's milk. I was hoping that something else might be sufficient, but apparently other "milks", are not fatty enough and don't contain the correct vitamins and nutrients. Once he is 2 she said he could have almond milk etc, but until then, only homoginized cow milk....... Has anyone heard different or have any advice?

If mom eats animal products then of course her milk is not vegan, otherwise it is.

Jaime, I hope some other mothers with experience respond to you. There are plenty of people who raise their children without cow's milk, and I'm not just talking vegans, what about kids with allergies? There are a lot of sites out there with information and support. If you're not comfortable with that, maybe you should try to find a veg/vegan friendly dietician who can guide you. Cow's milk is hardly necessary, you just need to be aware of other foods, to make sure your kid is getting what he needs. Just try to find some other legitimate resources before you make a decision.

Thanks Hazel:) I guess if I knew exactly what the body needs to function, that would make things easier.... that's the first step I suppose. I would really love to find a vegan friendly doctor or dietician.... but living in Lethbridge Alberta isn't too accomdating for thet sort of thing... haha. There is a vegan potluck every second tuesday of the month or something, so maybe I can do some networking there. Here's to hoping! :)

I know you say that naturally a meat eating mom does not produce vegan milk.

This isn't necessarily true since our milk filters out foods. (but not always)

Mother's milk is made from the nutrients she gets (or doesn't get) from her food. Many breastfeeding women have to stop drinking cow's milk because they find out their baby is allergic to it, so obviously the baby is consuming the food their mother eats indirectly through their breastmilk.

Nice to "meet" other extended breastfeeders!  Hazel, that's what happened to me--at 2 weeks old my son's pediatrician suspected his colic was really a cow's milk allergy, and since I was not going to give up breastfeeding him, I had to cut all dairy out of my diet.  Whenever I tried to reintroduce it, he started having problems again.  So, I definitely think that what we eat affects our breastmilk..  He is 3 1/2 and still nurses about once a day.

I think anything that is kind to to the earth goes hand in hand with veganism...and breastfeeding is kind to the earth by cutting out the waste and energy that goes into making formula.

I am thinking of mothers in Asia... like Japan, where dairy isn't a part of their diets.  What do THEY give their youngsters?  

This may be a little off topic, but I stumbled on an old article(2007) that vegan parents 'starved' their 6 week old child. Apparently they were feeding him soy milk and fruit juice. Does anyone know anything more about this story?

I have many questions. Number one on my list of questions is, why weren't they doing breastmilk? Why did they think soy milk and fruit juice was enough?? And, correct me if I'm wrong, aren't there places moms can get human breast milk, if mom can't do it? I know they're expensive, but life seems really valuable to me. I know that the media doesn't give much info, that's why I wondered if anyone knew anything more.

I don't have children(yet), it just makes me so sad when uninformed people put veganism in the bad news. It also makes me sad that the baby died.