What if you suspect your child may be becoming vegetarian?

**MomToTwoBoys** · 10-11-2008, 06:20 PM

Dakota asked me last night:

"Mommy, do I have to eat Mr. Turkey? I don't want to eat Mr. Turkey, so I'll just have deviled eggs and mashed potatoes and ooooh, I loooooove broccoli!"

I told him that if he felt bad, then he didn't have to eat Mr. Turkey. We'd have another form of protein at dinner with the deviled eggs and the baked beans, so he'd be covered. Lately though, I've been noticing a trend. We will have three dishes with our dinner and he won't want the meat, but he will eat everything else. He does this alot with roast, pork and other meats. He loves hot dogs and ham, though. There are some days when he doesn't even want those.

My question is this: what do you do if you suspect your child is becoming a vegetarian?

**LeeCee** · 10-11-2008, 07:55 PM

rejoice! being a vegetarian is so much healthier.my family including son has been a vegetarian for 25 years.now it's much more acceptable than years ago.also they have so many veg type burgers and such at the market now. for thanksgiving we have all the fixings with lentil burgers.I don't have an exact recipe right now I kinda do everything without measuring. you can google recipes or I can get back to you.be happy she will be eating so much healthier.the market also has soy hot dogs that are very good.

**TheRootedNomad** · 10-11-2008, 08:18 PM

I think it's probably a personal choice you can let him embrace as long as he's willing to eat other forms of protein. Sounds like he's young enough you may want to run it by your pediatrician though. None of us are vegetarians here but I tend to skip meat frequently and only eat it at about 3 maybe 4 meals all week and that may only consist of a small piece.(sometimes I crave it but it's not very often) I sure do like my cheese peanut butter though. My older DS was never a big meat eater either .... until the last year. He seems to be in a strange growth stage though, where I feel like I can see his shoulders gettting broader. He's constantly like "Where's the meat ma?" , sometimes even for snack what he wants is meat. He doesn't turn other stuff down but that's his prefrence at the moment. Your son may not ever end up a true vegatarian or he may. His prefrences sound nice and healthy to me though.

**LeeCee** · 10-11-2008, 08:35 PM

I just wanted to add as far as protein goes, rice and beans are equivalent to a steak.plus it's a healthy protein unlike the protein of a steak.take some books out or just look online and you will be surprised how healthy you can be on a vegetarian diet.also you can make burgers out of beans that have alot of protein such as black bean burgers.

**kittykatstrong** · 10-11-2008, 08:40 PM

I have noticed that my 4 year old some times will eat everything but the meat. She just have never really liked it. I try to make meals that have meat in the background or things she can eat with out having to make two dinners. I am not a short order cook.

**quiltingmommy** · 10-11-2008, 10:12 PM

my ds (9) eats very little meat (always has) and prefers veggies. of course, they have to be raw veggies though....will not eat a cooked vegetable. As long as your child is getting proteins and vitamin b12, they should be fine. Actually, studies have shown that we, as Americans, eat too much protein per day. Just make sure they are eating fruits, veges, starches and protein. You may want to pick up some books from the library on raising vegetarian children. Nova Atlas has some GREAT books out there about vegetarian diets and recipes.
Oh, and rejoice! studies have also shown that a vegetarian diet is much, much healthier than one loaded with meat!

**perSue** · 10-11-2008, 11:27 PM

being a relative vegan, i won't preach to you what others may about being a vegetarian.

i'll give you my family's experience of me when I turned as a young child.
i started slowly and my mother started noticing a "trend" in me as well. I didn't state anything, I simply left the meat on my plate.
when she'd ask, i said i didnt like it.

her reaction, much like yours, was concern for over-all nutrition...
but deviled-eggs and baked beans are full of protein... so worry not!

most people get way more protein than they really need. but don't worry. depending on his age it might be a phase... or he's just wanting to explore more/new/different foods.

if he's really young, he may have just found out about "where meat comes from" and is a little put off from it. otherwise, don't let it phase you.

just keep offering what you offer, if he doesnt eat it, just make sure you have other nutritional foods available for that meal or even just that day.

the only thing you need to know as far as not eating meat is veggies don't get B12 - which is naturally found in meat... but also dairy products!

Don't do what many people do and replace meat with dairy (ie, protein with fat).

a children's multi-vit might be in order too!

it'll be ok... just hang in there...

**kmsinsa** · 10-12-2008, 12:48 AM

My 6 year old prefers not to eat meat as well most of the time, but she loves hotdogs (we buy the turkey ones)and she will also eat chicken nuggets. She will not go anywhere near red meat. She also does not like potatoes. What kind doesn't like french fries??? (She will just any raw or steamed veggie over french fries/potatoes) She also prefers soy milk...and processd sugar makes her stomach hurt.

She doesn't want candy (because it makes her stomach hurt), she likes veggies, we eat beans, etc to get the protein...and I also give her a children's vitamin.

I didn't eat like that prior to her eating habits being what they are, but it's healthier than what I was doing, so I just roll with it.

**MomToTwoBoys** · 10-12-2008, 02:10 AM

Yeah this is all new to me because my first child ate vegetables like crazy until 3, then stopped eating them and ate only meat. Then he'd only eat pasta and wouldn't touch either meat or vegetables.

My second child, Dakota, has never really liked meat anyways. I remember the first time I fed him meat, he looked at me all weird like I was killing him and then spat it out at me. He loves hot dogs, chicken patties, fish, and tuna but he won't eat roast or hamburger or steak. It's basically all red meat he won't touch.

I just try to give them something to supplement the meat they won't eat. I also do that with fruit and vegetables.

**FrugalFive** · 10-12-2008, 12:07 PM

Just go with it. If he turns into a vegetarian, be glad that he'll have a healthy diet for the rest of his life. However, it could very well be a phase, too. Just be glad that your kids will eat vegetables...my oldest won't touch anything other than potatoes and corn...no vegetables that are actually HEALTHY for him.

But as far as your son goes, as long as he's eating protein of some sort, who cares?

Plus, when he's a teen, him not eating 3 or 4 cheeseburgers at a time will e a very frugal thing for you.