“Are food sources not enough?” Like many vegan parents, Gina (name changed for privacy) had the same question about Vitamin D. When we began working together, she felt concerned about her toddler’s nutrition. She wasn’t sure if she was providing everything her toddler needed and it worried her given they were showing signs of picky eating and recently diagnosed with rickets (soft and weakening of bones in children due to lack of Vitamin D in diet). Gina just didn’t know much about Vitamin D because it was something that wasn’t mentioned at her toddler’s well-child visits with their pediatrici ..read more

This blog post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Standing in front of the opened refrigerator, I couldn’t decide what to make for dinner for my vegan family. Feeling uninspired is something I experience from time to time. Do you ever feel that way? Meal planning sometimes feels like an endless maze in trying to figure out what to cook—between the lack of motivation and/or energy, the numerous food preferences of every family member, and just trying to figure out what’s an easy meal. As vegan parents, we’ve all been there, grappling with the ch ..read more

Hi there! I’m Taylor Wolfram, a vegan registered dietitian and parent. Karla and I are friends and colleagues and had the fun idea to swap guest blog posts!  While Karla is the queen of vegan kids nutrition, I specialize in helping folks heal their relationship with food and body. I also created the Anti-Diet Vegan Nutrition Online Course, a diet-culture-free space for folks to learn credible information and practical strategies for meeting their nutrient needs as a vegan.  Most of my nutrition counseling clients are adults who have spent many years feeling that their bodies are a p ..read more

When my youngest daughter began her vegan Baby Led Weaning journey, I wanted to introduce red kidney beans differently than I did with my first daughter. Offering legumes smashed is typically a safe choice for introducing these nutrient-dense legumes (the way I introduced them to my oldest daughter) but I wanted to switch things up this time around. Can babies eat kidney beans? Sometimes parents are unsure about what plant foods are safe for babies to eat. Whether it’s for fear of choking or gagging, it’s a natural thought that sparks at the beginning of starting solids with our baby.  D ..read more

When it comes to raising your child or teen on a vegan diet, ensuring they get the adequate nutrition they need to thrive is at the heart of your feeding.  I know this to be true because when I have the honor of speaking with vegan parents just like you, you just want to make sure that you’re doing things right.  You want to make sure that what you provide is “enough” for meeting their nutritional needs on a vegan diet. And this has been a recent discussion with several vegan parents when it comes to iodine.  If you’re just making the transition to raising a vegan family, iodin ..read more

When my daughter began to show signs of picky eating, I remember she never ate her orange-colored veggies. These were sweet potatoes, carrots, butternut squash. No matter how I prepared them, seasoned, or cut these vegetables, she simply showed no interest in wanting to engage with them.  I wasn’t worried about her selectivity, after all most kids go through a level of picky eating during their early childhood, but I still wanted to make sure these foods were part of her diet. An approach I've always followed at home is to allow my daughter to lead at meal times. I try my best to not pre ..read more

“I want candy for snack” That was the response from my four year old daughter when I told her it was time for her morning snack.  Typically, I give her two options to choose from but this time around, she didn’t even give me the chance to think about them! She quickly jumped to saying she wanted the red lollipop she had gotten recently after visiting our real estate agent for a holiday gathering.      Normally, I would've allowed it. I don't have a problem with her having candy for snack because it’s an approach I’ve implemented in my feeding as a way to not compete with ..read more

Lately, I’ve been trying to keep food costs in mind. The current inflation crisis that is happening in America has certainly put stress on many families. In fact, the Summary Findings of the Food Price Outlook shared by the USDA found that “all food prices are predicted to increase between 9.5 and 10.5 percent”(2). This has put many vegan families like yours to perhaps re-consider how you meal plan. Including a variety of plant-based foods—from grains, legumes, vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds—is an approach I recommend in all of my programs. Now, if you’re wondering how to be able to do th ..read more

Picky eating can be a frustrating and stressful time for many vegan parents. Meal planning is a challenge because you feel lost on what to cook for your vegan child. And meals simply become not-so-enjoyable because there are eating struggles at the dining table.  For many vegan parents I’ve worked with, they just want to know what to do to “get” their child to eat a more variety of foods, or their vegetables, or a particular plant-food. Many vegan parents like yourself often feel like they’ve exhausted all possible options to help their vegan child eat more plant foods and want to know w ..read more

During your vegan family journey, you may have come across articles that warn parents about how a vegan diet may impact a child’s growth and development, specifically their height.  Many vegan parents often reach out to me very concerned and worried about how their choice in raising their baby, toddler, and/or child vegan may lead to them having stunted growth.  This worry and fear often stems from what you hear from others, saying that certain foods like soy foods or a diet that doesn’t include meat is harming your child, leading your child to be shorter or weighting less than peer ..read more