Breastfeeding
Breast is Best
The first food for a vegan baby should ideally be breast milk and mothers should be encouraged and supported in breast feeding for at least four months. For support and information on breastfeeding contact organisations like La Leche League or The National Childbirth Trust.
Breast milk is a complete natural food and contains everything a baby needs. Many benefits are conveyed to the baby by breast milk. For example, it contains antibodies which help protect baby from coughs, colds, chest and stomach infections and breast fed babies are less likely to develop allergies. It is quite probable that breast milk contains substances needed by growing infants that are not even known to be essential and are not included in infant formula.
Formula Milk & Soya Milk
If for any reason baby is not being breast-fed or infant formula is used to supplement breastfeeding, there is only one soya infant formula currently available in the UK suitable for vegans to use - Farley's Soya Formula. It is suitable to use from birth as a sole source of nourishment. It is also useful as a milk replacement in drinks and cooked dishes for older children and adults.
Some concern has been expressed regarding the relationship between the glucose content of soya formula and tooth decay in children. The energy content is based on glucose syrup rather than lactose (milk sugar) and it has been thought to have a greater potential to contribute to dental caries than cow’s milk formulas. No studies have shown that soya infant formula is any more harmful to teeth than dairy infant formula. Feeds from a bottle, feeding at bedtime, prolonged sucking, may be the most important factors in predicting caries development (Moynham et al 1996). If normal weaning practices are adopted, infant formulas should not cause harm to teeth. … When bottle feeding, do not allow prolonged or frequent contact of milk feeds with your baby’s teeth since this increases the risk of tooth decay. As soon as the first tooth erupts (usually appears any time between 6 and 12 months although they may come through sooner or later than this) brush twice daily. Make sure your baby’s teeth are cleaned after the last feed at night and try to wean your baby off the bottle by the age of one.
Glucose syrup has several properties that make its use in soya formulas appropriate. It is easily absorbed and utilised by infants even when the gut mucosa is damaged. The use of glucose syrup as the carbohydrate in a soya formula ensures a similar osmolality to breast milk. Glucose syrup is easily mixed with water, which is essential for home preparation, and the naturally bitter taste of soya protein is effectively masked by glucose syrup without causing undue sweetness.
Farley's Soya Formula should be fed from a feeding bottle. However, between the ages of six and 12 months a beaker or cup should be increasingly used. The use of a bottle should not be prolonged and teeth should be cleaned after feeds. Regarding tooth decay, evidence indicates that the quantity of sugar eaten is less important than the time taken to consume them and the interval before further sugar is eaten. If sugary foods or drinks are consumed, it is better to ensure they are finished relatively quickly rather than eaten over several hours as the mouth pH can be restored within 30 minutes,
It is important that ordinary soya milk should not substituted for soya infant formula as it does not contain the proper ratio of protein, fat, carbohydrate, nor the vitamins and minerals required to be used as a sole food. Soya milk should also not be substituted to babies under 6 months of age because it has levels of protein which are too high and excessive protein intake is thought to be medically undesirable at this stage.
The best diet for breastfeeding
The diet for breastfeeding is similar to that recommended for pregnancy although calories, protein and vitamin B12 are higher. However an increased quantity of a normal and varied vegan diet, based on healthy eating as recommended for pregnancy, will provide adequate nutrition.
- The recommended calorie intake is 500 calories above the usual intake
- Breastfeeding women should ensure they consume adequate amounts of B12. The Vegan Society recommends a daily intake of 4mcg from fortified foods such as fortified non-dairy milk, fortified cereals, textured vegetable protein (TVP) and yeast extract or 10mcg from a supplement.
- Protein requirements are 11g above the usual intake from the birth of the baby until 6 months of age and from the age of 6 months it can be reduced to 6g above the usual intake. See below for examples of protein-containing foods.
- Breastfeeding women should take a supplement of 260mg of folic acid per day
- Current recommendations for calcium consumption are 1250mg per day for breastfeeding women.
- No extra iron is indicated for breastfeeding women
Weight loss and milk loss
After birth, mothers weight is probably about 71b (3.5kg) over the weight before pregnancy. This is the body store needed for breastfeeding. It is important not to try and lose this weight by dieting as it may not be possible to get enough energy and nutrients to feed mother and baby. If too little food is eaten while breastfeeding then quantities of milk produced are liable to be lower. These extra pounds are usually shed gradually during breastfeeding because of a loss of calories in breast milk.
Small frequent meals are best. Extra fluid is required at this time so take the opportunity to have nutritious drinks like fruit and vegetable juices, soya milks, soups and smoothies to provide extra calories as well.
Protein requirements
Protein requirements rise to 56g+ of protein per day for breastfeeding mothers from the birth of the baby until 6 months of age. From the age of 6 months it can be reduced to 53g+ of protein per day.
Portions of some vegan foods providing 10g of protein
| Type of food | Weight of food providing 10g protein (g) |
| Peanuts | 39 |
| Almonds | 47 |
| Wholemeal bread | 109 |
| Brown rice, boiled | 109 |
| Chickpeas, dried & boiled | 119 |
| Tofu, steamed | 124 |
| Peas, boiled | 159 |
| Spinach, boiled | 454 |
The World Health Organization recommends should be exclusively breastfed for the first six months of life to achieve optimal growth, development and health. Thereafter, to meet their evolving nutritional requirements, infants should receive nutritionally adequate and safe complementary foods while breastfeeding continues for up to two years of age or beyond (taken from WHO website). Infants and young children need the nutrient density and the immunological and growth factors that live human milk provides, and that cannot be duplicated in artifical baby milks.