Hi, it is wonderful to have found this forum! Raw food is becoming more popular, however, in my neck of the woods there aren't many raw and living people ( ha!) to chat with.
So it is time to move the family raw. Any suggestions for toddlers? My daughter is 19months. She will eat alot of the raw foods I prepare, many fruits, nuts and seeds (ground or in a milk form); but she LOVES bread. Bread, noodles, rice, split-pea soup - they have been my default food for her if she is finicky. I hope if I dont give them to her she will simply eat other things, raw vegan foods. Are there any parents out there with raw toddler experiences? Especially transitioning toddlers to raw. I have the book 'Baby Greens', she does not care for most of its recipes.

Blessings to all!
Haida

I had and have the same problem with our now 4 year old daughter. There was no way she would ever accept an 100% raw diet. She always wanted potatoes for example. I made it a point that she NEVER got any junk, no sugar, no refined foods, no sweets and biscuits, no commercial drinks etc. Fortunately she reacted to bread, so that was a good reason for us and her to not give her any bread. So basically she got fruits, nuts and seeds, potatoes, cooked whole sprouted grains, and cooked vegetables, there was no way to give it to her raw in any form. Not even in fruit smoothies. She always wanted the whole fruit, not the smoothies, even if it was only fruit. She is not a fan of cooked vegetables either, but she will take it, at least that is better than nothing. This week I made her some mango smoothies with some stinging nettle in it, and surprisingly she liked it and asked for more, now that is an achievement! It really has a very pleasant taste. She takes more fruits now than she would before, and she loves celery sticks, although they are not available most of the time. However, persistence is going to pay off eventually. This week I offered her some cooked vegetables, and she declined it and said, no, I don't want cooked, I want to be raw like you! Cool! She is a healthy girl, hardly ever sick, but I feel she can do even better without the mucus forming potatoes and millet.

I would say, give her whole foods at least, and from there you can move on and improve gradually. No need to worry. She may accept cooked potatoes and squashes and pumpkin and that kind of thing in stead of the heavier grains and legumes. That would be another move in the right direction.

How do you feel about dehydrating foods to make a 'texture' of bread?

I am saving up for a dehydrator and I plan on making many heavier bready type things to put my salads and other interesting concoctions into.

if she loves carbs, have you tried feeding her zucchini strand noodles? the younger you start her on good raw habits, the better. fill her up with some yummy tropical smoothies and any raw food you can think of. give her food before she is so hungry she has to ask for it. try it for a few weeks so that she can make a new habit of not having cooked carbs and hopefully she'll just forget about them or not care anymore. keep them out of her sight so she won't be reminded of them. i'm having my 1st baby due in a few weeks and i just can't wait to start my raw vegan family! i'm going to make sure my child never eats cooked food and never has to deal w/ that horrible addiction. juice is great, too. you don't always need to prepare anything fancy. if she likes just plain diced fruit like pears, mango, papaya, try that. and also fresh guacamole w/ veggies for dipping. i don't have a baby yet so i don't know if radishes and carrots are too hard for her to eat, but those, celery, and red pepper are great for dipping in guacamole.

I transitioned our family to high raw a year and a half ago. We eat probably between 80% and 90% raw. Our kids are 12, 6 and 2. The 6 year old was the most challenging. With a toddler, I agree with the suggestion to take the foods away gradually and they will eventually be forgotten. My kids were cereal addicts. The 6 year old did not go for the out of site-out of mind strategy but the toddler did. I suggest giving her the unwanted foods less and less until eventually they are no longer thought about. Keep replacing old foods with new foods she loves. Zucchini is something my toddler loves. I spiralize it and put flax oil on it. He will eat two raw zucchini in a sitting. It amazes me. You might want to switch to sprouted, flourless bread untill you completely transition. I don't know if I will ever take my kids off the sprouted bread. We eat it in moderation and it always digest well. It is pricey though.

Good luck!!

I know someday when I have children, I don't want to compromise their nutrition or give them anything less than raw--but what happens when you send them to school? How do raw parents deal with the incredible pressure from society, especially when they can't be there? I remember being in kindergarten, getting 25% real denatured juice high fructose orange drink and crackers.

phantom,

I plan on homeschooling! Ofcourse, unless you move to a raw community, there will always be cooked foods out there, OR WORSE. All we can do is guide our kids the best we can, the rest is up to them.

Haida

We homeschool ours but people are less in the dark about healthy eating than they used to be. If you start them young by the time your child is in school they will be more comfortable with their food. Adults always want to help but sometimes are unclear on what kids can eat. I have found when I tell adults that my children are allergic to certain foods they are more diligent about watching what they give them.

I wish you'll be careful about claiming allergies that aren't real. There are a lot of people out there who still believe that people claiming to have allergies are exaggerating, whining, whatever. If you are merely trying to add weight to a food preference, no matter how well chosen your preference may be, the person who catches you at it may be less likely to believe it the next time they meet someone with a true allergy.

A cousin of mine, in his senior year in high school, took a bite of a sandwich which apparently contained peanut oil. In ten minutes he was unconscious and he never woke up.

Your good and healthy food choices for yourself and your children are very important, but I would ask that you pursue those ends in a way that doesn't endanger public understanding of the dangers of allergies.

Why would uyou assume our allergies aren't real? My daughter and I both have real allergies, or sensitivities, to many foods.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/14/2008 07:33PM by pakd4fun.

The way you phrased it, it sounded like you were telling people that your children were allergic to things that you prefer they don't eat, not things that are actually allergic to. I apologize if I jumped to that conclusion. I've known too many people who make false claims to allergies while trying to follow a diet, and I probably concluded too quickly this time.

Sorry I wasn't more clear.

I would like to say that although our sensitivities are not life threatening they do make us sick and it seems people don't really pay attention when I just say my kids can't have such and such. It isn't really an issue for us because I am always with them but when someone offers the younger kids candy or dairy ect. it is hard for them to say no. I mean I would rather my kids just didn't have to see what they can't have. Of course my two year old will just take anything he thinks he wants and stick it in his mouth. The longer the kids are raw the effects certain foods have on their bodies becomes worse. Sometimes I explain to people that they are sensitivities but people understand the word allergies as being important and will actually listen to me.

At school I tell the teachers that my daughter is allergic to wheat and sugar, that elmininates about all junk, and that is the language they understand! Speak their language, it helps a lot! The previous teacher actually bought fruits for her, like apples or grapes, when other kids got some other treats! Super isn't it.