Hi Reader,

This marks the first official newsletter of Vegan Kids Nutrition and I'm calling it PLANTiful.

I've always wanted to have an official newsletter. One that offered tips and recommendations for you.
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In a way, I started to do that at the beginning of the year. And perhaps you haven't noticed since I don't send all emails to everyone. I individualize them based on the feeding stage you're in.

So, if I'm sending tips or other content around Baby Led Weaning, I only send that email to you if you're on that list (or feeding stage).
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But now, I'd like to try something different. I'd like everyone to benefit from the tips I enjoy sharing as a way to further help you in feeding your kids a healthful vegan diet so they continue to thrive. So you can feel confident as a vegan parent too.
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​Let's begin with today's lesson: trust the process. ​
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- Karla

The Story

Camila recently said she wanted to eat eggplant.

Shocking, yes! Surprising, hmm, perhaps not.
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Just a few months ago, she only accepted 5 different school lunches. And more often than not, she would come to the dinner table, see what I prepared and say "I don't want that".
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If you follow me on IG, then you know her attendance at her previous school caused some friction when it came to her feeding.
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Her teacher, a very kind and caring educator, just didn't have the same feeding approach as we do at home. There were certain phrases that were said around meal times that confused Camila and being the highly-sensitive child she is, caused a lot of anxiety around food—from not wanting juicy fruits in fear of it dripping down her chin and getting attention to requesting certain foods from not being in her lunchbox to avoid being told to eat it.
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​For the past year, this caused a lot of challenges, frustrations, and worry with her feeding. I did everything "right" at home and yet, the one environment she spent most of her day at just felt like my work in raising an adventurous eater was erased.

I felt discouraged but I stayed true with my feeding philosophy: I choose what to offer at meal times, she chooses what to eat.
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It's something I teach inside the VKN Blueprint course. And it's something I never changed course at home despite her anxiety around (certain) food.
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Because deep down I knew and believed that her selective eating was related to what was said at school, not from her experience at home.
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Now, two weeks since starting her Summer break, her behaviour around food has gotten a lot better. Being present in a positive and non-pressured feeding environment has helped her be back to "normal" where she seems accepting and willing to try different foods, spices, and dishes—like eggplant.

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Your Next Steps

If your child expresses no interest in certain foods, try your best to accept it. It's most helpful to your child to be on their side and be understanding, than it is to wanting to change them or follow your feeding agenda.

You are the only one that can help them move closer to want to try a variety of foods; to make eating and associate foods with a more positive experience—no matter how old your child or teen is.

How can you do that? Try the following at meal times:

• role model
• not pressuring to eat
• not making comments about how "healthy" or "good" it is
• not bribing them
• continue to serve in different forms and flavors
• expose your child through reading books or vegetable gardens

There are so many positive ways that you can help your child want to try a plant food.

And it can start with a simple phrase I like to tell my girls: "when you're ready".

This phrase "You can try it when you're ready" brings so much relief to your child to not feel pressured to have to eat something that they aren't ready to. In doing so, you create trust with your child and more likely for them to have confidence in themselves to want to try it when they're truly ready to do so.

You can learn more about this in Episode 9 and Episode 12 of the VKN Podcast.
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It's going to take time but it's worth the journey.

Trust the process and more importantly, trust your child. Because one day, they will trust themselves enough to want to try it on their own.

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