How to Transition Kids to a Plant-Based Diet Without a Battle (from a mom who’s actually done it)

So you’ve decided to go plant-based.

You’re excited and ready to begin your new healthy lifestyle.

You know in your heart this is the right choice. And of course, you want to bring your kids along with you on this healthy journey. Changing your own diet is daunting enough. But how do you actually transition your kids to a plant-based lifestyle without a battle?

Imagine how good it will feel knowing you’re equipping your kids with healthy eating habits that will stick with them throughout life.

But what if they don’t share your enthusiasm about going plant-based (aka eating more vegetables)??

And what steps should you take to make the transition as easy as possible?

Mindset Shift

When I made the transition with my kids, I discovered if I simply changed my mindset and trusted the process, it calmed my worries and gave me confidence to relax about what they did or didn’t eat.

Would you like to feel calm and confident too?

Transitioning kids to a plant-based diet should be a positive experience for the whole family—a journey everyone can take part in.

(Read down to the bottom if you want to know how I made the transition with teens)

Here are 25 tips to help transition kids to a plant-based diet (without a battle)

Let go of expectations

Putting expectations on people (even your own kids) isn’t fair. Expectations set you up for disappointment when people don’t meet them. In a nutshell, your job is to offer healthy food and be a good example. That’s it.

Let go of expectations of what they eat and how much.

They won’t starve if they miss a meal or refuse a vegetable.

And more important, they won’t feel resentment towards you.

2. Make slow incremental changes

Don’t rush the process.

Think long-term. Some kids will take a long time to adapt to the transition and some kids will adapt quickly.

Both are ok.

3. Add more plants to the plate

Start by simply adding more plants to their plates and less of the meaty and cheesy stuff. It’s an easy, almost undetectable way to increase the ratio of plant-based foods to meat and dairy-based foods.

4. Make it easy to eat more plants

Keep a bowl of favorite fruits on the kitchen table and ready-to eat veggies in the fridge. Offer fruits and veggies with favorite dips for snacks. Make yummy fruit & veggie smoothies and smoothie bowls for a plant-based breakfast, lunch or dessert.

5. Focus on what TO eat rather than what NOT to eat

Include as many plants foods as you can in meals and snacks. You and your kids don’t have to be 100% plant-based (ever) to enjoy the health benefits of eating more plants. It’s simple: the more plants your kids eat, the more health benefits they receive.

6. Involve kids in every aspect of meal-making

Look at recipes together. Choose the menu for the week together. Shop for groceries together. Have them help with meal-prep and cooking.

When kids actively participate in all the processes of getting food to the table, they’ll take ownership and be more willing to eat it.

7. Keep tastes familiar

When first starting out, it can be helpful to replace meat and dairy with vegan versions like vegan sour cream and cheese, “chicken” nuggets and or Beyond Beef Crumbles. Then gradually phase those out over time.

Long-term, it’s best to avoid these processed foods. But they can be a great asset for transitioning from a meat and dairy based diet to a plant-based diet. If your kids don’t like the fake ‘meat’ and cheese don’t bother with it.

8. Make recipes that easily convert to plant-based

Try tacos, burritos, buddha bowls, baked potato bar, homemade pizza, spaghetti, soups, sandwiches and wraps. Put the meat and cheese on the side for whoever wants it.

This way everyone can eat what they want.

You can be the example of how to eat the plant-based version of their favorite meals.

Show them how much you’re enjoying your scrumptious plant-based version.

9. Educate your kids about the importance of eating healthy

Do occasionally, it in a positive, conversational way that’s appropriate for their age.

Don’t be preachy.

10. “Veganize” their favorite meals once a week

Try Meatless Mondays or Plant-Based Taco Tuesdays. Make plant-based vegan versions of pizza, baked potato bar, tacos, spaghetti, taco salad, veggie stir fry, burritos.

If you don’t mention the difference, they might not even notice!

11. Discover new plant-based recipes

For inspiration, go to Pinterest or YouTube or plant-based/vegan blogs. Some of my favorites are: Planted Families, Plant-Based on a Budget, Vegan Richa, and Sweet Potato Soul

12. Plant a family garden

It’s fun for kids to pick and eat veggies right from the garden. When they grow a veggie from seed to harvest, they’ll be excited to taste it.

13. Be the example you want them to follow

Let them see you enjoying an apple instead of a muffin. Heap the broccoli high on your plate during dinner and show how you enjoy every bite.

Kids learn from your example, not your advice.

14. Have fun!

Making the transition to eating plant-based should be a family project. Encourage your kids to come up with their own ideas for meals and anything else related to this new change.

15. Read vegan-themed children’s books

Get my free List of Vegan-Themed Children’s Books

16. Learn to batch cook and meal-prep

This will reduce your time in the kitchen and simplify your life. Meal-planning, meal-prepping and batch cooking make getting plant-based meals on the table infinitely easier.

17. Don’t try to control how much your child eats

Your job is to provide healthy food options and leave it up to them if, and how much they eat.

A healthy child will not starve. I promise.

18. Give kids a daily multivitamin

When kids don’t eat well, moms worry about nutrition. This tip is to help ease your worries, mama. Your kids are going to be fine!

A multivitamin doesn’t come close to the nutritional powerhouse found in whole plant foods. But it can help reduce your worrying on days your child is acting picky and not eating well.

Related: Feeding Your Picky Toddler

19. Make a pact with yourself...refuse to argue about food

Nothing good comes from battling over food.

Don’t do it.

20. Try it for a set period of time, then re-evaluate

Try it for 1 month. It’s less overwhelming and easier to start when you plan on doing it for a limited period of time (another mindset trick). This is the way I made the change. Pick a set period of time that works for you, and re-evaluate at the end of that time.

Scroll down for a step-by-step one-month plan to go plant-based.

21. For toddlers

If your kids are under 5, yay for you! Changing their diet will be relatively easy since YOU have control over their food. Make sure you are providing nutrient-rich, calorie-rich foods, especially on extra picky days.

“Young children are not responsible for their poor food choices--their parents are. Children will not starve themselves to death. They will adapt easily and learn relatively quickly to like the food that is offered.”
Joel Fuhrman MD, author of Disease-Proof Your Child

22. Get some inspo and support from other plant-based toddler mamas

For inspiration feeding plant-based toddlers, follow these accounts on Instagram @plantbasedkidsfdn and @babyfoodideas. You’ll see how these mamas makes it simple and fun to feed plant-base little ones.

Join a Facebook group to connect with a supportive group of plant-based toddler mamas.

23. For older kids

“Set the best example you can of being healthy and joyful and, with time, your teen might come along. The more you push, the more resistance you may encounter.”
Dr Yami, author of A Parent’s Guide to Intuitive Eating; How to Raise Kids Who Love to Eat Healthy

If you get pushback from your older kids, don’t let it turn into a battle.

Relax.

No one wins when you battle over food. Breathe and remember tip #1.

Sometimes all you can do is be the example. That’s it.

And that’s ok.

24. Your attitude is Everything

…and not just for feeding kids, but for any aspect of raising them. (I’ve learned this from raising my 4)

25. My biggest secret

Stay positive and not pushy with food. Do NOT get into power struggles with your kids, and never force them to eat.

Remember what I said about EXPECTATIONS in tip #1? This is a BIG part of my secret to success. And this is all has to do with your mindset.

Whether they are toddlers or teens, do not, I repeat DO NOT, go down the path of micromanaging everything they eat. This sets them up for food-related anxiety and unhealthy eating habits.

Here’s how I made the transition with older kids

Five years ago, my partner and I changed to a plant-based diet literally overnight. The plan was to try it out for 1 month, but we fell in love with the plant-based way of eating, and knew we wanted to transition the kids, too.

We had only two of our six kids still living at home, a pre-teen and a teen.

We knew it wouldn’t work to suddenly force our new eating choices on them (even though we wanted to, lol.)

So, while my partner and I remained completely plant-based, we did the transition slowly with the kids.

I started by cooking mostly the same meals we usually ate, but I left out the meat and dairy. I still had them available for the kids, but offered those on the side.

I stopped cooking all meat in my kitchen, but I sometimes bought a cooked rotisserie chicken to have available for them.

I talked to my kids often about all the good things that came from eating more plants and giving up meat and dairy. I stayed positive and tried to encourage but not control them.

It took time for my kids to change

There were no fights and no battles because we didn’t force our will on them.

Our preteen came on board completely after about a year. Occasionally she still has cheese in the form of pizza or mac-n-cheese when she’s with her friends, but overall she is an advocate for a plant-based diet.

Several of her friends have shown interest, and one has actually gone plant-based because of her example.

Her older brother is mostly plant-based but still chooses to eat chicken. He’s a college athlete and feels he needs the meat to help him be competitive (I’ve been nudging him to watch The Game Changers to show him even elite athletes don’t need meat!)

His typical meal is a huge plate of brown rice or whole grain pasta covered with beans and veggies with chicken or tofu on the side. He doesn’t eat any processed foods or even desserts (I definitely didn’t teach him the no-desserts thing. I made cookies today, but he’s not eating them…more for me!)

So, now you know my kids are not 100% perfectly plant-based, and I’m ok with that.

My job as a mom is not to control everything they put in their mouths--or, frankly everything they do.
My job is to teach them what I believe and to be the example that I hope they will follow.

My job is also to understand they are each their own person and are learning to make their own choices for their lives as they grow up.

(BTW, the 4 older kids were grown and moved out when we started our plant-based journey. But amazingly, 2 of them have transitioned to plant-based. Plus, we now have 3 happy little plant-eating grandchildren. The other 2 older kids have not come around yet to plant-based, but they love our food when they come for dinner and talk about one day making the change.)

I hope my story inspires you to go for it with your own kids.

You don’t have to do it perfectly.

Summary of Key Takeaways to transition your kids to a plant-based diet

Let go of expectations

Make slow, incremental changes

Add more plants to the plate

Make it easy to eat more plants

Focus on what to eat instead of what not to eat

Involve kids in all meal-planning and meal-prep

Keep tastes familiar

Make recipes that easily convert to plant-based

Teach kids about the importance of eating healthy

“Veganize” their favorite meals once a week

Discover new plant-based recipes

Plant a garden

Be the example you want them to follow

Have fun

Read vegan-themed children’s books

Learn to batch cook and meal-prep

Don’t try to control how much your child eats

Give a daily multivitamin

Refuse to argue about food

Try it for a set period of time, then re-evaluate

How to get started

If you need a framework to get started, below is a simple step-by-step guide to help you make the transition with your kids to a plant-based lifestyle in 4 weeks.

You can stretch that 4 weeks into 4 months if you like. It doesn’t matter how long it takes. Do what works for you and your family.

Just start.

Add a heading - 2020-01-21T200415.496.png

Conclusion

Transitioning kids to a plant-based diet should be a positive experience for the whole family—a journey everyone can take part in.

Eating is meant to be fun and pleasurable.

Food is one of the great joys in life.

Do you agree?

What your child eats in her first 10 years of life will have a bigger impact on her health than the diet she consumes in the next 50 years.
~quote from Plant-Based Nutrition by Julieanna Hever, MS, RD and Raymond Cronise

Did you catch that?

Doesn’t that make you want to empower your child with healthy eating habits as soon as possible?

It’s never too late to get started.

Go ahead. Make a plan to transition your kids to a plant-based diet today. You won’t regret it.

You got this.

Heidi

Are you on Pinterest?

If you liked this post I’d be thrilled if you shared it, thank you!

Heidi Masanga RN, BSNMay 3, 2020