Generally, you introduce real food no earlier than 4 months. You introduce foods slowly, one at a time to see if there are allergic reactions. You introduce veggies first, then fruits. Even meat-eater parents introduce meat and dairy last, usually after the baby is a year old. So vegan parents simply never introduce meat, dairy or eggs and instead they introduce more fruits, veggies, grains, and legumes. And if they want, they introduce meat alternatives.

If you foster-adopt an older child, then either you wait until a vegetarian or vegan child becomes available and you offer him or her the best possible temporary or new home.

Or you help ease an older omni child into your vegan lifestyle by letting them eat food they're familiar with and slowly transitioning them to vegan food.

All parents need to be flexible. Foster parents probably have to be a bit more flexible. So in this case it might make sense to take a wider view of vegan parenting. Instead of focusing purely on diet, think about parenting a child in such a way as to foster respect for animals. Even if the child is nonvegan, you can still teach them about respecting animals so that when they are old enough to make their own choices, they're more likely to choose vegan for themselves.

Generally, you introduce real food no earlier than 4 months. You introduce foods slowly, one at a time to see if there are allergic reactions. You introduce veggies first, then fruits. Even meat-eater parents introduce meat and dairy last, usually after the baby is a year old. So vegan parents simply never introduce meat, dairy or eggs and instead they introduce more fruits, veggies, grains, and legumes. And if they want, they introduce meat alternatives.

If you foster-adopt an older child, then either you wait until a vegetarian or vegan child becomes available and you offer him or her the best possible temporary or new home.

Or you help ease an older omni child into your vegan lifestyle by letting them eat food they're familiar with and slowly transitioning them to vegan food.

All parents need to be flexible. Foster parents probably have to be a bit more flexible. So in this case it might make sense to take a wider view of vegan parenting. Instead of focusing purely on diet, think about parenting a child in such a way as to foster respect for animals. Even if the child is nonvegan, you can still teach them about respecting animals so that when they are old enough to make their own choices, they're more likely to choose vegan for themselves.

We chose to foster because we'd like to adopt but we didn't want to do a costly private adoption. (Truthfully, we'd rather save those thousands of dollars for the child's college education.) But now, even if/when we adopt I think we'll still foster every now and then. There are just too many wonderful, needy kids.