can she make them eat vegan

[cherubashe]

i have a 4 year old and when the divorce is final the ex says that she is switching her household to a vegan diet .  which i strongly oppose.  after all we are the top of the food chain.

[MixedBag]

during their time, yes.

during your time, no.

And you'd have to prove this diet is not in the best interest of the chid.

Pick and choose.....watch the child's health and be vigilant.

[ocean]

Mixbag is right...she can feed him anything she wants as long as she feeds them. Same for you, you can give him whatever you want and not the vegan diet. Not a battle to fight over....parenting styles differ and long as there is no abuse, the courts wont listen to it. Now if she insisted you feed him this diet that is a different story...

[Kitty C.]

The only thing to watch out for is 'failure to thrive'........children need plenty of protein and I would be watching their weight and height in comparison to other children at that age.  I'm sure you can find it online somewhere, but there's a graph chart that outlines the growing curve and breaks it down to percentages.  Once the percentage drops below a certain level, it can reach the catagory of failure to thrive, especially if it extends over a long period of time.

And MB is right..........you cannot dictate what she does in her home any more than she can dictate what goes on in your home.  The only difference would be if something within the home becomes harmful or detrimental to the child.  In this case, your voice in this won't mean a thing, but the recommendation of a doctor could change it if they felt the situation warranted it.  In cases like this, a third party objective opinion carries much more weight than coming directly from the parent.  Just something to keep in mind over the long haul.............

[Momfortwo]

She can have a vegan household.  Nothing wrong with it.  In fact, it IS healthier than a diet with meat in it, if done right (in other words, the person who is following the diet makes sure that all of the food groups are hit).  I have some friends that are vegans and are raising their children vegan.   They are healthy and thriving.  And happily eat a lot more vegetables than my kids do, who aren't vegan. 

What she can't do is make your house a vegan house. 

[snowrose]

Being vegan while with mom isn't a bad thing - but a child's diet must be watched very carefully as it's very easy for the child not to get enough protein unless the diet is carefully planned.

I agree with Kitty C that you need to watch the children carefully to make sure they're doing okay.  Over here, BM wasn't vegan but she fed my SD only junk foods and the child is now shorter than normal.  Per SD's therapist, chances are it was the poor food during the important growth period between about 4 and 6 years old that caused this.

Unfortunately, as others have said you can't control how the children eat at their mom's - unless you can show authoritative proof (a doctor) that the children aren't getting the proper nutrition and aren't growing normally because of it.  But what you can do is feed the children appropriately when they are with you to help keep their foods more balanced.  She can't control how you feed your children, either.