This NY Times op-ed about the dangers of raising your baby on a vegan diet was insightful: "Death by Veganism." I had never thought about the implications of keeping vegan when pregnant or raising a baby, and thus depriving it of certain proteins.
The only fault I find in the article is the implication, in the second-to-last paragraph, that vegetarianism and veganism are just fashions, and that "food is more important than fashion." In fact there is are long traditions of vegetarianism, particularly in India, as the author notes earlier in the article.
My own ideals of vegetarianism are a reaction to factory farming, and if I had a baby, I'd happily feed it whatever it needs, so long as I could establish that the meat was responsibly raised.
This was not a case of death by veganism, as the media claims. It was likely one of many cases of child neglect by unprepared or irresponsible parents.
Many vegan mothers raise healthy vegan children. Infants are either breast-fed or given special (vegan) infant formulas that meet their nutritional needs. All responsible parents -- vegan or otherwise -- are keenly aware of their child's needs provide their children with medical attention when necessary.
I know several women who have had healthy vegan pregnancies, and raised vegan children who are healthier, more active, and better cared for than the average child.