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Responsive Feeding: The Baby-First Guide to Stress-Free Weaning, Healthy Eating, and Mealtime Bonding
The authoritative guide to feeding babies and toddlers “responsively”—the no-fuss method that follows your child’s cues and sets the stage for healthy eating!
When should I start my baby on solids? Should I offer purees— or try baby-led weaning? What if my toddler rejects new foods? Feeding therapist Melanie Potock has answers to all in Responsive Feeding . The secret? Tune in to your child’s cues, and you’ll know what’s right for her.
With Responsive Feeding , you won’t have to choose between the spoon-led and baby-led approach or cajole your baby to “eat up” when he’s fussy. Instead, every meal becomes a fun learning experience that will engage each of your baby’s senses—and strengthen your bond.
• Gauge your baby’s readiness for solid foods.
• Introduce bold flavors to set the stage for a lifetime of adventurous eating.
• Navigate tricky transitions and picky eating—peacefully.
• Watch your baby become a confident, independent eater!
Potock guides parents along every step of the way, from “to bib or not to bib?” and how to wrangle a “food thrower” to the merits of a “nibble tray” for hangry toddlers and considerations for special needs. Raising a mindful, healthy eater is just a bite away!
When should I start my baby on solids? Should I offer purees— or try baby-led weaning? What if my toddler rejects new foods? Feeding therapist Melanie Potock has answers to all in Responsive Feeding . The secret? Tune in to your child’s cues, and you’ll know what’s right for her.
With Responsive Feeding , you won’t have to choose between the spoon-led and baby-led approach or cajole your baby to “eat up” when he’s fussy. Instead, every meal becomes a fun learning experience that will engage each of your baby’s senses—and strengthen your bond.
• Gauge your baby’s readiness for solid foods.
• Introduce bold flavors to set the stage for a lifetime of adventurous eating.
• Navigate tricky transitions and picky eating—peacefully.
• Watch your baby become a confident, independent eater!
Potock guides parents along every step of the way, from “to bib or not to bib?” and how to wrangle a “food thrower” to the merits of a “nibble tray” for hangry toddlers and considerations for special needs. Raising a mindful, healthy eater is just a bite away!
- GenresParentingNonfiction
256 pages, Paperback
Published January 11, 2022
32 people are currently reading
76 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 22, 2022
Ready to start giving your baby solids but don’t know where to begin? This book has it all - from which utensils to offer, how to engage baby’s senses, details about baby’s reflexes, milestones, tips and tricks for how to serve food, choking versus gagging information, and so much more.
My son is 7.5 months old and we’ve been doing baby led weaning*. I add an asterisk because I had sort of been forging my own path and giving him what I was comfortable with, which included purées (that I let him self serve). As I was reading this book, I actually realized that what we’ve been doing is Responsive Feeding! I’ve been letting Conner guide our journey by picking his utensils, directing me toward shapes and textures he likes, and allowing him to choose how much he consumes (or doesn’t). It’s been an amazing learning experience and seeing what we’ve been doing put down in black and white with science and helpful tips was really gratifying.
This book covers your baby’s eating experiences through age three. There’s information about tough conversations with family who may disagree with your approach, ways to approach your pediatrician, red flags about possible missed milestones, and responsive feeding for children with disabilities or delays. I loved the tips about eating at restaurants and skipping the children’s menu, the science behind the senses and reflexes, and all of the myth busting.
If you’re looking for a comprehensive book to help you learn how to introduce food to your baby, break bad habits with your toddler, or just reassure you that your food journey is on the right course, this is a must read. I suspect I’ll be turning back to this book every year as a refresher and to read up on what the next months have in store for Conner and me on this amazing and fun path!
Thank you to The Experiment and NetGalley for a copy of this excellent resource.
My son is 7.5 months old and we’ve been doing baby led weaning*. I add an asterisk because I had sort of been forging my own path and giving him what I was comfortable with, which included purées (that I let him self serve). As I was reading this book, I actually realized that what we’ve been doing is Responsive Feeding! I’ve been letting Conner guide our journey by picking his utensils, directing me toward shapes and textures he likes, and allowing him to choose how much he consumes (or doesn’t). It’s been an amazing learning experience and seeing what we’ve been doing put down in black and white with science and helpful tips was really gratifying.
This book covers your baby’s eating experiences through age three. There’s information about tough conversations with family who may disagree with your approach, ways to approach your pediatrician, red flags about possible missed milestones, and responsive feeding for children with disabilities or delays. I loved the tips about eating at restaurants and skipping the children’s menu, the science behind the senses and reflexes, and all of the myth busting.
If you’re looking for a comprehensive book to help you learn how to introduce food to your baby, break bad habits with your toddler, or just reassure you that your food journey is on the right course, this is a must read. I suspect I’ll be turning back to this book every year as a refresher and to read up on what the next months have in store for Conner and me on this amazing and fun path!
Thank you to The Experiment and NetGalley for a copy of this excellent resource.
February 15, 2022
The title of this book attracted me as I believe that food should not be a battle ground.
The author talks about how to introduce solids to babies and gives some excellent suggestions on how to get babies started on solids. The suggestions would be really helpful to a new parent. I liked the fact that she talks about offering foods to your baby and not just shoving a spoonful fo puree into their mouths. She also talks about types of spoons and cutting soft solids into pieces that a baby can eventually pick up by themselves.
All the little tips are great, but it is also obvious that she is a speech pathologist and sometimes gets too technical. It's the kind of book that a new parent will want to swallow in small bites and then come back to for more info. Also, some parts of the book are about children with eating disorders, autism and Downs Syndrome. Those parts can be skipped.
I am not sure that her warnings about not waiting too long to introduce certain types of foods should be overly worried about by parents. Most children develop appropriately when they are ready, regardless of when food is introduced. I had also found that some studies seem to indicate that even though the amount of iron in breastmilk is small, it is very bioavailable and thus it is better to wait longer to introduce solids. I will have to get more information on this topic and see what later studies suggest.
The author talks about how to introduce solids to babies and gives some excellent suggestions on how to get babies started on solids. The suggestions would be really helpful to a new parent. I liked the fact that she talks about offering foods to your baby and not just shoving a spoonful fo puree into their mouths. She also talks about types of spoons and cutting soft solids into pieces that a baby can eventually pick up by themselves.
All the little tips are great, but it is also obvious that she is a speech pathologist and sometimes gets too technical. It's the kind of book that a new parent will want to swallow in small bites and then come back to for more info. Also, some parts of the book are about children with eating disorders, autism and Downs Syndrome. Those parts can be skipped.
I am not sure that her warnings about not waiting too long to introduce certain types of foods should be overly worried about by parents. Most children develop appropriately when they are ready, regardless of when food is introduced. I had also found that some studies seem to indicate that even though the amount of iron in breastmilk is small, it is very bioavailable and thus it is better to wait longer to introduce solids. I will have to get more information on this topic and see what later studies suggest.
September 7, 2021
An excellent guide on feeding babies and toddlers. My kids are in their twenties now but with a 5 month old grandson I was excited and eager to revise how to feed babies to toddlers and see if advice has changed over the years. I was encouraged by all the advice in the book and am looking forward to giving my grandson some pureed food on his tray to explore (I only remember spoon feeding and yes, wiping chins with a spoon, but maybe I won’t try the latter now!).
In all, 5/5 stars for being an informative and encouraging read to anyone tentative about feeding infants
In all, 5/5 stars for being an informative and encouraging read to anyone tentative about feeding infants
January 22, 2023
This book is great for OTs and SLPs who serve children with feeding difficulties. I would also highly recommend to new moms. Melanie has so much knowledge and takes a much more child-centered approach to feeding.
July 3, 2022
A great resource for anyone feeding a baby!
September 19, 2024
Excellent resource for parents for developmental feeding milestones & picky eaters of birth-3. I love the “responsive feeding” philosophy.
January 28, 2023
Got this along with other BLW books and this one just did not resonate. Had some good information scattered throughout but really just seemed like she tried to cover a wide range of topics, some beyond the scope of her knowledge, that didn't really dive into the how to and why's of what would actually be useful. Lots of talk about reflexes and what stays and goes which is helpful to a degree but at points seemed like I was reading a textbook for SLP's.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews