Great Expectations: Best Food for Your Baby & Toddler: From First Foods to Meals Your Child will Love

by Jeannette L. Bessinger BCHHC, Tracee Yablon-Brenner RD

The definitive guide to infant and toddler feeding—from first foods to meals your child will love   To ensure that baby gets the best, most wholesome, and natural food possible, go homemade! The newest entry in the acclaimed Great Expectations series focuses on easy preparation of nutritious baby and toddler meals at home—from the first finger-foods to more than 130 delicious kid-tested recipes that will lay the foundation for a lifetime of healthy eating. The book teaches parents how to select the right food, set up a pantry (with a guide to key kitchen equipment), establish smart eating routines, and introduce a wide variety of tastes and textures. It also explores today’s most pressing nutrition issues: Should you buy only organic food? Is it healthy to restrict a toddler's calorie intake? Is a vegetarian diet good for a very young child?  Additional resources include information on breastfeeding and food allergies, as well as a comprehensive listing of whole foods companies and products that make healthy eating faster and easier.

Genres: Parenting

384 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have trouble believing her advice because of some misinformation I recognize.
I started reading from the beginning, then skipping bits. I have a lot of issues with the early section of the book.
1. It doesn't always make sense. Under the chart, "Calories by age" it says that the milk listed for the 1 year old are for 2% milk, but then says in the same paragraph that babies under the age of 2 should drink whole milk.
2. She spends a long time scaring readers about the obesity epidemic. I don't mind her talking about it and giving her statistics, but why so much time?
3. She uses the term "real food" rather than "whole" or "unprocessed" food. Does that mean packaged food is "fake"? Of course not. It's just bad for you.
4. She suggests that feeding your kid bad food will make him sluggish on the playground. Ummm, I have worked with lots of kids who can eat a slice of pizza and then run around and win a soccer game. I agree that unprocessed foods are better for kids, but don't make up reasons why to eat them.

[Lenore Webb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Best Food for Your Baby & Toddler. This is a great guide to helping see what foods your children need and will love. With three girls from infant to school age, taste can become quite finicky. That can become a big issue with meal times. I love all the tips, nutritional information and recipes that are stuffed into this volume. My first cook book for my daughter was Feed Me I'm Yours. And it was a big help. Well here we have gone several steps further and learn what is important for different developmental stages. There are topics on organic foods, preventing childhood obesity and eating routines. This honestly can help my niece as an all in one guide for all three of her girls.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know what it is about cookbooks for parents, but there's a bit of sanctimony that goes along with making food for a child. Along with helpful charts of portion sizes and nutrient breakdowns was a serving of self-righteous quinoa kale recipe ideas. I get that it's fantastic to feed kids healthy meals, but I wish there were more balanced choices for those of us who *gasp* might buy something packaged occasionally.

Or a lot.

But I didn't hate the book - there were some helpful tips for how to encourage kids to eat a variety of things, and the mate is excited to have recipes to follow (if we can afford the ingredients) - I just hated the tone in some areas.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty interesting stuff! I read the sections up to one-year of age, and it was pretty informative. Despite its title, it actually gives pretty good nutritional advice for everyone, not just kiddos. I'll return to this later in Yoda's life when I need to know more stuff :)

[Shalane]

This is a good resource for feeding ideas and I liked their philosophy on babies and food.

[Danielle Vincent · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite book about baby nutrition so far.