[.ca] Feeding Your Child for Lifelong Health: Birth Through ... (ISBN 0553378929)

From Amazon.com:
This book tastes great and it's good for you, too. Feeding Your Child for Lifelong Health: Birth Through Age Six is based on the principle of "metabolic programming," the scientifically rooted idea that foods eaten in early childhood directly affect the function of individual cells that control strength, intelligence, the immune system, and other vital functions. Think of it as a convoluted molecular take on the old maxim "You are what you eat." Genetics and other external factors also play a role, of course, but those factors are beyond our control. What goes on the dinner table, however, is not. The point of this book is to help parents teach their kids to like healthful foods, thus getting them into a lifelong habit of eating well and staying healthy. There is a fair amount of science in this book, but the clear writing and good organization make it go down easy. Particularly helpful are the numerous graphs and boxes that highlight such topics as the best sources of calcium and iron (and why too much iron is dangerous), the differences between breast milk and formula, the eight key nutrients for different ages, and how to identify and even prevent allergies and intolerance to certain foods. The recipes, sample meals, healthy snacks, and tips for dealing with finicky eaters are alone worth the price of the book. Feeding Your Child for Lifelong Health is an invaluable guide to ensuring that not only will your kids eat their vegetables, they'll even ask for seconds. --Shawn Carkonen

Informative book for parents:
I would recommend this book for all parents. I wish I'd read it when my oldest was born instead of when he was 2 1/2 and my youngest was 1. Good, practical tips for getting toddlers to eat veggies. OVerall healthy eating practices recommended. Debunks some myths/wives tales, ec. Pediatricians should be recommending this, too. I think I do a good job with my children's nutrition, especially when I see the junk that most of America and even some of my friends let their children eat, but this definitely inspired me to do much better.

Truly excellent -- with a couple of caveats:
Of all the books I have read on feeding babies, toddlers, and children, I find this the most realistic and most the clearly based in scientific research. It's clearly written and well organized, and doesn't recommend any strange foods you wouldn't put on the table for guests or tuck into yourself. That said, I was disappointed at the authors recommendation to start kids on refined breads and crackers because 'they don't need the extra fiber' -- along side the suggestion that you not start your child out on anything you don't want them to prefer. It seems contradictory to me, and my little guy is getting whole grains only. I was also disappointed at the author's lack of knowledge about breastfeeding. In the parts of the book that deal with slightly older children, they have some misleading and out of date information that discounts the benefits of extended breastfeeding and overstates the benefits of cows milk and artificial baby milks. But, even so, I must say that they have some extremely wise and useful information about how children think about and respond to food and some excellent advice for how to raise a child with a good relationship to food -- it's balanced (an occasional piece of candy at a friend's house or a packet of chips after swim class won't kill most children) but weighted in favor of whole foods and higher nutrition. Just what I was looking for!

Great intro on feeding your child:
The best thing about this book is the advice to avoid making feeding times a battleground, and using non-nutritious food as a reward to eat nutritious food. It is excellent in providing sample menus and charts at different stages. I reccommend it to many new parents. A couple of caveats: I do wish it had more recipies. I mostly use my adult cookbooks instead, but I would love more healthy "brown bag" lunch ideas. I also think the reader must keep in mind that the approach of "keep putting it on their plate" does not always work, sometimes a child (just like an adult) simply won't like the taste of a food. Finally, the authors don't encourage giving whole grain foods (bread, pasta, crackers) to toddlers because they have a low fiber requirement. However, the authors do advise getting the child to like healthy food early on. To me this is contridictory as I would never feed my dd more white bread if I can give her less whole wheat. All in all I think this was money well spent.

Feeding Your Child for Lifelong Health:
This provided helpful advice as my baby moved from baby to table foods. As she has moved into toddlerhood, it also is an effective resource of ideas for dealing with the numerous food issues that crop up. It offers practical, realistic advice.

Essential for all Moms:
As a registered nurse and Mom this book is essential. It goes through the stages of feeding starting with breast vs. bottle, including exellent info on breasfeeding. You dont even need to buy a seperate breastfeeding book. Then moves on to babys first foods, including which foods to introduce at certain ages. Gives sample menus for babies of all ages. Also helps parents understand that pushing food on kids only makes them not want to eat. Helps with tips for picky eaters. How to get your kids to eat the foods you want them to eat with them knowing it.