Super Baby Food
by Ruth Yaron
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Book Reviews of Super Baby Food
Book Review: Super Vegetarian Activist Baby Food
Summary: 1 Stars
My wife has mainly been reading this book and got what we thought were some helpful suggestions. We are going by LLL recommendations, but used this as a reference for how to prepare certain foods. Although I did find it a bit odd that the author thought that a sweet potato that had a single blemish/soft spot meant the whole tubor was bad. I also thought it was odd that she suggested flax oil over fish oil in order to get Omega-3's (recent studies have shown that the benefits are much more detectable for those who consume fish oil), but that makes sense now considering what I came to learn.
Just last night, though, we decided to look up turkey and after having a difficult time finding anything, came to her admission that her "super baby food" was vegetarian. Ok, so be it. But she for some reason decides that to be "complete" she needs to have a chapter on meat - in which she states her opinion that "meat is dangerous." While everyone's entitled to their own opinion, if you think meat is dangerous, than why have a chapter on it in the first place? Secondly, in order to provide the needed protein for children, she seems to want to bend over backwards to provide meat alternatives since she doesn't believe in meat consumption, and in doing so provides risky choices for babies under a year old - including nuts, legumes, eggs, and dairy products, all of which are allergen risks at this age.
Reading some of the reviews here, I'm glad I didn't waste more time with this book, which apparently has little scientific backing and is strewn with other odd positions and suggestions. I think there are enough reviews here that will allow people to be a bit guarded when reading this book. Just take it with a grain of salt and use it perhaps only as a reference for cooking/preparing a given food, but not as a way to learn WHAT to feed your baby!
By the way, I received this book as a gift from my sister, who is a vegetarian herself, but I don't think it was meant as propaganda as even she feeds her baby meat...
Book Review: First Foods - Be Careful!!
Summary: 2 Stars
I've never written a book review but after our experience I felt it necessary. If you're a new mom or dad you know sometimes it all about the poop! Yaron suggests avocado, bananas, sweet potatoes and rice cereal as first foods. Three out of the four can cause constipation in your little one. After five poopless days (three of which we decided to put the food introduction on hold and only nursed), I learned from three different health care providers that bananas, sweet potatoes and rice cereal can be binding. My little guy had 5 days without a bowl movement, the first two he was only fed a couple teaspoons in the morning prepared as Yaron suggests. By the way, my son's first food was avocado and he loved it! My practitioner suggested sticking with the "p" foods for first foods such as pears, peaches, plums, etc...
To give you a little bit of context:
* We started introducing solid foods at 5.5 months and followed Yaron's first food suggestions for baby's less than 6 months old;
* Before introducing solids he was exclusively breatfeed;
* I had hoped to hold out until at least 6 months before starting solids but he showed all the signs of being ready for food such as nursing more often (every 1-2 hours day and night), reaching for our food, fixated on everything we ate that I feel guilty eating in front of him (!), etc;
* He is 20lbs. at 6 months old.
I too agree with the other reviews that there is WAY too much extra information that is completely unnecessary and makes the book challenging to digest. I don't need someone to tell me that I can conserve energy by keeping a lid on a pot so it will boil quicker. It could be MUCH shorter, information could be streamlined and therefor easier to highlight the key points. I found myself re-reading the same sections over and finally got out the highlighter for the key points.
All in all I wish I had done more research before starting...I guess that's what sleep deprivation will do to you...
Book Review: Good intentions, highly disappointed
Summary: 1 Stars
The author may have had good intentions writing this book, but it needs a lot of help. First of all, yes, it is very opinionated. Furthermore, the lack of common sense, especially BABY know-how gets quite annoying early on - before you even read the preparing homemade food section. Any good parent, vegetarian or not, young or old, knows better than to give a young baby some of the foods recommended in this book - nuts, eggs, turnips, tofu - no way!! I thought the idea was to provide the best for your baby, not encourage food allergies and further distress on a fragile digestive system. Want to know how to make your own baby food? It's simple, buy the fruits and veggies you'd like your little one to eat, the same ones you can find in a baby food jar, and maybe some of your own safe, unique varieties. Clean it, cook it (steam, boil, etc), puree it in a blender. Adjust consistency as needed with either water to thin or rice cereal, etc to thicken. Freeze it in small portions. The author's freezing storage method is handy, but you may come up with a better idea for your needs. I've read lots complaints about the anti-meat thing. Animal protein is very healthy, especially for a developing child. I personally don't like the dog-food smelling meat-only commercial baby food preparations and buy the meat and veggie type blends. You can do the same thing at home, with properly cooked, unseasoned meat pureed with a selection of veggie(s).
Making homemade baby food and feeding your child isn't difficult. Getting through this book is. Check it out at a library if you really want to read up on the food prep, or borrow it from someone you know. This book was given to me as a recommendation. If I browsed through it in a store it would have gone right back on the shelf. It could do without 580 other pages, but it's her book, so she's entitled to add the other stuff in it. I'm sure there are far more intelligent, simple, and "food safe" baby food book selections out there.
Book Review: A bit over the top, but worth it for the detail
Summary: 4 Stars
First I have to comment on this: "Fourth, she gives age guidelines for certain foods that I don't understand. For example, she says baby should be 7 months before eating pureed peas or carrots. Well then how come commercial baby food companies offer carrots and peas as a stage one food? Perhaps she sees commercial carrots as poisonous, but I know several babies who ate carrots before 7 months and lived to see their next birthday. Also, there were foods mentioned like tofu, kelp, and other bizarre items that I would never even think to give a baby. Maybe some people would find that information valuable but I think most babies would be content with "standard" foods"
The reason she says 7 months for carrots is because carrots can be high in nitrates, thus dangerous for a baby. Maybe they sterilize the processed food a certain way before they jar it, reducing not only the nitrates but the nutritional value as well. She is warning you. Take it or leave it. As for peas, believe it or not, they are on the list for possible highly allergenic foods. Appropriate for her to warn you about that. Also, just because YOU wouldn't give your baby kelp, doesn't mean that others don't understand the nutritional value in it. I just think you came down a bit hard on her for something she has obviously researched and you have not. />Anyway, I found this book WAY too detailed. But, take the parts you like and leave the rest. I have yet to find a book even closely comparitive to this one which explains, in detail, the nutritional value of foods and what foods are the richest in certain nutrients. Her section on vegetables alone are worth purchasing the book for. While she has a McGuyver'esqueness about the book (she reuses all her freezer bags a billion times), it can be amusing and maybe helpful to some. All in all, I would borrow it from a library or buy it second hand. Also, her bfing information is WAY out of date and incorrect.
Book Review: Great book - A must for working or stay at home Moms!
Summary: 5 Stars
My son is almost 11 months old and this book has become very valuable to me. This book has taught me so much and is perfect for introducing solids to babies. I have even cleaned up my diet as a result! I was shocked to read some of the negative reviews on Amazon about this book. I can tell you that I have read those reviews and those reviewers simply did NOT read the book very carefully. They make it sound like all Ruth Yaron recommends is nuts and nitrate infested carrots. First of all she DOES address the nitrates in carrots as well as the peanut allergy issues. She cross references the "Your Baby's First Year", which is recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics. If those reviewers had cared to actually read the book, they would know that! What the book does emphasize is the following:
IT IS EASIER TO MAKE YOUR OWN FOOD THAN TO BUY THE JAR STUFF!!!
By making your own food, you can really offer your baby so much more than any jar food has to offer. By making it myself, I really feel good about what I am giving my son. The basis of the super baby food diet is the super porridge made out of whole grains and after a certain age, legumes. My son LOVES his super porridge! The next top items are yogurt, fresh fruit, and vegetables. I always wondered why I hated vegetables growing up and it is because of the way they were prepared. I buy only fresh vegetables now and I steam cook everything. This really helps keep the flavor and the nutrients! I have not conducted any scientific study as Ruth Yaron has not, but I can tell you that my kid is very healthy. I have no choice but to work and he has to go to Day Care. There is always someone sick at Day Care, but rarely is it ever my son and I really believe that his diet contributes largely to that.
If you buy the book and are overwhelmed, just remember this: You do not have to read the whole book in 2 days. Just take it one chapter at a time!