Daily Diet: Best Food for Your Baby & Toddler

By Susan Brady

Daily Diet: Best Food for Your Baby & Toddler

The first six months of a baby’s life is relatively easy, when it comes to food. Breastmilk is best, but formula runs a close second. Hunger is easily quenched by breast or bottle. Very little muss, fuss or prep time. All that changes once solid food is introduced, which is why it is helpful to invest in a comprehensive guide to baby and toddler nutrition.

New to this arena, in the Great Expectations series from Sterling Publishing, is Best Food for Your Baby & Toddler by Jeannette L. Bessenger and Tracee Yablon-Brenner. The book is designed for parents who want to give their children the best, most wholesome and natural food possible. During this time of tremendous physical growth, food is fuel and it is essential to provide nutritionally sound and calorie-appropriate food.

Best Food for Your Baby & Toddler provides nutrition basics from birth to three years of age, helps you decode baby food labels, and explains the diet requirements necessary for babies and toddlers. In addition, there are feeding guides by age and recipes for baby food, from finger foods to entrees to pasta and grains. There is also information for the vegetarian toddler, addressing the pros and the cons and how best to go about it, and for those who wish to use organic products.

The introduction of foods can be a challenge, but the authors guide you through the foods to avoid, the best options for starting out, how often to introduce new foods, and the reaction you should expect to get.

Homemade food is often cheaper and healthier than commercially prepared food. Very little specialized equipment is required, with basic cooking equipment addressed in the book. In fact, as your child grows, you will be able to take much of the food you cook for adults and run it thorough a food mill, eliminating the need to cook two separate meals for adults and children.

Recipes are offered for all developmental stages, as is food prep and storage. From simple fruit and vegetable purees for infants, to more complex grains and stews for toddlers, the recipes are easy to follow. Storage recommendations may allow you to make a large batch of a dish and store in the freezer and/or refrigerator for later use. This means you always have homemade food on hand on those days where you cannot find the time to cook.

Additionally, Best Food for Your Baby & Toddler has eleven pages of resources to help you find specific ingredients, the best baby bottles and food mills, data on food allergies, and more.

source: healthnews.com