I wanted a book on healthy baby and toddler meals because I wanted my picky son to eat a wider variety of food. I just wish I had been with my husband when he picked out Super Baby Food because I would have chosen a different book. It’s not that the book lacks healthy recipes and even crafts and tips. It’s just that I don’t find it to be realistic for the average mom and there is no way my son is going to go along with these foods. Call me naïve, but I’m not even sure what dessicated liver is.

Ruth Yaron is not a doctor or even a dietician. She is a mom who had premature twins and wanted an alternative to jarred baby foods. She was also very much into super healthy organic foods. In the book’s forward, she makes the claim that hers were the healthiest babies ever and that they never once got sick. There is even a warning and disclaimer that neither the author or publisher will be held liable for any illnesses, injury, loss or damage caused by the book.

O.K. I’m all for the idea of making your own healthy baby food. It’s just that this particular food is more suited for very strict health food diet followers. The assumption is that all of the readers have access to health food stores and organic foods. The Super Baby Food Diet, as it’s called, is composed of only whole, natural foods and contains no meat.

In part 1, it’s explained how to prepare and freeze the Super Baby Food. It tells why you should wait at least four but not more than eight months to introduce solids. Feeding methods are explained, covering everything from highchairs to utensils and bibs. It goes on to list foods most likely to cause allergies. Pesticide use, food cleanliness and choking hazards are covered. The book recommends keeping a food diary and explains how much a baby should be eating during each month of its life.

Each month is covered and a sample menu is given for each. Some of the ideas are far from the usual diet of the average baby. For example, at eight months, your baby could have tahini, a spread made from sesame seeds, ground flax seed and pumpkin seeds. Brewer’s yeast, dessicated liver and powdered kelp are also part of the menu. It’s stressed that the food should be in addition to, and not a replacement for breastmilk.

The ninth month mark introduces beans and legumes as protein added to what is referred to as Super Porridge, a staple of the Super Baby Food diet. The porridge is the main theme of the book and begins as a homemade whole grain baby food mixture and gradually adds things such as tofu, ground nuts and seeds. The Super Porridge Main Meal consists of 1 cup of Super Porridge, 1 vitamin A vegetable cube (previously frozen cooked vegetable), or a mashed egg, brewer’s yeast, a green vegetable cube, a vitamin C source, kelp and dessicated liver. It’s explained why you should not give milk with this meal. The next meal of the day is called the Yogurt Meal. This meal contains avocado, tahini, sunflower seeds and wheat germ among other things along with the yogurt. So you can see that this food is not something found commonly in the average home.

Later in the book, meat is acknowledged as a food source and many health food recipes are given as well. Even snacks and desserts are covered, some even sounding palatable. There is a party section including homemade invitation ideas, crafts and cakes. Some of the party cakes described are shaped like a spider, wagon, football or fire truck. Finger painting with pudding, face and body painting, as well as bubble painting are described.

There are tons of craft ideas and clever tips on things such as hair detanglers, diapers, powders and baby clothes which does make the book somewhat useful to me. There are even recipes for safe dish detergent, bathroom and kitchen cleaners.

I found Super Baby Food to be a rather offbeat and unexpected book. I can’t incorporate most of the food tips into my family’s life, but it does contain some interesting tips and information.




Recommended: No