Book Review: Super Baby Food

All about the book Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron. How to get baby started off healthy and how to make healthy baby food for your baby.

Super Baby Food Book

Since starting this blog, I have often heard great things about the book Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron. 

I just finished reading it and WOW! I love this book. Really, really love it. It is 560 pages of information, followed by another 33 pages for bibliography and an index. When I say it is information, I mean it is full of information. There is no wasted real estate in this book; each word is written to provide information.

As I was gushing over this book, my husband pointed out that not all people would find the same joy from reading it as I did. Like I said, it is full of information. It is practical and has very little, if any, fluff. That is my sort of book! Yes, of course I love my fiction books, but when I am getting a reference book like this, I want information. This reads much like a textbook would. Many (okay, most) will perhaps find that boring. Yaron has done her research. Certain parts of the book can get really technical; Yaron realizes this and tells readers to skip to page X if they don’t want to read about certain topics. But realize that you are getting every penny you spent out of this book.

The author seems very down to earth to me. She has written the book so that you don’t have to read every word to understand what she is talking about. She has it cross-referenced throughout the book. She also gives advice for various levels of making baby food–it isn’t an “all or nothing” system.

Are you wondering what is in this book? Let me give you a list:

  • Feeding Your Baby: This section includes information on which foods to introduce first at at what ages certain foods are safe. She also includes amounts of food a baby should be eating at various stages. I know that many moms worry about this. Included in this is serving sizes. She also includes amounts of liquid baby should drink each day. Information about the digestive system is also included. Yaron discusses finger foods, snacks (healthy!), teething foods, table foods, and more. She also discusses feeding your baby month by month.
  • Preparation and Storage of Food: Yaron assumes the reader knows nothing about cooking. She describes how to buy, clean, store, prepare, freeze, reheat, and feed fruits and veggies to your baby. She goes over food safety so you can safely handle foods.
  • Recipes: There is a section on recipes to make foods for your toddler and family that are very healthy and easy to prepare.
  • Fun Stuff: This section has many ideas for having fun with your toddler, from decorating foods to recipes/instructions for arts and crafts, homemade toys, and homemade gifts.
  • References and Appendices: This section has information on the nutritional values of different foods. She also has recipes for homemade cleaning products. There is also a section on Nutrition that explains how the body uses different nutrients.

I definitely think this book is worth owning. I give it my highest praises and recommendation.

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27 thoughts on “Book Review: Super Baby Food”

  1. Amen!! I am so glad you loved it, it was a gift to me when I had my first and it helped me so much. Saved us money, I stayed calm about what he was/wasn't eating, and it gave me healthy ideas all across the board. I'd say this book has made my whole family healthier eaters. I'm so glad you loved it and posted about it!

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  2. Hey Val I've been meaning to ask you. Have you read Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child? If you haven't, are you planning on it? I've read it and find it absolutely invaluable.

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  3. I keep this book up by my recipe books and reference it ALL the time. I'm glad you liked it too. We make our own yogurt and she makes it so easy to learn!

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  4. I got this book about two weeks ago, and have read some of it. It is chock full of info! Another good thing is that Yaron continually points out the need to consult your pediatrician on many feeding issues. This is because the guidelines are constantly changing and each baby is different. It is your pediatrician's job to keep up with that! I agree that this book is good whether you want to go "all the way" or just make your own baby cereal "super porridge". I can't wait to finish it!By the way, this book is a guide for feeding your infant all the way through 3 years of age!

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  5. i gush and gush about this book, too, so I'm glad you finally got to read it and tell your readers about it–such an awesome book! It has been read, dogeared, gotten spilled on (more times than I can count) and sits on top of our fridge for any quick questions I have while making food for our 10-month old. LOVE it!

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  6. Pintt's, so true. All the nutritional and food safety info is awesome. Also, I like that she includes how to buy fruits and veggies. Some of those can be hard!

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  7. Amanda, like Redheads said, it goes up to 3 years. You would love this book. I can see it benefiting beyond 3 years, also.

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  8. Redheads, thanks! All excellent points. As I think about the book, I realize I am forgetting all sorts of things that are in the book. She also has lots of practical tips interspersed that have nothing to do with food.

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  9. Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child is like my bible. Between that and Babywise I feel like I have everything I know. It really and truly covers some of the gaps I feel like are in the Babywise materials. As you're probably reading in HSHHC right now there is SO much information having to do with the human brain and how it develops. I'm anxiously awaiting your review.

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  10. I'm one of the ones who refered to it a good bit. James is 2 and I still feed him Super Baby Porridge that she refers to over and over for breakfast. He's a super eater. I didn't buy this book until a little later, but with my next one, I will feed homemade rice cereal and then introduce the beans and more whole grains as he or she grows. I think for any mom who is kean on making homemade baby food, this is a must.

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  11. You should get some kind of cut for all the people who are going to buy this book because of your review. 🙂 I can't wait to read it.

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  12. I really, really tried to like this book, but I felt Yaron was just a little TOO paranoid about everything. Yes, I want my child to be safe. But do I really need to leave a bowl of water in the microwave at all times in case it is accidently turned on or an ice cube in the freezer to check for power outages?? And what does that have to do with feeding my baby. Maybe I would have liked it without all the random stuff, but I felt that was a waste of my time and I don't see how she has time to be a mom and worry about EVERYTHING! Some things you have to let go.

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  13. I'm with lcluff. I went to culinary school and am well aware of what cooking does to the nutrients in food. However, sometimes I got the same feeling reading superbaby food that I did whenever I read literature by La Leche group. Just like "breast is best" for baby, we all know you should absolutley not feel guilty for feeding your baby breastmilk. In fact, my baby girl is nine months old and has never had formula, but I still don't really think formula fed babies are worse of than my daughter. Anyway, I like superbaby food somewhat but I couldn't really deal with all the end of the world type feeling if my baby had commercially produced baby food. I think it also comes down to the fact that from what I learned in school pesticides might not be as awful as everyone thinks, and organic fruits and vegetables still use methods to get rid of bugs and pests that might not be any better for our consumption. We need to do our best as moms and I think superbaby food might serve to make some people feel overwhelemed and guilty.

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  14. Along these same lines, the websitehttp://weelicious.com/is awesome! She has recipes for babies just starting solids and now has recipes for toddlers and older kids too as her boy has grown. She has totally opened my eyes to different foods to try with my toddler and has given some great ideas to help him learn to love healthy food. We have tried a bunch of her recipes and I have loved all of them. She's also got demo videos on there that show how she involves her son in cooking. It is so fun to see how she involves him in the whole process. I've spent lots of time looking through her archives to find new recipes to try. Her whole wheat pizza dough is a favorite. Can't say enough about how much I love this website!

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  15. lcluff, I don't remember that? I have the newest edition. I wonder if it was taken out or if I missed that part?

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  16. Natalie, I guess I just don't have much guilt 🙂 Brayden and Kaitlyn both had commercially made food, and I don't feel guilty about it. I didn't ever get the vibe that you should feel guilty about. She said over and over to not feel guilty about it. One thing I like about the idea of making food is that it is a lot less expensive. When it comes to formula feeding, I myself was formula fed (and formula is a lot better now than it was then). I am healthy and intelligent. However, I do think breastmilk is better for babies than formula, generally speaking. But McKenna is 3 months and has had formula. I don't think formula is bad for babies, just that breastmilk is better.

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  17. Valerie, On your recommendation, I bought Super Baby Food, and am really impressed with all of the information, recipes, it contains. 🙂 I have a question for you, though…My pediatrician recommended introducing solids the 'traditional way', yellow veggies, then green veggies, then fruits, etc. I know you did this as well. In Super Baby Food, however, she says that babies shouldn't start these foods (at least homemade) until 7 months or older because of the possibility of nitrates in them. How did you handle this? Did you give McKenna store-bought green beans, carrots, etc. until she was 7 months old? I have a call in to my pediatrician about this, I'm just curious how you handled it. FYI, my little boy is 5 months old, started rice cereal when he was 4 months old, and we've introduced sweet potatoes (homemade) and squash (store-bought). Thanks!!

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  18. With McKenna, I introduced foods in a different order. I actually started with bananas, then sweet potatoes…I did start with store bought carrots and sweet potatotes when I started. I did wait until she was 7 months old. I am a safe gal 🙂 Squash is okay before then, though. It obviously grows above ground 🙂 Green beans would be okay too. McKenna does get store bought sometimes even still.

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