Real Food For Babies and Toddlers

Vanessa Clarkson

Murdoch Books

ISBN: 9781743368091

Description:

Practical strategies, nutritional information and over 80 seasonal wholefood recipes to nourish babies and toddlers and feed the whole family

Packed with expert advice, practical strategies, nutritional information and over 80 recipes, Real Food for Babies and Toddlers offers a more natural way of introducing wholefoods to children during the all-important first 1,000 days of life. It also rescues parents from the tiresome task of making separate meals for the youngest members of the family. Using a baby-led weaning approach rather than the traditional method of spoon-feeding puree allows parents to observe and respond to their baby’s natural cues and introduce a world of bright, flavourful, nutrient-rich foods from the get-go.

Internationally renowned nutrition expert and mother of two Vanessa Clarkson presents predominantly plant-based, seasonal dishes that are delicious and completely adaptable for self-feeding babies, toddlers and their families. This is a modern collection of family-focused, beautiful meals that the whole family will love sitting down to enjoy, together.

My View:

This is more than a recipe book – it is a valuable resource for all parents and carers of young children. The first chapters talk about the base work for providing nourishing foundations for young children, excellent reading.  The recipes are divided into seasons – seasonally available be foods are cheaper, fresher, tastier and have travelled less food miles.   There is a chapter on stocking the wholefood kitchen, how to make some of the basics- whey, labneh and kefir and a nutritional information guide – again so much useful information here.

The author also provides many useful tips along the way – one of the more interesting ones is called How to Begin and stars with this unexpected piece of advice: “This may sound odd, but in the very early days ensure that your baby isn’t hungry at mealtimes. This is because they won’t yet have acquired the self-feeding skills necessary to eat enough to match their appetite, and this could lead to an irritated baby. Instead satisfy their hunger with breast or bottle feeding initially, while they come to grips with developing the skills they need.”  p. 23

I found this book easy to read, provided nutritional advice and some great recipe and ideas. The dietary info and preparation time listed for each recipe guarantees you will have an enjoyable cooking experience.  This book is a very useful resource – this grandmamma is devouring the words.