Last November, Dana’s brother gave her a copy of Ruth Yaron’s Super Baby Food for her birthday. Dana and I looked at the book and frowned: a baby food book with almost 600-page long and no photos to inspire us to cook. I was not impressed with the cover design and the book layout either so SBF ended up on our bookshelf.
During the holiday break, I took off work to spend time with Duke. While he was sleeping, I cracked the book open and started to read. To my surprise, I kept turning page after page. The first part of the book is packed with so much useful information that I had to start all over, even though I already reached 100 pages, to take notes. From the safety guides on how to buy a high chair to the best time to feed your baby to four-day waiting period to introduce new food, SBF is more than just a book on recipes. I picked up tips that I have not thought of before, like something as simple as cleaning baby teeth with Q-Tips after meals, not to make a disgusted face when changing his diaper, “which may teach him that his private parts are repulsive and lead him to believe that sex is ‘dirty’ when he gets older,” and, most important of all, never force him to eat.
SBF breaks down the advantages of home-cook from the quality of the food to the cost savings. For instance, she compares whole grains versus processed grains to contrast the lost of nutrients during the refinement. This is the book that I should have read before Duke turned 6-month, even though Dana has been doing a fabulous job of preparing healthy solid meals for our boy. I highly recommend SBF to new parents; however, consulting with a pediatrician is necessary when in doubts, like introducing yogurt after 6 months instead of 12 or introducing nuts at the early age.