Better Baby Food by Daina Kalnins & Joanne Saab

Read: 5 September, 2008

Overall, I'd say that this book is fine if you are reading it among a whole bunch of books - in which case it may provide a few extra ideas or inspirations (though, even there, I found it to be lacking). If, on the other hand, you are thinking of reading this as your first book on baby nutrition, choose something else. It's written from a very biased perspective and has quite a bit of advice that simply does not reflect contemporary understandings. It also, surprisingly, seems to show an irrational distrust of medical advice.

Firstly, there's an entire section on breastfeeding that never mentions that some women cannot produce milk properly. It explains that women shouldn't worry about whether or not they are producing enough milk for their infants. Okay, fair enough. It's not something that one should be worried about. But nowhere does it say "if you are concerned, ask your doctor." It just flat out dismisses it as a non-issue.

The book also says that if your newborn is "not demanding to be fed at least every 4 hours, they should be awakened to feed." This is the kind of advice my mother's generation was given. If a child is getting enough nutrition, is growing at an appropriate pace, and is a healthy weight, why make him cranky by waking him up all the time? This advice is bad, not just because it isn't true and because it never takes the family's doctor into consideration, but also because it could make relationships between the parents and their newborn even more strained than they may already be. What if the newborn doesn't want to eat yet and resists, but the parents (panicking because of the "feed every four hours or your child will STARVE!" advice) keep trying to force him? He's already cranky and now he keeps getting nipples shoved in his face. Yeah, great advice.

Another example of this comes later with a blurb that explains that parents must start their infants on solids at 4 months or the baby won't accept textures later on. Never mind that an individual baby may not be ready for solids that early. Again, no mention that a mother should consult with her doctor about her individual child's needs before taking such a big dietary step.

That's the tone this book carries most of the way through. It rarely has the more sensible advice of "don't panic, trust yourself, trust your baby - but if it's concerning you, double check with your doctor." Instead, it just provides instructions as though a baby could actually come with a manual. Any book that doesn't allow for an individual infant's needs is not to be trusted.

There are also some strange additions, such as a note in a margin that reads "(Authors - Correct???)". I can only assume that this is from an editor. In either case, this is the sort of sloppiness a good book might get away with, but points a much larger issue in Better Baby Food.

And finally, the recipes leave a lot to be desired. Some looked interesting, but they were few and far between. For one thing, many of them contain eggs or sugar - both of which are fine in moderation, but probably shouldn't be consumed for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every single day. I also found pages and pages devoted to overly simplistic recipes. For example, the first four pages of the Lunches section talk about making purées - that's seven different recipes of "take [fruit/vegetable] and boil. When soft, mash into a purée. Serve." I can understand including one to go through the process (though even this would be borderline since it is just so incredibly simple), but to actually include seven such recipes, each with a different fruit or vegetable, is just ridiculous. Not to mention the almost identical apple sauce recipe in the Breakfast section. I got about half-way through the Lunch recipes when I gave up and put the book down. There just weren't enough interesting recipes to warrant reading through.

My closing thought on this book is that if you've read a lot about baby care and nutrition and feel that your knowledge base is already fairly solid, this book isn't an entirely wasteful way to spend an afternoon. That being said, don't buy it and don't follow any new advice that strikes you as odd without first consulting with your doctor. I would have expected much better from two registered dietitians.