Rating: 
Summary: Practical feeding
Review: I love her approach to feeding. I feel I am doing the best I can for my baby now.
Rating: 
Summary: Too long, too rigid, but not a bad principle
Review: I originally bought this book right as my child was almost ready to start solid foods at about 5 months old. She is now 17 months old and I have just recently managed to finish this gigantic and dull tome. I am not a slow reader, this book is just painful to slog thru, it did not hold my attention at all because the author basically states 1 principle and then proceeds to endlessly repeat it for hundreds of pages. She is also quite convinced that her way is the only correct way to feed a child. I have found that the division of responsibility idea does work very well for me and my child, but I have found no need to be as rigid about meals and snacks as the author claims that you need to be in order for your child to progress along properly in her development. I am not convinced that grazing is a bad practice, and that that may not be the best strategy for some families.
Rating: 
Summary: A very limited book
Review: I tentatively liked the earlier edition of "Child of Mine", but there were topics that weren't covered, including my specific questions about my son's eating. So I eagerly bought the latest revision of "Child of Mine," expecting it to be more comprehensive. Instead, I found that the book was Satter's justification of why everybody should feed their kids the way she fed hers (in the 1970s?), ignoring newer research. She has a one-size-fits-all prescription for how to feed your child, with little room for families to make different choices from hers. I prefer authors who say, "I prefer X because of a and b, but other people prefer Y because of c and d." Satter just says, "Do X," and doesn't even present Y as an alternative, or, worse, she says that only kooks do Y. I bought the new edition hoping it had been expanded to include ideas about my two-and-a-half-year-old who likes to breastfeed but not eat, but there was nothing there for my situation. The only thing the book said about weaning was that most kids naturally lose interest in nursing at about a year. Sigh. The new edition of the book has more pages, but some topics from the earlier edition have actually been removed, replaced by notes that you should buy her other book on that subject. That's cheap. I'd prefer a quick summary about the topic and *then* a note to see the other book. I would buy the other book if the summary looked helpful, but I'm not likely to buy the other book if I don't know what's in it. The topics that remained were extremely repetitive coverage of a small number of issues.It bothers me that Satter is not a strong advocate of breastfeeding. She makes some claims that are likely to scare new breastfeeding moms. For example, she says the only time she got a breast infection was when she began two consecutive feedings on the same side. That implies it's dangerous not to alternate which side starts each feeding -- a bogus piece of information. (In fact, I've never had a breast infection and for a year I started *all* my son's breastfeedings on the same side.) Satter is famous for having invented the "division of responsibility" in feeding children. That's the idea that the parent's job is to present the child with nutritious foods to choose from, and the child's job is to eat -- or not eat -- according to the child's internal cues. She says she thought this up on the spur of the moment at a nutrition counseling appointment. That is, she made it up, it's not the result of research. Then she applied it to many other eating problems. It works for lots of situations. But this book reminds me of the expression, "If the only tool you have is a hammer, then everything looks like a nail." That is, her answer to EVERYTHING is "division of responsibility." It's a nice idea, and it does have a lot of applications, but she harps on it so much that I got very tired of hearing about it. Also, "division of responsibility" badly failed my son. If you put food in front of him when he is hungry, he often *doesn't* eat, and then he's miserable because he is hungry. I know other kids like that. Satter fails to address their needs. Satter several times describes certain people as "individuals excessively concerned about the safety of the food supply." When I read that, I interpreted it as a polite name for "wackos." Then I realized that it's her name for people who eat mostly organically grown food -- that is, me! So, as far as I can tell, Satter feels that non-organically grown food is perfectly safe and anybody who buys organic food is a wacko. I'd have appreciated gentler wording from her, such as, "I don't personally think it's necessary to eat organically grown food, but I can see why some people would choose it" -- and a scientific discussion of why she thinks pesticide residues in food are not dangerous and so organic food isn't needed. The polite name-calling is unnecessary. She repeatedly says how horribly boring a lowfat diet is. She talks about kids who don't eat because the family diet is lowfat food. In her examples, as soon as the family adds fat to their diet, the kids start eating normally. When she mentions the food the example family eats, it is things like boiled fish with no toppings, and baked potatoes served bare. Good grief! I agree that THAT might be unexciting, but my family eats a lowfat diet that is nothing like this. My family eats a huge variety of food with very enjoyable flavors and textures. We eat curries, stir-fries, pastas, burritos, and a zillion other things. How could a celebrated nutrition expert have so little clue that lowfat food can be wonderful varied stuff? Finally, Satter says she thinks people should not restrict fat in their diet. She gives her reasoning why she thinks the scientific studies that say fat is harmful are wrong. Then she goes on to call all the major nutritional groups -- I don't have the list in front of me, but it's groups like the American Association of Dietitians -- she calls them "extremists" and says that they're hopping on a silly trendy bandwagon and in a few years people will decide that fat is desirable after all, and that when that happens we should remember that she told us first. Ok, fine. When research says fat is healthy, I'll start eating more fat, but until then I'll wait. She repeats the word "extremists" several times -- more name-calling. She's calling all these major well-known nutrition experts "extremists"??? I don't think that's justified. So.... I ended up really annoyed with Satter, and not at all pleased that I'd bought the book.
Rating:
Summary: So helpful!
Review: I was so confused about what to do about feeding my 5 month old. Too early for solids? She seemed ready. Was I feeding her so much? She was getting so big so fast. This book made me calm down a great deal and listen to what my daughter was saying. We're both much happier now. I wish I'd had it from the beginning because it looks to have some great information on breastfeeding that would have really helped me out.
Rating: 
Summary: A must for Worry-wort parents
Review: If you tend to stress yourself about every morsel your child does and does not put into his/her mouth, you need this book. If you're agonizing over the breat vs. battle thing and you can't handle another bit of helpful advice from a well-meaning friend or family member, you need this book. Relax, set a good example by eating healthfully yourself, and follow Satter's golden rule and both you and your baby wiil be happier for it.
Rating: 
Summary: The latest word on child nutrition from Ellyn Satter
Review: In this completely revised edition, Satter is as warm, friendly and entertaining as ever as she offers even more information and guidance about nutrition, feeding, child development and parenting. Satter backs up her advice with stories drawn from her extensive experience and solid research presented in a readable and casual fashion. She sorts through the extremes and offers parents a practical, common-sense and empowering guide to fostering a loving relationship between them and their child around food. Child of Mine emphasizes the celebration, playfulness and joy that is inherent in positive eating and feeding. "Feeding is going well if both you and your child are having a good time," Satter says, and she explains clearly what supports and what gets in the way of having that good time. Her expertise and her engaging and supportive style have made Child of Mine bedside reading for thousands of parents and an essential reference for nutritionists, educators, and mental health professionals. "...An excellent source of solid nutritional information. In addition, it espouses a philosophy of moderation and common sense that fosters good health, good eating habits and, most of all, a loving relationship between parents and children." -The Washington Post "...this is a uniquely comforting, now-I'm-on-the-right-track sort of book... a warm, sensible, professional and expert approach to what is, after all, a universal set of situations." -Family Journal "...A wealth of practical and solidly researched information for parents and professionals of all levels of experience. [Satter's] casual, personalized writing style engages the reader and transforms potentially confusing and technical data into understandable and applicable guidelines. It is quite a relief to finally read such a rational, healthy approach to child nutrition." -Journal of Pediatric Nursing Ellyn Satter, MS, RD, CICSW, BCD is an internationally recognized authority on eating and feeding. Her books, journal and magazine articles, teaching materials, seminars and media interviews have made her well-known to the lay public, professionals and the media as the leading authority on nutrition and feeding of infants and children. The author of the division of responsibility in feeding (parents are responsible for the what, when and where of feeding, children are responsible for the how much and whether of eating), Satter has led nutrition, health and mental health professionals as well as the general public to adopt wise and emotionally healthy approaches to feeding and eating.
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Summary: Breastfeeding Moms Should Know
Review: It alarmed me that this book puts the weaning information in the 6 to 12 months section. Doesn't the author know that the AAP recommends breastfeeding for at least a year, and that the World Health Organization recommends breastfeeding for two years,with no recommended weaning age? I wonder if the author simply ignored that information and included her own opinions about how long a child should nurse instead of actual facts.
Rating:
Summary: Wish I'd read this book 6 months earlier...
Review: Ms. Satter's approach, firmly based in nutritional and developmental science, just plain makes sense. I got this book as my baby was approaching the point I had to start introducing him to solid food. It's making that transition much easier for me. I wish someone had told me about the book before he was born -- it would have helped greatly. Consider giving this book as a shower gift -- the recipient will be very thankful!
Rating:
Summary: A Suggestion for a Middle-of-the-Road Approach
Review: My opinion of this book falls somewhere between that of the two reader/reviwers.... Some of it is useful, some is interesting, much is opinionated and will not apply broadly, and a good deal is outdated. I bought Satter's book while struggling with (ultimately unsuccessful) breastfeeding, and was very put off by her strong advocacy for what I have since learned is termed "attachment parenting" (code for on-demand). The book made me feel selfish for wanting to schedule nighttime feedings, interchange breast and bottle, etc., until I understood that she was an advocate for a particular position at one end of a spectrum. I've since learned there is a wide range of opinions on the topic of nutrition and diet, and I made it a point to understand that range in order to make more informed and guilt-free decisions about my own family's needs - to balance variables like time, energy, the need for sleep, and the need for balance and variety in diet. ....So I would not take Satter's book (or any one book) as *the* authoritative source on the subject. Satter's book is *a* source (and I agree with [another reviewer]- it does reflect prevailing attitudes of the 1970s, and is not necessarily scientifically sound on all fronts). A friend gave us Super Baby Food, which I found vaguely irritating, highly opinionated, and scientifically questionable book with respect to its nutritional claims. Does it have good recipes and good ideas? Sure. Is it the last word? Nope. If you buy Satter's book, or almost any other book, refer to it as a source of *ideas*, and not gospel. This applies to nearly any book on child nutrition on the market. I think doing so takes some pressure off parents, and helps them feel comfortable devising (and defending) their own approach to meet their own family's particular needs, which are individual and ever-changing anyway.
Rating:
Summary: Informative for general and specific feeding recomendations
Review: Satter's book has been very helpful in providing feeding philosophies as well as specific advice, such as step by step information on how to correctly spoon feed a baby. Her book is up to date and includes a wonderful appendix of extra information, including a section on nutritious snacks. I would recommend this book to anyone needing general and specific guidance on feeding, nutrition, and child development.
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