Rating: 
Summary: Unrealistic and alarmist approach to childhood nutrition
Review: Listen up moms...if you've got the time and energy to make your own wholesome whole wheat crackers and grow your own vegetables, then this is the book for you. Unlike other reviewers, who don't seem to be in touch with the reality of living with young children, I was disappointed in this book's unrealistic approach to raising children today. While the book has some interesting recommendations about how to handly picky eaters and the psychology of eating, these authors strike me as some of those alarmist nutritionists who think that processed foods and anything that isn't organic are somehow going to program your children to have an unhealthful metabolism. I thought the good food/bad food thing was passe... Following the authors' recommendations is a full-time job; I already have two -- one at work and one at home. One example: "A different vegetable or two with dinner every night of the week encourages vegetables to disappear," they say. Let's stop for a reality check here...when is that last time they actually tried this? Another section of the book that I questioned was the logic on breastfeeding. Everybody knows that breastmilk is good for babies, but these notions that it's a must, it's realistic for everyone and that it will make your baby smarter are truly out of touch. But time spent in an African village by one of the authors has convinced her that breastfeeding is posible for everyone, full-time, for at least a year and that formula is rarely needed and something to feel "bad" about. Last time I checked, women living in African villages had lifestyles that were somewhat different from those of American women. I couldn't nurse my daughter because my milk never came in...have I ruined her chances of getting into Harvard? Finally, as stepmother to a son with attention deficit distorder, I find it frustrating that other mothers struggling to help their children will be mislead about the promise of nutritional remedies that are detailed in this book. No physician that I've ever consulted with (and I've talked to many) has ever recommended nutritional changes as a possible treatment for attention deficit disorder. I really wish that I hadn't spent the money on this book...I'll stick to my mother's common sense advice.
Rating: 
Summary: Truly excellent -- with a couple of caveats
Review: Of all the books I have read on feeding babies, toddlers, and children, I find this the most realistic and most the clearly based in scientific research.It's clearly written and well organized, and doesn't recommend any strange foods you wouldn't put on the table for guests or tuck into yourself. That said, I was disappointed at the authors recommendation to start kids on refined breads and crackers because 'they don't need the extra fiber' -- along side the suggestion that you not start your child out on anything you don't want them to prefer. It seems contradictory to me, and my little guy is getting whole grains only. I was also disappointed at the author's lack of knowledge about breastfeeding. In the parts of the book that deal with slightly older children, they have some misleading and out of date information that discounts the benefits of extended breastfeeding and overstates the benefits of cows milk and artificial baby milks. But, even so, I must say that they have some extremely wise and useful information about how children think about and respond to food and some excellent advice for how to raise a child with a good relationship to food -- it's balanced (an occasional piece of candy at a friend's house or a packet of chips after swim class won't kill most children) but weighted in favor of whole foods and higher nutrition. Just what I was looking for!
Rating: 
Summary: IF YOU HAVE CHILDREN - BUY THIS BOOK
Review: Over the course of their first six years of life we probably spend in the region of 20-30 thousand dollars on food for each of our children. What we give them to eat will have lifelong effects on them. Given the size of this investment and its importance I don't think anyone can afford not to take some guidance from experts about exactly how to proceed. As a scientist working on obesity and a parent of two young children I found this excellent book worked well at two different levels. First it satisfied my scientific curiosity about why certain things were important in a very readable and understandable way, but second it actually showed me how to put the theory into practice with my own children. It is this latter reason why this book is such a winner. It is all very well to tell people that children should eat more vegetables and less sweets - this book shows you how to achieve it. At just over 12$ the value for money is just amazing. I have absolutely no hesitation in saying that if you have children under 6, or are planning a family this will be the best 12$ you ever spent. BUY IT NOW. There arn't enough stars in the amazon.com system to recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Feeding Your Child for Lifelong Health
Review: Please note, I have done a lot of reading on feeding my 5 month-old son. What I was looking for were guidelines to supplement my intuition, not black and white rules to follow to the letter. That is how I used this book. What I really like about this book is how nutritional needs at each stage of your child's life are explained in a simple manner. I also liked the moderate approach to feeding your baby. This is something I can do and it fits well with my lifestyle. It does not require that I spend half of my life tied to the kitchen creating strange, special meals for my son and then cooking something completely different for me and my husband. I skipped over the breastfeeding section, so I really can't say anything about that. I prefer this book to "Super Baby Food".
Rating:
Summary: The book I looked High and Low for...
Review: Please note, I have done a lot of reading on feeding my 5 month-old son. What I was looking for were guidelines to supplement my intuition, not black and white rules to follow to the letter. That is how I used this book. What I really like about this book is how nutritional needs at each stage of your child's life are explained in a simple manner. I also liked the moderate approach to feeding your baby. This is something I can do and it fits well with my lifestyle. It does not require that I spend half of my life tied to the kitchen creating strange, special meals for my son and then cooking something completely different for me and my husband. I skipped over the breastfeeding section, so I really can't say anything about that. I prefer this book to "Super Baby Food".
Rating:
Summary: Essential for all Moms
Review: The best thing about this book is the advice to avoid making feeding times a battleground, and using non-nutritious food as a reward to eat nutritious food. It is excellent in providing sample menus and charts at different stages. I reccommend it to many new parents. A couple of caveats: I do wish it had more recipies. I mostly use my adult cookbooks instead, but I would love more healthy "brown bag" lunch ideas. I also think the reader must keep in mind that the approach of "keep putting it on their plate" does not always work, sometimes a child (just like an adult) simply won't like the taste of a food. Finally, the authors don't encourage giving whole grain foods (bread, pasta, crackers) to toddlers because they have a low fiber requirement. However, the authors do advise getting the child to like healthy food early on. To me this is contridictory as I would never feed my dd more white bread if I can give her less whole wheat. All in all I think this was money well spent.
Rating:
Summary: Great intro on feeding your child
Review: The best thing about this book is the advice to avoid making feeding times a battleground, and using non-nutritious food as a reward to eat nutritious food. It is excellent in providing sample menus and charts at different stages. I reccommend it to many new parents. A couple of caveats: I do wish it had more recipies. I mostly use my adult cookbooks instead, but I would love more healthy "brown bag" lunch ideas. I also think the reader must keep in mind that the approach of "keep putting it on their plate" does not always work, sometimes a child (just like an adult) simply won't like the taste of a food. Finally, the authors don't encourage giving whole grain foods (bread, pasta, crackers) to toddlers because they have a low fiber requirement. However, the authors do advise getting the child to like healthy food early on. To me this is contridictory as I would never feed my dd more white bread if I can give her less whole wheat. All in all I think this was money well spent.
Rating:
Summary: Every mother needs this book!
Review: This book answers all those questions that haunt you about what and how to feed even the most difficult eaters. I rest a lot easier knowing that what I am doing is the best for my childrens nutritional needs.
Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Resource for Parents of Young Children
Review: This book is really quite informative and helpful (but I must warn that most parents may feel at least a tad disappointed in what they have fed their children to date, the authors are a bit unforgiving in that area, which is why it got 4 and not 5 stars). I only wish that I had had this book 4 years ago when my first child was born. The book has lots of wonderful information that frankly I have not found anywhere else. It tells you how much of each nutrient your child will need at various ages and suggests some child friendly sources for those nutrients. What the book does not have is an instantaneous solution for getting a vegetable hater to eat vegetables. Their answer to this problem is to keep offering it and eventually they will eat their vegetables (or whatever else it is you want them to eat). I have been trying this forever with my daughter and it only works with non-green vegetables. They do provide some excellent advice on preventing picky eaters (which I have followed with my second and which works). One way I judge books such as these is to decide if the book could have been condensed into a useful magazine article, or if the content really needed to be put into a book. The information in Feeding Your Child for Lifelong Health definitely belongs in a book. There are not many wasted pages or irrelevant information. I highly recommend this book to all parents of young children, with the caveats discussed above.
Rating: 
Summary: Good reference book
Review: This is a good reference book to keep on hand if you're not sure where to start, as far as feeding your child a healthy diet. On the other hand, SUPER BABY FOOD is probably more comprehensive.
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