Feeding Babies and Toddlers ~ Family Circle (Murdock Books)

I'm a parent of twins. Twins are a handful, especially when they are babies, and apart from sleeping, feeding is the most difficult aspect. This book was a godsend - so very helpful and so very useful at a time when all sense of time and reality is distorted. The book starts off with a large section on breast and bottle feeding and then progresses through introducing mixed feeding and then onto feeding toddlers and older children. There's a section on vegetarianism and natural foods and one on food for special occasions such as when travelling with a baby. The subject matter is approached in a very logical and straightforward manner, and although there are particular biases (I have yet to see a book about parenting which has no bias), it is reasonably well balanced in its approach.


It's not the kind of cookbook which is of much use to those without (or not expecting) babies and toddlers. For those who are expecting - the chapter on mixed feeding provided exactly the kind of information we wanted and needed when we started thinking about introducing new foods in the first year. We made mistakes (such as offering a second meal choice when the first was rejected - not at all what the book would have us do) and now have one very good eater and one not so good, but the advice we took from this book was invaluable. There are recipes in the book, starting from the mixed food chapter with exciting stuff like Apple and sweet potato and Junket, progressing to toddler foods such as Spaghetti with meat sauce and then onto things for the third year such as Fish mornay or Meatballs in yoghurt sauce. Don't buy the book for the recipes though - buy it for the very well put together information that just might help you keep your sanity.

Recommended for all new parents. Get this one before you get to the pulling your own hair out stage.

- Kath