What You Should Really Be Feeding Your Baby and Toddler: Super Nutrition for Babies

Image Credit: kimi

Rice cereal first? Veggies only? Pureed meat first? Conflicting nutritional information for infants and children abounds. But just what are the best foods to feed an infant and toddler for optimum nutrition, growth and development? According to the USDA, an infant’s first food should be fortified infant cereal given as early as four months old. The USDA also advocates giving infants fruit juice as early as 6 months old, along with more fortified infant cereal and pureed fruits and veggies.  Are these options really the best way to nourish our children?

Authors Katherine Erlich, M.D. and Kelly Genzlinger, C.N.C, C.M.T.A address this question and many more in their new book Super Nutrition for Babies:

We see children’s health getting worse with each subsequent generation. Our children today are at grave risk, and parents’ worries are both many and valid. Tragically, the most recent generation of babies is slated to have shorter lifespans than their parents. This is unacceptable!

Erlich and Genzlinger propose that many contemporary diseases and illness are caused by our modern world which is full of toxins and nutrient-deficient foods. All of the toxins and nutrient deficiencies wreak havoc on our well-tuned bodies in multiple instances, thereby making pinpointing a diagnosis and giving proper treatment puzzling for modern medicine, which likes to look only at parts instead of the entire body. But take heart! Erlich and Genzlinger claim that by following the Super Nutrition program outlined in their book, these problems can be prevented, improved and in some cases cured.

Erlich and Genzlinger outline a nutritional program a la Weston A. Price that is based in the traditional wisdom of food preparation methods and diets. This wisdom directed parents to feed their babies the most nutrient-dense foods available. Such foods consist of poultry and red meat-including the fat and organs, eggs, wild game, fish, raw dairy, cultured foods, bone broths and sometimes insects. They would accompany these foods with what fruits, veggies, seeds, nuts and legumes that they could find seasonally.

The authors have organized the chapters of the book to coincide with the child’s age and development. Each chapter includes research-based information about the foods recommended to take and to avoid, helpful tips, additional resources and several recipes.

Even better than the wonderful organization is the humorous, yet apropos way the authors classify foods in the book. Erlich and Genzlinger have grouped the foods discussed in Super Nutrition into four categories using the acronyms CRAP (Chemical, Removes body’s nutrients, Addictive, Processed), OKAY (Ordinary, Knockoffs of real food, Adequate-not optimal, Yield sub-par health if fed exclusively) , PURE (Pasture based, Unadulterated, Rich in nutrients, Enzyme Containing) and POWER (Protective, Optimal nutrition, Wisdom of the ancients, Enriching, Regenerating). Each of these acronyms accurately describes the foods categorized within them both with their names and what they stand for making the guidelines very simple for anyone to understand and implement.

Written with the warm voices of concerned parents rather than removed health practitioners, the authors inform their readers with plainly stated research without bombarding them and encourage their readers with helpful tips, tricks, easy to follow, simple and delicious recipes, real life suggestions for specific scenarios and candid remarks.

Implementing and practicing Super Nutrition is not easy…if you want easy, stick with the Standard American Diet-its entire premise is convenience. If, however, you want optimal health for your baby, then you’ll have to give up some conveniences.


Backed by science and time-honored wisdom, Erlich and Genzlinger offer parents a priceless baby shower gift in Super Nutrition for Babies. Basic to understand, yet a wealth of invaluable information, Super Nutrition for Babies is a foundational resource for expectant parents and anyone who has children of any age for that matter. These nutritional guidelines surpass infancy and should be adopted into the lives of anyone seeking optimal health.

 

This book has become my new standard baby shower gift. I am astounded by the clarity and heart with which this book is written with and only wish it were available and gifted to me seven years ago when I was pregnant with my first. I fed my first child a diet mainly consisting of OKAY foods and CRAP foods. My good intentions only got me so far. -Jami

 

Comments and Reviews

  • loves2spin says:
    I am so happy to see your review of the badly needed book.. Thank you! This will definitely be my gift of choice for future baby showers! Reply
  • Diane says:
    I would ask parents to review this article as well before considering the Weston Price approach. http://www.vegsource.com/articles2/robbins_weston_price.htm Reply
  • loves2spin says:
    Diane, that is such an interesting article by John Robbins (for whom I have the greatest respect.) The quest for the perfect diet is a very individual thing. I believe the jury is still out, and always will be, because each of us is different. We have to determine what gives US robust health. I am grateful for the WAPF and their work and many many informative articles. I know I have been feeling much better since following their guidelines. We eat meat sparingly, and try to emphasize vegetables. Raw dairy has been a blessing for sure. But, each body is different. For instance, my sister can't eat olive oil. Weird. It comes out on her face and causes blemishes! Undoubtedly there are some "rules" that would apply to all, but not every "rule" will help every person. Our finances, circumstances, family culture, history and on and on.... each is an individual. I do wish that when I was raising my children, I had known a lot more about traditional foods! Reply
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