Product Description

Weaning your baby on to solid foods is one of the most important milestones during the early months of parenthood, and Gina's expert advice on weaning makes a baby's transition from milk to solid foods as straightforward as possible. Successful weaning establishes a pattern of healthy eating in babies, avoiding the pitfalls of fussy eaters restricted to a narrow diet. In this revised edition of The Contented Little Baby Book of Weaning, Gina includes the latest recommendations regarding breast-feeding and the introduction of solid food from the World Health Organisation and the UK Department of Health. She aims to take the worry out of weaning, guiding parents step-by-step through the process and shares the insight and expertise gained from personally helping to care for over 300 babies, and advising thousands more parents via her consultation service and website. Included in this revised edition: - The best time of day to introduce the first solid food - Which foods to introduce and at what age - Getting the balance of milk feeds and solids right - How to eliminate night feeds once solids are introduced - The importance of introducing finger foods at the right age - Extended parent-friendly feeding plans to take parents step-by-step through the different stages - Newly developed rotating meal planners for older children up to the end of the first year - Brand new questions and answers giving the most up-to-date advice to parents. The Contented Little Baby Book of Weaning is the definitive guide to ensuring babies eat well now and as they grow up and is as relevant and helpful to those parents who have not previously followed Gina's routines.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #619 in Books
• Published on: 2006-04-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

Review
'Gina Ford's no-nonsense methods of weaning are turning modern thinking on its head', Candida Crewe, Daily Telegraph ."It is hard to overestimate the good she has done...How to reward this great benefactor of mankind?...My wife takes the view that only sainthood will do.", Peter Oborne, Political Editor, The Spectator

From the Publisher
The bestselling author of The New Contented Little Baby Book offers practical, down-to-earth advice on weaning, a major area of parental nervousness

About the Author
Gina Ford has over twenty years' experience of looking after babies and young children. She has worked as a maternity nurse all over the world for all kinds of people, from lawyers and bankers to newspaper editors, pop stars and other high-profile media personalities. She is the author of seven parenting titles and her own website www.contentedbaby.com

Customer Reviews

Weaning
As a first time mum I had only really got to grips with feeding my baby milk when people started talking about weaning. Anxious to get it right as my baby had always been a fussy eater, I bought every book on the subject and attended a 'weaning party' at my local health centre. Advice varied greatly so I decided to follow this book as it seemed very clear and it gives you a day by day plan to follow. This is especially helpful to get you started. I also found the information on when to introduce each type of food very useful and my baby is now enjoying a wide range of fruit and vegetables. I feel confident about when to try something new and am really enjoying my baby experiencing different foods. However, I have found that he eats more than is suggested in the book for his age as he is a big baby, so don't be frightened to give more or less as Gina suggests. I really like the plan as you give the milk directly followed by solids unlike other plans which suggest mid morning milk then lunch. I found the latter very restricting as it means you end up feeding more often. This is an excellent book and it has made weaning fun rather than stressful.

Beginning solids for beginners
This is a very useful book - whether or not you follow the routines that Gina Ford recommends in her 'Contented Little Baby Book'. In this book, Gina suggests menus for every step of the weaning process and explains the thinking behind introducing new foods so that the baby's digestive system is not overloaded and any intolerances are picked up at once. My 6 month old now enjoys a range of vegetables and fruit that would put a lot of adults to shame so, personally, I feel the book has done its job.

But.... there are some buts. Firstly, preparing homemade, organic food for every meal will not be an option for everyone, although you could still follow the eating plans with commercial food. Secondly, even if you do make food at home, not all of the ingredients are easy to find. I searched every major supermarket chain and a number of healthfood shops and none of them stocked 'baby barley'. None of the people I spoke to had even heard of it.

The third and final problem with this book is the editing, which is what lost the fifth star in my rating. As with 'The Contented Little Baby Book', there are inconsistencies. They don't stop the book being useful - but as you stand there with a hungry baby, trying to double check you've got things right, you need clarity! If Gina or her publisher ever reads this, please make sure that an editor goes through the next editions of both with a fine-toothed comb.

On balance, 'The Contented Little Baby Book of Weaning' is a helpful and useful book, especially for those of us new to motherhood and looking for some guidance. Be prepared to interpret the instructions though, as they will not be practical for everyone and could be presented more clearly.

Best Weaning Guide I've Seen
Gina Ford excels yet again. I wish this book had been available when I was weaning my first baby.
In this book Gina takes you through a step by step guide to weaning your baby, from first purees through to finger foods and beyond. The instructions, recipes and advice are easy to understand, and Gina also suggests a two-weekly menu, for each weaning stage, as a guide to get you started.
I particularly liked the chapter which goes through all the different fruit, veg, and other food types. It tells you the nutritional content, and says at what age the baby can be introduced to them. It also gives suggestions on how to prepare and cook them.
Another bonus was that I found my baby, and toddler, liked far more of the recipes in Gina's book than in some of the other leading weaning books.