Reddit mentions of The Wholesome Baby Food Guide: Over 150 Easy, Delicious, and Healthy Recipes from Purees to Solids

Congrats! Here are my tips . . . (Cut and pasted from another post.)

1. Stay positive - your attitude/outlook can really make a difference :)
   
   
2. Watch (don't read/or read after watching) The Happiest Baby on the Block film (see below.)
   
   
3. I see you are a reader - I felt like after reading the below books and listening to my parent friends' experiences, I was prepared for almost everything pregnancy and the first couple years of parenthood threw at me (I learn best from reading, and this was just my personal method that worked for me in making confident and informed decisions, or figuring out where to go for more research) - I know a lot of people don't learn best this way/get frustrated trying to implement something really specific if it doesn't work for their baby, rather than just taking pieces of everything they've heard/read about and adapting it to work for them.)
   
   These helped me make better decisions because they presented me with many options to try for trial and error, or good jumping off points for further research. I have honestly never had a "what do I do now?!" parenting moment because I have read so much that I have back up plans in my pocket if the first thing I try doesn't work. I have also never had any of the struggles with my son that a lot of people have around sleeping, eating, behavior, etc. and while I know some of that is because we have a healthy kid, I truly believe a lot of it comes from being an informed parent who explores all the options and tries the ones that have the most evidence for working well in combination with what feels right for me and my family.
   
   I tried to just list the neutral/middle of the road books that are fun and/or give enough indepth information on most sides of an issue to be a great jumping off point for exploring particular parenting styles, options, etc.
   
   In no particular order:
   
   

• Bringing up Bebe - Tells the parenting story of an American expat. living in Paris, and how she observed different parenting techniques between American and French families, and how that plays out in children's behavior. It is a fun "experience" story and I think it lends some interesting insights.
  
  
• Pregnancy, childbirth, and the newborn - I think this is the most informative, neutral, pregnancy book out there. It really tries to present all sides of any issues. I can't recommend this book enough. From here, you could explore the options that best fit your needs (e.g. natural birth, etc.)
  
  
• Taking Charge of Your Fertility - Look into this if you find you are having trouble conceiving, or if you want to conceive right away. Really great tips on monitoring the body to pinpoint the most fertile times and stay healthy before becoming pregnant.
  
  
• The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding - This is published by Le Leche League and really has everything you need to know about breastfeeding, pumping, etc. After baby is born, kellymom.com is a good resource for quickly referring to for breastfeeding questions later, but seriously don't skip this book - it is great!
  
  
• Dr. Spock's Baby and Childcare - Really comprehensive and probably the most widely read book about every aspect of child health and development (and also a lot of what to expect as parents.)
  
  
• NurtureShock - by far the most interesting book I've ever read in my life. Basically sums up research on child development to illuminate how many parents and educators ignore research based evidence on what works well for raising children. If you read nothing else in this book, at least read the sleep chapter!
  
  
• What's Going on in There? - This book was written by a neuroscientist after becoming a mom about brain development from pregnancy through about age 5. It has some of the same research as NurtureShock but goes way more in depth. I found it fascinating, but warning, I could see how it could scare some people with how much detail it goes into (like how many people feel that "What to Expect When Expecting" is scary.)
  
  
• Happiest Baby on the Block - There is a book, but really you can/should just watch the DVD. It has 5 very specific techniques for calming a fussy baby. Here are some recent reddit comments about it. Someday I will buy Dr. Karp a drink - love that man!
  
  
• The Wholesome Baby Food Guide - this book is based on a website which has some of the same information, but the book goes way more in depth about how to introduce food, with particular steps, to set baby up for a lifetime of good (non picky) eating habits.
  
  
• A variety of sleep books, so you can decide which method you might be comfortable with (I believe the Baby Whisperer and Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child are pretty middle of the road, but you can look into bedsharing (The Dr. Sear's books) or the other end (Babywise) as discussed in other comments already here, etc. - these last two links I am letting my personal bias show - sorry, but I just think it is good to know all sides of an issue.)
  
  
• Huffington Post Parents section often has "experience" articles, and browsing subs like this can help with that too.
  
  
• A lot of people love the Bill Cosby Fatherhood book too, but my husband and I haven't read it, so I can't say for sure what is in it, but I imagine it is "experiences" based
  
  
• The Wonder Weeks - describes when and how babies reach developmental milestones, what to expect from those, and how to help your baby with them.

We give our son oatmeal and decided again the cereal. We have a baby food maker set (gifted by my MIL) so we use that to make real food for baby. I've also been reading this book and it has lots of great info if you decide to give your baby real food.

My MIL is of the uber crunchy variety and she hopes I'll be much like her and my SIL. LOL! I don't mind though...we just want what we feel is best for our wee one. Not to mention once you have everything you need to make baby food it's really quick and simple. I take about twenty minutes on a Saturday or Sunday to make a week's worth of food and freeze it. Then, the night before we take out a portion and put it in the fridge to thaw for the next day.

I got one as a gift also, and I love it! I thought it was kind of silly at first, I was planning on just using my food processor to make her food. But it's not really the appliance itself that I love so much, it's all the other STUFF that comes with it! The recipe/guide book, the freezer tray, the storage containers... I love all that junk! And again, I probably would have never bought that for myself, because it's not really NECESSARY, but it's crazy useful. When you start cooking for her you'll love it SO much more! (At least I did)
ALSO. This might come in handy, I loooove this book! It's not just a recipe book, but has a lot of good tips on how to THINK about making baby food. :) happy cookin, mamas!
http://www.amazon.com/The-Wholesome-Baby-Food-Guide/dp/044658410X

Oh goodness, we didn't do anything like that. We EBF to almost 6 months. When LO was sitting up and interested in food (just a week or two before she was 6 months), we gave her a little squash one night with dinner (since we were having it). Over the next few days, we gave her a little squash, then added a little apple. We did avocado, then banana, then chicken and turkey after that, waiting a day or two to see if there was any reaction. Food always came AFTER breastfeeding since that's their primary source of nutrition until 1. (Poultry is good for iron, btw.)

Rice cereal is disguising and turns a lot of kids off of solids (it's basically wallpaper paste, would you want to eat that?) We didn't do anything like that but eventually did some oatmeal with a little water and applesauce.

Kellymom and The Wholesome Baby Food Guide were our resources and /r/babyledweaning too.