Finger Foods

I have just recently started giving the boys finger foods, they are just starting to get the hang of it or I would have tried sooner. Now that I have started they are really losing interest in being spoon fed. I started with puffs but MAN I think that's all they would eat if I let them so I think I would really like to try other things. I have tried little bits of frozen waffles, pancakes, banannas but those are really hard for them to pick up, and then puffs. They are 8 months, what are some other things that would be good to try. I have to admit I'm not the best eater I've always been skinny so never really paid attention to my diet until now so I really don't want to start any bad habbits with them the way I have with myself . So anyway what are some of the things everyone feeds their little ones?

 

Hey Ericka,

As you know I don't have much advice but am hoping you get a few good answers. I would really like to find a way for our babies to be able to self feed some veggies and fruits! I am curious, do you leave the waffles and pancakes frozen or are you heating them? Also, can you describe how big the cut sized pieces are.

Thanks!
Amy

 

Our favorite are blueberries! fresh blueberries are super easy for them to pick up, aren't messy, they can chew them up easily and they are super good for them!

When you get the ok for cheese, I give mine string cheese. They can hold onto it easily and they sort of just gum on it, getting little bits off at a time.

Another fruit option is to saute apples until they're soft. I cut them up into little pieces and just put them on the tray, and they are able to pick them up a lot easier than the bananas.

I'm trying to think of some more, but I gotta go for now. If I think of more I'll post again!

Reyna

 

scrambled egg yokes (or with whites if you get the okay!), french toast and grillled cheese are favorites in my house!

 

I am totally neurotic about cutting things small, because like I said they just seem to gag on bigger stuff. So as for the waffles I toast them just until they get soft and then I cut them in strips and then each square in half, which I probably don't have to make them that small but I do anyway. I guess I could leave the waffles frozen for their teeth I didn't think of that. If you have ever seen those freeze dried fruit pieces that gerber makes, thats pretty much the size I cut everything down to (like as big as the tip of their finger).

 

I steam up veggies and fruit and cut them into tiny pieces. Our boys also like "fake" cheese crisp. I just zap the tortilla w/cheese in the microwave instead of the oven because it's a lot softer. They also like cut up Nutrigrain bars, blueberry muffins and cheese Crumbles.

 

My boys' favorites are pieces of carrots, peas, or green beans... chunks of sweet potato fries (baked in the oven)... pieces of whole-grain frozen pancakes or waffles (I just microwave them for 30 seconds to make them really soft and then tear off little pieces)... little bites of organic colby, cheddar, or mozzarella cheese...little chunks of ham or turkey (I buy a big piece from the grocery store and then cut it into little chunks. My boys have too hard a time picking up the sliced lunch-meat kind)... and bites of banana or avocado. Someone told me that if I was giving something slippery I could roll it around it crushed cheerios to help them get a good grip. Haven't tried that yet, but I might.

We've also tried bites of pinapple, mango, peaches, and pears. They liked most of it but it was super messy, I'll be saving that stuff for a special occasion!

They also love Gerber's puffs, wagon wheels, and cheerios... I offer those for a snack.

 

we have had good luck with various patties (i.e. from morningstar farms) and pieces of pasta.

I second the string cheese, my kids LOVE IT.

waffles, also a big hit

 

cheerios, mixed veggies steamed until soft, diced fruit, mini shell shape pasta with any sauce you like that is not too spicy/acidic,
fresh/frozen cheese ravioli cut into small squares, mac n cheese, american cheese smooshed into little balls,soft cooked beans, and as PP said you can pulverized cheerios in a small processor or blender and shake slippery food like banana in them to make them easier to pick up, I have been doing this with much success pretty much anything I am eating they want so I try to dice into teeny pieces big enough to pick up but usually not bigger than a cheerio. we don't really have allergies to anything in our family so they get alot of different food. www.wholesomebabyfood.com has a great section on finger foods also.

 

QUOTE(AWerner @ Jan 9 2008, 03:01 PM) [snapback]564885[/snapback]
cheerios, mixed veggies steamed until soft, diced fruit, mini shell shape pasta with any sauce you like that is not too spicy/acidic,
fresh/frozen cheese ravioli cut into small squares, mac n cheese, american cheese smooshed into little balls,soft cooked beans, and as PP said you can pulverized cheerios in a small processor or blender and shake slippery food like banana in them to make them easier to pick up, I have been doing this with much success pretty much anything I am eating they want so I try to dice into teeny pieces big enough to pick up but usually not bigger than a cheerio. we don't really have allergies to anything in our family so they get alot of different food. www.wholesomebabyfood.com has a great section on finger foods also.


oh, i forgot about cheese ravioli. My girls LOVE these!!!

 

Favorites with my girls at 8 mos and still - I still cut everything up - grilled cheese - chic. breast nuggets, avocado, canned veggies, baked chicken, scrambled eggs, wheat toast w/ butter, bananas, mango, cheerios, dried fruit, meatloaf (no kidding) potatoe, These are pretty much our staples now. they just got their front top teeth wich gives them each 4 teeth total, so I'm going to start venturing out a little. they have eaten steak cooked in crock pot too. I think you can give your babes just about anything at this age except for the "big" allergic stuff - with my girls, it's a texture thing and they have a hard time picking up pears / fruits / veggies because of the slipperyness, wheat germ didn't really work for us. Good luck and have fun! I love this stage when they make little noises eating, their facial expressions etc.

 

I'm getting lots of good ideas (brilliant to roll banana in cheerios!) Keep em' coming!

Reyna

 

I feel a little behind, because I haven't even thought about starting finger foods. I am petrified of the thought of them getting choked. My dh said he would go to a class about what to do when they choke and I would like for him to do that before they start eating. If I were to try... do I just cut something up really small and put it on their tray or do I put it in their mouth? I am clueless.......

Missy

 

QUOTE
do I just cut something up really small and put it on their tray or do I put it in their mouth?


I wouldn't put stuff in their mouth. There's a theory out there that if they have the hand coordination to get a piece of food into their mouths, then they have the mouth coordination to eat it safely. If they can't pick up a cheerio, chances are they aren't ready to eat it, & vice versa.

 

QUOTE(fuchsiagroan @ Jan 9 2008, 06:59 PM) [snapback]565213[/snapback]
I wouldn't put stuff in their mouth. There's a theory out there that if they have the hand coordination to get a piece of food into their mouths, then they have the mouth coordination to eat it safely. If they can't pick up a cheerio, chances are they aren't ready to eat it, & vice versa.



Does this mean that if their fine motor skills are developing slowly, then their mouth coordination is also delayed? Or am I not interpreting what you're saying correctly?

I'm asking because my two are somewhat delayed with fine motor skills -- they don't hold things as well as they should at their age. But I didn't realize that meant I should be feeding them purees until they can catch up...

I put half a Gerber puff on my palm and held it out to DS the other day, just to see what he would do. He looked at it closely for awhile (he doesn't have anything remotely close to a pincer grasp yet), and then he pulled my entire hand up toward him until the puff fell into his open mouth. Ha! Clever little man! Of course, then he gagged on it, so clearly we've got awhile anyway....

 

QUOTE
Does this mean that if their fine motor skills are developing slowly, then their mouth coordination is also delayed? Or am I not interpreting what you're saying correctly?


Good question! I really don't know. It's just a theory I've read in this article. It's seemed to hold true with my babies - they've never come close to choking on anything they could pick up and feed themselves.

 

QUOTE(fuchsiagroan @ Jan 10 2008, 12:31 PM) [snapback]565831[/snapback]
Good question! I really don't know. It's just a theory I've read in this article. It's seemed to hold true with my babies - they've never come close to choking on anything they could pick up and feed themselves.



We were out to dinner last night with Jack and Lily and Dh and I were talking abouth how our babies really prove the theory regarding not being ready to eat something if they are not ready to pick it up (see Fushia's post). Lily is crawling, sitting from both back and belly, pulling up to stand, and even standing with one arm only (this is her new thing). They are 7 mos old and 1+ week now. Jack; however, can sit by himself and play all day long but he cannot get himself into a seated position and he cannot crawl or anything even close.

That being said, Lily has mastered her pincher grasp and is eating whole Cheerios, puffs, and we just tried waffles this morning. She is totally into being able to feed herself and loves to eat veggies or fruit through her mesh feeder but hates being spoon fed. Jack is great with his spoonfed baby food but just looks at the Cheerios or smashes them or hits them so they go to the floor. He gags on the stage three foods and this makes sense because developmentally he is not at the mark that they say he should be at to eat those foods. Anyway, I hope this made sense and you know what I mean. The point is, Jack cannot get the Cheerios into his mouth and therefore gags if we try to feed them to him ourselves and Lily can get anything into her mouth at this point and; therefore, loves to self feed Cheerios, etc..

Amy

 

Waffles, pancakes, blueberry muffins, stove top stuffing, cheerios, bananas, mac n cheese, vegetable soup without the broth, Lipton side dishes like beef noodles/chicken noodles or rice, grilled cheese, oatmeal, slices of grilled squash or zuchini, cooked mixed vegetables (frozen), cans of mixed peas and carrots, fruit cocktail in extra light syrup, cooked apples w/ cinnamon . I cut all of these items into small pieces. A few items I feed them because they aren't thrilled with the feeling of them - cooked apples, bananas, ect. One baby uses her pincer grip more, my better eater grabs a handfull of food and shoves that in her mouth.