Fish Sticks & Hot Dogs

My LO's LOVE to eat and I'm trying to think of new things to give them to eat. I'm a very picky eater myself and I want to do what I can to help my LO's not be picky eaters. I don't eat any red meat or fish, but I want to feed fish and meat to my LO's so I'm trying to think of things I can make them. Has anyone else given their LO's small bits of hot dogs or fish sticks?? Any other suggestions?

 

I didn't start food like that until the second year.

 

Me either. Hot dogs are a total choking hazard that young. How about trying some browned ground beef or rotisserie chicken cut up when they are ready?

 

I didn't give my boys fish sticks and hot dogs per se until the second year, but I did give them sausage crumbles, shredded chicken, shredded cheese, flaked salmon, hamburger bits, etc. starting at about 10 months. Later on I started giving them bologna, chicken tenders, hot dog bits and things like that in very small chunks.

 

Are they chewing things up really well? 8 months might be a little early if they just started finger food. My older son had fish sticks right around a year, when he was chewing things up well and had lots of teeth. Hot dogs we cut into half, then sliced off small pieces. If your kids have a well balanced diet and eat other types of meat, you can give them whatever you want. However, if they start to only want fish sticks and hot dogs, you may have to limit.

 

At 8 months old I would start with softer foods, meaning a hot dog doesn't "mush up" as well as say shredded chicken. If they swallow the chunk of hot dog whole it's a huge choking hazard. Even if you quarter it it's still a hazard.

I agree with more of the shredded chicken, crumbled hamburger..etc. Something that's incredibly tiny if they swallow it whole, or something thats very squishable that they can mash good.

If you are just looking for foods in general, pieces of toast with some butter or jam on it, my babes love the cheese pizza at our local pizza place, grilled cheese sandwich, pancakes/waffles, small pieces of cheese or shredded cheese cheerios or similar cereal items.

 

We hadn't even tried Cheerios at 8 months, but we started solids a lot later than most. Have you introduced yogurt yet? That would be a good source of protein. Salmon was also something we offered our kids (around 11 months) but they didn't like it.