Basics of Starting Finger Foods?

You want foods that disintegrate easily when in the mouth - Cheerios are the classic starter food, but also try other cereals - try for whole grain and no sugar added. Try bananas, watermelon, peas (though they are hard to pick up), canned pears (in pear juice, not sugar syrup), tofu, graham crackers, think pretzels, well-cooked sweet potatoes and carrots, avocado, French toast and PB&J cubes, and other squishy foods. You can try a slightly cooked apple, no peel. I'd watch the rice cakes. Also do not use hot dogs or grapes.

DO NOT use marshmallows - they can ball up in the back of the throat when exposed to body heat and cause choking! In fact, marshmallows need to be given even to 8 year olds under supervision - kids have contests to see how many they can stuff in there, and the marshmallows all clump together in a gluey mess, blocking the airway. Extremely dangerous!

We started with Gerber puffs because they dissolve, then quickly moved on the Cheerios, which are still a favorite. After a month or two, I introduced veggies- I use the frozen mixed vegetables because they are easy to prep in small amounts and already in small pieces. But you can also dice up and cook any vegetable. My daughter also loves fruit, which I let get a little over-ripe then diced to small pieces.

The key in general is to give them pieces that are no bigger than the size of their thumb, from the tip to the first knuckle.

Jake just turned 8 mos, he's been eating rice cakes for a few months now and we've never had a problem! He also loves the Mum Mums, I get them at Wal-Mart in the baby food section. I jsut break the rice cakes in half or quarters and let him have at it, and he can take a whole Mum Mum as well. I've tried steamed carrots and baked sweet potato strips (both foods he loves pureed), but I think the texture is a little strange for him to get used to. I'm going to start trying again with those and well-cooked spiral pasta, which is easy for him to grasp. Before every meal, I let him have the Gerber Puffs and Yogurt Melts to feed himself while I get the other food ready. He doesn't quite have the pinser grasp down, but I feel like he needs to practice? Now that he's 8 months, I think I'm going to try large curd cottage cheese, too. My advice is to keep trying things even if she balks at first...sometimes it takes a while before they can get used to new things. Good luck!

My little guy is 7 months old as well. He doesn't have any teeth yet though, so we just give him Baby Mum-mums (I found them in the whole foods section of Shaw's) and he LOVES them. They dissolve very easily. When we sit down for dinner we give him two of those and his sippy cup and we have an entertaining and fuss-free mealtime.

D., All I can say is avocado! It is completely messy, but fabulous. My first daughter could eat almost a whole one in no time flat. We would even go out to dinner and order avocado slices if they had avocado (Mexican restaurants always had it). They'd slice an entire half an avocado and charge whatever (think of cost similar to guacamole) and we were all happy :)

I was scared to death about the choking thing, but both of my girls jumped right past the baby food as soon as they got their hands on real food. They just weren't interested anymore. I steamed green beans, and they loved to hold them and eat them. If you are worried about choking then just overcook them a bit, they are so soft that it isn't a problem anymore. I also steamed carrot sticks, again till extra soft so that they just broke up in the mouth. Believe it or not they actually liked parsnips done this way too. They are sweet, I hadn't had them so I didn't know. My child care provider suggested them and they were a hit.

Another thing to try, once you are comfortable, is kidney beans. They look like little choking hazards, but they are so soft. At first I would just squish them with my fingers so as to break the skin, I felt safer that way, but I don't think it was really necessary. If you squish one in your fingers you will see that they give way immediately. My girls definitely had the instinct to chew without a problem. I would just put a bunch of the kidney beans on the high chair tray and they would be gone in the blink of an eye.

As for pre-made store brought stuff. There also also crackers called Mum Mums. They are in the health food section at Shaws. They are super light weight rice crakers that melt in their mouths, so no fear of choking. Get them and try one your self and you will see how quickly they dissolve. Gerber does puffs, they are a melt in the mouth type thing as well. My girls loved them. Both the puffs and the Mum Mums are great for bringing along in the diaper bag, no mess and handy quickly.

All of the things I named I would just put on the tray and let them feed themselves, I didn't bother trying to feed them or trying to ration it out. They love getting their hands into their food and holding it themselves. It is great hand eye coordination. This stage is hugely messy, my kitchen floor was a disaster. Just wait and pick it all up at the end of the meal or you will spend the entire time under the table. My husband was always trying to get everything right away. Don't worry about it. Also, at restaurants, same thing. I'd often tell the waitress that I intended to pick it all up at the end (my guilty conscience). Then, at the end, make an effort to get most of it, and if it is still bad leave an extra bit in the tip. But during the meal, just enjoy your time out and eat, don't stress about the mess.

Lastly, I did just read other people's answers, and a lot of them said dice things up small. I just gave them the whole steamed green bean, whole slice of avocado, whole slice of steamed carrot, etc. They could hold them easily and it was never an issue, they would break off and break up so easily that I never worried, and again, I was completely worried about choking. Thinking back on my first daughter with whole greeen beans in her little fists, she did very well and was completely happy. For some reason I think I felt better because she had to bite down, versus popping a diced up piece in her mouth and just swallowing. I felt like she was less likely to choke because she had to chew just to get a piece. Then she just kept chewing. Who knows. You'll know what you and your child are comfortable with as you try things.

Best of luck.
K.

I remember my daughter loved cooked carrots cut up really small. I used to cook them until they were super-soft. I would say any veggie cooked until tender is good. I never gave my kids the veggies out of the jar...I say if it doesn't taste good to me, then why would I feed it to my little one?

We started our daughter (now 14 months) on finger foods with very soft foods, like overcooked, mushy macaroni or spiral pasta, small pieces of very ripe bananas, blueberries, well cooked vegetables, and in the baby aisle they sell finger puff foods which dissolve and those are a safe start! We gave our baby girl milk first so she wasn't so hungry that she would gulp and get frustrated, just as a way to try things out and experiment. It's a great process, intimidating but great, enjoy it and good luck to you!!

At 7 months I started my son on the mini baby cheerios (inbaby section) and very tiny diced soft fruit, like peaches in light syrup, that I rinsed with water.

Hi there,

I started both of my girls on Cheerios. They are a good fine motor skill builder between picking up the "o" and getting it to and in the mouth. Also, teeth are not required to make it mushy as she gums it to eventually swallow. They are also not messy as they disintegrate in her mouth like some other "baby finger food starters."

Congrats! Now it starts getting easier for you (except you get a bigger mess to clean up!). We started our son with cheerios. We even broke some in half because we were concerned with choking. But we found an organic brand that got very soft very quickly in his mouth and just watched him closely. Thankfully , when he tried to swallow one whole (when he still does), a cough brings it flying right out and he just tries again. Diced cooked fruit or veg is another good one to start with, but those are harder for them to pick up since they slide around! Have fun with it--your girl will really enjoy being able to feed herself! Lots of praise and excitement from Mom and Dad will make it even more fun for her.

I have an 8 month old little girl and she loves her finger foods. We started with cheerios, she was fine with them whole and they are still her favorite. Gerber has some fruit and veggie "puffs" they dissolve quickly and are yummy. They have wagon wheels too but I end up breaking those into smaller pieces. Other tried and true foods - canned pears/peaches/peas, well cooked (mushy) pasta. My little one loves pancakes (you can buy the frozen ones and warm up as necessary). I would just make sure that the pieces you give her are about the size of a cheerio and you should be safe. Although my daughter isn't getting her teeth yet, I've had friends recommend frozen peas that are soothing on teeth and nutritious.

As for time of day. I would suggest dinner time so that she can eat and feed herself at the same time that you and your husband are sitting down to a meal. Enjoy your first family "dinner" and the rest of this fun phase!

Hello,
I'm not sure about rice cakes becuase they won't dissolve easily...I started with graham crackers, small waffle bites, soft cooked veggies like carrots etc, until she gets used to the textures. Cheerios are a favorite and any cereal that gets softer in water..goodl uck!

We found that tofu was a good finger food to start with. It's easy to chew and swallow.
Steamed veggies are also pretty easy. Diced carrots for example, you can cook them until they're pretty soft.

My daughter had a very hard time with texture and a strong gag reflex so we started with very soft foods that worked great--silken tofu, overripe banana and cantalope, well cooked sweet potato and winter squash, avocado--all cut up very small. My daughter couldn't handle cheerios for a while but she enjoyed playing with and sucking on Real Foods brand Rice Thins from the start. They're rice cakes but they're very thin and dissolve quickly (I never felt she was in danger of choking) plus they have no added sugar and are whole grain. I found them in the Wild Harvest section of Shaws. Enjoy this new phase!

Puffs have worked best for me. My 11mo still chokes on cheerios even but he's fine with puffs

Hi. My daughter is 7 1/2 months old and I've been giving her graham crackers. A quarter of a cracker is big enough for her to hold onto and chew on. It gets mushy quickly as well so there is less risk of her swallowing too large a piece. I still watch her closely, but grahams seem to be fairly safe.

T.

My daughter loved Cheerios and the Gerber puffs. She wasn't into foods with mushy textures for a long time (b/c they were hard to pick up), but she would eat frozen peas, frozen blueberries and frozen waffles all served frozen. I think she liked the feeling of the cold food on her gums. I was a little concerned that the frozen blueberries wouldn't dissolve, but I tried one myself and they dissolve very easily. The only problem is the blueberries are very messy. We used to serve them to my daughter in just a diaper and bib and then bring her right to the bath tub.

I jkust wanted to let you know that my just 8 month old has been eating table food for like 2 months and she chokes on rice cakes so they probably are not the best thing to start with. cheerios, peas, the puffs they melt right away

My 18 month old still chokes on rice cakes so I'm not sure if you would really want to start with those. Gerber graduates makes fruit puffs that dissolve easily so there is little risk of choking. Any cooked diced veggie, ripe bananas, small pieces of cheese. The baby gerber hotdogs are great but remove the skin first and cut them small they are just ground meat inside a hotdog skin so they are very easy to chew. We also liked the baby mumums rice husks they disolve easily. Once she gets the hang of eating you can introduce foods that need to be chewed better.

Gerber has a lot of great starter finger foods. Really anything that will get soft when wet is good. My son loves the Gerber puffs and he never had a problem eating them. He's a year old and only has 5 teeth. Good luck, I hope she enjoys her new foods.

you can give little puffs which are in the baby section, or oyster crackers or plain cheerios(not the honey nut type)

My son did well with the cheerio puffs for babies, not regular cheerios yet. And also rice crispies were good.

I would stay away from the rice cakes. Like another mom mentioned, big choking hazard!

Go with real, whole foods that are mushy and easy to grab. Sliced up bananas, chunks of avacado, and slices of cold cooked sweet potatos are all good choices for first foods.

I started my daughter on crackers. she gummed them for the most part and lots of crumbs went all over the place but she did okay with them I also gave he cheerios. She's 10 months now and has wo bottom teeth but she chews on chicken, hamburger, bread and veggies. I make sure things are soft and that they are in realatively small pieces.
She hasn't choked on anything

My son who is 8 months eats Club or Ritz crackers, lightly toasted bread w/light butter, mini pancakes. We just hand him thew cracker/bread and he just sucks on it and it dissolves. Cheerios and Gerber Puffs are a great thing to start them on if you don't feel comfortable w/ crackers yet.

The very first thing I started my daughter on were the Gerber Puffs, they come in a bunch of flavors. I found that to be really good and then I gave her cheerios after that and little bite size pieces of bread.