Finger Foods - Provo,UT

Look at the nutrition on those little puff snacks before making a decision. There are more nutritious products available: Freeze dried corn kernels in the same area as the puffs, whole wheat bread, maybe some thawed peas, cooked whole wheat pasta, or cooked carrots.

*Cubed steamed/cooked squash, potato, carrots, sw. potato
*Teething biscuits (ie; toasted bread)
*Cubed apples,peaches, papaya, avocado, tofu
*Pasta elbows or other small and gum-able types
*Cooked tender chicken, cut up
*Soft Cheese
*Fish sticks cut up
*Ravioli
*Those puff things (as a treat since they do have some sugar in them; they are EASY to grab, though!)

Heck, I even knew of someone who would buy chicken noodle soup and drain the broth, then give her baby/toddler all the rest--it was v. soft and an instant meal.

I'm with ya! I have an almost 10 m.o. with just a couple of bottom teeth but she has managed to gum v. well almost anything I give her. For us, the transition to table food has not been overnight; she is learning and I still have to feed her myself a lot of the time. But she is getting so much better and I'm still amazed at the stuff she'll eat! Good luck and enjoy!

I know exactly where you are! I was just there! Before my daughter got her two teeth, I was really unsure what and how to give her solids. Her favorite was red pepper. I'd cut it into really side strips (about the width of her mouth) and long (so she could fit some into her mouth and still have some to hold onto). I'd freeze them and then give them to her. The skin is so tough that she doesn't ever bite/gum pieces off. She did gum some of the flesh enough to swallow it..but the pieces were tiny! Warning: the red may stain clothes. Most of mine came out eventually....=)
After that I started playing with what other kinds of veggies I could cut into that shape, steam and let her gum away!
Hope that helps.
D

Dice food will be easier to handle than smashed food. Most anything that you are eating that is soft is a good choice. Diced fresh fruit is great. Beware canned fruit, as they tend to have a lot of sugar. Steamed veggies and steamed fruits like apples are wonderful. My kids loved a handful of peas, frozen and run under hot water for a few seconds. They were thawed enough to be chewable, but still cold enough to soothe teething gums. Soft-cooked meat is ideal for this age, as it provides lots of the protein and iron that babies need. Slow-cooker weather is starting up, and meat from the slow cooker is perfect for little ones. Cheese chunks are a good choice. The "no dairy until a year" does not apply to processed dairy food like cheese and yogurt, only to milk itself. Cottage cheese is an awesome high-protein food, although I wouldn't let my kids self-feed it! My daughter like it with some pureed fruit mixed in.

We basically fed our kids whatever we were eating. If it was too hard to chew up, I used a babyfood mill to grind it up and fed them with a spoon. Mostly, I just cut up small chunks of our food and gave it to them. We tried for food that was as close to its natural state as possible. My kids loved meat, and never had a problem with anemia. We also offered lots of fruits and veggies, to make sure things stayed "regular" down there. Finally, we tried to minimize wheat, since a lot of kids are sensitive to it, but also because baby snacks tend to be all crackers and cereal. Too many carbohydrates aren't good for babies either. There are some major allergens that would be wise to avoid. No honey or nuts at this age. I have heard some really good feedback about the Baby Superfoods book. You should be able to find it on Amazon.com.

For the most part, what you are eating should be fine. I didn't have the energy or desire to make too many separate meals for my kids. As a result, they mostly eat what we do without complaint and they fight over who gets to eat the last helping of broccoli at dinner!

Best of luck,
S.

bananas, cooked carrots, cooked potatoes, they have some new fruit chew things at the store that mush up pretty good. They're like fruit roll ups for kids. My son even did alright with apples the first little bit. You can also try soft bread broken up with jelly on it. Just watch and make sure she gums it well.

My son is 13 months now and really can eat more. He loves pretzels and hot dogs, but I still give him baby food and cereal, along with fruit.

Every baby starts self-feeding at different time. They have to develop the small-motor skills to manage the pieces and get food to their mouth; this is a different skill than crawling, so the 2 probably aren't connected - just that she's taking her time (and probably surging ahead in some other area). At 9.5 months, she should still be getting a good deal of nutrition from nursing (or formula) and other foods are practice and training her palette (so she'll like different flavors). Offer her finger foods and be ready to spoon feed her, and she'll take over when she's ready

Hi A.,

I don't think anyone mentioned it, my kids loved (still do) AVACADOS. Shredded cheese, or cottage cheese (you can get large curd and rince the juice off and just serve the curds, less messy. Shredded chicken or ground beef. Cooked pasta, sweet potatoes, peeled tomatoes. Hope this helps!

The Super Baby Food book has great suggestions!

I found these amazing snacks from wal-mart of all places....they dissolve in the baby's mouth and are not as hard as cheerios. There called Parent's Choice Little Puffs. My daughter loves them....even better than the gerber brand snacks. Gerber has Yogurt bites too that dissolve in the mouth. My daughter loves those too. I also started my daughter on tinny peices of cut up cheese. But i would make sure she can chew and swallow well before the cheese. Hope it helps!

my son is about the same age, and just recently got his first teeth but I've been giving him parents choice little puffs. Its just like puffed cerial, they come in several flavors. my son loves them! Mostly for snacks. Other wise I just give him small bits of what ever I am eatting, he does have a hard time picking up some things but if I dont think he ate enough I'll just crack open some babyfood we have left over and fill him up that way.

My daughter starting feeding herself at about 9.5mos to 10mos, I'd always let her eat a little of what we were eating, and did she make a mess. And then for a little nutritional value I'd top her off with a little baby food, or cereal, but quickly learned she like they real stuff better and just ate what we did. I also use to use a food processor and then I just began smashing with a fork and then again she learned to just eat it as we do. Oh by the way some food she really liked were: peas, sweet potatoes, green beans, and pasta, potatoes, corn and black eyed peas, bread and butter, eggs, pancakes, and oatmeal.
Good Luck

i give my baby what we eat. plus the baby isle has different foods that you might want to check out. with my son, i would feed him cereal while he eat until i felt he was getting enough with other foods.

Hello. I have a 21 month old. when she was that age she ate Peas and carrots, cooked of course. For snacks, we gave her the gerber little puffs, and the little crunchies, which she still eats, and are really good (I eat them also). I would not get the store brands in any of the little puffs they are horrible. The containers: little puffs are tall with yellow wrapping and the little crunchies are in a shorter yellow container. When she gets at least two teeth, the gerber fruit snacks are also good. they disolve quickly.

I let my 10 month old eat finger food while I'm making him food to feed him -- bite size fruit (bananas, pears, peaches, pineapple, oranges, strawberries, etc.); bite size veges (peas, green beans, carrots, tomatoes, etc.). He also loves squash, but it's better to feed that with a spoon. He loves yogurt (live culture brand without color and too much sugar) and cottage cheese, which I feel are important because they need protein. Chicken and cheese in small chunks is O.K. too. If can't chew chicken, I chew it up for him, which helps their digestive system anyway.

For dinners: I hand grind up any pasta meal or casserole or soup(with hamburger or chicken and any kind of vege that isn't good for finger foods--corn, squash, cauliflower, broccoli, etc.), cooked macaroni noodles (can put butter or small amount of spaghetti sauce depending on how much mess you want to clean up), toasted cheese cut in small squares, french toast cut in small squares (without syrup), scrambled eggs, pieces of wheat bread (no white and without high fructose corn syrup).

For snack: cheerios, Gerber star snacks, graham crackers, etc.

I also mix half water and half apple juice. He loves it! Just analyze everything you eat and see how you can make it work for your baby.

I have a couple bibs that cover him from wrist to waist so I don't have to worry about stains on the clothes.