Finger Foods?

My daughter seemed to develop her oral motor skills a bit more slowly than other kids. She didn't really take solids consistently until 9 months. She had a strong tendency to gag and sometimes vomit on solids that were too chunky until recently. She also has a milk/soy allergy. As you can tell, my daughter has some food issues. Given that information, the first finger food I offered around 10 mos were called puffs and they are made by Gerber. They melt in the mouth, which eased my anxiety about her choking. I think that we also gave her table food cut up very small at the same time, in addition to spoon food. Now, she is 13 mos and all of her food is finger food. I think the transition from all spoon to all finger food took about a month.

Hi Nicole. I'm a mother of 3--my daughter's almost 5, middle son is 2 1/2 & youngest son is 2 1/2 weeks! With my 2 oldest I would introduce the finger foods after their bottle/nursing session along with their jar food. I just read that cheerios aren't as healthy for our kids as we once thought so I've been feeding my kids the Kashi version-they look like cheerios w/little hearts thrown in. My kids like them just as well. I'd throw in, during their feeding times, little bits of cooked carrots or little bits of cooked green beans. Cooked peas are great too. We always did vegies first to give them a taste for that before the sweet fruit. Hope this helps!! Have a blessed day!

We did cheerios, the gerber puffs, teething biscuits (we used the Earths best maple ones) banana, cubes of soft cooked sweet potato, and most recently graham crackers (the biggest hit yet).

BE PREPARED for your kids to choke on finger foods. It will scare you to death the first time it happens. Our son bit off a chunk of the teething biscuit and started choking - a few seconds later my husband was holding him by his ankles and he was happily rolling the piece of biscuit around in his mouth with a look on his face like, "wow, how did I get upside down?". It was all fine, but it gave us a real scare. That's the only time we actually had to flip him over. There were a few more gags and chokes as he got used to moving food around in his mouth, but now he's 10 months old and we've not had a problem in a long time. He's very good at biting off and chewing.

We usually give finger foods as a snack or as "dessert".

My son started with the Gerber puff's since they dissolve more quickly than cheerios. I also broke them up in little pieces and mixed in in with his cereal so they'd soften before entering his mouth. (He had the gag reflex, so it took him time). Then I moved onto Cheerios and even put them in his cereal at first.

Once he was used to eating those things, I'd give him snacks after his meals.

Other things you could try: avocados, some babies really like it. (some don't)and bananas in small pieces.

Enjoy! This was a fun time for me watching my son try new things for the first time.

We started with the teething biscuits, then added the Gerber wheels and puss, and arrowroot cookies too. As you get a little further, the freeze-dried fruits and veggies they have now are great! My daughter also likes cheese, so I buy the Sargento cheese sticks and then break them into pieces for her. Start small and work your way up. My son learned how to pick food up best with those Gerber stars. My daughter seems apt to eat anything we offer her!

We generally feed her the meal first, just before we eat and then we give her the finger foods one piece at a time while we are eating our own dinner. It will usually occupy her for the whole meal! In the evening this often means my husband feeds her the meal while I finish cooking and serve up ours, so that we can still eat HOT FOOD!

I imagine, with twins, you've probably not had many hot meals in some time... :-)

Another good snack, that dissolves well, is Veggie Booty. You do have to make them into smaller pieces at time but that was one of my sons first finger foods. I agree with the puffs too. I was scared with the cheerios so I used the ones that dissolve first.

I started with rice krispies. They are small and when baby grabs for them they stick to their hands and can be easily transfered to the mouth.

I give my almost 8 month old a "snack" mid afternoon and a few puffs or teething biscuit while I am getting the rest of the family's dinner together.

Nicole- I have an 8 month old self feeder. We include some sort of food she can feed herself for dinner. So far we have been successful with : ripe avocado, black beans, tofu, smashed pinto beans, ground turkey, sliced turkey breast (from whole foods deli- no nitrates or preservitives) cooked carrots, sweet potatoes, peas... Basically anything we eat, we give her a little bit for dinner. Its nice to have dinner together. I started by putting some of the food on her tray as I fixed her dinner, then would feed her her dinner. Good luck! I had good luck with the book super baby food. It gives good guidelines on what foods your little one can handle month by month.

M.

Check out www.homemade-baby-food-recipes.com, and the book Mommy Made

I gave them a while after a bottle so he wasn't hungry because DC will get frustrated (maybe). But then again, you want them to be alittle hungry, so timing in important. Pick a good time when DC is rested and happy. No pressure at all. Want eating to be a happy, positive time. Is your child reaching for food yet? That is a good sign of readiness.

I.

We started with Cheerios, as recommended by the pediatrician, and always gave them to my daughter after she ate her other food. Gerber puff stars are even softer and dissolve more quickly than cheerios.

When starting, just put out a couple Gerber puffs or Cheerios in front of your babies as a snack or whenever...while you are getting food ready or cleaning up, while you do dishes...something like that. At first, they are just learning to feed themselves using the cheerios or puffs. Like the others mentioned, the veggie or fruit puffs are great because they dissolve fast. They are star shaped about the size of Cheerios, so easy to manage as well for the babies. Cheerios are great because the hole in the middle makes it so that even if the baby swallows them whole, it won't block breathing. So both are good for them to learn to self-feed with. I added Kix as another variety after my kids were good with puffs and cheerios. You don't need to bother with the other Gerber Graduate things like the biter biscuits or carrot wheels. By the time they can actually bite them and handle them without them dissolving BEFORE they reach the mouth, they are old enough to be on other foods like peas and diced green beans and such.