Healthy Finger Foods for a Nine Month Old...

Hi-

I may have missed it...but I don't think I saw anyone mention edamame. My daughter, now 2 1/2, loves them. High fiber, protein and veggie all-in-one. They may be a little large for her now but you could cut them in half. They are really inexpensive and Trader Joes. You can also find them in the frozen kids foods at Super Target already shelled.

Good luck.

No offense, but if you are really into nutrition and feeding healthy foods, I would suggest you avoid the jarred stuff - it almost always is overprocessed, and has added sugar and salt. Like everyone else said - she can eat anything you can, but cut up in little chuncks and steamed or baked, if it is not naturally soft enough - there are a few exceptions - peanuts and other nuts, strawberries, tomatos and citrus (SEE THE WEBSITE BELOW FOR OTHER IDEAS/GUIDELINES). These foods can either be allergens, or be too acidic for baby's system at first, my 2 year old still gets a diaper rash from too much tomato or citrus

You are a stay at home mom, as am I, and making fresh food for your baby, whether pureed in the blender, or cut up in smaller chunks is not hard, it just takes a little bit of extra work. You can make big batches on the weekend, or whenever you have someone to help you entertain her, or during her naps, and freeze them in ice cube trays, and then transfer to ziploc bags, or freeze individual portions in those ziploc or gladware bowls with the little lids, then thaw it eh fridge a day ahead, and reaheat carefully in a bottle warmer, or VERY carefully in the microwave. A little tip, we do buy the Mussleman's all natural applesauce, with no sugar added, I was making my own at first, but then figured out the cost of buying the apples and making it + my time, was more than buying the kind in the jar with no sugar. Applesauce is a staple we always have here, it is a huge lifesaver if you get somethingtoo hot in the microwave...just stir in a little applesauce, presto cooled off!

I did this for my daughter, and I think it made a HUGE difference in her eating, compared to other kids, she is not picky and eats a variety of foods, as a 2 year old, and always has...loves, fruits, veggie and meats, and breads - I think having the "real thing" from the beginning, not the tasteless jarred food, helped her be used to what we really eat as a family, and not just want bland processed, and unhealthy "kids foods".

Here is a GREAT SITE to get you started, and there are lots of book sout there about this, check out your local library, and if they don't have any, ask them whether they can interlibrary loan some books for you! http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/

Good Luck - you can do this, this is what people did back whern we were a heahlthier country, before BIG FOOD COMPANIES/speed and convenience took over everything and we all got addicted to sugar.

Jessie

I use www.weelicious.com for healthy food ideas for my DS. He's 8 months and I've been using the website since I started him on solids. There are plenty of great recipes for babies to toddlers to kids. You could even find recipes your whole family might like! The owner of the website, a mom, keeps it updated with new recipes and videos every week. Gook luck and I hope you enjoy this site as much as I do!

I'm so glad to hear you say your are into whole foods for you little one! I have a big list of things that I have fed both my girls. So, here goes!

Roast beets and sweet potatoes till pretty soft and cut up into small chunks

cook up some stickey rice, barley, lentils, and kidney beans from the can, couscous (a big mess, but they love it)

any veggie steamed- we do broccoli, califlower, carrots, corn, greens, zucchini, etc.

if you are eating meat, i make little tiny meatballs which they love, too.

a great book to look at is "Super Baby Food" by Ruth Yaron.

Happy eating (and feeding!)

You have some great responses so far. Here are a few more:

hard boiled egg (just the yolk - no whites until after 1 yr)
whole wheat noddles (try spirals - easier to pick up)
cooked and cooled sweet potato/baked potato
beans (black, pinto, etc.) canned or cooked from dry (better)
frozen veggies are great (cooked and cooled - try mixed veggies/stir fry mix/or just plain peas or corn or gr beans)
cheerios
bread/toast/pancakes/waffles
any fresh seasonal fruit (cut-up in small pieces)
Soup - my daughter loved this - just drain off the broth and give her the "stuff" in the soup (chicken noodle, minestrone, veggie soup, etc...)

Really, now is a great time to reflect on your own food choices and feed your daughter what you eat. She will quickly pick up on eating what you eat, so add some veggies, and start making healthy choices for you and your family, too (maybe you are already, but keep it in mind). Just cool it off and cut it up. Remember to introduce foods slowly, though so you can detect any allergies or sensitivities. She will love feeding herself, it will be messy, but sometimes it's easier to give a bath than clean it up with washcloths! Good luck - this is a really fun time to watch your child learn and become independent!!

Pop open sugar snap peas and feed her the raw peas. It is expensive but good, and you can eat the healthy shells or stir-fry them next time you cook Chinese. The good thing is that for the conventional sugar snap peas (if organic's not available) I have read that they tend not to use pesticides or they use just very little pesticides if any on them. Little cubes of marinated and baked tofu were always a hit at our house when the girls were that age. Watching them eat a whole banana can be a lot of fun and a ton of cleanup but when isn't there a ton of cleanup when it comes to feeding a baby? ha ha ha. Watch out for letting them handle the banana peel when it comes to conventional bananas--the pesticides on it are harmful. I have read they suggest to rinse off all bananas before letting a baby play with an unopened one. Also, big butterbeans--canned--are great and my oldest still loves them to this day. I don't think it's too early to set a microwaved (cooled-down of course!) Amy's broccoli pot pie in front of her and see what she does with it. Inside the whole wheat crust are delicious soft cheesy chunks of broccoli, carrot, and potato. If my memory serves correct, age 9 months is when I fed that to my youngest. Other than that stuff, and cottage cheese and yogurt, I would suggest diced gnocci and chunks of squash.

try avacado-it's soft and healthy

any cooked soft veggies- you can do canned with no salt etc if you would like

anything you eat as long as it is soft and mushy

you can even use small tiny chunks of chicken or other meat- would try steak or anything really chewy yet

Here are a few ideas...and I believe you can find most of them in an organic version. Whole wheat pancakes, canned fruit like peaches and pears tend to be softer than the fresh ones and easier for them, cheese slices, cheerios, rice and carrots cooked a little longer so they are soft....any veggie can be cooked longer and cut smaller to make it easier for her to eat. I hope that helps a little....my kids are a little older so I know i am forgetting a lot!

Hi G.! Have you tried avocados? Also, cooked red lentils are great! When my daughter was 9 months she loved them cooked with a little garlic powder and a tiny bit of sea salt.
There is a cookbook called "Nourishing Traditions" by Sally Fallon. It's a valuable resource for healthy foods!
Another thing my kids liked was apples steamed with stevia and cinnamon. Delicious!

Hi G.,

I don't have anything new to add, but just to reiterate what a few others said: Whatever you're eating, she can eat, too.

There may be some things that you will find that you will still need to feed her with a spoon, though. For example my son loves to feed himself, but I still feed him applesauce and oatmeal. He really can't effectively hold a spoon yet.

Good luck!

I also like to feed my infants healthy organic food. She can probably handle fresh pears, apples, carrots that are cooked. For the apples and pears I put just a little bit of water in a pan and dice them up really small and cook them until they are really tender, but firm enough for her to pick up. You can really do a lot with that. I also prefer to use ground turkey instead of gr. beef because it cooks more tender. So I would give her some ground turkey and you could also mix it with some spaghetti sauce-but it's really messy. Just have fun and enjoy the age.

Avocados are great - they have a lot of the good fat. Do not feed her a whole one in one sitting - her diaper will not be pretty afterwards. Keep it to no more than a half. You could also give her tofu, any ripe fruit, and cooked veggies. I used the Super Baby Food book by Ruth Yaron. It was very helpful in how to select fruits/veggies, when to introduce them, how to prepare and store. Have fun!

You might want to try "Just Tomatoes" for when you're out and about. They have a bunch of different fruits and veggies. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw_0_8?url=search-alias... I've never tried them, but I was waiting on a table (I'm a waitress), and a mom was feeding it to her lil guy and said he loved them. The reviews look good, 2.

anything you would eat, she can eat, in tiny, soft pieces! :D thats the good news.
the bad news is that it takes a lot of preparation to do that.

you can buy those little feeding thingys... they have a net like bag you put the food in and baby can squish the food through the netting...
they really work, and i had a baby in my day care who LOVED that! :D
good luck!

Bananas are a great finger food for begining eatters. They are extremely nutritious, and are mushy so they are easy for babies to gum. Just cut them length wise four or five times so the baby won't choke and then make the pieces a couple of inches long so they are easy to grasp. They are messy, but babies love them.