Mom of 2 - Abington,PA

Make sure anything you make for him, dissolves well and does not get sticky (like bread does when in the mouth for a long time), so it is not a choking hazard.

CUT up and mince, anything you make for him.
Even grapes, cut up into fourths, etc.

I really don't understand, why the Daycare is saying you only can bring in 'finger foods.'
It has to go by the child's ability to chew and eat things like that.
They should just be feeding him, whatever is appropriate for him.
And what is wrong with things like Applesauce, or Yogurt etc.?

Gerber Puffs, are fine.
You don't have to send in a whole 'buffet' of things.
Just what he CAN and will, eat.
Safely.

Is the daycare feeding him, or just having him feed himself?? Do they supervise the kids, when eating???

Not all 1 year olds, are fully sufficient at feeding themselves, well.

As far as packaging it... put it in little plastic containers, or Ziplock bags. AND the Daycare is supposed to help him open things too.
Even at Preschool they do that.
They assist the child.
He is only 1 years old.

By the way, Gerber Puffs are not a "meal." It is a snack.
So... my question is: WHAT is the Daycare, feeding your son or they just expect him to eat "snacks" all day???

The little containers by the first years work great. The covers stay tight and don't leak. Available at Target, Walmart, Babies R Us, grocery stores in baby section

Your day care just means they want him to self feed more and get jars/dinners less I assume.

yogurt, applesauce-baby spoon to teach him to self feed
grapes cut in halves or quarters
mandarin oranges
pita with hummus inside chopped into bite sized squares (Thomas brand is soft)
little chopped up fruit by Dole or Del monte- get 100percent juice - pears, pineapple, peaches
hard boiled egg whites into small piece
soft steamed veggies, cut small- carrots, broccoli, peas, celery, etc
pancakes, waffles, cut small
cereal like cheerios
cheese in cheerios size cubes

You can cut up a lot of things small - fruit, cheese, baloney, chicken - anything in tiny pieces will work. I even used omelettes cut into cubes. I'd make one omelette with cheese and ham and then cut it into cubes. my kids would eat anything cut in to small cubes.

depending on how well he eats table foods, you could do maybe string cheese, cut up apples, thinly sliced carrots, crackers, the gerber(or off brand) puffs

Tiny pieces of cheese, tiny pieces of grapes, tiny pieces of canned pears (kiwi, strawberry, blueberry halves, banana), tiny pieces of hard boiled egg, tiny pieces of avocado, small noodles, tiny pieces of bread with butter, really anything you can think of that you can cut into small pieces that is not too hard. At that age our daughter (who is now 21 months) ate tiny cut up pieces of whatever we were having for breakfast, lunch and dinner. She hated baby food and wanted to feed herself by about 9-10 months. Just put the food into small ziplock bags and they can stick it in their fridge at the daycare!

Send in the Gerber Graduates "Puffs." :)