7Mo Snack Time.

Baby Mum Mums, they are rice rusks (very disolvable rice cracker). My 2 yr old and 4 yr old still love them.

You can find them at some Kroger/Fred Meyer stores and some Super Walmarts. Possibly other stores, too. And online at Amazon, or do a seach.

Is a 7 month old really ready for finger foods...?

D.

Hello D.,
My son is eleven months old and I have been giving him fruit and vegetable puffs for months now. He can feed them to himself and he loves them! You can buy either Gerber brand or off-brand; both have lots of flavors, few ingredients, and a lot of vitamins. I hope this helps!
S.

dry cereal like cheerios is great! We also get some puffed whole grains like corn, rice, kamut that my daughter really enjoys.

Hi D.,

When my son was a baby the best finger food was canned green beans, the cut ones not french style. I gave it to him at room temp straight from the can so it was never too hot or too cold. I cut them up to just the right size, so they were small enough for him to pick up and feed himself, plus they are so soft that not having any teeth did not get in his way. He is going to be 13 in 2 weeks and he still likes to eat canned green beans that way, though at this age I do not have to cut them up and as a growing boy he eats the entire can, no such thing as leftovers anymore! I should have done that with canned carrots too, then maybe he would like them now :) Anyway, hope that helps.

S. Hansen,

Full-time mother of an almost 13 year old son, part-time therapist, and full-time psychology doctoral student who never sleeps.

the other moms gave great suggestions. As he gets teeth, beans (black, pinto, kidney) are good options. I agree that veggies should be a focus, fruit is easy and cereals and breads (which we all tend to eat too much of) are even easier. The Gerber Puffs are great, the yogurt snacks are messy but good. Frozen peas and fozen berries are good for teething. Berry stains come out with OxyClean, you might have to treat it a few times before it goes to the drier, but it does get them out. My daughter loved frozen blackberries, and I have the pictures to prove that the stains came out, and she had them from head to toe, front and back.

Bananas, bananas, bananas. Also check for whole grain/oat, no sugar added, no extra grains (like corn) O's (cheerios). Whole Foods has a brand as does Trader JOes, O's. Also, peas.

First, check about the strawberries, I remember being told to wait until at least one before feeding babies strawberries...Snack ideas - some may be better for on the go, others for highchair, Also, some may be too hard - don't know how your son chews and how many teeth he has...but here are some ideas...

Fruit (you said you barely give him any, but cut up blueberries are great, banana, avocado, peaches...)

Several companies make puff snacks that more or less dissolve in your mouth.

Cheese cut small.

At his age, he probably doesn't need real snacks during the day - most foods are pretty new...we also like soy yogurt, tofu, and teething crackers.

D.,

I didn't feed either of my kids strawberries until they were over a year old. Mostly because fresh strawberries weren't in season until then. I did a Google search and all the websites suggest waiting until a year because of the potential for allergic reaction - mostly caused by skin contact around the mouth. It can also cause diaper rash. I would suggest holding off if I were you. When it came to 'snacks' with my kids before a year it was usually given only when I had to have them off the floor (or contained for a moment). I would give them cheerios, banana, anything soft and cut to minimize choking hazard. Babies are going to be messy, it's part of the exploration process. If you are afraid something is going to stain then strip them down to diaper and let 'em go! Enjoy.

we do:

-Barbara O's (breakfast cereal like cheerios, but organic, and sweetened with fruit juice instead of sugar)

-puffs (we like the Happy Baby organic brand - they have half the sugar of the main brands, and Oscar LOVES them! there's a 'greens' flavor, with kale in it!)

-crispy rice cereal - we buy Erewhon organic, it's brown rice cereal like rice crispies.

-cantalope! we chopped it really small at first, and larger as he was able to chew it. He love love loves cantalope!

We stick to mainly organics, so we do a lot of shopping at our local co-op (can you tell we're hippies?) The puffs are a really great placce to start, since they just melt in their mouth. Good luck - it's so fun to see your baby feeding themself!

first off your baby should not have strawberries until at least one year of age for allergie reasons. i know alot of things have strawberries in them but real fruit is not a good choice. plain cherrios are a good snack for anytime and very healthy for him dehydrated fruit is good and puffs are good also.

If your baby is hungry, give him a meal. Babies don't need "snacks". Sweet potatoes and carrots (real ones peeled, not the "baby" carrots, as they get all weird and have a strange flavor when cooked) are great veggies to cook and mash up because they are naturally sweet, but don't have as high of a sugar concentration as fruit. Try to train your children to enjoy vegetables now. Fruit is always easy.

I nursed my daughter until 9 months, but snacks she enjoyed were homemade sweet potato or yam fries. I would slice them and bake them with just a sprinkle of sea salt, olive oil and some spices (optional). She could suck on them and either spit them out as she explored the texture and taste or eat a little bit of it.

Cheerios are also a great option. Tiny, disolve in their mouths, not too sweet and made with oats and not wheat, so no risk of dealing with wheat allergies or introducing wheat too early. These are foods I gave my daughter after a year, but she only started exploring food at 9 months, so you would be a better judge at whether these will be acceptable in your case. Good Luck!

Gerber has these wonderful little baby snacks that are labeled as to which age they work best for. My little one has loved the yogurt bites for a year now.

Pardon me for being a little nosy, but why not give him fruits? They're healthy and natural, and he does need five a day.

-- your pediatrician should also have some great ideas. Try canned vegies ( so they are soft enough that he won't choke--- ) - cut small --- two or three small chunks of cooked carrot -- or cooked sweet potatoe -- peas - -- cheerios were the first snacky type food for children to chase around their high chair tray back when my children were small-- -- a few pieces of banana --

I'll be interested to see what newer moms' suggest -- ( I'm 64 :-) )

Blessings,
J. - aka- Old Mom

Costco has some freeze dried fruit snacks that I gave my little guy. There are like 24 packs to a box for I think $13. They basically disolve when put in their mouth. I also gave my little one those baby mum mums, they are the same way they disolve instantly and you can find them at Fred Meyers. Those puffs work too because they are softer than cheerios and not messy. Small cut up cooked fruits and veggies or cut up bananas and avocados are yummy or cook some little shell macaronis. Good luck!

Ripe banana slices. Ripe melon cubes, watermelon especially. Steam apples. Cheerios. Mini bagels. Cooked baby carrots that are soft. Fruit is not a bad thing for your baby. Lots of things are sweet in taste and again, that's not a bad thing. It stimulates the appetite and makes eating pleasurable. If it wasn't, babies wouldn't eat all that they need. True fact. Fruits and other carbohydrates are part of balanced diet. Enjoy life!!!

Wow! Snacks for a 7mo! My son will be 7 mo on Monday, and he has only had a few solid meals (think 3 or 4), and isn't really interested. He probably would be crawling by now if he were on the carpet more, but he has really bad eczema and scratches if I don't watch him like a hawk when he's down there...

But to answer your question... I think my daughter did okay with cheerios. They are simple, easy to grab, and fun for kids. And a whole lot cheaper than the baby snacks they sell in the baby food aisle. You can buy a whole box of cheerios (generic brand) for the price of a bottle of "snackies." That would be my suggestion. I've never used the feeder thing you're talking about, but it just sounds messy. You should be supervising feedings for the next many months anyway, so cheerios or zwiebac (not sure how that's spelled, but just take toast and dry it on a very low temperature in the oven until it's toasted well all the way through, kind of lie croutons) should be fine, and are great for teething. Hope that helps!