Finger Food for 6 Month Old

Hi C.,

I had the same question when my baby was at that age (she is now one). She really liked avocado, small pasta, sweet potato french fries cut up, rice, small pieces of bread and canned tuna (no salt) or salmon was great to have on hand.

Avacado, tofu chunks(extra firm), bananas, Veggies steamed so they are really soft, cooked noodles. These all make great finger foods.

They have finger foods in the baby isle of your grocery store. They have carrots, and green beans etc. You can give your child small cut pieces of canned peaches because they are already soft and mushy. I gave baby cookies, and small pieces of bananas (ripe ones). You can also start giving yogurts and cottage cheese.

I am mom of 4. Did this with each and they eat wonderful now. They eat just about every veggies around because I introduced it at a very early age.
trish

I fed my son everything that I had but just in smaller portions, of course. He had no problem eating my food along with his normal baby food. It is up to you if you want your son to eat adult food.

My daughter never ate any commercial or home made baby food (she didn't like mushy stuff). She started eating table food (my food) at 6 months old. I basically gave her what ever I was eating, just cut up super tiny (about the size of a grain of rice).

If I was eating pork, carrots and rice, for example, she would get the same. I usually chopped up enough for a few meals at a time. For a while, I actually had to feed her the chopped up stuff from my plate, so she could see she was getting exactly what I was eating!

Both my girls loved bananas, avocados, and cooked squash at that age. They loved being able to squish them too. I just made sure that they were cut into small enough pieces. Or you could try one of those mesh baby "spoons", the kind that you fill with soft foods that lets the baby chew on without letting big chunks come off. You could put alot of differnt foods in it. Have fun.

My daughter loves all foods! She is now 9 months old and still has no teeth, but that doesn't stop her. Anything that is listed as an "okay" food for your baby's age, can be steamed, then cut into tiny pieces for finger food. I love the website: wholesomebabyfood.com for checking what foods to introduce at what age. And just in case your baby has some digestive troubles (like mine) we introduced prunes in small pieces or diluted juice each day, and she stays regular. Have fun!

My 7 month old also loved to eat what was on my plate, so i gave it to him, bites of baked potato, no skin of course, sweet potato, broccoli tops, steamed carrots, chunks of tofu, black beans or kidney beans. We share a bowl of soup for most lunches, with mini pastas and veggies, even small bites of meat, but I would not give any meat until your son has some teeth or it is really, really soft. I found a lot of information in a book called Super Baby food by Ruth Yaron, it has a month by month food introduction list and ideas and recipes
be intuitive with your son, watch him eat and follow his cues
good luck

Dear C.,
You might think this is really strange, but at 6 months old, both of my children loved lemon, lime and orange wedges. I gave them pieces that were too big to slide down their throats or anything like that, but they loved chomping on them. The sour part didn't bother them at all. They loved it. And they were getting vitamin C. The only thing I had to be really careful about was rinsing their hands off so they wouldn't rub their eyes with the juice. The other thing they loved was carrots. Especially when they were teething. I gave them the widest, thickest part and even when they had a tooth or two, the most they ever did was scrape some of it off. I don't know if you are a vegetarian. I was. But, my husband wasn't and I teethed both of my children on jerky. Not the sliver thin stuff, but the thick chunks of it. Especially when their gums were hurting them, they would gnaw and suck on it and it had flavor so they were happy. I never went anywhere without the jerky in the diaper bag. It was too thick for them to get a chunk off of it or choke. And when it was mushy I just threw it away. But I'm telling you, carrots and jerky when my kids were teething were a god send.
Banana is always good.
Waffle slices can also be fun.
Put your baby in a high chair with a spoon and some applesauce and see what happens. I let my kids chomp on their spoons even if they weren't eating anything. So when they got a little food on there, they really liked it.

Have fun with your little Rocco!

Please let him try anything and everything that is safe for him to eat(i.e. avoid honey and nut products at this age and be sure everything is an appropriate size or texture) Children naturally get more picky around age 18 mo. - 2 yrs, but the more they have been exposed to the better eaters they will be in the long run.

That never ends until they get old enough to be picky and hate everything you eat. I used to sneak to eat anything I didn't want my daughter to have. Fruit, veggies, anything easy to smash before he swallows. Just go slow and careful on new things, especially things that are now to cause allergies such as nuts or dairy.

Hi-
I really think it depends on the baby. My daughter is 7 1/2 months old and she only eats baby food. she has NO teeth. But my older daughter like your son, was eating solids @ 6 months, because she could handle them. If your son is able to chew them, and they aren't bothering his tummy, or bowel movements, then I think he is fine.

Hi C.,

You can make most fruits and steamed veggies into finger foods, just cut them in tiny peices. Another easy finger food is puffed brown rice.

There's this great book called 'The Super Baby Food' book that is full of ideas for making baby food as well as finger food that is good for each age. It's just a great source of knowledge....has recipes for making non-toxic cleaning products, arts & crafts ideas, info as to what fruits & veggies are good in what season & all kindsa other stuff. I highly recommend it.

Honestly, my little girl is 7 months and is the same way! She loves to eat everything and if I'm eating and don't share she throws a fit til I do. I just avoid spicy foods, but I pretty much give her everything. She likes applesauce, and refried beans. I of course avoid honey and milk, but since no food allergies run in our family and we've tested every common food allergy, I'm not restricting. I'd say let him try it all if he really wants, makes sure he still gets enough fruits and veggies. But other than that, I say just let him explore the world that is food!

I used to take a few baby carrots and cook them (either in some water in the microwave, or boil them on the stove or skillet them). You want them soft enough that they still keep their shape and you can cut them up in slices (I would suggest this in the beginning until he knows what size bites to take). Other fun things that I did - canned peaches (or real if you can get them, but cut off the skin), grapes halved or quartered, baked potato (again without the skin at first), different types of bread, muffins, biscuits etc. I know it's scary at first because you are afraid everything will choke him, but he will be fine! You should enjoy the fun of giving him the first foods he will ever eat in his life!