Need Ideas for Finger foods--DS Is Super Picky!

Have you tryer canned friuts, Mandarine oranges, peaches, pears, apple sauce??
I have a very picky eater who is now 6 and ya it's hard to find things they will eat, Fish stixs, corn dogs, string cheese. and try soups for dipping the grilled cheese in???
Good luck hope this is helpful.
Kathy in Wisconsin.

We started having a similar problem with our son around the time that he was 14 months old. Not sure if it was connected or not -- but he got REALLY sick for a few weeks and after that he has been INCREDIBLY picky.

We have tackled the problem by basically giving him what he wants and just trying to keep it healthy. Here are a few tricks we use --

1) We buy individual sized fruit cups (peaches, man. oranges, pears) and drain off the liquid before giving it to him. Flavored applesauce cups have also been great.

2) Gerber Yogurt Melts (a little expensive) but a really healthy snack.

3) Cheerios and another high fiber cereal as dry snacks

4) Whole Wheat Bread (with butter or PB/ PB & J)

5) Tyson Chicken Nuggets (your son may not be ready yet) but when he is Tyson nuggets are not greasy and are all white meat

The bad news is that the picky behavior did not quickly go away and we are still dealing with it. However, we keep offering things and some days he'll eat veggies and other things and then there are the days he won't.

Also, keep eating new foods in front of your son. This is what seems to spark our son's interest in trying things.

And finally -- don't let people bully you into forcing your child to eat. I am a BIG believer in giving the kids time to come around. Substitue with vitamins if you need.

Good Luck!

First, a great website to check out for all sorts of ideas is www.wholesomebabyfood.com. Second, don't shy away from "spicing" up your baby's food the way you would your own. When I eat green beans, for instance, I put a little butter and garlic powder on them. I started doing this for my son's green beans back when I was still pureeing them. Boy, did he gobble them up then!! With tofu, I always crush up either cereal or yummy crackers and coat the tofu cubes with that. My son doesn't much care for meat, but tofu is always eaten up! Also, I make a concoction of diced soft fruit (banana, mango, peaches, or whatever's on hand), vanilla yogurt (just a spoonful or so) and cereal (cheerios, granola, again whatever's on hand). My son eats this with his fingers (it's messy!) and LOVES it! Also, they do get picky at times, and there are times where it seems they eat nothing at all. They won't let themselves starve. Keep giving him the things you want him to eat so that eventually he may learn to love them! Good luck!

My daughter loved Sweet Potato. If you don't have time to bake one, you can find them plain (and soft and diced) in a can with the veggies. She also loved sliced carrots and green beans.
You can show him how to dip berries or cereal into yogurt, since he does not want to use a spoon.
For 2 years I have been trying to get my daughter to try protein packed hummus, but no luck. She won't eat meat either... unless it is completely mushed up like baby food.
Keep trying with the foods he won't eat though, I have read that it will take a child up to 10 times to try a food before they begin to like it. Good Luck!

try yogos, cereal bars, soft fruits, veggies, cereal, tiny hunks of cheese. anything you eat at the table in small enough hunks he should be able to eat. most of all keep trying the same things over and over and eventually babies usually ea them.

At meals are you sitting at the table with him and eating the same foods? Children learn from watching their parents and siblings. If he doesn't see you eat what you are offering he probably won't want it. Keep offering him a variety of foods. Just because he doesn't like it today doesn't mean he won't like it tomorrow.

Foods you can try: noodles, ground meats, lunch meats, all cooked veggies, bread, rice, tuna, eggs cooked different ways, go-gurts, all fruits, pancakes, waffles, tortilla,

Our daughter who just turned one loves pizza! I will put a little bit of tomato sauce or spaghetti sauce on a piece of pita bread, some cheese, meat (whatever I have left over in the frig-ham, chicken), cooked veggies, mushrooms, olives, pineapple, etc. Microwave it for a minute or bake it for 5 minutes. Let it cool and cut it into bite sized pieces. She also likes to "graze" on the toppings. It's easy to sneak in things she won't eat by themselves. She also likes quesadillas. I put cheese on half of a tortilla and then add small pieces of chicken, mild tomato salsa, and even black beans. I heat it is a frying pan (about 2-3 minutes each side) until the cheese is melted. Let it cool and cut it into bite sized pieces. Most kids will eat anything that has cheese on it!

One of the things my little boy likes is quesadillas. I make them with whole wheat or multi-grain tortillas, spread a little refried pinto or black beans on it and sprinkle some cheese. I cook it in a non-stick pan, so I don't have any oil if I don't want to. Then you just cook it like a grilled cheese sandwich. After both sides have gotten a little toasty, I slice it into wedges or strips with a pizza cutter and he gobbles it up.

I've also added small pieces of chicken, and tomato inside, and I bet there's other things you could sneak in, too -- the toastiness and cheese help hide some things.

Other things he likes are grilled cheese, whole wheat pasta with or without sauce, avacados chunks, bits of grilled hamburger, steamed asparagus and anything my husband or I are eating.

You might try showing him how to use the spoon for the things he likes (like yogurt)....but it will be super messy! LOL! My son is 10 months and loves using his spoon. He isn't very good at it, but he likes it when I show him how. I hold the bowl while he spoons it out.(or at least tries)

There is a cookbook called "The Sneaky Chef" that might have some good suggestions.

Looks like you got lots of ideas, I didn't read through them to see if I'm repeating anyones answer, but my kids love Gogurt, and I froze them so they aren't as messy and last longer in the freezer than refrig. It's a great snack and has good calcium. good luck!

These are foods that our son enjoyed--he stopped wanting to be fed at about the same age too. Our meal times are starting to get a bit cleaner, but our son is a big mess most of the time.

avacado
veggie burgers (some he liked, some he didn't)
banana
beans
rice
pasta--you can sneak in veggies with the sauces

Good Luck!

Kids hit a bit 'low' in eating around a year old, and its not picky eating. So don't cater to it or you will MAKE a picky eater. Serve food, on a plate, for him to eat. Let him eat what he wants. HE won't starve himself, and he should still be getting a good portion of his nutrients from nursing. Just serve him table foods, whatever you are eating for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, cut up small of course, and let him choose what to eat. When you stop making a big deal out of it (not saying you are... but) just serve him the food and walk away to eat your own food or whatever, and you'll be surprised at what he eats when he has 'free will' with his own plate.

We give our 10 month old just about everything we eat, with the obvious exceptions. We give him a lot of frozen peas and frozen corn (we actually did this at a family reunion and got my cousin's picky daughter into the habit--my cousin was delighted) and other veggies, just cut up small. As for the spoon--my kids have rejected the baby food thing too (even Cheerios) and that's the point that we just start accepting that dinner is going to be a very messy affair. We strip him down, and give him what we're eating--spaghetti, rice, etc. He makes a huge mess, but he eats it, and is getting a very balanced diet. Now, my kids have both been very good eaters--they eat a wide variety and they have excellent gag reflexes, so I know very quickly when something is too hard for them to eat. But they both "chewed" and mushed their foods starting around 8 months, so we give him blueberries and cantaloupe and watermelon and graham crackers and berries and all sorts of things. Mostly, he LOVES being part of dinner time with us--he hates it when we eat and don't include him, and he hates eating alone (Do you eat with your son? Could he be jealous of your "good" food?) Anyway, not sure how much advice is in there, but that's what's worked for us.

Addendum: We have also started giving our 10 month old a spoon. He doesn't have the motor skills to use it, but he knows what it's for, and it occupies him while we're eating--and eventually, hopefully, he'll start using it and being less messy!

Yogurt, applesauce (I know those aren't finger foods), homemade popsicles with yogurt/fruit, toast, homemade muffins....just some things that our little guy likes to eat.

Hi J.,

There are already some good suggestions below. I would also suggest an egg YOLK** and cheese omelet at your son's age (under one year it's recommended to avoid egg whites, after one year you can switch to the whole egg omelet). Just cut it into bite size pieces and let him use his hands. That was and is a favorite of my now 13 month old daughter. She has always been an excellent eater, but started refusing to be fed baby food (other than fruit in her cereal) several months ago, as she got better and better at feeding herself. I second the avocado suggestion, as well. We started avocado back at the beginning (at 5 months) in those handheld, netted feeding aids, but at 11 months, you can just cut up pieces for him. Mac n cheese is also popular with our girl, as is almost any pasta dish that we're eating, (spaghetti, ravioli, tortellini, rigatoni, lasagna, etc., cut into pieces, of course.) Yes, it will be messy, but such is learning to self feed! Since he likes yogurt, you may also appreciate the Gerber yogurt melts that someone else had mentioned. They come in peach, mixed berry, and strawberry and they're not too messy. You also may want to try letting him hold a spoon while you attempt feeding him his favorites (yogurt) and sort of distract him by letting him try to use it. Good luck and enjoy!
**Wrote that in reverse, initially. Thanks to Jessi R for bringing it to my attention : ) **

One thing i just started with my 14mo old is to make a potatoe casserole with cut up potatoes, white or sweet, a can of mushroom soup, cheese and tuna. It melds into a a mushy mess that, once cooled, makes a fun cheesy meal. I slice the potatoes with my food processor and then cut them into bites sizes for her. The cheese kinda glues the rest together...

I guess my point is, maybe try cheese melted on stuff to get him to eat it?

And you may already know this, but make sure to keep offering things he doesnt immediately take to cuz after seeing the food and tryin it a few times, he may change his mind and decide it's okay to eat...

oh and check with your doctor about the egg thing... I was told it's egg yolks that are okay before a year and that egg whites are not okay like a previous poster said.