Suggest finger foods please!

[zuzkah]

Hi ladies, my ds is 8months old and suddenly refuses to be fed by a spoon. Im trying to come up with ideas of finger foods when he can feed himself. We tried all the obvious - carrot sticks, toast fingers, fruit... Im just a bit worried though that his diet is not nutritious enough.
Can you please suggest any other finger foods? Thanks!

[MrsBates]

I have a book called Finger Food for Babies and Toddlers - by Jennie Maizels. Might be able to get a cheap one from Amazon marketplace? Was useful when I ran out of ideas after all the kinds of things you mention.

[MrsJamin]

It seems like a common thing that babies refuse the spoon at 8 months. Quite a few people on MN now do baby-led weaning which is finger food right from 6 months. My 7 MO has eaten in the last month:

• roasted veg sticks - sweet potato, carrot, butternut squash, courgette - in olive oil and rosemary
• broccoli
• salad veggies - vine tomatoes, cucumber
• rice cakes, pitta bread
• soft fruits - plums, strawberries, nectarines, bananas, mango is a special favourite too.
• toast (homemade bread to minimise salt) with sugar-free jam (from waitrose), salt-free marmite (from health food shop), philadelphia, or unsalted butter
• fusilli pasta with pesto or passata garlic & basil
• porridge pancakes - these are such a hit and such a wonderfully healthy breakfast
• omelette with tomatoes, mushrooms and cheese
• homemade pizza
• roast turkey, and yorkshire pudding!
• burger!

You might find more finger food ideas on the recipes section of the forum on www.babyledweaning.com. If your DS has a pincer grip, he might be able to go on to just feed himself more difficult-to-pick up foods like peas or mashed potato (eaten from the middle of a fist)

[chloemegjess]

Maybe try some meat as well?
Pasta?
Cheese?
Bit of whatever you are having?
Fish?

To be honest, you might find it works if you just stick whatever you are having on his high chair try and let him feed him self with it. Mught make a mess, but would save you worrying?

I am very relaxed about weaning though and just go with whatever works at the time. dont stress about it, if he is getting lots of milk, and some foods, just introduce stuff as you eat it as a family.

[chloemegjess]

What are porridge pancakes mrsj? They sound good.

[zuzkah]

Great ideas mrsj. My next q. was - How do you make porridge pancakes?
Chloe - Thanks for reminding me to take it easy. I tend not to worry much but sometimes it drives me crazy that he refuses nearly everything I offer him. I guess - relax is what I need!

[MrsJamin]

hehe. right, this is what I do

1 1/2 tablespoons of porridge oats
3 tablespoons of (full fat) milk

mix together in bottom of desert bowl

buzz in microwave on high for at least 60-90 seconds

it comes out all over-cooked and starting to look solid!

put bowl in sink with a little bit of cold water at the bottom (so it solidifies more and cools)

use a spatula to take out as a 'pancake', then flip over and buzz in microwave for a little so it isn't too chilly

serve!

DS loves it, wolfs it down in clumps - idea came from www.babyledweaning.com. can mix fruit / jam with it too, to make it a different taste! It's such a healthy breakfast and means you can leave bread/toast til lunchtime.

[MrsJamin]

oh good idea to try with banana, hopefully it doesn't stick to the bowl too well! some people make it the night before and leave in fridge so it's all ready to go in the morning - I'm not that organised!

[chloemegjess]

Thats good, what a simple, but excellent idea! Do you know if it works with ready brek? Only ask as I have that in my kitchen but wold have to go shopping for porridge oats?

[MrsJamin]

Yes it probably would do, just try it!

[chloemegjess]

do you know how long they keep in the fridge for?

[elkiedee]

Cheese
If something doesn't work on its own as a finger food, you could put it in mini-sandwiches or dip bread in it
Your baby's still presumably getting a lot of the nutrition needed from milk in some form - I wouldn't worry too much so long as you're finding a variety of foods to offer.

[MrsJamin]

I don't think I'd want to keep them past a night in the fridge as it's still a bit wet in the middle.

[zuzkah]

thanks elkiedee and everybody. I now always put different foods on a plate and when he gets sick of one taste I offer another. It seems to work. My ds had for dinner boiled sweet potato sticks, cheese, pitta bread, melon and nectarine. I also made some bolognese yesterday which he didn't want from a spoon so I mixed it with an egg and made an omelete for lunch! Will try the porridge pancakes.

[nappyaddict]

anything that isn't too salty/sugary/fatty.

we as a family try to avoid the obvious sugary things, cream, too much milk (obviously this doesn't count at your baby's age), too much fruit, most ready made stuff, i don't add salt when i cook, nuts (even the unsalted ones have quite a bit of sodium in apparently), ham/bacon/salami/pepperoni etc and we don't eat much bread, cheese or eggs. i buy both unsalted butter (for cooking and sandwiches cos you can't taste it) and salted butter (for putting on plain bread/toast)

otherwise anything goes pretty much.