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Original poster

Finger food: please explain!

11 replies

SarahCaroline · 20/07/2004 08:59

I keep reading I should start my 6-mth-old on finger food asap. So far she's just had purees. What's the best thing to start her with? I keep imagining she'll just suck off a great big chunk of something and choke on it - can't imagine how the whole thing will work really!

OP posts:

Original poster

SarahCaroline · 20/07/2004 09:11

Sorry folks, just spotted the 'non-dangerous finger food' thread below.

OP posts:

clary · 20/07/2004 09:34

SarahCaroline, the thing to do is make sure that first finger foods are still quite soft. But at the same time, it is important that she learns to deal with lumps in her mouth, so you need to be with her in case she starts to choke. Try fruit, sliced banana, ripe peach, halved grapes, maybe raisins (good for picking up practice); soft bread; veg such as well-cooked carrot sticks, broc, cauli. 6mo IMO is youngish, perhaps better to spoon feed her some lumpier purees first so she gets the idea. But the beauty of finger foods is that they can do it themselves! Does she put a lot of things into her mouth? Give it a try maybe, and if she's not keen, leave it for a week or two. HTH

moominmama86 · 20/07/2004 09:41

Hi SarahCaroline - 6 months is actually quite young for finger food, IMO. I'm not sure I'd worry about it too much yet. Like Clary says, perhaps start on lumpy purees and see how she handles it. Then perhaps try very soft pieces of banana, very ripe pear, grated cheese etc. Just be very vigilant (which I'm sure you are anyway!) and be prepared for the fact that dd will probably appear to gag on everything at first but will get the hang of it soon enough!

OldieMum · 20/07/2004 10:32

I agree that 6 months sounds young to be giving her finger foods. Try to find a balance between encouraging her to begin to eat food with lumps, or finger foods, and being sensitive to whether she is ready for them. DD (now 18 months) was slow to deal with either of these, while the child of a friend of mine, who is the same age, found them easy to deal with. DD just seemed slower to develop the ability to deal with lumps and she often vomited if food was too lumpy. It has all sorted itself out now, however, and the two children eat in very similar ways. So don't feel that you have to conform to a timetable.

Original poster

SarahCaroline · 20/07/2004 15:56

Well, I offered DD a few 'soldiers' of bread at lunchtime and she had a great time with them! No choking, and she ate the best part of a slice of bread! Guess that means she's ready then! Will heed what you say though and take it easy.

OP posts:

bundle · 20/07/2004 15:58

well-cooked broccoli trees are a very good starter, dd2 (now 15 mths) still can't get enough of them.

toddlerbob · 20/07/2004 22:29

My son didn't work out finger food until 2 weeks before his 1st birthday, so don't fret if she just plays with it. He is the most amazingly tidy eater now - so learning a skill late has advantages!

Juliehafrancis · 20/07/2004 23:06

Yep just wanted to reiterate what toddlerbob said..my little girl had a hard time adjusting to finger foods and didn't until she was 11 1/2 months old which was quite late but now won't have anything but finger food. Try to make a balance of having some finger food and some pureed/lumpy spoon fed food in a meal.

Good ones to start are...soft buttery wholemeal toast, slightly cooked and cut up in lengths apple and pear

eggy bread ( 1 egg, tablespoon of double cream and tablespoon of milk..dip bread in and fry lightly in butter)

bits of meat/fish

grated cheese and apple

Hope this helps,

Jules x

Chandra · 21/07/2004 00:41

I was about to start a thread on thin when I saw this one. DS doesn't like to touch his food, he is able to feed himself with a spoon but don't you ask him to touch a piece of bread, forget about him putting him in his mouth. I'm really worried, I have been trying finger foods since he was 7m old with no success, next month he will be 18m. yesteray in all desperation decided that I was going to serve only finger food (it was the same food just not spoon fed... He went to sleep with a bottle, he prefered to starve to death rather than touch it

Any suggestions most welcome, I am at the end of my theter...

clary · 21/07/2004 11:35

goodness chandra, if he uses a spoon i wouldn't worry about it! I sometimes wish I cd get my older ones OFF finger food - DS1 especially at 5 still wants to pick things up if he can ...very messy. Seriusly, most things can be eaten with spoon/fork, apart from bread, as you say. What does your HV say? I wouldn't have thought it will be a big problem.

Chandra · 21/07/2004 11:41

The problem is that he only eats lumpy food (or anything that can be hidden in sauce) but won't take even a raisin if it's dry. Besides, he takes 3-4 spoons of whatever he is taking and screams for you to fed him (he is a bit slow with the spoon as you may expect). He can manage the beginning and the end of the meals, but inbetween I need to feed him. Has anybody had the same? if so, how did you sort it?

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