Finger food

[MimsMum]

Anyone else have a very independent 12 month old who will no longer tolerate me giving her anything off a spoon? I have to give her food now that she can feed herself, and am running out of ideas. Anyone got any suggestions?

take a slice of bread cut the crust flatten the bread with a rolling pin and put her favourite filling in and roll it up,my kids love them with cream cheese and ham,dairy lea,egg mayo,tuna,etc

I have a 13 month old just the same! She will take very little from a spoon or fork (by me) other than mashed potato or fromage frais/yoghurt.

I give her almost everything as finger food now, but give her a little spoon and fork to try and use too. I just avoid anything too messy like gravy on her food. Today she had sunday roast as finger food - beef, yorkshire pudding, carrots and peas, cabbage, (and mash by me). She also has things like pasta but with the sauce seperate so she can dip - her faveourite tea time treat is dipping! So I use penne pasta with a bolgnaise r tomato sauce and she dips and eats; same with boiled egg and soldiers. She is also allowed a little bit of tomato ketchup to dip other things into too if her food seems a bit dry.

So, I would advise just to go for her normal food wherever possible. DD loves eating by herself - she has been an independent little soul for a few months now!

Thanks for that, I will certainly try dipping, after another very unsatisfactory tea time. The dog will be disappointed though as she takes up position under the high chair at each "spread it far and wide" session! If your dd refuses her meal completely do you switch it for something you know she likes, or do you just take it away, give pudding and asume she'll be hungry at next meal?

I'd second serving "standard" foods now. It is amazing how inventive and accurate they can be using their fingers to eat. Even things like rice, veg, pasta, slices of omelette, scrambled egg, homemade pizza can all be eaten with toddlers fingers.Meat would depend on your dd's ability to chew and number of teeth.

Just be prepared for the mess

It is only a matter of weeks before your dd will be able to use a spoon to feed herself anyway, but our dd mastered this and has subsequently gone back to using her fingers more. Last night it was spaghetti bolognese and she will NOT wear a bib !

Mimsmum - fortunately DD is pretty good with eating and will eat almost anything, but she does have her off days. If she doesn't want something I try and judge whether I think she is playing up, not hungry or doesn't like it. If it is only a snadwich or something quick I do sometimes replace it with soemh=thing equally qucik - cheese is normally a definite goer for us. Other tmes I just remove it, and give her a yoghurt or fromage frais, or a piece of fruit. I don't like her to have nothing at all yet - seems so young for that approach to me. If she won't eat at all then I leave it and look for any signs of being hungry later. DD tends to have a mid morning and mid afternoon snack anyway so I just give her a bit more then if necessary.

Enjoy some fun and messy meal times with the dipping!!! DD loves it, must be the sense of independence.

Fresh pasta, mini ommellete cut like cake, tinned ravioli(but take out most of the juice), mini skinless sausages (from Tescos), babybel, slices of cheese, cheese triangle(again watch the mess!)Smiley faces(mcCains?) mini waffles etc, banana. Salad(mine wont touch it), frozen mixed veg, cubes of swede, brocoli(trees), pitta bread and dips(humus?)
Any help?

Whymummy absolutley love that idea, mine wont eat sandwiches which is a real pain in this weather!

big help - some of it I'm doing but will be off to Waitrose tomorrow a.m. to stock up. She is not keen on using spoon herself yet, and if she does try - the dog gets really lucky!

DD struggles with spoon still but quite likes having a go at piercing things with a fork. She found the baby plastic ones very difficult so I got her a metal set and that makes life easier for her. She spent ages at lunch time trying to 'catch' peas on the prongs! I just giving her the cutlery to have a go every so often.

I would say persevere like you all seem to be doing. And you will probably find that your kids are proficient self-feeders quite soon. DS took to refusing to be fed at about 9 months. Claireandrich's post reminded me of his first Christmas dinner eaten entirely with fingers at age 10 months. He has managed just about everything with his fingers (mashed potato, baked beans etc). I think the only things not to have been eaten this way are porridge and yoghur/ff which he used to let me feed. Then with yoghurt I used to hold the pot while he dipped in. Once I came round to the idea it was no problem. Dh had to give me a look when I went to interfere because there was no sure way to have a meal flung across the kitchen!

Why is it all children don't mind being fed yoghurts???

DD has not wanted to be fed by me since she was about 7 months old so we are know very used to the mess. It is getting better though. My FIL hates the mess though - not in a bad way, it's just that he hates the idea of getting himself like that!

Our dd (21 months) loves "eggy bread". Just in case you don't know this delicious snack:

1. soak a slice of bread or 2 in whisked egg (can add some milk if wanted).
2. Get a frying pan hot and lightly fry the bread in a little olive oil on both sides until golden brown.
3. Slice into soldiers.
4. For extra mess serve with ketchup for dipping (optional!)

Good for adults too.

These may have already have been suggested, but how about bread sticks, cheese straws, apple slices and sultanas.

Oh my God! I was just about to post this very same dilemma. DS is 9.5 months and is adamant that he will not eat from a spoon. Not even yoghurt at the moment. I think this may partially be because he's just had a couple of new teeth come through.

Last night I gave him pasta spirals with cheese sauce - big hit. Tinned fruit coctail rinsed to get rid of the syrup.

I'm going to make some of these mini muffins today. I might do some savoury ones as well. They can be sealed in freezer bag or airtight container and frozen for up to a month

Mini apple muffins
2 cups plain flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup milk
125g butter, melted
1 egg, beaten
2 green apples, peeled, cored and grated

Preheat the oven to 200C. Sift the flour, baking powder and cinnamon into a bowl. Stir in sugar.

Make a well in the centre and add the combined milk, butter, egg and apple. Blend together stirring no more than 15 times (*what happens if you stir 16, I wonder??)
Spoon into greased mini muffin tins until 3/4 full. Bake for 15 mins or until cooked and golden. Cool on wire rack and store in airtight container.
Makes about 24.

cherry tomatoes are a big hit in our house. Not only do they fit into a toddlers hand, but they also make a really satisfying spurt of seeds if bitten in the right place. Noodles are also good for finger food.

My theory is give them a spoon, but be prepared to wipe up the mess afterwards.

my 9 month old dd loves crumpets with philadelphia on them. Or pretty much anything on them actually!

hi Minsmum? Your could be my DD's mum by the sounds of it! She has been very independent from about 8 months, she only has breakfast and puddings from a spoon, however i have just started trying all of our kind of food as finger good, she loves pizza loaded with cheese ham, mushrroms you can hide loads! she loves wholemeal bread so i put lots of things in that, also cheese biscuits with lots of cheese on the top, she likes to have grapes with it too! have you tried having dinner with you and just passing over what ever your having my DD is always pointing as if to say can i try that please!

Mimsmum - have you had the chance to try your little one on any of the suggestions? Has she liked anything much? Would love to know how you are getting on.

Clareandrich - Sorry only just got yr message, I have tried loads of your suggestions (thanks everyone) and have had some success - marmite sandwiches, cherry tomatoes, pasta shapes and strawberries have all been a hit! She is not very good at dipping yet, but I think she will get the hang of it eventually. Her mouth is sore because of a new fang, so she really just wants to chomp on the spoon or fork while I try and shovel a few morsels around it into her mouth. Certainly Ipswich's suggestion of her eating with us is a good one, at weekends it is no problem, but in the week not so good as I don't want to eat at 5pm and dh not home util 9pm. Thanks for all your advice though - really helpful