When did you start finger foods?

[Saltytomato]

My DS is 7 months and I am thinking of starting to use more chunky purée and possibly introducing some finger foods.

What are good ones to start with and can I give him meat this young? I was thinking of making him a mini Christmas dinner :)

I started at 6 months. Steamed veg sticks are easy. Chopped soft fruit also. They love it

started finger foods at 6 months. Toast, pasta, cooked veg, soft fruits esp. banana are all good. Meat is also fine from 6 months - can also be given as finger food.

I just gave the dc whatever we were having from 6 months.

I give my 5 1/2 month old sticks of ripe pear/banana, fingers of toast and baby ricecakes to play with and chew and suck. She's started wanting to be fed so we are doing some purees rather than true BLW but the finger food element is there to stay as she loves them (and growls like a dog with a bone when she's gnawing on the toast which always makes me giggle)

From 26 weeks - the beginning of weaning, basically. Give your 7mo whatever you're having (barring honey).

Cool, thanks heaps! This will encourage me to start being healthier if he is going to have the same as me :)

I'll start with some bread with his purée at lunch

Mini roasts are good fun with a 7 month old Give him biggish chip-size and shape pieces to gnaw on. Roast carrot & parsnip are easier to handle than boiled as the skin is dry and the inside mushy. Much the easiest for him and the most fun to watch. broccoli is a pig to clear up when its thrown as the bits go everywhere

Argh. I started today and gave him a few steamed red and yellow pepper strips, which he didn't associate with being edible and threw them around, then put the into a little pile on his lap.

Then I tried some toast cut into fingers and dipped in vege purée, which he smushed and then almost gagged on the bit that I put in his mouth. He stalled the tiniest little bit and almost choked on it all. It was really bad!

Am I doing something wrong? He took to purée so easily and loves to eat, but seems to have no idea what to do with finger food and gags so easily. Is this normal?

Sounds normal to me

At 23 weeks when dd stole and scoffed a earnie

I would just let him play with the food and eventually he will pop it in his mouth. I imagine pretty much everything else gets chewed sooner or later . Try not to actually put stuff in his mouth so that he's in control. It's less likely he will gag. My DD has had non puréed food from the beginning but some days will eat more than others. Patience is the key and accosting most food may end up on the floor to been with. Good luck.

Normal. Just be vigilant. I had tears with the first lumps. They come on so quick though.. I started with harder stuff like toast fingers as steamed veg and bananas got pasted too easily.

Some days she MUST feed herself. Other days she wants food spooning in like a roman emperor. Every day we are a sticky mess.

Normal. Just be vigilant. I had tears with the first lumps. They come on so quick though.. I started with harder stuff like toast fingers as steamed veg and bananas got pasted too easily.

Some days she MUST feed herself. Other days she wants food spooning in like a roman emperor. Every day we are a sticky mess.

6 months, they love it

Very important that you don't try to put it in their mouth for them though (although you have learned that already!). Let him play with it and he will get the hang soon enough.

Have a look at www.rapleyweaning.com for loads of advice on baby-led-weaning and finger foods.

Have fun!

my 5.5 month old managed to trigger her gag reflex with a finger of toast this morning and thus vomit up all the pear puree I'd helped her eat for breakfast as well as what seemed to be gallons of breastmilk. Ho hum she was loving the toast though!

DS basically played with his food til about 9.5 months when he suddenly got it and started stuffing it down. Its fine if he doesn't eat much at all, its all about playing with it, chewing, gnawing, tasting and spitting, shoving it in his ear, stealing it off your plate, seeing what you do with it and lobbing it at the wall just because

I did all BLW from the start (about 5.5 months) as DD would not be fed under any circumstances. Gagging is really normal, DD did it for a long time (weeks) but it although I found it upsetting she was not at all upset about it and that's what you need to remember. Babies have a much more sensitive gag than adults and they need to learn what triggers it for safety reasons. She occassionally sicked up small amounts of food. There is no way of them not gagging - with purées they just do it later than with BLW. Some babies do it a lot, some hardly at all. They often cough too but it's not actual choking as that is when their airway is obstructed - they're just trying to get it further forward in their mouth or out completely. Don't whack them on the back just encourage them to sit forward with their mouth open so the offending item can drop out and then they will carry on as if nothing has happened! Have a look at the website above for more info. And they all play with it but I think it's good - it's a new sensory experience and they're looking, smelling, feeling. There's always a lot of mess and waste - try to put a wipe-clean splash at on the floor so you can hand back any pieces that go overboard.

Yeah just remember they are not actually choking a real choke is silent ie the baby will not be able to make a noise then you commence the back slapping but yes gag reflex triggered lots it used to really worry my mum but not me as its rare they will actually choke as there gag reflex is so sensitive - preventing then from actually choking.

6 months.

I roasted veg for DS, did strips of chicken/beef etc. Basically he ate whatever we ate with our meals looking a bit odd for a few months so that he'd be able to pick up whatever we had and eat it, e.g. curry had long chunky strips of carrots.

Take your time and go at your baby's pace - don't worry about where everyone else is at. I found it got eaier when her pincer grip improved abd she had better control. Try things that will disdolve in the mouth like little bits of broccoli or well cooked carrot they dissolve really well or if she has a good grip - small chopped up pieces if hard boiled egg. I chop up the buttered toast fingers into small squares that she can pick up herself. Give her fun things like mash potato just to play with to start with just to have fun with it and you'll be less nervous about her choking.

It was a bit worrying! I tried some organix carrot puff things today and he managed to eat half of one in about 15 minutes, just sucking it and throwing it around so that's an improvement at least!

Thanks for all your advice :) such a relief that it is normal.