Food for 10 month old?

[PasstheStarmix]

Hi, Firstly I'll say DS is spoon fed with some finger foods for practice. I no longer purée DS's food as stopped that awhile ago and he gets everything mashed now with fine lumps. All of his food is homemade and he has thinks like: spag bolognaise, chilli (without chillis), cod & potato leek cheese bake, salmon & veg & sweet pot, creamy chicken & veg, butternut squash & courgette pasta stars in tom and cheese sauce or pasta stars and sweet peppers & veg sauce, beef casserole & creamy mash & many more tasty recipes. I use alot of Annabelle karmel recipes and also take DS's portions out of some meals that me and DH have and mash. I freeze all of his meals in ice cubes and find batch cooking great way of having tasty nutritious meals always available for DS. He also has a lot of full fat natural greek yoghurt and fruit and drinks plenty water with his meals. I give things like toast fingers with unsalted butter & Ella's melty puffs for finger foods.

I feel like I've hit a bit of a brick wall however. I'm unsure when I can give ds more finger food and what to give him. I feel like I'm stuck on mashed foods and don't know when this progresses to cut up bits? How long do they stay on the mashed stage? When can I give ds a sandwich for his lunch and what filing? I don't know how much of a sandwich they can manage to eat as well. I'm looking for some easy alternatives do when we're out and about he can eat on he move. He only has his special homemade meals I make him and won't eat jars/pouches. Just looking for some ideas.

Thanks...

He can eat pretty much all finger food at this stage if you want him to.

Why not try him with things like a cinnamon & raisin bales with butter for breakfast or toast with smooth nut butter?

Any sandwiches are fine for lunch. I usually offer them with raw veg on the side. My DS loved tinned sardines on toast at this age. He was weaned the triditional way with purees but was mainly on finger food by this stage. My DD loved eggy bread.

If you want to offer chopped food, this is fine too now

Oh and have you checked out the MN Weaning section? It’s usually very useful

Wow what an amazing varied menu! I wish I could get my 10 month old to eat all that!

Finger food with your menu is simple - serve the meals unmashed! Not the spag bol obviously. But if you put the sauce onto pasta twists that could be a finger food. For veg cut them into chunky fingers and make sure they're well soft to avoid any choking hazard. Fish is easy, just pull it apart a bit so baby can grab a flake or two. Banana falls into 3 parts lengthways which are perfect for finger food.

Just make sure the food is soft and either nice big fingers or little morsels to reduce choking hazard. You might want to familiarise yourself with baby first aid. I've found chunks of bread are the biggest choking hazard for DS - they get stuck at the back of his throat somehow and it's pretty scary. So now he only gets tiny morsels of bread which are impossible to choke on.

It does get messy with finger foods. Enjoy!

I must be a bad mum. I gave DD spag Bol at 6 months

Just give him what your having and leave him to it. You don't need to mash anything, all foods are finger foods!
Lunches - ham, cheese, egg mayo,tuna mayo sandwiches. hummus and veg sticks/bread sticks. Scrambled egg? beans on toasts. Fruit?

Thanks everyone, all great ideas and much appreciated
Thanks RemainOptimistic I know there's not much ds won't eat to be honest. He'll even eat spinach and he has broccoli &
Cauliflower too. I have Annabel Karrmel recipes to thank and have found introducing lots of flavours from a young age has helped him take to them.
It's finger foods where I struggle as I'm always scared he'll choke! I'll introduce some more though, love the idea of pasta twists and French toast .

I think that Remain might have meant to leave the good unmasked and let him eat it himself rather than feed him

If you need some ideas for finger foods how about:

Breakfast
Cinnamon & Raisin Bagels
Porridge Fingers
Sausage & beans. Just cut the sausage lengthways otherwise it can be a choking hazard.
Mashed banana on toast.
Smooth nut butter on toast.
Blueberry Pancakes
French toast with berries. My DD loved this for lunch though
And if you want to —keep him quiet— help to improve his fine motor skills. Give him a bowl of dry Cheerios and a cup of milk and let him pick them up . Mini shreddies are good for picking up too.

Snacks
Cheese Straws are good and they keep in an airtight container for a couple of weeks. Ours always get eaten pretty quickly though.
Slices of apple spread with smooth nut butter.
Homemade fruit ice lolly
Hummus and crudités
Chunks of cheese and grapes.
Scottish Oatcakes and cream cheese.
Oatly fruity biscuits

Lunch
Mine had pretty much what I ate but DD loved a bits lunch where I gave her little “bits” of what we had in. So things like ham, cheese, fruit, bread, hummus, raw veg etc and just let her explore.
Savoury Muffins.
Cheese on toast.
Virtually any sandwich but keep tuna to once a week.
Omelette.
Scrambled egg.
Dd loved homemade veg burger for lunch too at that age. There a bean burger recipe here.
Cheese & Apple scone.
Toasted Cheesy Pitta Fingers.

Don’t forget the oily fish too which I think is recommended 3 times a week so try things like:
Salmon fishcakes.
Sardines on toast.
Salmon nuggets. Cut up some fresh salmon into chicken nugget size. Dip in fresh egg then dip into breadcrumbs and bake in the oven for about 15 to 20 mins. Serve with lightly steamed veg or sweet potato wedges.
Homemade salmon fish finger which are similar to the nuggets.
Salmon pasta.
Tinned mackerel in tomato sauce on toast or as a jacket potato topping.
Fresh mackerel with new potatoes and veg.

Is this enough?

Thanks for the ideas Pop

Let us know how you get on

I never puréed or mashed a single bit of food for either of mine! The thought of puréed meat made me feel a bit ill.
I just gave them a bit of what we were having (obviously salt reduced) from day 1 of weaning.

Each to their own I suppose rouge

Wasn’t a criticism, I just meant you can introduce finger foods etc at any time from 6 months.

Ds is pretty good with finger food that I've tried so far and I reckon he'll be just fine; he has a few little chompers now as well, great ideas thanks again

Yes thanks I know ds has had finger foods for some time now, I was just after some new ideas

I've always gave ds finger foods for practise but I'm going to increase and offer some more and greater variety variety other than toast, Ella's puffs & pieces of soft veg.

variety x 1

Sorry to hijack.... but am reading this and just don't know how to trust my 11 and 1/2 month old with most of this!! He just stuffs great huge bits in and I'm terrified he will choke! I have to take them away... which is probably really bad. I give him tiny bits of things and quite chunky homemade purees. But I'm finding it really hard to give him control with anything big. I know this is my problem/anxiety but don't know how to get through this bit. Help? X

1Violet unfortunately babies can choke on purees and purees with lumps just as easily as finger food. He’s especially likely to choke if you are offering tiny bits of things.

Have a read of this on the difference between choking and gagging and if you are still worried, I’d book onto a Paediatric First Aid Course.

FWIW I weaned my first on purees then started to introduce finger foods gradually. He could manage most of this before 10 months. I think you may need to let him try

Place marking!

Chienrouge I wanted to BLW, but food was the only thing DS2 wouldn't put in his mouth. He'd have it in his fist and suck the thumb on the same hand! I went back to purees for a bit and tried again at 7 months. No problem.

I agree with Pop, it's the little chunks that are the worst. DS has never choked on finger foods but gags on rice and throws up so he can't have it!! So strange. As long as finger food is soft and can me mushed it's fine. I watch ds like a hawk also.

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