Finger Foods - Come talk to me

[storminabuttercup]

DS is 6 months

Has 3 meals a day and between 5 and 6 milk feeds of around 7oz

His meals consist of fruit purees, veg purees, baby cereal and rusks.

i want to introduce some finger foods but i am so worried about it, can anyone give me advice?

I'm also going to batch cook some cottage pie type things and chicken casserole next week from the AK book.

what finger foods do you give?

i did blw with ds2, so gave everything.

but if you're worried, foods he didn't really gag with (and there is quite a difference between gagging and choking) are ... rice cakes, pear, butternut squash, fish, cheese. basically, go for the foods that are softer and melt in the mouth.

foods he did gag with more were: carrots, apple and meats.

to be honest though, gagging is a good sign - they learn how to manage foods better.

sorry - ds2 waking up, will post more later, but sure others will post in meantime.

enjoy it!

We're doing blw so pretty much everything is finger foods. SD will eat anything I give her. Fingers of toast with Philadelphia, rice cakes, roast beg, soft fruits, steamed Apple wedges, porridge fingers, omlette, sticks of cheese, wedges of jacket potato, pasta, strips of meat. We started at 23 weeks when she started grabbing food off me. She was great from the start and now at 7 months is still loving everything I offer. we haven't had any more than a couple of minor gags when she's had something with skin on (easier for her to handle with skin on) this wA just her getting it back out her mouth. It never ceases to amaze me how well they can eat so young if given the opportunity.

That should be roast veg and DD stupid auto speller!

i tried some toast today and he licked the cheese spread off and then just played, but will try again tomorrow. im wishing i had done BLW from the start.

Hi stormin, I'm doing a mixture of spoon and finger food with dc3. If you're using AK then you have to use a bit of your own judgement too, there's no point in assembling and baking a shepherd's pie just to blend it up, you can just mix the mash and the cooked mince together.Also to make cauliflower cheese you can just mix cooked cauli, cheese and milk and then blend it rather than doing a white sauce.Don't worry about finger food, the worse mine have ever done is stuff too much bread in their mouths but if you sit and watch then they gradually spit it out.

Thanks Moo, i tried again with toast today and it seemed to have much more 'squelching' appeal. I made 'risotto' for his lunch (cooked tiny grains of rice in baby veg stock and mixed in cheese) but he just screamed and spat it out, but he is full of cold at the min so may be the wrong time to try. I'm trying to stress less as i think they can sense anxiety!

Hi, DD is 7 months and we give a mix of mashed foods on loaded spoons (she feeds herself) and finger foods, although we've not done loads but she loves toast and rice cakes, sandwiches, even pizza (just the once!). It can be a bit scary when they gag, but just count to 10 and they work it out, they really do.

Thanks for the ideas though sheeplikessleep and jandmumm! :)

I like your comment jandmmum about how amazing it is what kids can eat. My DD (5mo) started grabbing our food a couple of weeks ago and today she chewed and swallowed part of my sandwich (including a bit of crust) and several bits of pear including one with skin (the skin came out again)! Keep looking at her to check she's ok, can hardly believe she can eat so well! She was moving things around her mouth with her tongue too.

So cute how she now looks at me and DH when we're eating - I think she's picking up tips on how to do it! She'll watch our mouths intently as we chew and drink.

I tried the puree thing last week but she lost interest, now we've decided to sit her on our laps at mealtimes and give her little bits of what we're having, she is a lot happier and eats more (and makes less mess?!). It's not BLW proper cos we feed her by hand, but she is very clear about wanting more and she also holds some things herself.

Anyway I'm rambling just thought I'd share!