Finger food inspiration required...

[suzi2]

My DS is 8 months and has been getting solid food since 6 months. He's really into finger foods and will rarely accept being spoon fed anything more than one or two spoonfuls. Unless it's breakfast or yogurt. He also has little appetite for things unless he's in the 'mood' to play with his food.

He isn't overly into fruit or veggies either but goes mad for carbs (which bung him up)! So I'm looking for some finger food ideas that might be better balanced for him. I'm also a bit wary that many of the bread based stuff he eats is relatively high in salt although I'm careful not to give him these foods too often.

So far he enjoys: toast, anything on toast, bread, cooked carrot (although struggles to eat much), cooked baby corn (amazes me that he swallows huge chunks - which come out much the same, ouch!), cooked green beans, cheese, oatcakes, crackerbreads, rusks.

He struggles with: apple & melon as he keeps gumming off big bits, pasta (too rubbery?), slimy cooked veg, banana, cucumber, any wet food such as cauliflower cheese as he doesn't seem to acknowledge it is food!

Any ideas appreciated. I've thought about making little spring rolls with the things he likes in them? Can I try him with raw veg or will he gum off large bits that he can't handle? Sorry, 100 questions...

Sus, x

P.S. He's still breastfeeding 5+ times a day... will he decrease this himself over time or do I need to cut them out to give him the hint?

anyone?

Hiya. Yeah - I think all that breast milk plus the food is probably playing tricks with his appetite. Perhaps he's feeding so much cos he's hungry; the milk will fill him up but won't contain the amount of calories he needs.

You could try cutting it down or express and freeze some?

Finger foods...I tried my DS with harder, raw things (i.e. cucumber, apple) but he just couldn't chew them and still can't now (15mo) I'd say you're better off with cooked/soft things.

Have you tried baby rice cakes? They dissolve in the mouth quite well. I know you said fruit was a no-go but if he's quite good at chewing, you could give raisins a go and tinned pineapple (in juice) is good too. And over-ripe pears.

Good that he's into feeding himself though - my DS was like that...I don't know, these independent types!

breadsticks?

How about part cooking some Brocoli and Cauliflower and then leaving it to dry a bit on the side. That way it still keeps some crunch to it.

Mango is another one, not too hard like apple but firmer than melon.

Cheese sticks

Suzi2, just had another brainwave. I get Shredded Wheat Bitesize for my DS's breakfast. Just soak them in milk for a minute - they keep their shape so are easy to pick up but are really easy/mushy to chew.

There is a good book called Finger Foods for Babies and Toddlers by Jennie Maizels, it could give you some inspiration. One of the recipes is for spinach and mushroom polenta fingers, which may satisfy the need for carbs while sneaking in some veg! By 9mths my ds could pick up peas and sweetcorn quite well, he still loves them. Perhaps experiment with shapes and sizes - my ds will eat tiny cubes of cheese but not sticks!

As for the bf - that should still be his main source of nourishment ATM, so I wouldn't actively do anything to reduce this. Just space out bf with the 'solid' mealtimes so he isn't too full when you're giving him food. The \link{http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/solids-how.html\kellymom website} gives some good information about solid food for the breastfed baby.

HTH

Also Suzi, meant to say, it sounds as though your ds is doing really well with what he is eating. My ds certainly has his favourites and sometimes I think he lives on peas and bm alone! I think the trick is to just keep offering different things and eventually they will get used to them. I think your spring roll idea sounds fab. Another idea: have you tried dried apricots? Ds likes these too.

hi there, I could have written exactly what you did suzi, except my ds is 9 months! I was going to post my own thread til I saw this one. he won't take anything from the spoon, sometimes a little if he's in the mood. Mostly he gets very angry and bats the spoon away. So I've decided to give up and try finger foods.

Also he is breastfeeding a lot. He seems to get very upset at not getting food from me (!), so will take some solids, then scream for milk and then go back to solids. I think he's just finding the transition a difficult one?

The only successful thing so far is the Peter Rabbit rice pasta with a sauce, as well as stuff he can pick up (cooked carrots, sweetcorn and bread is proving popular too).

I'd be grateful for any suggestions as I'm at a loss, my first just took to weaning like a dream ....

Thanks for all the suggestions. I've tried some grated raw carrot which he enjoyed but didn't manage much of. He made a lovely face mask for himself out of it though

This morning he got Oat Crunchies cereal soaked in a little milk to make them soft (or rather, chewy!) and some raisins. I put the bowl in front of him on a gripper mat and he tried for 10 mins to pick up the bowl. I think popped a bit cereal in his mouth and he got the idea and promptly squished it around and ate about half in the end. It certainly amused him for 30 mins which I appreciated a lot!

Oddly, the better he seems to eat with his hands, the more he seems to tollerate a spoon a little...

think popped???? THEN popped!

Sus, x

Suzi2/redheadmum - yet another brain wave! (stick with me...I do this all the time!)

DS loves scrambled egg. Do it in the microwave in a shallow, wide bowl and overcook it slightly. That way when it's done, it's looks more omelette-y than scrambled. Then you can cut it up into bite-size pieces - better than little 'scrambles', which are hard to pick up.

S'pose you could always make an actual omelette in a pan etc, but not so good if you want something quick.

I grow my own organic vegetables and I like to cook carrots ever so gently until they are just right, not too hard or soft for them! Also frozen bananas are simply heaven!

thanks Tattles for the website, I've had a look and feel v reassured. I gave ds a little bit of fish, some cubes of cooked potatoe and some cooked veg in a bowl and he looked as pleased as punch. This is obviously the way forward (no more spoons please mama....)

I think he's looking at his sisters plate, a nd wants what she has (who could believe it starts so early?) any suggestions for meals that work for both baby and 3 year old?????

Hi SUzi I think you are writing about my months old today baby. For the past 6 weeks it's been harder to give him spoon gllop. I saw that now for sneaking in purees of apple and prune to keep him going.

The maion solution to my problemn has been introduing egg at 8 months. He has about 3 a week in total. We have no allergies in our families and he's already on dairy, wheats etc. Introducing egg lets you put chopped up veg in a bit of omelette, use egg to bin dthe outside of rissoles and sausage shapes for frying, bind foods for baking.

I recommend Jenny Meizels book finger food for toddleers and babies which i found on amazon. Her lentil rissoles are good for the bowels and very nutritious. And so tasty even the adults here eat them.

The dry carby nature of much finger food does ltend to lead to lead to constipation but i keep it at bay with judicious application of berries as finger foods. Raspberries, strawberries, blueberries in appropriate chunks. Also long gulps of water from a beaker at the end of a meal.

Yesterday's triumph of invention was this though:

boiled up a large bag of ready chopped root/casserole veg I found in somerfield with a big handful of brownrice. Blitzed it in the procecesor with a big handful of porridge oats. Added small handful breadcrumbs and large of grated cheese til it was really thick. Baked it low (gasmark 3) and slow (50 minutes) to dry it out a fair bit.

DS went mad for this veggie bake. He found it very easy to hold the edges and crust. I have frozen over half of it and plan to reheat the rest for a couple more days by lightly frying it in olive oil to make it crispy alround again and easy to hold. i leave things like this to cool wrapped in paper towels to take the slippiest bits off.

hth.