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Weaning

Find weaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Weaning forum. Use our child development calendar for more information.

Original poster

finger foods

42 replies

missboo · 12/08/2006 11:52

help
does anyone have any ideas how to stop myself panicking over giving finger foods to DS soooo very worried about choking! he is 28 weeks also trying to get him to drink from tommy teepi cup!! but no joy yet just chews it

OP posts:
Mum2FunkyDude · 12/08/2006 12:02

Hi,

Only have time for a one quick post;

28 weeks is very young for finger foods, I was told by HV it should only be established by about 9 months because of developing chewing motions and indirectly assisting speach develpment, I won't worry too much, I started with very ripe banana, but in the beginning you have to be vigilant in making sure they don't gag and choke (which happens easily, I think it is a very good "defence" meganism.) I use the same sippy cup, and it took my son about 2.5 months before he could drink from it on his own, however, I initially only held the cup without the lid to his lips and had him sip tiny sips at a time, maybe 3-6 times during a meal, eventually he started drinking more and I then started putting the lid on as he wanted to drink by himself. He is now 8.5 months and is drinking by himself...patience thats all.

Jasnem · 12/08/2006 12:26

You could look here for reassurance. 28 weeks isn't too young at all

Original poster
missboo · 12/08/2006 13:12

I just have a real fear of choking which i dont want to pass on on to DS, start thinking have i cut it to big or to small talk about worry wort.
the joys of being a first time mum, also my hv told me babies have a window of time for finger foods between 6/7 months.

thanks jasnem for the link found it both amusing and useful.

and looks like i got away to go with the sippy cup!

OP posts:
Jasnem · 12/08/2006 17:21

I'd just keep trying with the cup. It won't matter if he doesn't really get anything from it yet.
If you're really worried, could you start with fairly soft stuff like cooked carrot sticks that will turn to mush when he sucks on it.
Or rice cakes (my ds has managed these at 24 weeks)as they break down into small rice bits.

The whole window of time for introducing things (solids, finger foods, whatever) is a bit of a red herring, too. They all do it at their own pace. As long as you're offering it and giving him plenty of variety to tryhe'll be fine

aitch71ababe · 13/08/2006 00:15

hi missboo,
have you thought about going to an infant resus class with your dp, mother, or whoever else might be looking after him? me and my dh went to one and i can't tell you how much better i felt about seeing dd gag on food after going there. and even if you went while you were pregnant, a wee refresher course won't do any harm.your maternity hosp probably runs one.

it is a bit of a shock seeing them gag at the beginning, but in the last two months of weaning DD has really got the hang of eating and hardly ever gags any more. we have had one minor choking incident (last week, some apple, i KNEW it was too soon for apple ) but because i knew what to do it didn't require more than a quick cuddle for us both to be right as rain.

oh, and DD has only just got the hang of drinking water from a tommee tippee in the last week or so and she is eight months old. still getting plenty of fluids from milk, obviously, so i don't think it's anything to worry about.

i write that blog, by the way, so thanks for the compliment and thanks jasnem for posting it.

chubbleigh · 13/08/2006 02:30

Well it's a learning time and you have to get used to a bit of coughing and spluttering and filling their cheeks with whatever and then spitting it all out and eating it again and rubbing it in everything and throwing it on the floor etc. etc. Sit with him when he eats but don't panic when he coughs or gags, one good cough usually shifts what ever it is and having a drink is not always the best thing as it can send something further down and make it worse. What I remember ds liking most was banana, thick slices of cucumber with the middle poked out so he could get his thumb through to hold it and dried apple rings that he sucked and gummed on but ate little of.
Watch him as he eats but trust him a bit to teach himself how to eat, satisfy yourself that you know what to do if he should choke. I was given a demonstration of the choking technique for babies but never needed to use it, a pat on the back or hooking a bit of something out with a finger was all I ever needed to do.

belgo · 13/08/2006 10:34

I had to start my dd with finger foods at about 7 months, because she started refusing a spoon and wouldn't eat baby food. Out of desperation I had to force a spoon into her and she would splutter and cough and puke up. When I offered her small pieces of soft cooked veg, she was far more likely to eat them without choking, going at her own pace and dropping 90% onto the floor, but she did actually eat something, and soon became very good at feeding herself. She is still a fussy eater, but seems healthy enough.

Original poster
missboo · 13/08/2006 10:57

Think im going to have to do a infant resus course, sounds like a good idea to me.
also might start with the soft veg and dried apple rings, maybe start at the weekends as DH here to stop me going overboard! my god you hear about paranoid first time mothers!!!
not to worried about the cup thing as still takes water or juice from the bottle.
just enrolled DS at Gymbabes anyone been?

OP posts:
aitch71ababe · 13/08/2006 11:23

funnily enough, missboo, my daughter really couldn't handle the dried apple rings either but that might be because the ones i got still had a tiny sliver of skin on it.
honestly, the classes are great. i recommend them to everyone.

Original poster
missboo · 13/08/2006 15:58

well that was fun, just tried DS with bits of peach and bananna lokked a bit confused, kind of enjoyed it then spat it out.
i suppose doctors or HV are the best people to ask about the nearest resus class?

Ps To Belgo
did your DD also start refusing milk?

OP posts:
aitch71ababe · 13/08/2006 19:51

sounds great, well done. and yes, your HV should know of a class.

mawbroon · 13/08/2006 20:31

aitch - my ds will wolf down grated apple. It goes brown quickly, but it doesn't really affect the taste. I also mix the grated apple with yogurt which makes the yogurt slightly less messy, as does offering a rice cake or bit of bread after yogurt or cottage cheese etc.

missboo - 28 weeks is fine. Have you seen Gill Rapley's study?

aitch71ababe · 13/08/2006 21:06

good idea, mawbroon, thanks. she likes yoghurt but it's a bit messy with self-feeding so anything that makes it thicker is fantastic. cheers. and did you go to the meet-up in stirling today? i couldn't because i was still working (am supposed to be now, of course) but i hope you (they) all had a good time.

Original poster
missboo · 14/08/2006 11:31

thanks mawbroon i will have a look, like the apple suggestion need to get more fruit down him.

OP posts:
Original poster
missboo · 14/08/2006 11:50

just spoken with my HV going to arrange for HVA to come round one lunch time to demonstrate and help me feel more confidiant, so thanks eveyone
anyone local to essex?

OP posts:
belgo · 14/08/2006 13:14

To Missboo,

my dd never refused bf. The problem with eating wasn't the food, but the spoon - she refuses to eat anything from a spoon. It's taken a lot of imagination and patience to find finger foods that she can eat, and lots of mopping up afterwards!

aitch71ababe · 15/08/2006 21:30

oooh, belgo... you couldn't give us some good finger food ides for my BLW blog, could you? anything would be good, and it would be a shame to waste all your valuable research... link here

DanielMummy · 16/08/2006 11:37

Great blog Aitch. Feel free to add any of the following...
As well as giving my 8-month old baby at least one piece of finger food as part of each meal, twice a week I offer him his entire meal buffet style. So I guess I'm somewhere between the spoon fed and BLW camps. I put a wide selection of the following on his tray:-
Fingers of toast either dry or spread with something like hummus, butternut squash dip, cream cheese, cottage cheese, mashed banana, mashed avocado.
Sandwiches (same sort of fillings as above).
Rice cakes.
Homemade rusks.
Carrot sticks and sweetcorn rings (these are baby crisps made by Organix).
Steamed vegetables such as carrot, broccoli, potato, mushroom, courgette, broad beans (skin removed first), peas, sweetcorn.
Raw vegetables such as tomato, cucumber.
Raw fruit such as apricot, avocado, banana, apple.
Chicken (whole small pieces or part of a deli slice).
Pasta (tagliatelle, penne, spaghetti).
Rice.
Cheese (cut into fingers or grated).
Have also tried breadsticks and ryvita, but these were too hard for him.
I can't remember what else I've tried off the top of my head. It depends what is in the fridge.
If he's trying to get something but can't pick it up, I help him, as some things are slippery and also he hasn't developed a pincer action yet either for the small things.

belgo · 16/08/2006 12:12

soft food like mashed potatoe I ROLL up into balls so my 10 month old can pick it up, then it desolves easily in her mouth. She loves pasta, so I cover it in vegetable meat sauce such as some of the baby food I made, and she can pick up the pasta pieces really well.

for breakfast she's really good at eating cereals with a holein such as Hooplas from Sainsbury. She's just started on rice crispies.

aitch71ababe · 16/08/2006 12:25

brilliant idea about the mashed potato, belgo, and i suppose if you add some flur and egg your well on your way to home-made gnocchi.
and thanks so much for your list, daniel's mummy, but you know i'm gonna need that recipe for the home-made rusks...

aitch71ababe · 16/08/2006 12:25

flur!? who am i, Cilla Black?
flour, i meant.

belgo · 16/08/2006 12:54

Does anyone have any experience of their finger food fed baby starting creche? My dd starts creche in september and I tried to explain that she doesn't like spoons and only eats fingerfoods, but I realised they just didn't get it when they asked how she eats puree.

mawbroon · 16/08/2006 15:23

DanielMummy - I give ds ryvita but I soak it in milk for a bit first (not too long or it just mushes completely). I also do this with bitesize shredded wheat and oatcakes. I make my own oatcakes because the bought ones are really quite salty.

aitch71ababe · 16/08/2006 19:00

...and the oatcake recipe...
cough up, mawbroon...

DanielMummy · 16/08/2006 20:58

Aitch, Rusks recipe is in Jennie Maizels' "Finger Food for Babies and Toddlers" book which you can get on Amazon.

Am I allowed to quote it here or is that against copyright rules?