Finger foods with iron

[HerculesParrot]

Weaning going very slowly with my PFB. She's very averse to being spoon fed but we're starting to make some progress with finger food. Can anyone recommend anything that has plenty of iron? Preferably fairly soft things as she hasn't really got the hang of firmer stuff yet. I've been on the Google and am having a little worry about how much iron she currently isn't getting from the four things I can successfully get down her!

are you bf or FF? if FF then baby will be getting enough iron from formula. if bf then you can give a supplement to include vit d which you should be giving now anyway.

see nhs website for good sources of iron www.nhs.uk/Conditions/vitamins-minerals/Pages/Iron.aspx

broccoli is a good source of iron - try giving her some florets to hold

other leafy green veg are good too. eg kale and spinach - one of our go to meals is homemade pesto made with spinach (could also use kale) plus either cashews or almonds and parmesan- just wizz with hand blender. you can leave out parmesan if worried about salt content. nuts are also good source of iron. you can then mix with some pasta and give to her as finger food.

strips of wet meat eg chicken leg or slow Cooked lamb would be good

Great advice from Green above. Try making these cheese straws too. They will keep for a few days in an airtight container.

Eggs are an OK source of iron; not as great as others, but still valuable. And they are easy to cook and well liked (and good for other reasons, eg the protein and other nutrients), so little omelettes/tortillas, cooked quite firm?
I used to give strips of liver (calves' or lambs liver, if I could get it), and they loved that when starting solids but don't any more. My local authority advice on liver was it was okay once a week but not more often, because vitamin A levels are quite high, and they don't want you to OD on vitamin A. but occassionaly, they said was fine.
Similarly, chicken liver pate smeared onto toast fingers.
(all types of liver are very high in iron).
And things like pasta twizzles smeared in a rich meaty sauce, like bolognese or a meat stew (with the meat cooked very soft).
Chicken drumsticks even (careful of the bones) or thighs to gnaw at, or ribs cooked very soft. (Careful of the gristly ends). Meaty stews with toast or bread dipped in and then sucked at. Thinking Neanderthal with this one.....
Remember that if you take a bit of fruit when you are having the iron-rich food it helps it get absorbed (apparently). - the vitamin C aids absorption. So citrus fruits especially after the meaty meal.
Enjoy...!

(NB if bfing remember that the iron in BM is more easily absorbed than that in formula, even though there's less of it - some good iron-rich foods here too kellymom.com/nutrition/vitamins/iron/ )

Thanks for the suggestions! She is BF and my understanding is that, bioavailability and all, there just isn't quite enough iron in breast milk once they get past 6 months. I will definitely give pate a go - she takes in so little there's not much chance of a vitamin A overdose!

Ah! Just seen sweet potatoes on the Kellymom list - that's one of our staples !

If you are worried about iron, are yiu using an iron pan to cook in?

Some great ideas on this thread! I'm going to try the homemade pesto and pate on toast.

If nuts are high in iron, how about peanut butter? You can get ones with no added salt or sugar. DS tried some for the first time today and loved it. I put it on an organic baby wafer thing but it'll be toast next time!

Peanut butter is another one that goes down okay! Reading this thread, I think I don't need to worry so much. Just wish it wasn't such slow going. She's coming up to 9 months and we're still mostly playing and tasting rather than actually, you know, eating...

Just to say I tried pate on toast and DS loved it. Thanks for the suggestion!