Moving 6.5mo from purees to Finger Food - HELP!

[justme27]

Been giving my 6.5 mo dd pureed fruits, veggies, and some of our own food...

She can now quite happily demolish a baby rusk and toast crust which makes me think she is ready to move to finger food.

How do I do it?? Am scared of giving her chunks of stuff in case she chokes so how do I know whether she has bitten off a bit too big for her to deal with?

Also - what else can I feed her as finger foods and when do I stop purees??

Thanks all!

You can give her pretty much anything you want - except nuts, and I'd avoid apple for a while. See Aitch's blog www.babyledweaning.com and the forum for stacks and stacks of good ideas and information.

Just stick stuff in front of her, cooked till pretty soft to start with, and watch her have fun!

What HAbbibu said.

Give her what you have and keep an eye out. Don't panic if she gags a bit.

justme27 is sounds as if she is already on finger foods if she can manage a rusk and a crust. Aitch on her blog suggests foods in the shape of a chip, so the lo has something to grab hold of. e.g. cooked carrot batons.

I am doing a mix of purees and finger foods (i.e. not "proper" blw) with our dd who is the same age as yours. She only has lunch and tea at the mo - not interested in b/fast. Lunch is pureed veg, tea cereal and fruit or similar. (mush) Actually I tend to mash the veg rather than doing really smooth purees.

We offer anything she seems interested in. There are the usually things you are recommended to avoid (honey, peanuts - you know the usual things I am sure). Otherwise most fruit/veg is a good starting point.

was just flicking through it!

so for fear of sounding stupid - how do I feed her normal food? Just give her a bowl full and let her shove fistfuls into her mouth/hair/ top etc? Don't think she's able to eat with a spoon yet??

Yes. Look at the pictures on the blog! And also look at this thread

Actually - bowl full a bit ambitious to start with - just chuck a few bits on her high chair tray and let her explore.

Unless she is significantly more advanced than my dd she probably won't manage a spoon with much success just yet.

Give her more on her tray than she will manage - loads goes on the floor. I sometimes put something in her hand and wait til she has a good grip. I may guide her hand gently towards her mouth once, but otherwise leave her to find her own way. My dd does "gag" quite a lot. I keep calm, move her more upright if necessary, and it's usually fine. Some people like to do a basic baby first aid course or at least read up on what to do, just for your own peace of mind really.

Interestingly we all had carrots tonight and dd2 was very keen to join in. She watched intently then shoved carrot straight in her mouth.

Thanks for advice everyone!!

Today I gave her a rusk to eat and then poon fed her a little custard so I think I might do something similar for other meals - give her some to chmp on and then give her some pureed stuff to help her ( and to use stock of frozen pureed food I made in a mad supermom moment)

What about water? DD is not interested in holding a beaker. I hve been giving her sips of water out of a proper little beaker/glass which she is happy to do....

Try a doidy cut (like an unlidded cup on a slant)?

My dd will drink water out of a bottle but tries unsuccessfully to use the same technique on her Tommee Tippee cup(kind of swirling her tongue round the spout) as she would use for breast or bottle.

I found it interesting yesterday that she had mashed carrot for lunch, so when we offered - and she grabbed - the carrot batons at tea time off our plates she seemed familiar with the taste. I might try giving a mashed up version of one food, and then the finger food version at the same time.