I feel really stupid asking this but please help me understand what are suitable finger foods for a 6 month old!

[forevared]

DS is nearly 6.5 months and we've finished our first tastes etc... Trying to add some texture in now and using Annabel Karmel's and the truly scrumptious books for ideas. Both recommend finger foods from this stage but then only give examples for babies of 9 months plus. Am I missing something here?

Please help me! What can I give and what can't I give?

I'm not suggesting you drop what you're doing and go full out on baby-led weaning if that's not what you want to do, but those who've gone that route have a lot of useful info on finger foods.

Try the BLW blog and forum for more suggestions than anyone could hope for!

But for an immediate suggestion: Lightly steamed veg in 'chip' shapes (so there's a nice bit to grab hold of) - broccoli is great has an inbuilt handle, fruit in similar shapes (although even hardcore baby-led folk worry about little bits of apple breaking off, so maybe wait a bit before trying that), toast is great for sucking and chewing on, as is pitta bread (although watch for too-salty toppings), and you could also try giving your DS the spoon to control himself, for that lovely gross motor skill development opportunity!

There's also a great recipe for patties/pancakes, to which you could add almost any fruit or vegetable, to turn it into a finger food:

Tip 3 tablespoons of plain flour into a bowl. Briefly whisk 1 egg and mix with the flour. Add 3 tablespoons of milk one at a time, while whisking the whole mixture (if you've got an electric one the whole thing takes seconds).

Now - before I get flamed, I know many people aren't happy introducing egg or milk (even cooked) until later on, but we have no allergies in our family so it didn't bother me. The website above also has some great links to articles that suggest when to introduce certain foods.

HTHs

Thanks Mij, you're a star

forevared, my DS is about a week older than yours so I am NO EXPERT obviously but in the last couple of days he has suddenly 'clicked' with finger foods: chip shaped pieces of very ripe pear and mango have gone down really well. I also found some little rice cakes for babies that organix make which he can hold very easily - these have been the biggest hit. I've mashed some avocado and put it on one half, also some cream cheese and am going to make some hummous tomorrow. He is really enjoying it and it's fun and exciting to see.
(And the other thing that he likes at the moment is food on the end of MY finger, which he also holds like a chip - definitely prefers this to me trying to spoon feed him.)