Ideas for finger food please; 9 month old refuses any food unless it's offered together with finger food.

[Maria2007]

Hi everyone

My DS is a lively, healthy 9 month old. He was weaned on purees, & everything has gone well so far. I think it's going well now too, more or less, but I have a couple of questions.

He only tolerates spoonfeeding these days if a) he holds another spoon himself (fine by me) and b) has finger food on his tray / in his hand which he plays with / eats (fine by me also). TBH I've been offering finger food gradually from when he was 6 months so I think it's a good thing that he wants it & of course it'll help him feed himself even quicker (he's already a pretty good self-feeder).

But I find that most times I offer things that are easy & already at hand: bagels; rice cakes; those horrid corn-thingies from Organix (he loves them). Pitta bread. Crackers. Biscuits. Yesterday I got adventurous & offered mixed steamed veg (which was great). Just wondering what other ideas you may have so that I can have easy, ready to make stuff on offer for every meal, to serve alongside his main dish? I don't really want him to be having so many carbs, they probably fill him up which is why he doesn't finish his main meal.

Any suggestions?

Hi Maria - have you done meatballs/flakes of fish/ fishcakes etc? Can you do the finger foods as the main dish - ie spaghetti bolognaise etc?

Hi Kate, thanks for the ideas. Meatballs is a good idea, yes, I've just taken some ground meat out of the freezer to try making them today. Fishcakes also sounds good. How would spaghetti bolognaise work? I would just give it to DS bit by bit to hold? or on a spoon (and some as finger food)?

To be honest, I do think at this age we're moving towards full finger food meals...

any other ideas?

It sounds like your LO wants his main food to be finger food! If you already give pitta bread why don't you put something like egg or tuna or cottage cheese inside and he can have a sandwich for lunch.
If I do give a jar then I tend to boil some veg up as well for him.
Breakfast is bitesize oatbix, it takes a little practice but you can get it so it's soaked with milk but still firm enough for little hands to pick up and stuff into mouth!
Fresh fruit is a huge hit here, my LO loves really ripe pears, bananas, mangos, straberries, plums, anything ripe and squishy really.

If finger food is easier then do it, I'd say. There's enough stress in this life as it is!

What about chunks of cheese, chopped fruit and veg, chunks of meat? Basically whatever you would be having, minus any salt. And they will manage spag bol with their hands (have a camera ready so you can photograph the resulting carnage for posterity!).

I used to quickly cook up a handful of mixed frozen veg to go with meals - takes minutes and come just the right size. As he gets keener on using his pincer grip stuff like peas seem to provide them with endless hours of fun, chasing them round the high chair tray

Other than soup, I'm struggling to think of anything they can't eat with their fingers. As long as it's not salty can he have what you have?

oh avacado is a good one to try as well, either in strips or mushed up on rice cakes/pitta bread.

rice cakes dipped in hummous.

fusilli pasta (they find it easier to grip to start with) with any sauce (or just plain!)

Libra, thanks for the ideas. Actually breakfast is the only meal that DS is happy eating off a spoon. I think he really loves his porridge Lunch & dinner he just more & more refuses the spoon, so yes, I think he really would like his main meal to be finger food! I'll try the pitta with protein stuff inside idea. Also, other sandwiches might be good too. Is egg ok at 9 months by the way? My health visitor said don't give it before 1 year, but every book I've read says it's fine as long as it's well cooked. What do you think?

FairMidden, yes, I've had the pleasure of the chasing-the-peas-around-the-high-chair-tray experience too. And also the pleasure of cleaning up the mess afterwards .

One last question girls; WHAT ABOUT THE MESS?????? The mess is getting worse & worse as DS is getting bigger & bigger, & more inventive in doing charming things like
a) throwing things off his high chair & squealing with delight
b) squashing them with his little fingers & feeling very proud of himself
c) shoving them down his sides so that they're stuck onto his high chair
d) smearing stuff onto his hair, eyes, nose, ears, you name it, he does it...

AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH

mess can be cleaned up. Just let him have some fun with it. My ds has has chilli + rice as a finger food, and stir fry. Sure it makes a mess, but he enjoyed it, and it all helps him to learn.

Fresh blueberries are a nice clean option too.

I agree - as long as you've got floor you can clean and a wipe clean mat down if not - oh and a highchair you can clean easily like an antilop then it doesnt matter.

When my dd throws things for fun we just say no quite firmly with the baby signing hand sign and she doesnt get anymore of that thing if theres no more left iyswim.

They need to learn about the textures and differences of food and so they need to play with it to a certain degree.

Come the summer dd will be wearing only her nappy for dinner anyway because then you can just bung them straight in the bath.

Oh and we have/still have trouble with egg so give it at lunch and not at dinner the first time just in case.

the easiest thing is to start getting away from doing special things just for his meals. get him used to having what you're having. so sandwich at lunch, pasta at dinner, or whatever.

Hi Maria. First time I've been on MN for ages.

Finger food wise DS gets things like tuna sandwiches, toast with mashed banana and avocado, eggy bread/french toast, sticks of roasted veg (easy to do on a Sunday and keep in fridge/freezer), veg 'casseroles' (I keep frozen sweetcorn, peas, brocolli etc in freezer and he gets a plateful for his tea - works for spoonfeeding and finger foods). If I'm making anything for spoon feeding I tend to keep a few whole slices/sticks of potato or veg in the portion that can he can feed himself with.

Sunday lunch is a big hit here now - he gets a little bit of whatever meat we're having, yorkhire pudding and veg and we get to all eat together and he feeds himself the entire meal.

His new favourite snack is little cherry tomatoes, although I think that's because they're such good fun to squish...

[waves at BDQ] was wondering where you were...

We had the infamous lambs liver for lunch - none of that got thrown...

Mess?

Maria, you need dogs!

There are some great recipes on Aitch's BLW site - cheese and broccoli muffins are a great hit with my DS, also cheesy lentil wedges and savoury flapjacks. All freeze really well and are dead handy to have around.

Cyteen (and others) thanks so much for the ideas. And yes we definitely need a dog around here . I think one of the problems is my high chair; it's really REALLY impractical (I believe it's the chicco one if I remember correctly). All sorts of nooks & holes for food to get shoved in by DS.

Today gave pasta bolognaise to DS for his lunch, lots of pasta pieces & even sauce on his tray, me with a spoon & bowl of bolognaise sauce & pasta shoving some of that in too, & also some sultanas afterwards. Was ok actually (despite the mess). Hoping to try new finger food in the next few days, using your suggestions. Will look up more ideas on Aitch's blog... Thanks.

High chair cleaning tip:

On a sunny day, place outside and pour several basins of hot soapy water over it. Then scrub nooks with toothbrush.

It's the only way I ever got it clean!

FairMidden: your cleaning tip is fantastic, thanks! Will definitely do this v. soon.

After 3 babies my highchair tip is get rid of it and get an Antilop from Ikea, brilliant for BLW it's a plastic bucket that just wipes clean, no nooks and crannies.

We have toast, sandwiches with cheese spread, cheese, tomatoes, grapes cut v small, strawberries, raisins, chunks of banana, pear, apple, blueberries, strips of cooked chicken, broccoli, carrot batons, homemade chips (strips of potato coated in veg oil and roasted) sweet potato, peas, pasta.

Anything I am having she has a little taste of too.

I posted this on a thread the other day about finger food meal ideas:

If you don't mind the mess- pasta in any sauce (with cheese on top) using the twists so she can feed herself with a side portion of cucumber sticks, halved cherry tomatoes, or veggies such as pieces of broccoli, carrot, sweetcorn, peas etc.

Fish fingers or veggie fingers, potato wedges and peas.

Roasted veg kebabs- cherry tomatoes halved, courgette chunks, shallots, peppers, mushrooms with pieces of chicken or fish optional.

Sandwich/wrap fillings: Cheese & cucumber, salmon, tuna mayo & sweetcorn.

Chunks of cod in parsley sauce with veggies and wedges or boiled potatoes.

Raisins (wait until 12mths), yoghurt coated raisins (wait until 12mths), other dried fruit such as apple rings, apricots etc, rice cakes, galia melon slices with skin on so they get a good grip, orange segments, banana, peach slices, blueberries, rasberries, any fruit really, chunks of cheese for dessert or snacks.

Just to add, my DS has always loved those pre-bagged portions of microwavable frozen vegetables by Bird's Eye. The sweetcorn, carrot and broccoli goes down particularly well, I think this is because the sweetcoen sweetens the other veg, he eats it like he would eat cake and it's super convenient.

I've got the Chicco Polly highchair too, it's a PITA to clean. About once a week I take it all apart, stick the straps in the washing machine, the padding in the sink and give a good scrub. At least it's a really comfy seat though for DS, once he even fell asleep in it

I'm heading to Ikea for a new high chair too - sick to death of ours.

Raisins - my 10 month old chomps on those quite happily, I think he started them around a month ago.

Today I did what supercherry suggested; took apart & then scrubbed & cleaned the Chicco Polly. Is it worth the hassle though when the IKEA chair seems to be so much easier to clean?! But then as Supercherry said, it is comfortable. Ho hum.

I used to have a huge M&P highchair and it was a nightmare, it had non removable white straps and loads of nooks and crannies, got an Ikea one with DD3 and never looked back it is sooooo easy to clean, OK not that comfy but they aren't in it for long.

Mine have all had raisins before 12 months, DD3 eats them happily at 9 months.

Just mentioned the raisin 12mth guideline on the packet as I don't wish to be responsible for someone else's child choking on one

Despite DS eating lots of finger foods from 6mths onwards I waited with raisins. Not sure why.

Just thought of another good finger food, fresh stuffed pasta. Yum.

Mine will eat raisins happily enough but they all come out the other end intact and so its pretty pointless and disgusting for us...

Second the tortellini idea - that goes down well here...