Starting Finger Foods

at our 8m appt today the ped gave us the OK to start finger foods!!

i realize now that i have NO concept of how to do this.

i know the food needs to be no bigger than the size of a pea, and our ped said anything as long as theres no nuts, honey, or a few other allergens that i cant remember off the top of my head but have written down....

so how do i do this? do i just put it on the highchair tray? she somewhat has the pincer grip but ive never given her anything THAT small so i dont know. do i just feed it to her?

what did you start with when you started finger foods and did your baby get it right away?

TIA!

Re: Starting Finger Foods

I started with puffs since it dissolves and gave it to her piece by piece by putting it on a tray, it took some practice and she learned to feed her self.

Start with mushy foods like melons, avocado, chicken, cooked carrots, etc.

Re: Starting Finger Foods

I started with the Gerber puffs first. Once she got the hang that it was food to eat and not a toy, I gave her more.

Once she got used to the puffs, we introduced cheerios. She loves them more than the puffs!

So, now she gets part of our dinner. If we have chicken, pork, or beef, we cut it up small and feed her, or she feeds herself. She gets mashed potatoes, regular baked potatoes, whatever veggies we are having cut up.

Just start small, so your DC can get used to the new textures. Once they seem acclimated to the food, move forward with new ones.

Our ped said no to: eggs, nuts, and seafood, so she has had everything but that!

Re: Starting Finger Foods

We started with puffs too. We would put her in the highchair and put it on the tray one by one for her to pick up. This helps develop their motor skills because it forces them to concentrate and use their pincers.

Once DD was used to it, we moved on from there and gave her Cheerios and other foods that we would cut up small.

Re: Starting Finger Foods

We started with little pieces of banana, then moved to puffs. We waited a while on Cheerios, because from 8-14 months, he only has his 2 bottom front teeth. After puffs, we moved on to cooked, cut up veggies, fruits, and meats. I think when we first introduced it, I just put it on the tray. He would usually pick it up using a palmar grasp at first, and bring his whole fist into his mouth to eat it. Over time, and with practice, he learned a more refined method

ETA: If he didn't.get the idea of picking it up and putting.it to his mouth at first, I would put it on my finger and let him eat it that way first.

Message edited 1/20/2012 2:59:06 PM.

Re: Starting Finger Foods

i tried tiny pieces of banana on the tray but she completely ignored them!!!

then i tried feeding it to her when i ate a banana with her, and she laughed at me!!

i got some puffs this afternoon so ill try those next!!

Message edited 1/20/2012 7:03:32 PM.

Re: Starting Finger Foods

Yup I agree with the others...puffs taught DD how to pick up food and put it in her mouth. After that we moved to Cheerios (which my neurotic self broke in half), then TINY pieces of banana and toast. Have fun!

Re: Starting Finger Foods

we started with puffs too. she has also have boiled veggies (squash and turnip). she has had banana (really small pieces...love it!) and mashed potatoes, but we feed that too her on a spoon. oh i forgot about avocado. wanted to try peas last night but i didn't have any. that'll be next :) not sure where to go from there because she only has her bottom two teeth.

Re: Starting Finger Foods

thanks for all of the advice!!

when you started table foods did you do 3 days of the same food to make sure there were no allergies, or does that not matter as much anymore? she's never had an allergy to anything yet and we don't have many allergies in either of our families. the dr. said we can give her food off of our plates now (within the limits of the nuts/eggs/seafood allergens of course) so i assume that means that we dont need to feed her the same thing three days in a row??

Message edited 1/21/2012 9:05:51 AM.