Finger foods?

Question

At what age do you start to give larger than pea-size pieces of food to babies?

Answer 1

It depends on your child and what the food is. It is perfectly acceptable to give a 6 month old child crackers, toast, and juice sweetened cookies (Just a side note here, most people don't think about it, but bake some homemade and use natural fruit juice instead of sugar). The main thing is to keep a close eye on your child and make sure he/she does not choke.

Also, remember that teeth are NOT a necessity for eating finger foods. Most children do not cut their molars, the teeth used for chewing, until around age 2, so they definately use their gums to chew for a LONG while before they have teeth to do it. Feel your child's gums, you'll see how hard they are.

So, basically, anything that is easily chewable by your child is alright. Bread, pasta, any sort of cooked fruit or vegetable. Just remember that there are certain things that your child will not be able to chew, under any circumstances, until their molars come in. These things include popcorn, raw vegetables, and SOME raw fruits. Obviously bananas, and ripe peaches, as well as kiwi, watermelon, and strawberries are easy to chew and need not be cooked, but carrots, apples, pears, etc, should all be purchased either canned, or cooked by you, so that your child does not choke.

The best idea I can give you is to use your best judgement. My son was off baby food and eating table food by 7 months. There were plenty of things for him to eat without the extra cost of baby food, and he learned to love the things we love. I've yet to find a food that he won't eat!

Answer 2

I think a good way to see if your baby is ready for finger foods is to gradually start introducing things into his/her diet such as puffs which you can buy at the grocery store and they melt in the babies mouth. Then things like small pieces of banana and bread are very easy. But I don't need to tell you because everyone already has, but just keep and eye on them when first starting to eat more foods. I work for a daycare and there is a nine month old baby that just does not get full enough by just baby cereals and yogurts anymore..so it just really depends on the baby...good luck!!!

Answer 3

Hello,

When my twins turned 6 months old, we began feeding them solid foods. When they turned 7 months, we started giving them these cool finger foods called Puffs. They are in the baby food isle at your grocery store and they practically melt in your babies mouth.

At first, you can place the puffs, which come in a variety of flavors: Cherry, Banana, Sweet Potatoes and some other flavor, into your babies mouth. Then, when your baby begins to grasp at things in from of him or her, you can place some on the floor and he or she will pick them up and try to place them into mouth. It is so cute watching them place the puffs in their mouth too.

Hope this helps you... :-)

Answer 4

depends at your baby's stage in eating. as he eats, you slowly increase the size of the food he eat. my son is 91/2 and he still eats pureed food but ive been adding plain rice and been giving him whole cheerios already. i starting with cut up pieces of cheerios and now we're up to whole ones. i've tried some cookies but he still seems to choke on it. its mostly on a trial basis on whether the baby can handle it already. tho don't rush. take it slow.

Answer 5

my daughter was about 8 or 9 mos when started giving her sticky rice and avocado. (we are sushi junkies) I would also give her gerber puffs and teething biscuits or melba toast. She also enjoyed chewing on a bagel.

BUT my son is currently 7 mos old and he hasn't taken to food like my daughter did.

It simply depends on your child's eating/chewin abilities.

Answer 6

honestly it depends on the baby's development to be honest because with my first daughter she was on all solids at 9 months and my second daughter was a year old and my third daughter was 18 months so as you can see it really depends good luck!!