There is nothing cuter than watching your little one chase food around the high chair tray with her fingers, and seeing the sense of accomplishment in her face when a tiny little piece of food actually makes it her mouth. When your baby is between 8 and 9 months old, you can begin to introduce finger foods to encourage your baby to begin self-feeding. It is very important that the texture of finger foods be very soft, so that your baby can “gum” the foods. In order to get food soft enough for gumming, many of them will need to be cooked.
Examples of finger foods that can be served raw include small pieces of:
- Banana
- Avocado
- Tofu
- Semi-hard cheeses - Jack, Colby, (introduce over 12 months)
- “O” shaped cereal
- Puffed rice cereal
Examples of cooked finger foods (simply steam foods until they are soft enough to be "gummed"):
- Apples slices
- Pear slices
- Whole asparagus spears
- Carrots sticks/rounds or baby carrots
- Zucchini or yellow squash rounds
- Broccoli spears
- Sweet potato slices or cubes
- Whole green beans
To smooth the way for introducing finger foods here are few tips that may help you out:
- Always feed your baby in a “seated position”. The risk of choking rises as you introduce finger foods.
- Never let your baby eat foods without adult supervision.
- Don’t be in a rush. Introduce finger foods one at a time and slowly add different ones.
- Continue to feed your baby softly, pureed baby foods for most of the meal, and transition to more finger foods over a 6-8 month period.
- Start with foods your baby likes.
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