First finger foods - what and when?

[Truscifi]

Ds7mo loves to eat. He gets upset when we are eating and he isn't, so I'd like to have something to give him during dinner with the rest of the family. Something that would make it possible for me to eat too, lol.

 

We have moved from purees to a little texture, and he is gumming it pretty well - still no teeth. I would give him those little puff things that dissolve pretty quickly, but we're doing homemade baby food this time around and trying to avoid processed foods. Is there something not so processed that will dissolve like those do? I vaguely remember teething crackers from when ds9 was a baby, but I couldn't find them at the grocery. I don't know if they would be any better than the puffs anyway.

 

So if you did the all natural baby food thing, what first finger foods did you feed your littles and when/what signs did you look for to know they were ready?

[Joyofsixreboot]

Zweiback toast or any old piece of really dry toast. Mine used to gnaw on pealed soft peaches too. Just take off the fuzz.

[Soror]

I don't ever do purees here. When they can sit up well and have lost the tongue thrust reflex and are interested (usually between 6-9 months) they are given things like well cooked sweet potato, bananas and avocado and such.

[Chris in VA]

Agreeing with soror. Small bits of macaroni, tiny bits of cheese--basically anything that can be cut up tiny and isn't too fibrous or hard.

I introduced stuff slowly, to check for allergies. It was a little too slow for my firstborn, and I learned from him for the others, as most moms do! The second and third babies got table food much quicker.

 

Signs ds (I'm thinking of him) was ready include just what you say your son is doing--showing interest, ability to sit up, ability to use pincer grasp, even a little...

[Annie]

We skipped purées all together, so first foods were things he could bring to his mouth and gnaw on. Favorites were:

 

Avocado wedges (messy but yummy)

Broccoli florets (larger ones with long "handles")

Watermelon cut into large stick type pieces

Steamed (not too mushy) carrot and sweet potato sticks

Ripe pears or peaches (I would often give him a whole half since it was easier to hold on to)

 

Google baby led weaning. People have tons of ideas out there.

[melissad2]

I just always give mine whatever I'm eating unless it has nuts or honey. Just chop it up small enough for them to self feed.

[Ellie]

We don't start solid food until baby is at least six months old, preferably closer to eight months old. :-)

 

We didn't puree baby food. We gave baby whatever we were eating (making sure it wasn't too hot, or too seasoned, of course). So if we were having mashed potatoes and a veggie, I took out a few cooked potatoes before I mashed them with butter and milk, and smushed them right on the high chair tray. Ditto with the veggie--soft, well-cooked, mushy. Whatever baby could get in her mouth is what she ate. Veggies first, then fruits, then meats, finally grains (grains are the hardest foods for babies to digest). No dairy until baby was at least a year old.

[MissKNG]

My girls loved this thing for fresh fruits.

[Ravin]

Things off your plate that don't take much chewing are best. Also, frozen blueberries when teething and regular cheerios--the ones in the baby aisle are exactly the same as the ones in the cereal aisle, except for the inflated price.

 

But mostly, we went with non-choky bits of what everyone else was eating.

 

Also, nothing before 6 mo., and we didn't do much spoon feeding. My kids wanted to feed themselves, so I'd thicken baby food with cereal until it would stick to the spoon and they could spoon it themselves fairly early on.