Finger foods ideas please, from real mums!

[MrsClark24]

I read in books and stuff about weaning etc but I want some info from real mummies who have done it!

I'd like to give my 8 month old more finger foods. I always wanted to do Baby Led Weaning but when it came down to it I was truly too afraid off my DD choking. So it was purees and now very chunky meals.

She has had baby rice cakes, cucumber strips, toast strips and some soft steamed veg as finger foods. I give her something daily but watch her like a hawk...

Is there anything else that I could be giving her? From mums who have done it, what do you reckon? What did you give your babies as finger foods?

Any info/reassurance/ideas would be great!

 

[BellaBoo0512]

Stalking

 

[Noodlebear]

If you eat it she can eat it! (except honey and whole nuts). Lucas just had the same as us.
Pasta with tuna/veg/cheese/tomato sauce etc
Mash potato/Jacket potato with beans/cheese etc
Sandwiches
Pizzas
Wraps/Pitta bread...the list goes on!

Virtually anything can be a finger food, just be prepared for some mess

 

[kanga]

Bread sticks. Rectangles of cheese. Porridge fingers (in the blw cookbook). Goodies crisps are good when out and about, esp the massive carrot ones. Cream crackers.

 

[Noodlebear]

Just thought I'd add there are some fab ideas on here https://www.annabelkarmel.com/recipes/category/finger-foods

 

[_Lexi_]

I make cheese and chopped tomatoe omelette. Yesterday she had a dairylea sandwich cut into fingers. Cheese straws. Fruit such as banana, mango, pear, anything I can slice. Most the time she eats what we eat, unless its takeaway/pizza night. Tonight we're having meatballs, so she'll have them with us. I cook with baby stock cubes (low salt) and season once I've taken her portion out. If she can hold it, she can try it. x

 

[Louppey]

Pretty much same as whatever we're eating. General ideas, sticks of cheese, toast, breadsticks, baby biscuits, baby crisps (down the baby food aisle, sweetcorn rings etc). Whatever we are i would serve to Coralie. Corn on the cob, pasta etc. anything really can be finger food. It just might be messy

 

[Becky61]

I too am terrified by the risk of choking, but after only a couple of weeks on homemade purees, LO declined being spoon fed (unless its Petit Filous!) LO now eats whatever i eat (its just very messy!)

A typical day goes like...

Breakfast- Any bite sized cereal dunked in full fat milk and placed individually infront of him (mini shredded wheats, mini wheetabix, cheerios etc)

Lunch- Wholemeal toast/pittas cut into fingers with dairylea spreadable cheese/salmon/tuna/jam/ham with cherry tomatos, a satsuma, grapes or an apple.

Dinner- Anything... Pasta with any homemade sauce/omlette/roast dinners/fish fingers/homemade pizzas or chicken nuggets... I could go on....

X

 

[HKateH]

I make pizza using flatbread, a little tomato purée, finely chopped mushrooms, spinach and tomatoes and cheddar. I make a batch of six or so and freeze them individually for days when whatever we've had isn't suitable.

 

[MrsClark24]

Do you chop it up into baby bits? Or boil it within an inch of its life?

Omg I am so backward with this. So when you say sandwiches (omfg for real?!?) do you just cut up the bread into little squares? How can they even eat that?!?

I need some serious help with trusting my baby when it comes to the foods she can eat!

 

[minties]

Muffins, cheese, crackers, bananas, steamed broccoli, sandwiches.

 

[Louppey]

I cut everything into fingers, but prepare it exactly the same as I would my portion. Then just trust them. Either to chew properly or gum it to death it takes a while sometimes but they get used to it.

 

[bumpy_j]

Avocado wedges, savoury muffins, blueberries, omelette strips

 

[_Lexi_]

With a sandwich I use unsalted butter, spread the cheese on. The cut of the crusts and slice into 4 fingers, so in half and half again. An omelette I just break apart into bits she can hold. If we have a roast she just has slices of meat and bits of veg popped on her tray. Roast potatoes I just break in half. Tonight I'll just put whole meatballs on her tray for her to pick up and eat. It gets messy, but she's already learnt to chew her food instead of just swallowing. x

 

[baileybubs]

We've given Emilia all of the above too, you just have to learn that they will be ok! It's hard at first not to worry, I started out with the softer stuff (like banana, cheese sandwiches, pasta, potatoes, steamed carrot sticks) and slowly worked up to more chewy and crunchy things. Although you'd be surprised how soft babies can make anything, my dd ate half a gingerbread man the other day by just gumming and sucking it!!! (She still has no teeth!).

Try having things spread on lightly done toast too that's cut into fingers. If you start with easy hold items, usually stick or finger shaped like that, then they soon master more difficult objects like meatballs and whole sprouts that like to run away on the tray lol!

And at first yes I did over boil veg for her so it was soft enough for her to gum and chew but as she's gotten more used to what she's doing I've made them a bit firmer so she's getting the nutrients.

Here's a couple of things not yet mentioned too;
Crumpets
Potato cakes
Mini sausages (as a treat)
Shepherds pie/bolognese (very messy!)
Mini blinis with spreads or salmon
Flaked tuna (kept in spring water)
Baked/poached fish (if you can make sure no bones)
Tinned fruit in juice (for when you run out of fresh!)
Cherry tomatoes cut in half (again very messy)
Pepper sticks softened a little in the oven at first (dd has them raw now)
Baked courgette/aubergine/carrot/parsnip
Carrot and swede mash
Beans

Good luck!

 

[Wriggley]

We have just started baby led weaning with our youngest and he eats what we eat

 

[BellaBoo0512]

I know I'm probably being dumb here but I didn't know that the majority of things suggested are even possible for an 8 month old to eat? My son is 8 months old and has no teeth and I just don't understand how he would eat things like that?

I tried him with toast a few weeks ago and he just ripped big pieces off and tried to shove it all in his mouth and almost chocked so I've been too paranoid to try things like that again.

 

[lozzy21]

Do you chop it up into baby bits? Or boil it within an inch of its life?

Omg I am so backward with this. So when you say sandwiches (omfg for real?!?) do you just cut up the bread into little squares? How can they even eat that?!?

I need some serious help with trusting my baby when it comes to the foods she can eat!

Cutting it up into tiny bits increases the chances of choking. Giving bigger chunks that they can pick up and bite bits out of. Cook it as you would for yourself. I used to cut up sandwiches into 6.

You just need to trust her, at 8 months my DD was eating chilli and rice. Her fave lunch was peanut butter on rice cakes with cheese and cucumber on the side.

 

[HKateH]

Do you chop it up into baby bits? Or boil it within an inch of its life?

Omg I am so backward with this. So when you say sandwiches (omfg for real?!?) do you just cut up the bread into little squares? How can they even eat that?!?

I need some serious help with trusting my baby when it comes to the foods she can eat!

I vary the size. When we started out BLW at six months, he could only hold fist sized, finger shaped pieces and often needed a bit of help picking up slippery food (BLW guidelines are that you shouldn't put anything into baby's mouth as that is when choking can happen - basically they won't choke on anything they can pick up as they can't pick up small things at first). As his pincer grip and manipulation of getting food into his mouth improved, I chopped into smaller pieces. Then he became greedy and would shove loads in his mouth so I began making it a bit bigger again so he'd take bites. Small things like blueberries are a fun way to develop a pincer grip. Foods like shepherd's pie and stew just get served as they come - LO picks up handfuls and smushes them into his mouth.

I guess the thing is, you get to know your baby. As with everything else, there isn't a blanket rule. I don't over boil things as I don't see the point of taking the goodness out - he'll get the hang of it eventually, but I do help make food a bit more manageable - I cut orange segments into small chunks as the skin can be a bit tough, and I grate apple as I'm worried about him biting big pieces (I've seen him do this) and swallowing them whole.

Let your baby lead you and try not to worry. Bizarrely I've never worried about choking as I trust my LO. I've seen him learn the whole process. I don't leave him alone with food though and there have been occasions when I've taken food off him. I also read up on what to do if a baby is choking before I started.

 

[MrsClark24]

I know I'm probably being dumb here but I didn't know that the majority of things suggested are even possible for an 8 month old to eat? My son is 8 months old and has no teeth and I just don't understand how he would eat things like that?

I tried him with toast a few weeks ago and he just ripped big pieces off and tried to shove it all in his mouth and almost chocked so I've been too paranoid to try things like that again.

This was me too, well IS me. But I guess we just have to try and trust our babies!! Its gonna be super hard for me to do, but I suppose its about starting slowly and working our way up. I'm gonna try scrambled egg or omlette or something tomorrow and just keep going from there!