Finger foods

[aleasmom]

My 8.5 month old LO has always been a picky eater. Now she doesnt want her purees at all. She just started eating pieces of bananas, pears and the puff snacks. When I give her purees, she's tight lipped. After awhile she starts to complain and whine. . With some persistence, she will eventually eat...maybe (which I'm not sure if I should be persistent or not, as to not get a bad association, what if she already has one?). As soon as she cries, should I take her out of the hi chair or should she work through some things?

How can I give her some protein? Can I give her little pieces of roast chicken?

She doesnt seem to eat very much of the finger foods. and I dont feel like I will be able to give her as much variety as with the purees, but is taht what her diet should be at this point?

Thanks for all your help, i feel at a loss at this point.

[claires mum]

I found that at this age purees had to go and more textured food was the 'in thing'.  Risottos are a good transitional food group...and stews that are roughly mashed rather than blended.  Feel free to give her pieces of meat, long beans, fruit and cheese sticks, toast fingers...

Milk is still the main source of nutrition..so food is more for fun and exploring new tastes/textures. 

[tylersmommy]

Both my kids were pretty much on finger foods exclusively around that age. They had little interest in the spoon to start with and by then, they wanted nothing to do with it. So it's pretty common and it's def possible to maintain a healthy, balanced diet without purees.

One thing to keep in mind is that purees are mostly water and finger foods are, well, just food. It makes sense that she eats less when given finger foods because they aren't watered down, KWIM?

Food is meant to be a learning experience at this age and formula/breastmilk should still be her main source of nutrition. I don't know if trying to cajole her into eating more purees is such a good idea...finger foods or baby-led weaning would likely give her a better eating experience. If you really want to keep up the purees, you might try giving her a bowl and spoon of her own and let her have at it...

You can offer anything as a finger food as long as it passes the "mush test:" put it in your mouth and see if you can mash it up with your tongue against the roof of your mouth. No teeth. If you can, it's soft enough for your DD. If roast chicken passes the test, go for it! Other good sources of protein are tofu and cheese. You can even buy large curd cottage cheese and offer that as finger food...a great source of non-meat protein. IMHO, you can offer even more variety with finger foods than with purees, especially if you cook. You can start offering age-appropriate bits from your own plate, which is great for exploring new tastes.

[aleasmom]

Thank you so much for your replies. I feel much less intimidated now about finger foods and have been trying to explore new foods and tastes with my LO. I am not trying to cajole her anymore, however much she eats, she eats and we are much happier for it.

[shellsyd]

Hi, my LO wouldn't take a spoon for about two months when I started weaning him. I turned to finger foods and it was fun. I didn't want to give up on purees hwoever so I decided to give purees/mashed foods with finger foods (eg. soft boiled pasta). I had to make up my mind to no longer be a 'neat freak' and just let him mess about in the purees with his fingers, face, whatever... very messy indeed. I would leave the spoon in the bowl and if he picked it up, I would guide it to his mouth from time to time (no pressure). Eventually, especially if he was really hungry, he would figure out that the spoon would get more food in quicker. My LO is now happily spoonfed, but he still loves his finger foods. See what works for u!