Finger food

[Lilasmom]

hi, my DS is 9 months old.  He's doing really well chewing finger foods, the problem is he doesn't feed himself.  If I place pieces of finger foods on his tray he just pushes it around and sometimes he picks food up with his fist but never gets it to his mouth (or even tries to get it in his mouth).  If I give him something big to hold onto like a rice cracker he can feed his himself.  I've been putting fairly small pieces of food (cutting a slice of banana into quarters) on his tray as I'm scard he'll choke.  Do you think it's ok to give him bigger pieces of food???  He really hasn't mastered the pincer grasp, but maybe continuing to give him small pieces will encourage this??? 

[lilmonkey]

I would make the pieces bigger like spears.  If you are concern about choking, do the mash test with your fingers.  If you can mash it between your fingers then he can do it with his gums.  Don't worry about him gagging at first.  Gagging is not the same as choking.  I know it may be frightening at first but he will learn to use his gums to mash it up before swallowing.  And when he does gag, don't express fear in your face.  Keep a neutral face.  Since being on finger food at 8 mos, ds has only gagged about 5 times. 

Try giving him Cheerios to help him with his pincer grasp.  it was one of the first finger food I gave ds.  They are the perfect size and easy to grip.  Also, they get soft quick when wet.



HTH

[bakershaker]

A great idea for slippery foods such as avacado and banana, is to crush up cherrios to make a dust and sprinke them on the food so it's not so slippery! Also rice cereal works well for this to:)

[prana]

Hi Guys,

I am back from holidays and we had a great time. So much so that we have decided to move there..... hello sunshine!!!! my lo loved all the local foods.

Now, my question on finger foods.... I really want my lo to eat on her and learn to do so quickly. I do give her foods like cucumbers and we had a lot of watermelon during the trip. She also started to eat bread and actually just loves it.

The only thing is that most of it is on the floor. I cannot possibly only just give that as a whole meal. or can I???  She would normally have for ex 2 tblspn porridge and 3 to  tsp of muesli all with full fat cows milk. Could I substitute that with toast and butter and just that??? Also my lo suffers with wind a lot. So even though her food is quite lumpy, I have to add a lot of water in order for to burp. She is not too keen to drink any liquids- water, milk, juice- nothing (bottle or beaker). Very moody about it.  Wouldn't only finger foods like sandwiches create more trouble for me in terms of wind??? 

[lilmonkey]

I couldn't call toast and butter a meal.  Have you tried steamed/roasted veggies?  Or even chicken bits or egg yolk?  YOu could spread veggie puree onto the toast.  With finger food, just use your imagination in finding ways to serve it to her. At around 8/9 mos, I jsut serve ds what the family eats.  I just make sure that he can mash it up with his gums and not choke on it.  To limit the amount of food that ends up on the floor, try limiting just a few on the tray.  When she is finished with that then give her some more.  Don't be afraid to let her try new things.  And don't worry about her going hungry as bm/formula is still the main source of her nutritients.  Just keep offer the sippy cup or cup and eventually she will get it.  I found that both mine like drinking out of a cup with a straw moreso than the typical toddler sippy cup.  Why don't you give that a try. 

HTH

[hemz80]

Sometimes your lo may suprise you, there gag reflex is quite good..it's all part of the learning process. I never gave ds raisins because i thought he'd choke but i tried him one day and to my suprise he ate a whole box and he had no teeth!  They do surprise you... as they get older the feeding themselves thing comes naturally with age. Ethan is 18mths and will feed himself with a spoon and hands quite happily, actually if i interfere and try to feed him or help he gets cross with me!  Keep offering the finger foods and feed him too.  If your worried about choking have you seen the baby safe feeder?  It's a net thing they can gip and eat through.

[Lilasmom]

Well since my original post DS is now feeding himself like an old pro.  He still doesn't mind us spoon feeding him, so I'm glad about that!!  I just dish it in in between his handfuls of food LOL.  My kid loves to eat that's for sure! 

[lilmonkey]

That's great! 

[kim_arlyn]

I recommend graduates finger foods that dissolve in their mouth so they can't choke.  I started my daughter on them at 7 months and now that she is 8 months she is grabbing at them well.  They are about the size of Cheerios and they have several different flavors.  She grabs 1-3 at a time at sometimes none of them or most of them make it in her mouth, but everyday she gets better at it.- Kim and Arlyn:)

[hemz80]

I recommend graduates finger foods that dissolve in their mouth so they can't choke.  I started my daughter on them at 7 months and now that she is 8 months she is grabbing at them well.  They are about the size of Cheerios and they have several different flavors.  She grabs 1-3 at a time at sometimes none of them or most of them make it in her mouth, but everyday she gets better at it.- Kim and Arlyn:)

The Stars are great and dissolve very well, i'd recommend them too!